Tell Me Why (A Jayy Von Monroe FanFic; BoTDF)

Chapter 20; "We'll Get Him Out Of There Honey."

Jayy sighed. "I'm sorry I said it Hunter. Please, just relax, alright. You know I wouldn't send you back to a place that wasn't safe for you. Especially if I didn't know what was going on there."

I shook my head again. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Well you weren't a second ago, so I beg to differ."

I sighed. "That wasn't why I was crying... Or... Well that wasn't the only reason."

"Then what is it?"

I swallowed hard. "Axel."

"Who?"

"Axel. My little brother. He was at camp when I left... He'll be back there soon." Tears begged to be let out, but I refused and kept a straight, apathetic face.

"Hunter, please just tell me what happened there," Jayy begged. I eyed him nervously. "Please honey."

I sighed and let my eyes drop. "Ronnie," I started.

"Who?"

"Mom's girlfriend. You might've missed her, she sorta blends into the background until she gets to know you."

"Scared of people?"

"No, not at all. She doesn't blend like a chameleon, she blends like a snake. Waiting to see what you do and how you do it until she decides it's safe. Then she-" I cut off. I'd started ranting, and that was dangerous. If I ranted, I'd end up telling him everything.

And I couldn't tell him everything. I just couldn't.

But he was still waiting, wanting to know what exactly had happened.

"What does she do?" When I didn't answer, he rested his hands on my shoulders. "Hunter, what did she do to you?"

I knew he was trying to stay serious by dropping the pet names, but it actually made me feel a bit more upset; as if he was trying to back himself away from me, keep his distance until he knew just how fucked up in the head I truly was.

I swallowed and tried to look him in the eyes. He looked worried, almost desperate to know what happened. I let my eyes drop again, and this time they watered.

Jayy's POV

I didn't want to pry, but I was getting more and more worried by the minute. This was enough, she was hurting from this. I wanted to help her, I needed to.

"Hunter please, you're hurt. I care about you, okay? I just want to help you. I want to make it better," I bent down so I was in her line of sight. "I only want to help." She nodded quietly. "What did Ronnie do?"

"Sh-She..." Hunter sighed. "She was abusive. Mostly to Mom. She never hurt Axel, but I'm worried that it was only because I protected him. And now he's gonna be back on her radar." Her eyes watered. "He's only six. He's too young to deal with her! And Mom... Sh-She's too weak to fight back. And she won't kick Ronnie out, she still loves her."

Jayy looked down. "I'm so sorry..." He looked nervously at me. "When does Axel come back from camp?"

"Umm..." She checked her phone. "Two weeks. And Ronnie probably not gonna be happy. She didn't even want to let Axel go. She said she thought it was "dangerous"," Hunter said, putting her phone away and making airquotes.

I sighed, hating the blatant fear in her eyes, what that woman had done to her. "We'll be back in town for a show in three weeks. It's still early in the tour, I might be able to get Dahvie to switch a couple of the venues so that we can get there in time, but nothing's for sure." She nodded scaredly. Something struck me. "But he's gonna end up hearing our music... And the guys really aren't the type to clean it up 'too' much for a kid."

She nodded. "Can I see the tour dates?"

"Sure," I said confusedly. I pulled out my phone and showed them to her.

She looked up hopefully. "Do we have any rest time around here?" She showed me the phone.

"Uh, Montana...? Yeah, I think like a day or two. Why?"

"My Aunt Jenni lives in Montana. She loves Axel."

I nodded. "Anywhere near where we're playing?"

"Actually, same town she's down the street from the venue."

"Why don't we just have her come to the show?" She chuckled nervously. "Wouldn't like our music?" I guessed.

"Actually she loves you guys. She showed me your music and I get all my merch from her. She's only twenty-three."

"So why not?"

"Well... I...uh..."

I smirked and chuckled at her. "You don't want her to hear you sing."

"Correct..." she said nervously.

"Well, fair enough, we can drop Axel off the day after the show if you want."

"Kay..."

"Are you alright honey?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm just worried about him."

I held her to my chest. "Don't worry, we'll get him out of there honey."

She nodded into the hug and held me back.