BLUE SKIES • RICHARD MADDEN

real life

Eleanor could not believe what she read on the screen. Her body instantly filled with hurt.

How did they know?

Her eyes kept going over and over the tweet, building up with tears every time she read it. She tried so hard to hold in the tears, however, one final look and she felt weak.

From his bedroom, Richard could hear heavy, shallow breathing and light coughs coming from the living room. He was quick to stand up and ran downstairs into the living area finding Eleanor in a heap of tears. He immediately sat beside her and pulled her into his chest. Her hands gripped his shirt on for dear life as she cried into his chest. He didn't know why she was crying, however, the way she held onto his shirt told him it was not homesickness.

"What happened, love?" He asked soothingly. Eleanor, however, did not say anything, her hands readjusting her grip on his shirt. Richard rubbed her back in hopes to calm her down.

"I'm here, I'm here," he spoke soothingly.

Taron stepped into the room and looked at Richard. He had seen the tweet. Richard looked at Taron with worry and confusion. Taron pointed to his phone and held it out to Richard. Richard looked at Eleanor, nerves overcoming his body.

"El, I need to see what happened. Taron is going to take over for a moment okay?"

Eleanor nodded against his chest and he stood up taking the phone from Taron. Taron instantly sat down and Eleanor held onto him the way she did with Richard. Taron whispered calming words to her but knew nothing could change what she saw. Richard walked to the other side of the room reading the tweet.

Although this was new information to him, his body radiated anger. It was personal information to Eleanor and Kylie and it was up to them whether they were to share that information or not. Richard questioned how the user received that information.

His anger was cut off by Eleanor speaking.

"I need to call Kylie. I need to call Kylie."

She scrambled from Taron, his arms still lingering in the air just in case she came back for the hug. Richard watched as she scrambled to grab her phone and walked out of the room. Taron and Richard shared a look of worry.

"We have to report this," Taron stated. Richard nodded and instantly pulled out his phone, dealing with the situation.

In the kitchen, Eleanor dialed Kylie's number and placed the phone against her ear. Fresh tears trickled over the dried ones as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Come on Kylie, pick up," she whispered to herself.

"Eleanor?" Kylie's voice spoke.

"Kylie, I..." She dropped her phone onto the floor and broke down again. She couldn't muster a word.

"Eleanor? Eleanor? Listen to me, everything is going to be okay!" Kylie's voice screamed through the speaker.

Richard bolted into the kitchen upon hearing Eleanor's cries. He grabbed the phone off the floor and put it to his ear.

"Kylie, it's Richard."