𝐔𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝙎𝙊𝙎𝙎 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

A Broken Dance

The Tremont was serene and laid-back. Everything appeared tranquil. His sister was at dance while his brother and father were being restrained. 17-year-old Griffin lay sprawled across his bed, scrolling through his phone, without a single concern in sight. All of a sudden, that changed when he heard the front door open. Normally, he wouldn't move away from his location as it would only be his mother and sister, but he felt an urge to get up when he heard screaming and wailing from downstairs. Without further hesitation, Griffin jumped out of bed and hastened down to see what was going on.

Griffin was met with a sense of urgency from his mother Sarah, sister Zoey, Topher, Mrs. Dunn and Harper. It was evidently clear that Harper had sustained several injuries evidenced by the numerous scrapes, cuts and bruises adorning her body. Mrs. Dunn held a tissue up to Harper's nose which seemed to be stemming the flow of blood from an apparent nose bleed; her tears providing further testament to the level of distress she was experiencing.

"What happened?" Griffin asked, his last step to the floor causing anxiety to ripple through his body.

"Tumbling class gone wrong" Topher stated, his voice tinged with remorse.

Griffin's face twisted in confusion and he questioned further.

"She was doing an Ariel, and fell. She was on CONCRETE" Zoey said in a panicked tone.

"Oh God," Griffin uttered under his breath.

Harper could feel pain radiating from her body, but still managed to limp over to her boyfriend for comfort. Jess spotted the trickle of blood coming down Harper's nose and quickly handed her a tissue before Griffin replaced it with his hands.

"I need to run to the store and get some medicine," Jess said breathlessly. "I'll come with you," Sarah declared. Jess nodded in agreement.

"Please get her cleaned up," Jess asked Griffin, her eyes filled with worry. Griffin nodded firmly.

"What do you want us to do?" Zoey questioned.

"Just stay away from Griffin for now," Sarah responded. Zoey and Topher exchanged glances.

At that moment, Wyatt arrived on the scene and saw all the chaos surrounding him. "What's going on here?" he asked curiously.

"Kinda late to the party" Topher mentioned

Sarah turned to Wyatt and his sister, and friend then said firmly, "Please go find your father quickly." With that, she and Jess left in a hurry. The twins and Topher disappeared from sight themselves.

"C'mom Harps" Griffin urged Harper as he tenderly put his hands just beneath her legs and then lifted her up bridal-style. He moved cautiously up the stairs, ensuring that Harper was not feeling any distress. Eventually, Griffin arrived at his bedroom and gently laid Harper on the bed.

Griffin was overwhelmed. He stared at Harper, who was covered in wounds. Though, her nose stopped bleeding. With a gentle nod, he spoke to her comfortingly: "We'll go run some water over your cuts, okay?"

Harper sniffled in response, and Griffin cupped her cheek. "I'm sorry this happened, lovey," he said tenderly before standing and lifting Harper up with ease. He carried her to his bathroom and sat her on the counter. Gently taking off her shoes and socks, Griffin left Harper wearing only shorts and a sports bra.

He then placed her gently on the rim of his bathtub and got the handheld shower head ready for action. Water gradually began warming up as Griffin waited until it was just right before using it to cleanse Harper's wounds.

As the streams of water touched her lacerations, she winced in pain. Griffin apologized sincerely for any discomfort that she experienced. She moved around quite a bit as Griffin ensured that all of her abrasions were thoroughly rinsed with water.

"All done" Griffin declared, shutting off the flowing water. Harper then let out a sigh of relief. He grabbed a towel and proceeded to carefully dry her legs, dabbing at any cuts. After finishing up, he took his first aid kit from the cabinet and carried Harper back to his bed. Kneeling down, Griffin opened the kit and retrieved some adhering wrap to start covering up her wounds.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Griffin stated reassuringly.

"Yeah but it still hurts as heck," she responded with a frown.

"You'll have to be more careful in the future, Muffin."

"It's not my fault; It's my stupid balance"

Griffin couldn't help but chuckle before returning to his task of wrapping up Harper's scrapes on her thigh. After putting away all extra supplies in the first aid kit.

Griffin sighed "No more Ariels for a while, Cutie" He declared

"You can't do that!" Harper exclaimed

"I just did" Griffin reminded

"You'll listen to me" Griffin smiled

"No I won't" Harper scoffed

You'll see" Griffin remarked, before planting a kiss on Harper. He then went about tenderly kissing each of her bruises, causing a smile to form on Harper's face. He didn't overlook the bandages either. That was when the door opened.

"Aww, are you giving Harper's boo-boos some love?" Wyatt joked

"Stop, Wyatt!" Zoey demanded

"What do you guys want?" Griffin inquired

Zoey explained, "Mrs. Dunn has some items for Harper and they picked up Chick-fil-A on the way back home."

Griffin nodded in understanding before rising to his feet. He then reached out and took Harper's hands, helping her carefully rise from his bed. He turned around so she could hop onto his back and he laced his arms under her legs securely. The two 17-year-olds proceeded to the entranceway.

Topher couldn't hold back, as he asked "Did Griffin make your ouchies feel better?" in a baby voice

Harper rolled her eyes but said nothing as Griffin gave Topher a warning look. Wyatt and Topher chuckled at the scene while Zoey intervened "Actually, shut up though!"

Topher immediately complied with her orders whilst Wyatt wore a confused expression "Ohh...so when Zoey orders you to stop you actually do it?". All four teens couldn't help but break into laughter at that moment