can i lay by your side|corbyn besson

22

I quietly unlock the front door and walk into my house, keeping a straight face. I don't think I'll run into any of the boys but I don't want to risk them seeing me upset.

The last two days, I was back in Alhambra. I thought it would be nice to revisit my roots so I got a hotel room close to my old apartment.

Hopefully you'd know me enough by now to know that I am not tired. Instead of heading to my shared room, I place my bag by the stairs and sit down in the living room. I put my keys in my pocket because I don't want to put them on the counter, where we all place our keys. I'm too lazy.(haha relatable)

It's late and the house is quiet with the lack of boys downstairs.

Television bores me so I get my earbuds out and listen to my saved playlist while I sit back on the couch.

Very quickly, I realize that I don't want my usual loud rock, but my softer playlist. Turns out, going back home isn't as comforting to me as it is for others. I know my head has been in a bad place. At least while I was gone, I realized that I never want to smoke weed again...

Gah! Why do I have to overthink everything?! I scold myself in my head and try to pay attention to the melody of Claire de Lune.

Not too much later, I feel someone shake my shoulder. I jump from the sudden touch and look up to the faintly lit figure, standing above me. I take the earbuds out quickly.

"How long have you been home?" Corbyn asks softly. He's wearing his black skinny jeans and sweatshirt. I guess he didn't go to sleep either because those are definitely not comfortable to sleep in.

"Few minutes." I whisper for him to hear. I watch him sit beside me and he continues to look at me. He's concerned, I can tell by how careful he is. He watches me as if I'll run away again, like a dog that's been abused. I feel small but I don't dare look away from him.

"We've been worried."

"I just went back home." I state simply. Neither of us say anything and I'm getting antsy. Why is he even here? I understand he was worried but it's not like I'm a child that they need to look out for.

My dumb thoughts are cut off when he leans forward quickly and wraps me in a hug. My eyes grow wide but I respond and hug him back. We stay like this for a bit and I rest my head on his shoulder softly.

"What happened?" Corbyn whispers so softly into my ear. His voice cracks and I feel bad. I didn't know I'd make him so upset when I left.

"What do you mean?"

"What did he do?" He pulls back and answers so quickly.

"It's none of your business." I shake my head. My voice defies me and I sound unsure of myself. I like being confident, this makes me feel weak. I'm not a child and I want so badly to sound threatening but I can't.

Corbyn shakes his head and stands up.

"It is. I haven't been able to sleep since you left, thinking about what he could've done to you." I stare at him as he runs a hand through his hair. "I don't think you realize how much you mean to us, to me." He gets a little louder with every word. I look down at my hands as I twiddle my fingers.

I don't want him to know what Aaron did. I've never liked to burden people and I would hate to do that to one of my best (and only) friends. I see him kneel in front of me and I lift my head to see his eyes boring into mine. He grabs my shoulder and I swear his eyes look glossy.

"Please. I can help you. We can all help you with anything. Or better yet, make him pay for whatever he did. We will never, NEVER judge you for anything." He sounds more serious than ever. I say nothing and look down. Corbyn stands up abruptly and turns away from me, about to walk away.

"He cheated." I whisper. I don't think he can even hear but he stops and faces me again. "A girl contacted me from his phone while he was asleep. She said she was drunk... but he wasn't." I look up to face him. His face is almost blank but his mouth is slightly ajar.

"You should have thrown him out the second you saw him." I know he's holding back his anger, his voice holds an undertone of resentment.

"I wanted to hear him out. I still wasn't sure because the girl could have been lying." He pauses and sits by me again.

"So that's why you threw him out and left?" I stay silent. I refuse to look at him, I should have never told him. I should've kept my damn mouth shut. "Max?" My hands start to shake and I feel his stare. I clasp my hands together so they no longer give anything away. "Max, what else did he do?" He softly turns my head to make me look at him and he looks angry.

"Nothing." I say, simply. My voice is quiet. I sound so weak, like a child.

"You're lying." Of course he knows I'm lying. Why wouldn't he? I'm not being convincing and he knows me better than that. I just don't want him to know. All of this while I struggle to keep my composure in front of him. "Ma-"

"He hit me, okay!" Something came over me and I was just bound to explode. "We were arguing and I was going to leave but he grabbed my arm and slapped me. I made him leave after that! God, why do you have to interrogate me!?" I yell at him. I wasn't annoyed or even angry but now I'm yelling at Corbyn for no reason at all other than I need something other than silence. But unfortunately, there's more of it when I look to him.

Corbyn looks straight at me and his nostrils flare. I see his eyes become a deep blue before he stands up without another word. He walks around the couch and grabs his keys from the kitchen counter.

"Corbyn?" I question, getting up to follow him. He makes his way to the door and I run up to him.

"I'm going to kill that asshole." He says, seething venom with each words. He catches me off guard. I never hear him curse.

"Corbyn, calm do-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You think I'm going to calm down when that maniac gets to live like nothing happened!" He yells at me. I hear footsteps coming down the stairs but ignore them, looking at Corbyn.

"Please, you're overreac-" But can I finish I sentence? Not with angry McGhee over here.

"I am not overreacting! He shouldn't have cheated, he shouldn't have yelled at you when you did nothing wrong-" I open my mouth to say something. "Yeah, we all heard the yelling! And you know what?! He should definitely never lay a finger on you or anyone else for that matter!" Corbyn is now yelling at a way louder voice than one that should be used at 2am.

"Please-"

"Max? What's going on?"

"Now's not the time, Jonah." I say to the boy at the bottom of the stairs. As I glance over to him, I see the others at the top of the stairs. Great, an audience.

I turn back to Corbyn and he's already at the front door.

"Corbyn!" He slams the door behind him and I run to catch up.

"Stay here! Jonah, keep her back!" Corbyn yells, getting into his car. Before I can even get off the walkway, I feel two arms wrap around me from behind.

"No! Corbyn, you're blowing this out of proportion!" I struggle against Jonah's grip but to no prevail.

"What's going on?" He asks and I hear the front door open again.

"Ugh! Let me go!" I yell. When the car is out of the driveway, Jonah finally releases me and I immediately run to my car. I get in and fumble the keys out of my pocket. As I put the key in, the passenger and side doors open.

"You guys aren't concerned in this."

"Aww, come on, mom! Corbyn gets to go!" Jack whines from the back. I glare at him.

"I didn't let him- you know what? Whatever, just be quiet." I start the car and drive down the driveway.

Well, it was good to be home for half an hour.