Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Twenty-Six; Come Home

After Janelle changed into her clothes, just putting on the outfit she wore yesterday, she decided to sit and check her phone since she didn't really want to go back downstairs right away.

She sat down on the bed, which was still slightly warm from when she had been sleeping only a little more than fifteen minutes ago. She picked up her phone, which she had placed on the nightstand last night, turning on the screen.

She saw that she had a missed call from her brother, so she immediately dialed him back, knowing that she really needed someone other than Ryan to vent to right now.

It only rang a few times, before she heard shuffling on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?" Her brother's voice came through the speaker, causing her to almost begin crying, telling him everything that she had been through in the past few days. Yet, she kept her composure, swallowing back the lump in her throat.

"Hey, Matt.." she mumbled. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," He said. "I just wanted to check up on you. How've you been?"

She swallowed again, sighing. "I don't know.." she muttered, looking up at the door, almost wishing she wasn't in this room right now. Wishing she was back in her own home, with her boyfriend, with things back to normal.

"Janelle, what's up?" Matthew Asked concernedly.

"J-Joshua cheated on me again.." she mumbled.

"You're back with Joshua?" Matthew Shouted, causing Janelle to wince a bit. "That idiot? Janelle, you know you deserve better."

"That's not all.." Janelle sighed. "Somebody I know decided to come and teach him a lesson after Abby told him about it. Did I mention at the restaurant? I got fired."

"Holy shit.." Matthew sighed as well.

"There's more.." she mumbled.

"You have to be kidding me."

"Nope.." she continued. "When Joshua and I went home, he...hit me."

Matthew gasped. "W-What?" He asked. "He hit you? Where the hell are you? Are you safe?"

"I'm fine, Matt." Janelle swallowed. "In fact, I'm at Ryan's, the house belonging to the guy who nearly beat Joshua to a pulp yesterday."

"I wish he would've killed him." Matthew growled. "Are you going to call the police?"

"You and I both know the police won't do anything," Janelle Said. "Besides, Joshua has a way of convincing people that he's such a good guy. They wouldn't believe me, anyway."

"So What're you going to do?" Her brother questioned.

"Go home and fix my relationship before it's too late." She shrugged.

"Janelle, are you kidding me?"

"It's the only thing I can do, Matthew." Janelle raised her voice a little. "He's the only man that genuinely cares about me, and I'm not going to throw that away because he hit me once."

Matthew scoffed. "Do you hear yourself, Janelle?" He asked. "He hit you! He's cheated on you, not once, but twice!"

"People make mistakes." She retorted.

"He's really got you convinced, huh?" He laughed ironically. "What happened to the Janelle that said she'd never let a man hit her, Never let a man disrespect her? Where the hell did she go?"