Finally Wanted

Chapter Seventeen

Trigger Warning: The act of cutting 

Tensions were running high the next day, you didn't have to be a genius to figure out why. Everyone was stressing about Lou's visit that night, especially since no one knew what she wanted to talk about. 

Corbin managed to steer clear of Aiden's cronies at school, which helped a lot. The last thing he wanted or needed at the moment was a run in with them. 

When he got home from school, he felt that he was going to burst from all the nervous tension in his body. So he hurried into his bedroom and, tossing his bag onto the bed, he ran into the bathroom. 

Pulling his shirt off, he gently pulled the bandage off his waist to reveal fresh cut lines. He hissed as the fresh air hit them, and then placed the blade against his skin and dragged it across once, twice, three times. 

He let out a breath as his body slowly relaxed. He grabbed a wad of toilet paper and cleaned the blood from the cut, then took the antiseptic ointment and rubbed it onto the cute, wincing at the sharp pain.

He re-bandaged his side and slipped a t-shirt on, shedding his school pants and tugging on a pair of sweats. He dropped onto his bed as exhaustion clouded his mind an he fell into a sound sleep. 

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At around seven o'clock that evening, Lou arrived in all her paper wielding glory. She greeted each of the boys enthusiastically and took a seat at the table. 

"Where's Corbin?" She inquired, taking out a few sheets of paper and laying them in front of her. 

"He's in bed." Louis told her, placing a mug of tea in front of her. "He's been asleep since three-thirty." 

Lou smiled. "Bad day, huh?" 

"Anyway, what did you want to talk to us about?" Liam asked. 

"Well, actually, I was going to present the question of you boys fostering Corbin, however, we have a family who is willing to take Corbin." Lou explained. 

There was a beat of silence. 

"Oh, well, that's good." Niall said carefully, glancing over to Zayn, who had his lips pressed together tightly. 

"Who are the family?" Harry asked, visibly upset. "And why wasn't I told of this? Especially since Corbin is my case." 

"I know Harry, but I was only informed of this a few hours ago." Lou said. "The family is Mr. and Mr. Stelle-Lesslie." 

"Two males." Zayn sat back in defeat. "Corbin's gonna blow a fuse." 

At those words, Corbin shuffled into the room, rubbing his eyes and looking incredibly soft. He paused when he saw them. "What's going on?" He asked, his voice guarded. 

"I've got a home for you Corbin." Lou said, smiling brightly. 

Corbin tilted his head. "Who are they?" 

"Richard and Alec Stelle-Lesslie." Lou told him. 

Immediately, Corbin tensed. "Are they married?" When Lou nodded, Corbin shook his head and took a step back. 'No, no no no no no." 

"Corbin, it's okay, take a deep breath." Zayn said, getting to  his feet and taking a step forward. 

"No, no I'm not going." Corbin's breaths started to pick up as unwanted and bad memories filtered into his head until they were all he could see. He backed up until his back hit the wall. He felt caged in, the wall against his back and a person in front. He didn't know who it was, he couldn't see for his vision was too obscured with his tears. 

But the moment the person took hold of his arm, he freaked. Pushing them away roughly, he sprinted to where he knew the front door was. He pulled it open and ran down the driveway, onto the road, all the while letting out harsh sobs that hurt his chest. 

He ran until he couldn't run, ending up at a beautiful lake that shimmered under the moonlight. But the beauty was lost to him as he collapsed onto the floor and cried.