I Need You

Chapter 7

<<Rylee's POV>>

I get home from school and T.J hasn't come back yet. Jake and Elisa went to their friends' houses. I go to my room and begin my homework for the weekend. Thank goodness it's Friday!

Hours go by, and T.J still hadn't come home. I sit on my couch, my imagination playing millions of things that could of happened to him, making me worry.

I look at the clock and it says 1:30 am, and I hear the door open. I stand up from the couch quickly and run to the door. "T.J?" I ask. He doesn't make eye contact with me, and walks towards the stairs. "T.J O'Connor, you are not going to bed until you tell me where you were! I was sitting here worried sick, and you just ignore me?" I snap. "You're not my parents," he states, his voice hoarse and unnaturally low. I walk towards him and pull his hood back. I can't believe what I'm looking at. His face is black and blue and he has a busted lip and cheek. "What happened? And don't tell me it was your dad because that can't happen unless you're with him," I ask quietly. "It's nothing I can't handle," he states, beginning to turn around. "T.J!" I yell, grabbing his wrist. He winces, and stops. I pull up his sleeve and see his knuckles cut up, and his wrist swollen and purple. I gasp, tears forming in my eyes. "What did you do, T.J," I choke. "Nothing," he answers. I pull him towards the kitchen, and look for the first aid Kit.

I start cleaning his hands, not making eye contact with him. "Rylee," he starts. I ignore him, and continue working. "Rylee, look at me," he orders. I turn around and get another cotton ball to clean with. I feel his hands on my shoulders, and he turns me around. "Rylee, please, look at me," he almost begs. I look up at him, "what, T.J?" He looks at me in the eyes, and opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it. "I'm sorry," he states. I'm about to ask why, but he leans down, and just before his lips close on mine, the front door opens, and Elisa walks in. She sees our position she smiles, "sorry, did I interrupt something." I clear my throat and step out from in front of T.J, and begin busying myself by cleaning up the first aid Kit supplies, "no, erm, no you weren't, I was just cleaning up his cuts." She smirks, and it really resembles T.J, "sure, okay. Well, I'll be upstairs then." "Wait, why did you come home? I thought you were at Sadie's," T.J asks. She smiles brighter, "and leave you two love birds alone? Not a chance." I roll my eyes, "go to bed, it's late." "Yes, mother," she replies, then laughs as she walks up the stairs. I look at T.J, "well, good night." He rubs the back of his neck, "yeah, night."
I turn and walk up the stairs and to my room. When I get there, Elisa is giving me a knowing look. "What?" I ask, shutting the door. "Want to explain what was going on in the kitchen?" She asks, smiling. I can't help the smile that spreads on my face when I answer, "no." She giggles and I climb into bed, "night, Elisa." "Night, love bird," the replies with a laugh. I roll my eyes and fall asleep.

***
I wake up to the sound of the fire alarm going off. I jump out of bed and run down the stairs. The house is filled with smoke, causing my lungs to burn, and I start coughing. I run into the kitchen and see T.J over a smoking stove. I run and open windows and doors, fanning out the smoke. "What *cough* were you *cough cough* doing?!" I yell. "Trying to make breakfast, but I'm not a good cook," he states. I huff and state sarcastically, "no, I hadn't noticed." He rolls his eyes, "sorry for trying to help." I sigh, "it's fine, accidents happen." Then I yawn, "thanks for waking me up from my beauty sleep." "Sorry, princess, I would've thought that sleeping until one would fulfill your need for sleep," he states. I groan, "I'm going back to sleep. And please don't burn the house down." "Ei, ei, captain," he replies, as I walk up the stairs. I renter my room and Elisa looks at me questionably, "why does it smell like smoke?" I chuckle, "you need to work on sleeping lighter. The fire alarms were blaring and you still didn't wake up. T.J tried making breakfast and it caught fire." She laughs, "typical." I raise an eyebrow, "you mean he's tried that before and still tried it again in my house?" She nods, "except last time it actually burned the house down. But, that was before mom died." My mouth forms an 'o' shape when I realize, "I really am sorry. If you ever want to talk, I'm here." She nods and looks at her hands, "thanks Rylee."

<<T.J's POV>>
After Rylee helped me fix the smoke problem and left, I decided to just go and pick breakfast up. I walked outside and to my car. "What do you think you're doing, boy?"
I freeze at the voice, and turn around, "going to get breakfast." My dad glares at me, "want to explain why you haven't been home for almost a week." I fake laugh, "I didn't think you would notice. You always seem too drunk to notice anything." He grabs me by the collar and shoves me against the car, "you have no right to talk to me that way! I wouldn't be surprised if you got that girl pregnant by now! You stupid, irresponsible-" "T.J, what's going on here?" I turn and see Rylee looking at my father and I in shock. "I'm teaching this boy a lesson," my father snaps. "Leave, I don't want a slut around me or my kids." I shove my dad, getting him to release me, "don't call her that! You have no right to call her that! She did nothing to you!" Each word I step closer to him, also getting angrier and angrier "The twins and I aren't your kids! You don't treat us like them! You come home wasted every night, and I send then to friends houses and take the beatings for them! You are a sorry excuse for a father, and I will not allow them or anyone to live with you! I don't see what mom saw in you!" "T.J!" Rylee yells. I turn to her, seeing the tears run down her face made my anger quickly turn to compassion.
Being distracted my father hits me, and I taste blood in my mouth, and I hit the ground. "If you don't want to live with me, Fine! Don't come back! Ever!" My father yells then stomps off. Rylee runs to me, still crying, but the sadness is replaced with worry. "I-I'm okay, I just need you to help me inside," I tell her. She nods and helps me up slowly. I feel dizzy and stumble a little. "Careful," she says quietly. We walk slowly into the house, and she sits me in the kitchen chair. She gets a wet cloth and comes back over to me. "I can't help but feel a déjà vu coming on," she jokes, trying to release the obvious tension in the air. "Why did you come out? I thought you were going back to-" I wince when she presses the cloth to my most-likely broken nose. "I was talking to Elisa when I heard yelling. I went outside and saw your dad shove to against the car," she answers. "Oh, um, why we're you crying? Was it something I said? I didn't mean to make you cry, he just makes me so mad. Did I make you cry, Rylee?" I ask, trying to stop my blabbering. She smiles a little at my flushed state, "yes and no. It was what you said, but it wasn't YOU, if that makes any sense. Like, it made me sad when you talked about your mother like that, how you said you didn't see what she saw in him. I guess I just felt bad for you and the twins, having to deal with him all on your own, I just-" her words stop when I put my hand to her cheek, gently wiping a tear that fell. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you upset," I apologize. She nods and stands, clearing her throat, "I'll, uh, go tell Elisa that you're okay." "Yeah, okay," I reply looking down.
She turns and walks to the stairs, but stops and turns slowly, "I'm sorry, about your dad." I smile a little, and she hurries up the stairs, leaving me feeling different. Hm, what could it be?
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Well, here is another chapter. Hope you enjoy it! What do you think is going on between T.J and Rylee?