The Truths That We Hide

𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮

At the end of the day, Bree was tired. God, she felt like she could easily fall asleep right there but somehow managed to keep her eyes open. Tiredness wasn't even physical that sleep could magically fix.

No, her mind and emotions were overwhelmed by everything that happened tonight. Everything was alright in the morning when she had woken up and did her morning routine with Quentin.

It was like any other morning. A few hours later she got a phone call from the kindergarten. He had gotten sick and she was asked to get him home, away from other kids.

Of course, she got worried but it wasn't a big deal. He had been sick before which was normal for everyone. There was no reason to cry over it.

No, she became hysterical when she tried to call her brother who could pick him up. He had told her that he didn't have work today and she hadn't even thought of the possibility that he wouldn't answer. He always answered if he wasn't at work.

She gave up after trying to call him for god knows how many times. She had horrible memories in her mind of Brett being shot and in the hospital because of his dangerous work. That had happened way too many times and every day she was scared that someone would tell her that he had been killed. Just like Xavier.

If that wasn't enough, she had a meeting with Xavier's parents. Last night when Quentin was already sleeping, they had called and asked to talk with Bree on the next day, properly this time where everything was discussed. She had no idea where they got her number but guessed that owning a billionaire company helped with it.

It was safe to say that she was overwhelmed with different feelings because of them and even their son. It didn't make it any easier that her mind was playing tricks on her. She was afraid that they would take her son away from her and use him as a doll in their company.

She didn't have much money to fight against them if it came to that, not like they did. Agreeing to have dinner with them was one way to prevent it from happening and hope for the best. She had tried not to think of the worst option of what will happen.

She wasn't one to show others her weakness unless they were really special to her. She always tried to avoid crying in public and held back the tears until she was safe in her own house where no one could judge her. Now, she tried to do it again but it didn't work.

Everything - Quentin, Brett, Xavier and his parents and now even Chris - felt overwhelming and even small things seemed bigger. She tried to handle it like a strong woman she was pretending to be until she couldn't anymore.

Then she cried. This was one of those moments where she hated to be so sensitive and simply over-emotional. It was a wonder how Xavier ever tolerated such a crybaby, let alone fell in love with her.

She was aware that Chris was in the room the second he stepped in but was too tired to care about it. So, she let him be there with her and say things that were probably supposed to comfort her.

After a while of just enjoying the silence and sitting there in the other's presence, but not touching, they agreed that he could go get Quentin. He had to take her car because his own was in Colorado and he had been using a taxi and public transportation till now. She could easily use a bus. That wasn't a problem.

Instead, she wasn't sure if she was a fool to trust her son with Chris but right now, he was her only option because her brother didn't answer her calls and she had to leave soon to her meeting with Xavier's parents.

After Chris left to get Quentin, she kept trying to find a way to make sure that her brother was safe. He called her ten minutes later and explained that he had a surprise shift at work and didn't have his own, personal phone with him.

When he was done, she was cursing at him for making her panic like that and for the fact that because of him, she had to trust her son with Chris. That had made Brett angry, scared for both her sister and nephew who was close to the man who he had heard nothing but bad things.

"He's only looking out for Quentin one day when no one else can't. And for some reason I trust him, I really do. You know I wouldn't have let him do this if I didn't. So if you can't trust him, then trust me."

Brett understood, of course he did when she put it like this. He also knew how important her meeting with Xavier's parents was, especially after they made sure she understood how busy people they were and that they didn't have much free time for a 'small talk' like they put it.

In other words, it was today or months, possibly even years after that and Bree didn't want to wait that long.

🌺🌺🌺

It was already almost 6pm when she came home. Her meeting took longer than she excepted, especially when they were late for more than half an hour which they didn't even apologize for. She was just glad when they got into an agreement that it was better for everyone that they weren't involved in Quentin's life.

They might be Xavier's parents but they weren't Bree's family. No wonder that he had wanted them out of his life. At first, they weren't showing any signs of understanding but after explaining it many times, Quentin and his future in her head, they agreed.

She didn't know what to expect when she would open the door and go inside. She knew from experience that no one should never expect anything from Chris. She hadn't heard anything from him but hoped that he was still inside looking after Quentin. If not, she would kill him for leaving him alone, no matter what excuse he had.

"Hello?" Bree whispered in case Quentin was sleeping. For some reason, she was surprised to see Christian looking at some movie in the living room. Her television, in her home.

Okay. Nothing is wrong. You were part of this, you gave him permission to come.

"Hey, you're home", Chris said with a raised eyebrows, immediately turning the television off. She smiled but didn't know what to say. All she wanted was to go sleep with Quentin in her arms but she knew better than do that.

Even though she hated to admit it, she owed him now. A lot. It might not have been almost-death-situation but for her, it was. Her son was sick and she wasn't there to help him. Instead, she sent Chris, her so-called arch-enemy as she thought of him years ago.

Still, she was aware that there was no way in hell that she would have allowed that to happen if she didn't trust him at least a little like she had said to Brett. And tonight, that 'little' was enough for him to prove that she did the right thing.

The first thing she did was to ask how was Quentin, sounding a lot like a worried mother that she was even in her own ears. She hated the fact that she was so long away from her son who needed her.

"He's fine. He threw up couple of times before falling asleep. He did wake up once or twice but he was back sleeping when I last checked him," he looked at her and smiled, probably trying to get her to trust him again. Trust that her son was safe with him every minute in those five hours that they were together at her apartment.

And now he had it. Apart from their past, she didn't have any reason not to trust the man standing next to her, smiling like a little boy who did something well.

"Thanks," she answered, giving him a tired smile back but she knew that he understood that it was the word that mattered. This was probably the first time when either one of them had thanked the other for something during all those years that they had known each other.

"No problem, Ariel."