The Truth ✔

Chapter 38 ~

Whitney's POV

It's been a little over a week since we met Layla's real dad and stepmom. They are staying at my aunts and uncle's house since that has been Layla's home for the past few months. They were able to go to the courthouse and get Kaleb's parents temporarily released from jail pending on a DNA test from Layla and Adam.

If the DNA test proves that Adam is Layla's biological father than all charges against Kaleb and his family will be completely dropped and wiped from their records. The most important thing now is to find Layla and Kaleb. We are all looking for them but have no way of reaching them nor do we even have a clue where they could be.

I'm in the kitchen trying to make sandwiches for everyone when a loud crashing sound from the living room causes me to drop what I'm doing. Running into the living room I stop at the doorway when I see glass littering the floor.

"Fuck you, Jake." Connor screams.

"You sure are all one to talk, asshole." Jake bellows as he knocks a lamp over. "You aren't the only one who cares about Layla and Kaleb."

"Calm down, Connor." My Aunt Abby says as she slowly and cautiously approaches Connor.

She places her hand on his shoulder, but he jumps away from her as if her touch would cause him to burn. "Don't fucking touch me and don't fucking tell me to calm the fuck down." He bellows.

Surveying the room, I see that Jake's arm cover in blood and Daniel and my uncle are trying to hold him back "Let me the fuck go." He yells as he thrashes in their grip. "We can't just fucking sit here. If they find her first, he'll make sure we never see her again. If y'all won't find them I will."

Everyone in the room is silent and looks terrified of Jake and Connor. I feel stupid just standing here, but I still don't know what happened. "Daniel, how about you and the girls go to the other room and give Connor and Jake a minute to cool off." My uncle says.

Daniel quickly escorts Summer and Winter towards me. "Come on, Babe. I'll explain everything to you in the kitchen."

I follow my boyfriend, Winter and Summer into the kitchen. Both girls are in tears while Daniel looks exhausted. "W-what happened in there?" I ask.

Daniel sighs. "On the news today, Layla's stepdad and stepbrother made another nationwide plea to the public asking for help to find her. They said that she was in danger, and the guy she is with is a threat to her life. Connor thinks it would be best to let the police find them while Jake thinks we should be out looking for them." Daniel sighs. "One thing leads into another and both of them start throwing shit at each other and now Abby's TV and coffee table are broken."

"W-what? Is everybody okay at least?"

"J-Jake's arm has a cut on it." Summer sniffles.

"I've never seen Connor so angry before Especially at one of us." Winter says.

I stay silent thinking over both options. We could let the police find them, but her stepdad is a very powerful guy and could have the police in his pocket. If he gets a hold of Layla first, he'll make sure that we never see her again. Knowing him, he will also make sure that Kaleb and his parents are locked away for a long time even though they didn't do anything wrong.

On the other hand, if we go and look for her on our own, we take the chance of her stepdad and stepbrother coming after us. We could be their only chance though, but where would we even look for them at?

"What do y'all think we should do?" I ask.

"I think Jake is right. It's not doing anyone any good with us just sitting here." Daniel says. "We don't know who all her stepdad has in his pocket. We need to find them before the wrong person does."

"I disagree. What happens if we run into one of the people he has on his side? We'll all be in for it then. We need to stay here and let the police do their job." Winter says oppose Daniel.

Summer sighs. "While I hate agreeing with Connor, he's right. It is far too dangerous for us to try and find them. We wouldn't even know where to look."

"What do you think, Babe?"

I take a deep breath in trying to collect my thoughts before I speak. Our group of friends has never been divided before. This whole thing could tear us apart, but Kaleb and Layla are in danger while being away from us and I can't just sit here and do nothing. "I agree with you and Jake. We need to find them. We have a better chance at finding them anyways. We've all been friends since we were little except for Layla, we know how Kaleb thinks. We know things about him that others wouldn't know."

A few moments later Jake and Connor walk into the room looking visibly calmer than before, but I can still feel the tension between them. Neither of them will make eye contact with each other and as they walk to separate sides of the room.

Everyone in the room remains eerily silent. So silent in fact that I feel like I am being suffocated. Not being able to handle the silence anymore, I slam my fists onto the dining room table. "Everyone needs to stop with the bullshit. We are divided but we can't allow that to tear us apart. We've been friends since we were all little. We're a family."

Connor sighs. "You're right, Whitney, I am truly sorry for causing a scene in there."

"Me too." Jake says in return. "So, what do we do now?"

As I look at my friends, I realize we can have it both ways. "Connor, Summer and Winter will stay here while myself, Daniel and Jake will go out looking for Layla and Kaleb. We will keep in communication with each other and rely any new information we find out to one another. Does everyone agree with that?" Everyone nods in agreement as we all finally sit down to eat the sandwiches I had made earlier. Tomorrow we will start our search for our friends.