❝In which two people call up a helpline in order to find someone just as broken as they are. ❞
"Does...does it bother you that my dad's in prison for murder?"
"Well, judging by the fact that I moved away from America to get away from the memory of a...
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Isabella's aunt was incredibly nervous. And not just for her extremely hot date, although he was incredibly good looking. But she had left Isabella alone, at night, and that was not something she did often. She was very much aware of the girl's nightmares and how much they affected her. It made her feel incredibly guilty that she had left her there to suffer instead of being there to offer her a hug and a nice mug of hot chocolate like she usually was. She had taken upon the role of parenting much more than she thought she would, and saw Isabella as something akin to her own child. The thought of her suffering caused her physical pain. Especially when she was partly at fault. She should be there to comfort her. Through her nightmares. The girl had been through far too much for a girl of her age. She needed somebody. Somebody to hold her as she cried.
The thought almost made Lauren leap up from her seat at the restaurant and sprint home to her niece. But then she remembered how Isabella had encouraged her to come to this, remembering how she thought it was great, how she needed to get out there and stop worrying about her so much. That she was fine. That she was getting better. That she didn't want to hold her back. But those words were hard to believe, especially when she had said those words so many times before. Only to have the same nightmare.
But then there was the matter of smothering. And, the more she came to think of it, she realized that Isabella might need space more than anything else. She had people, mainly her, constantly around her because of pity and concern but maybe...just maybe, it was time to let her go a bit. Maybe she needed a bit of time alone to get her independence back. No one had really trusted Isabella to be alone after the incident, too scared of the pain she could cause to herself both through nightmares and other means of self-torture. But maybe that was all ridiculous. And she just needed some time by herself to think things through in peace.
The thought made Lauren settle in her seat a bit more, smiling when she saw her date step through the restaurant door, looking as dashing and handsome as ever. She wondered if this is what Isabella felt like on her first date with Clark but immediately swatted the thought away like an irritating insect. Thinking like that was pointless.
So she settled herself into both her seat and her date, laughing and joking and having one of the best nights she had had in a long time. And, by the end of it, she once again felt a little guilty. For, how dare she be having such a wonderful time when her own niece was at home, probably alone and terrified?
But she needn't have worried. Because, at some point in the night, Isabella had received a knock on the door. And it had been Elliot. And they had talked. And they had cried a bit. And they had watched a movie together. And they had fallen asleep together on the couch.
