psychotic; jmb

chapter six

"that's no way to talk to your mother young lady."

i whip around and see her stand there, mom jeans and all.  the same "queen" band t-shirt paired with light blue jeans and black nike tennis shoes.  her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with a few flyaways.  tears brimmed her eyes as they did mine.

she steps forward as a tear soared down my cheek.

"hey kate," tayler walked over to us from the couch.

he instantly walks over to joey after i glare at him for 1.2 seconds.

another tear came down as i whispered, "mom."

"come here babygirl," she held her warm arms open as i stammered over to her.

i cried into her shoulder and wrapped my arms tightly around her.  she lightly smoothed out my damp hair. 

"what are you doing here?"  i sniffle and pull away from her shoulder.

"i came to say goodbye," she holds my cheek in her hand.

"what?  you can't go," i hug her again.

she let's go of me and whispers, "rose, you're safe here with joey.  there's a lot of bad people out to get you and me."

i bit my lip, but instantly regret it as i bit the scar charles had left on me.  damn that hurts.  my finger shoots up to my now bleeding lip.

"joey, hon', can you get a tissue?" my mom noticed the lip.

he walked over, pulled one out of the box, and gave it to me.  for a moment, our eyes met and i felt the butterflies in my stomach that i'd felt the night we met (a/n; TAKE ME BACK TO THE NIGHT WE MET rip hannah baker). 

his eyes glimmered once more, but this time it felt almost like i was staring into the eyes of my soulmate.  what do i know, though.  i grab the tissue from him and smile gently.  joey smiles back and stares at me while i blot the tissue on my lip.

"where are you gonna go?" my words are muffled by the tissue halfway in my mouth.

she sighs and murmured, "new york."

"new york!" i shriek, "that's a whole united states away."

"i know honey, but i have to," she tries to reassure me by grasping my shoulders and staring at me with compassion.

"you don't have to do a goddamn fucking thing!" i rip out of her arms and run up the stairs into an empty room.

***

i've been in this room for three hours.  at least according to the alarm clock on the nightstand beside the bed.  no one has come up to talk to me, listen to me talk, or even just comforted me.  why has no one comforted me?  this is outrageous.

a small knock on the door scares the shit out of me.  i walk over and unlock the door.  the knob turns and there stands joey, twiddling his thumbs.  joey opens the door a few more inches so he could squeeze in.  he then closes it and sits on the bed while rubbing his knees.

"i don't want her to leave.  i mean, yeah i ran away, but i was angry," i griped my waist in anticipation of him responding with 'she won't leave you.'

joey opens his mouth, but immediately closes it. also known as shattering my hopes and dreams.

i know it sounded like i wanted to leave and never come back forever, yet i could never do that. all the things that have happened recently have been caused by my absence. but from the looks of it, i'd be staying with joey anyways. even if i hadn't ran away.

once again joey opens his mouth, but this time pointed out, "you were the one to run away first."

"didn't mean i instantly regretted it," i interjected. "i left my brother and her, even my cat. i didn't get to say goodbye to my cat!"

i grabbed a chair sitting underneath the desk in the room and sat on it with my head in my hands. joey sauntered to me and placed his warm hand on my lower back. he used his thumb to rub small circles.

joey placed his hand under my knees and picked me up bridal style. he sat back down on the chair with me in his lap. his hand gently moved from below my knees to my inner thigh.

"she'll come back," he whispered into my hair.

a tear slipped out of my eye as i touched my head to his forehead. he kissed the tip of my ear and squeezed my waist tighter.

the door opened slightly and my mom slipped in. she closes it while facing us and she apologized, "baby, i'm sorry. i have to go."

she steps towards me with tears in her eyes. i get out of joey's grip and hug her. we stay in each other's arms for five minutes before she let's go and turns to joey, "take care of her." she grabs his cheek.  he nods gently.

"will you be back?" i question her.

she hesitates before whispering, "yes, sweetheart."

i smile at her.  she turns to leave and i follow her.  once she gets to the front door, we hug again and i watch her open the door and leave.  joey came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.  he kissed my cheek and smooshed his cheek into mine.