Promise

chapter 9

Elijah
I came back from paying to find her crying, it broke my heart seeing her like this, after asking what was wrong, she finally told me and if I thought my heart was broken from seeing her cry I was wrong. She thought I would give her back. How could I possibly give back such a sweet innocent child. From the moment I met her in that alley all I've wanted to do is protect her. I made a stupid mistake of leaving her on her own for a month which I will never do again. Without thinking of how scared she might get from the contact I pull her into a hug,I quickly realise how it could effect her but as I'm about to pull away she hugs back, this makes me hug her tighter, I never wanted to let go. "I'm not gonna send you back" I reassure her and she pulls away "I don't know if I can trust you yet though, I want to but all the families have abused me, even my own mum did" she said and I feel a single tear fall from my cheek "not me, not ever. It's ok that you dont trust me, I understand and I dont care how long it takes you to trust me, I will never leave you" I tell her and i look down at her realising how vulnerable she actually was "but what happens after these 2 weeks" she asks. "Dont even think about it, I'll handle it" I reassure her. "Can we go now" she asks and I nod "yeah, of course and I'll give you a proper tour of your new home once we get back" I tell her, she picks up her milkshake and we head out.

We were stuck in traffic and it didnt look like we were going anywhere anytime soon. She was sleeping, I guess today took alot of energy. I reached into the back seat to pull a blanket from a bag, a spare duvet set and pillows ect was in the back seat along with a blanket I bought her today. She didn't allow me to get her any decor so we comprised on bedding. I draped the blanket over her and grabbed a pillow and rested her head on it, she stirred a little "what are you doing" she mumbled as I placed her head in the pillow. "Just putting your head on the pillow, shhh go back to sleep" I tell her and she closes her eyes again.
A few minutes later on the radio screen of the car it shows that my dad is calling, probably because I had told em that it wasnt a good time. I click answer reluctantly knowing if I didnt answer he would show up at my place "Elijah finally, I've called you 5 times now, you better have a good reason for not answering" he said and I look over at Avery sleeping. "Well" he asks impatiently. I roll my eyes, thankful he cant see. You see the thing about my parents was they were strict with me and my siblings growing up, we had tons of rules and we all followed them, we had to or there was consequences. Then Avery was born and they mellowed out, they were no longer strict, especially my dad. Him and Avery were close, he would spoil her and I would often have to tell him not too because I didnt want her to grow up spoilt but then after I told him not to I would always go and spoil her myself, Sarah was always the loving mother in my eyes and it warmed my heart, I always thought that this was it, I had a family who would always be together, how wrong I was.
"Elijah" my dad shouts down the phone, it was on hands free/bluetooth and unfortunately his shouting woke Avery up. Her head shot up and she looked around from where the voice was coming from, I point to the radio and she calms down and leans back into the seat, holding her blanket close to her chest. "You better answer me Elijah" did I mention my dad had a short temper and was very impatient. "Yes father, I'm here. I'm currently driving though, gotta concentrate on the roads" I tell him. "Em called, apparently tonight isnt a good night. Your mother was looking forward to seeing you" he said which made me feel a little guilty however I pushed it aside, avery wasnt ready to meet my parents or sister yet. She was still fearful of me, I didnt want to push her to much, I wanted everything to be on her terms. "Yes dad, I'm super busy with work and I plan to have a early night" I say hoping he bought the lie. "Well that's bullshit, have you got another girl over, you cant keep putting these hookers before your family" he said and my eyes went wide. Avery. I look to her and she looks scared, I couldnt decide if it was from my dads tone or from what he said. Either way she doesn't need to know this sorta stuff. "I know you have your needs and stuff but you really need to move on from the past, try find a girl that you dont just want sex with" he continues. Fuck. Avery was inches closer to the door. She was scared of me. "I'll call you later" I say and end the call before my dad says anything else that I dont wsnt Avery to know. "Sorry about that, my dad didnt know you were here" I tell her and she nods quickly. She was terrified again, her body started shaking. "Avery hun, what's wrong" I ask hoping for a answer. She doesnt say anything back and I try reaching out to her but she flinched back. That's when the traffic fortunately starts moving again and so I focus on driving.

When we get home, I give her a few bags and grab the the rest myself, excluding the bedding which I would come back for later. We made out way up the elevator and too my apartment, once inside we go to her room and I place everything down. "Want some help with anything" I ask since there was alot. She shakes her head and backs away. I was confused, she was starting to warm up to me until my dad started talking about my sex life, it was more embarrassing then anything nothing she should be afraid of. It started to frustrate me as I didnt know why she was back to square one when we had made so much progress, I wanted to be able to fix all her problems but I couldnt if I didnt know what was wrong. "Why are you being like this, I thought we were getting better, I know you dont trust me but not long ago we hugged and now you are cowering at my touch. What happened" I say, my tone made it clear i was frustrated, annoyed even. "You're dad said you just wanna have sex with girls" she says and I nod a little annoyed how he said that. "Yeah, sorry about that, I do sleep around alot" I tell her knowing that was about to change. "He also asked if you had another girl over" she said and I nodded "and I don't" I reply. "But I'm a girl" she says and I become confused. She was a girl but not the type of girl my father meant. Oh god. No. She doesnt think that. Right? "Avery hun, what are you trying to say" I ask carefully. "He advised you to find a girl you dont want sex with, y...you're n...not g..going t..to d..do th...that t..to m..m..me r..right" she said and I dont know how to react, I felt so many emotions at once.
Anger- because she even thought that
Sick- just by the question
Sadness- because she even asked.
And so many more unwanted feelings.
"No Avery" I say and walk out I know I should comfort her but just the very question made me want to punch something. My phone rang again and I pulled it from my pocket, I was in no mood to talk to anyone.
"What" I shout down the phone, not even bothering to see who it was.
"How dare you hang up on me" I glare at my phone, it was my dad. Just great. "Look I'm busy, you can all come round in a few days." I say and end the call again. I left my apartment and headed to the indoor gym a few floors down. I had to take my anger out on something and that something was going to be a punch bag.