Minute-By-Minute (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 25

The next thing I know, Julian, Jonah, Ivy, and I make our way to Nora and Mrs. Caldwell's house to get the tablet back and figure out what actually was going on. Ivy decided that she was going to come with since she was a bit apprehensive about us even going in the first place. With what Nora was doing and what Mr. Caldwell has done, this could be a very risky and potentially dangerous trip. We didn't know what was planned or why anything was happening, so basically anything could happen at this point.

I held Julian's hand the entire time Jonah drove towards the house that I had only been to once before. I hadn't even noticed what the home even looked like since I was so focused on the fact that Mr. Caldwell almost broke my nose the second he saw me. I definitely was a bit worried about Julian going, but then I realized that this wasn't his childhood home. Apparently, after everything had happened with Julian and his parents, they had moved out of the home he grew up in for some reason.

I was assuming that Mrs. Caldwell didn't like being constantly reminded of what had happened between her and her son. Look, I'm not saying the woman didn't fuck up, but she does have immense love for Julian, from what I've learned and seen. She definitely feels guilty for what happened eight years ago and telling us about what was going on with Nora was just the first step for her trying to build a relationship with us.

When we pull up to the house, all four of us are silent as we slide out of the car before silently walking up to the front door. No one says anything as Julian knocks on the door with three persistent knocks, making it known that this was a serious matter. We all stand there for a few moments before the door hesitantly opens to reveal Mrs. Caldwell standing there with a shocked expression when she sees us.

"Julian? Miles?" She asks in a soft voice, now looking confused. Ivy stood right behind me, taking my hand in hers since she could probably see my trembling. I was so nervous that I was practically frozen in my spot on the front porch. The breeze in the chilly air didn't affect my body whatsoever since I was basically completely covered with sweat at this point.

Julian didn't seem to notice since he was so focused on the house and his mother that was only a few feet away from him at this point. I knew that this was a lot for him, but I was so grateful that his father was still in jail because that would've made things so much more complicated and terrible than they already were. I was brought back to reality by Julian's hard voice speaking up. "Where's Nora?"

Mrs. Caldwell's face turns into even more confusion before she motions to the stairs that were next to the entrance. "She's upstairs in her room, why? Did she do something?"

Julian turns towards me for a second before his eyes widen when he sees that I was panicking. He reaches back to grab the hand that Ivy wasn't holding. He smiles softly at me before mouthing, Everything will be okay, then turning back to his mother. "She stole Miles' tablet that has a bunch of important and classified stuff on it. We're worried that Mr. Caldwell forced her to take it and is planning to leak a bunch of our personal stuff."

I realize that he called his father Mr. Caldwell, instead of 'Dad', and my heart instantly ached. He was hurting so much already and I really wish that Nora hadn't come into our lives because he was moving on. He was forgetting everything his father had put him through, but now we're back to fucking square one. Just this situation was going to take years for him to move on because this has fucked him up so much more than when his father practically disowned him for being gay. I know that Mr. Caldwell hurting me didn't sit well with Julian and that would definitely take a long time for him to move past.

"Oh my, are you kidding me?" Mrs. Caldwell says, her face turning a paler white than it already was. Her hands fly up to cover her mouth as a gasp leaves her and I immediately realize that this was genuine shocking. That meant that she actually didn't know anything her husband was planning and was just as surprised as we were.