Promise from the heart

Chapter 29

Charlie sat by the kitchen table, watching Jordan play with his youngest brothers. Julian didn't want to join. They preferred sitting by Charlie, quietly reading. But they too liked Jordan. Julian saw how happy he made their brother and that was what mattered most.

Now that things had calmed down at school, and summer vacation was steadily approaching, the boys were starting to relax some. Janie had taken back her words, and then told her mum about what happened. They decided it was time for both of them to start fresh somewhere else and Janie was going to start therapy. Before they moved, Janie came to apologise to the boys. Charlie could see that she was more at peace, and her fathers spirit looked a little proud and a lot more content. Jordan didn't want to accept her apology, but Charlie figured nothing good would come from holding a grudge, so he did. Jordan then followed his lead.

It had been calm and quiet for so long, they even had moments where they were completely relaxed, feeling like a normal teenage couple. But then Jordan had to go home, and they remembered all over again. Charlie hoped that Carl would wake up soon, and nothing more would come of it. No more danger, no more violence. But as much as that was his hope, he didn't believe in that outcome.

There was no doubt in his mind that Jordan's father was still out to get them, all of them. Both boys were sure that he was simply biding his time, creating some sort of elaborate plan. Lulling them into a false sense of security before he struck. So Jordan was not alright with being away from Charlie and Charlie felt the same way. They were both equally intent on keeping the other safe. Even if they hadn't been together years and years, to them, it felt like they had. In the best of ways.

Jordan came over nearly every day. Ariel was very fond of Jordan, although she teased them both endlessly. After all, she was an aunt, a sibling and a mother figure all rolled into one. But to Charlie, she was family, even though her behaviour often reminded him of a teasing cat. She meant well, and they were both actually quite fond of her antics. It felt nice for Jordan too to be accepted by his boyfriend's family. And seeing as how he barely remembered his own mother, and had never had any real female figure in his life, he revelled in the way he was accepted into their home. The feeling of love, safety and home that he got each time he set foot in Charlie's family's little house. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, and he cherished it.

But a few days a week, Jordan still had to stay at his own place, and when he did, they couldn't go to school together. Not without risking his father seeing them. When one day Jordan caught a cold, Charlie couldn't even visit him. And going to school, being in school without him was downright painful for him. He still had to go though. His brothers had school too, and he had to walk them home. He needed to set a good example for them. The boys feared that they were being watched, and that meant that they needed to keep up with appearances. If he stopped coming to school just because Jordan missed a few days, that would play them right into his father's hands, and might even put his siblings in danger. Charlie would never risk that.

So he prevailed. His aunt dropped them off as per usual, and he spent his breaks messaging Jordan, both of them checking in on each other, for different reasons. Charlie checked up on him because he ran a fever and because he was living with his father, and Jordan checked up on him because he wasn't there with him. It made him feel unsettled.

During English class, someone knocked on the door to the classroom. It was another teacher. A tall, middle aged man with a weird grin and a crooked back. His head was balding, but for some reason he had let it stay long around the ears. While most of his head was as bald as a bowling ball, the hair above and around his ears was more than long enough to braid. Not that anyone would want to. It looked like it hadn't been washed the last decade. He leaned forward and whispered something in the English teacher's ear.