We Found Love In A Homeless Place《COMPLETE》

June 21st

Things feel like they're all turning out how they should.

Remy and I are moving forward at a pretty good pace, I wanted to take things as slow as I could with him but it's hard to hold back when he's near by. After work last night Gabe stopped by the shelter unannounced, it was emotional to watch the grown men become emotional but they both apologised for their own behaviour pretty quickly. I think they were always going to make up pretty quickly when they had been so close for so long, not being in each others lives wouldn't have lasted.

Walking home with work, I feel like one of those weirdos that smile as they walk to their destination and make everything think they're nuts. Remy had to stay behind half an hour again to help Chris again, so I'm going to go enjoy a long quiet bubble bath.

Walking into our place, I go check on Pat to see him asleep on his bed surrounded by his books. I'm so proud of how he's doing. After the horrible things he's lived through, he really is putting himself back together. He told me yesterday that he opened up to Dr Hugh about everything, that it really helped and the good doctor informed him of group therapy that he might find helpful. 

"Hey stranger, how was work?" Eddy's deep voice breaks my trance on the small teen.

"Hey, good but slow. How has your intense working schedule been going?" I ask after closing the bedroom door quietly. 

"Intense, to say the least. But it's good money so I'm trying to just suck it up." He smiles at me. "How's Pat been going? I feel bad I'm not around him as much."

"He's doing pretty well actually. He opened up to the doc, getting great grades in school, and seems to have less nightmares." I smile thinking about how he only woke up once last night.

"That's great, the kid deserves some peace in his sleep. I don't know how he does it each d-" Eddy's words are cut off by a ringing noise.

Looking around the room kind of lost, I see Eddy walk towards the front door. Picking up a phone that's hidden behind the bread, he stalks talking quietly to who ever was on the line. I completely forgot about landlines, this has to be the first call we've ever had this month.

"Uhh, Aria. It's for you." Eddy says, looking as confused as I was feeling.

"Oh okay." Walking over, thinking it must be Chris perhaps.

"It's Rachel, said someone is on hold to talk to you."

"Hey, Rachel?" 

"Hello Aria. I have a Miranda on the phone for you. She says she's your mother..." She trails off, as if she didn't just tip ice water over my being.

"W-What? Are you sure you heard the name right?" I ask, almost preying that she didn't.

"Yes, She said her name is Miranda Smith. Should I put the call through or tell her you're not in?"

"Fine, put it through." I sigh, really not even close to ready for this.

Lucky this phone is cordless, because I'm a nervous pacer. Already walking back and forth until the dial tone rings through for a moment, stopping when it connects the call.

"Hello, is this Aria?" The vaguely familiar voice flows through the phone.

"Yeah..." I trail, my nerves changing to confused anger.

"Oh my! Thank goodness I found you! We've been looking everywhere!" She frantically says into the phone.

"What do you want Miranda?" 

"I am still you mother, you know? Despite how you ran off years ago." She scolds.

The hell does she think she is?

"It's been a long time since had the title of my mother. What do you want? How did you even find me?" I ask frustrated by the woman on the other end.

"I'll admit your father and I weren't the best parents for a while, but we've turned ourselves around. I hired a private detective to try finding you, of course. You were off the map up til recently. I want to reconnect with you, maybe you can come home?" She ranted.

Come... home? 

"Weren't the best? Are you fucking insane?" I practically shout into the phone, just as Remy walks in looking between me and Eddy confused. "It's been a decade since I left, did it actually take that long to put the bottle and drugs down?!"

"We weren't that bad, you always were over dramatic. Lying about people for attention and stealing money, here I'd hoped you had grown up a little." She sighs, like she's so disappointed in me.

"Dramatic? I didn't steal money, I took some of my own money back to buy food. And despite what you think, that prick was the one who would beat the shit out of me. I have been happier living on the streets then I ever was living with you two nut cases for eighteen years." I seethe out. 

This is the problem with me being confronted unexpectedly, I don't have time to think or process anything. All I am in unfiltered, and uncensored. I have always thought about a day where I see or talk to my parents again, and I never once craved anything from them. I want to keep them firmly out of my life. Forever.

"This is going off topic, darling. Your father and I would like to see you, we've turned our selves around and want you in our lives now."

To say I'm a tad shocked would be an understatement. Though that state simmers away when I feel Remy's hand rubbing up and down my back, soothing my anger enough for me to think.

"I can confidently say, I want nothing to do with you or that man ever again in my life. You spent my entire childhood reminding me that I wasn't wanted, accusing me over lying about him hitting me, drunk or high most of the time, and I've been on the streets for 10 years without so much as a missing persons filed in with the police. I am finally getting the life I always wanted, and I won't have you be in any part of it." I say firmly, a weight lifted from my shoulders after telling her the speech I've wanted to say for years.

"You can't be serious?" She says baffled.

"I have never been more serious in my life. If you call here again, I'll decline the call. If you don't leave me alone, I'll file a restraining order against both of you. If I ever decide I can look at you again, I'll seek you out." I list off, the emotional pain this is causing beginning to sink in. 

"B-but, Aria..."

"I am really happy if you both pulled yourselves together, you still have plenty of life left in you. But I don't want to be part of that life anymore. Goodbye Miranda." I whisper at the end, hanging up the phone slowly.

How could it have taken them ten years to think about where I am? How can she still believe everything that horrible man ever said about my bruises? Or forget that despite the hell they made my life, I worked to keep the roof over our heads? 

Did I really mean so little to them that they didn't want to look for me sooner?

The shelter stated that there hadn't been a single missing persons report filed, I didn't even move that far from them. No one wondered what happened to me... Not my parents, their family, school 'friends'. 

Am I really so bad to be around?

My lip starts to tremble at the thought of how unwanted in the world I really am. Something I thought I had put past me long ago. 

"Hey hey hey, don't let her get in your head." Remy's voice breaks though the raging thoughts.

Looking up at him, feeling like I've been kicked back down to the floor all over again. I'm sure my face is that of a broken girl, with my lip struggling to contain a sob and my eyes filling with tears enough to blur my vision.

He closes the distance between us as soon as he sees how close to falling apart I am, not wasting a moment to wrap his arms around me tightly. Clutching his shirt, I finally snap my put together exterior. Crying frantically into his shirt as he strokes my hair, whispering soothing words into my ear.

I'm suddenly wrapped in more arms then I'm sure Remy has, causing me to pull back slightly. Greeted with the sight of the small Pat wrapping his arms around my waist, and Eddy wrapping his arms around all three of us. All three of these people showing they're here and care about me just sets the water works off again.

Once my sobs slow down to a stop, Eddy makes me a cup of hot milo as Remy and Pat walk me to my bed. Drinking the warm goodness as I kick my shoes off, I can't help but feel loved as I'm surrounded by my new family.

After Eddy wishes me a goodnight, I get changed for bed as Pat tucks himself into bed for the night.

"Rem, would you mind staying with me tonight?" I whisper as I sit back next to him.

"Of course, climb in and I'll be there in a sec." He smiles, walking into the bathroom.

Laying into the bed I love so much, I slowly start to fall into slumber as Remy slides in next to me. His arm wraps around me, pulling me to his warm body just as I fall asleep feeling lighter than I was earlier.