Saving Him • editing/rewriting

thirty one-face down

"do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?"
~The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Chapter Thirty One

"You and Lola need to get out of here right now." Tom said, a hard look on his face. It took me a second to register what he was saying. But when it did, I felt a chill go up my spine. Why? What was going on?

"Wait why?" Asked Lauren repeating my thoughts exactly, marching up to Tom. "What's going on?"

He sighed aggravatedly, "Look I'll explain later but right now, we need to get them out of here." He said as he walked over to me and grabbed my arm gently. He glanced over at Hunter briefly. "Keep all the doors locked after we leave and don't open them."

Hunter's eyebrows creased together forming a confused frown and he looked as if he was bursting to ask a billion question but he simply nodded.

Tom seemed satisfied with his response as he dragged me away from them to towards the back door.

"Katie, be careful. Please." I glanced back to see Hunter looking at me with worry lining his face.  I nodded and followed Tom out the door.

The cool night air hit my skin sending a shiver up my my spine. I wished I brought a jacket with me.

"Here, put this on." Tom said softly as he handed me his flannel. I took it gratefully.

"Thanks."

He had his hand securely on my arm as he guided me through the side of the house and towards the front yard.

"Why didn't we just go out the front door?" I asked Tom in a hushed voice. "Can you at least tell me where the hell you're taking me?"

I felt irritation bubble up inside of me, not knowing a thing about what was happening and not knowing why Lola and I specifically needed to get out of there. 

"We're going over to mine. Your mum took Lola to the hospital after her panic attack but she'll come there after." He explained. "I'll tell you everything once we get there, okay? I just- I just need to figure out the right way to tell you."

I let his words sink in for a second as we rushed across the dimly lit street to his house which stood only mere minutes away. I didn't push him to say anything more. Whatever was happening was obviously bad and Tom was doing such a good job of taking care of Lola and now me.

Before I knew it, we reached his house but instead of going up the front steps, we went though the side again and through to the back door. He swiftly got his keys out and unlocked it. Suddenly, warmth and the smell of home cooked dinner surrounded me making the uneasy feeling inside of me instantly vanish. I always wondered how Tom ended up with such a horrible eating disorder in a beautiful household and family like this.

"Tom?" I heard Pam call out from inside.

"Yeah mum, it's me." He called back as he led me into the kitchen.

Pam took one look at me and embraced me with tears in her eyes. "Oh it'll be okay, honey. You're safe here."

I was perplexed as I still had no idea what was happening. Was my safety at risk? Once she let me go, I turned to face Tom with a look. He seemed to understand what I meant as he sighed.