Inferno

~193~ Spill The Tea

Ellie's POV

We get downstairs and Taylor grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug.

"That one sucked" he says sadly. I just nod. That one really sucked.

When we get into the kitchen, Dylan and Josie are at the table with Mason. They won't even look at us. Those poor kids look scared out of their minds.

I tap on Taylor's shoulder and he looks at me. I glance at the table and he looks, staring at them hard. He sees it too. He sighs and shakes his head. Then he leans in and whispers.

"I wonder what that man really did to them" he says darkly.

I shrug. "Maybe nothing. Mental abuse is powerful" I say softly.

He nods as he sits at the table.

"You guys ok?" He asks softly.

Dylan looks at him and gives him a tiny nod...Josie scoots closer to Mason.

Mason notices immediately and puts his arm around her, kissing her hair.

"Josie, can you look at me for a minute?" Taylor asks. He's upset.

She looks at him quickly, and her eyes are pure terror.

"This is a safe place for you. No one will hurt you and no one will belittle you" he says gently.

She says nothing. She looks down at the table and continues doing her homework.

Taylor gets up silently and goes to the fridge. Luke comes down a minute later, and I see Josie staring at him hard.

"You have homework?" Taylor asks.

"Yes sir" Luke says as he grabs his book bag and sits next to Josie.

"Where's Trace?" I ask, looking around.

"Wes came over and got him" Mason says.

"He in trouble?" I ask.

Mason nods.

"This wasn't his fault" Luke says, getting upset.

"He let you text" Taylor says simply.

"I want to have a chat with Emma" Taylor says, looking around.

"No way" Luke snaps.

Taylor looks at him, surprised.

"She told me to quit and I basically told her to shut up. She did nothing wrong" Luke says darkly.

I see Josie and Dylan both tense up, staring at Taylor. Taylor sees it too, and I'm praying he watches his words very carefully.

"Ok" he says simply and goes back to his soda.

Dylan and Josie are surprised, but they go back to their homework.

At dinner, it's pretty quiet. Luke is hurting, and he's shifting in his seat quite a bit. Emma's head is hurting, and she's eating quietly. The kids never talk. I'm pretty sure Mason and Sasha are in an argument, so they aren't talking. It's just Taylor and I who are talking back and forth.

Suddenly Josie reaches for her tea, and accidentally knocks it over. The tea spills all over the table, all over Mason's plate, and goes into Taylor's lap. Josie immediately flinches and starts to cry.

"Sweetheart it's ok" I say, going up to her and kissing her head.

Taylor starts chuckling. "Dang that's cold. It's in my underwear" he laughs, standing up and helping to clean the mess.