It’s not my secret to tell.
“Nothing, just emotion overload,” I say sadly.
J
ulian’s hand cups my jaw and he brings my face up to his. “You okay?” he whispers as he studies my face.
I smile and nod. The lump in my throat hurts as I try to hold back more tears. Willow has such a hard road ahead of her. It’s overwhelming and my chest hurts.
I’m not okay.
An hour of crying and a shower later, I finally crawl into bed. I’m exhausted from not sleeping last night and I’m hoping everything will seem better in the morning. Julian had to wait for Lola to leave before he could come down. He’s probably fallen asleep by now. He’s tired, too, after searching for our mischievous kitten all night. I get a vision of him walking around outside in the dark with a flashlight and it makes me smile.
He makes out he’s so tough, but I know the truth.
The door creaks open slowly, and then I hear the lock click. Knowing he’s here makes me smile into my pillow.
He comes around to my side of the bed. "Hey," he whispers.
“Hi.” I smile up at him. Last night was the first night we slept apart since we became a thing. I missed him.
He slowly undresses and crawls under the blankets beside me, taking me into his arm. The second I cling to him my emotions rise again and I tear up.
“What’s wrong, baby?” he whispers.
The lump in my throat aches so bad. “I’m just tired, and I’m scared for Will.”
“It’s okay. She’ll be okay, I promise you.” He leans up to rest on his elbow, offering me a kiss of reassurance
"Promise me that whatever happens, you will always be on her side," I beg him softly.
He frowns down at me. “You know I will. I love her. Of course, I’ll always be on her side.”
I imagine how he is going to react when he finds out she might be gay and it makes more tears run down my face. He won’t cope with it. I know he won’t. I can’t imagine how scared she must be.
He leans closer. “Hey,” he whispers, pushing the hair back from my face. “What’s causing all these tears?”
I shrug and force a smile.
“Roll over,” he tells me.
I roll over so that my back is to him, and he wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek. “Go to sleep, baby. You’re delirious.”
I feel so safe in his arms and I close my eyes as he trails kisses over my shoulder. “I love you,” he murmurs into my hair.
Guilt hits me in the chest. “I love you, too.”
It’s been two weeks since Will has been to school. The two girls who did it were expelled, but it doesn’t really matter to us anymore. Joseph and Frances thankfully talked Julian into letting Willow leave that school, and now she is working at Masters Group as a trainee, and a tutor is coming in and doing lessons with her every afternoon. She’s happy and smiling for the first time in a long time. Today is her first soccer game. She’s not playing any of the nasty girls, and we all agreed that her sporting activities are something she should never give up.
I sit in my fold up chair next to Julian so we can watch the game.
“Julian?” Jessica calls as she power walks over to us. “Have you been hiding from me, darling?” She rests her hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing tonight?”
My eyes flicker over to him and I give him the look. I’m sick of this bitch cracking onto my man in front of me.
Julian seems to get the hint. “Can you take your hand off me, please?” He sighs.
“What?” Her face falls in surprise.