Adopted by Luke Hemmings

Chapter 17

Collin's point of view

"Hey Collin," Kyle said as she walked into my room. I looked at her and she sat beside me. "What was that lie about dude?"

"I didn't want any-anyone to really know about that all. I'm already a h-hand full." I said quietly and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"You are not a hand full and you are not problematic Collin," she said and set her hand on top of mine. "Trust me." She added and I just nodded.

"You'll have to tell someone Collin. If you don't, it's just going to get worse." She told me and I sighed. "Please Collin. I don't want to lose you to bullying too."

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe it's a sensitive subject and she doesn't want to talk about it, like me and my real family, so I kept quiet.

"You can't just push it aside as if it doesn't matter." She said quietly before looking at me. "You can't just pretend as if it doesn't happen or bother you." She said and I flipped my hand over, slowly, carefully lacing our fingers together.

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" She asked me worriedly. "I don't want you to end up doing something you'll regret because of this."

"Yeah." I said softly and looked down at our hands. "I'm sure." I said and she began to pick at my bracelets, turning them and reading what some of them said.

"Wrists are for bracelets, not for cutting." She read one out loud and then looked at me. "That's Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens. He said that." She said and I nodded.

"Yeah," I said and she went back to looking at the millions of bracelets on my wrist. She had tons of bracelets as well, and they were all dark, like mine.

"What's that mark?" She asked me and I panicked. I was going to pull my wrist away and lie, but she already saw them before I could even blink.

"Oh." She said softly, tracing the tan, pink, and red slashes with her thumb. "Why?" She asked me and looked at me.

"Life... Life isn't how I thought it'd be when I was a baby." I said quietly and she nodded, telling me she understood perfectly. "It's cold and it's harsh and it's rough."

"Drugs instead of candy and alcohol instead of juice. Pills instead of mints and razor blades instead of bracelets." She continued and I looked at her.

She looked at me with watery eyes and then gave me a small smile. "Just promise me you won't do it again? Please?" She asked, her thumb still rubbing where the bracelets were split in half.

"I-I can't make that promise." I told her. "I can't promise anything anymore." I choked out and she buried her face in my neck. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." She said and I closed my eyes. "I know how hard it is." She told me and I could feel her tears on my skin.

I didn't like it. I didn't like her crying or hurting. I didn't like when she was upset. I wanted her to be nothing but happy. I wanted her to smile and laugh and joke around, not frown, cry, and sound so... morose.

"Don't be sad." I said quietly, not very good at the whole comforting thing. "It's okay." I said and she sniffled.

"Sad is such a small word." She said and I looked at her. "It's such a small word for something so big, for a feeling so big." She muttered and I just nodded.

"If I... If I show you something, you won't hate me, right?" She asked and I shook my head.

"I could never hate you."