Have Hope

I Love You (edited)

It is 11 at night on a school night, and my phone is ringing. I lift my head from my pillow to peer at who it is and see Drew's smiling contact photo. Anyone else, besides Leah, I would've let it ring and rolled over to go to sleep, but because it's Drew, I answer.

"Hey. Drew, are you okay?" We didn't text much this afternoon because he said he was busy, but I texted him about ten minutes ago, saying goodnight. He doesn't ever call me after I have already texted goodnight.

"I'm outside. Can I come in?" I try not to overthink and panic, but that's hard to do when he sounds so distraught.

"Uh, yeah, of course. Let me go unlock the door, okay?"

"Okay," he murmurs back.

I jump out of bed and stop at Brennan's door on the way to the stairs. "Bren," I say as I lean in through the doorway. He is at his desk, cramming for a pre-calc test he has to take tomorrow. "Can Drew come in? He needs to talk."

"Leave your door open." With that, he motions me away.

I jog down the steps, the worry starting to overwhelm me. When I open the front door, I see Drew with his hood up, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, and the saddest frown I have ever seen on him. We lock eyes, and he instantly falls into my embrace. He isn't crying, but his whole body is shaking. I tighten my hold around his body, and he presses his face into the crook of my neck.

"What's wrong?" I murmur, still holding him.

He pulls away just enough to look at me. "They've been fighting so much lately, Lainey, but I didn't think they'd actually get a divorce."

Oh. His parents.

I should have seen this coming. Last weekend was the last time I was over his house, and he hasn't had me over since because we overheard his parents having a screaming match from opposites sides of the house about something they blew completely out of proportion.

I take Drew's hand in mine and lead the way upstairs. Like Brennan said, I left my door half-open, but he's so in the zone and Drew is in so much pain, I don't think it mattered.

"What'd they tell you?"

Drew sighs quietly; he pulls his hood down then runs his hand through his hair. "I overheard them talking about it, saying random shit about their marriage being over and nothing can fix it. I wasn't supposed to hear it, but I did. Here I am now."

I run my hand down his arm until our hands are clasped again, and I pull him toward my bed so we can lay down.

"I'm not mad at them. Just at the world in general, you know?" He tells me as he lays his head down on my pillow and turns to his side, so he can face me. I do the same.

"I understand." I don't necessarily know, considering my parents are not divorced, but I can understand his perspective. He's still frowning, and I hate to see him sad like this. While his smiles are easily contagious, so are his frowns. It breaks my heart to see him like this.

I shuffle on the bed so I'm closer to him, and he instinctively wraps his arm around my waist. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I ask as I rest my forehead on his chest.

"You're doing enough," he replies gently, kissing the top of my head.

"Do you want me to see if Bren will let you stay the night?" I glance up at him, hoping he says yes.

In the past four months we've been together, we have had a couple of sleepovers, with granted permission from Brennan. As much as he likes to act like my dad, it is nice that he trusts me and Drew.