Because You Need Someone: Book 1 in the Need Trilogy: The Pack: Merome

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Truth

Let's just not talk about what happened yesterday with what my friend did to my account.

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Jerome had wakened up to Mitch get out of bed. Jerome grabs the back of Mitch's shirt, whining. Mitch looks behind him, at Jerome.

"I have to go, I'll be back in a few hours. Preston is going to be taking care of you till Rob and I come back." Mitch said. Jerome's grip tightens on his shirt, not wanting him to leave. When Preston came back, Jerome's pain came back and he was desperate to stop it. Since then, Mitch has been on his phone while Jerome was snuggled up against his side. Mitch turns to Jerome. "Jerome, you can survive a few hours without me." Jerome shakes his head. Mitch loses his smile. "You can't come with me. You are staying here and resting like the doctor said." Jerome let go of Mitch, he laid back down still looking at Mitch. Mitch turned away from Jerome, grabbing his jacket before he left the room. Jerome closed his eyes, gripping the pillow in his fist. He lets out a shaky breath, burying his face in his pillow.

Mitch walked pass Rob, not wanting to go anywhere cause he asked Rob to tell Carrie the truth. The truth that scared him, the stuff he was afraid of remembering and has nightmares about sometimes. He got into the car with Rob going into the driver's seat. Mitch stayed silent the entire drive, Rob got the address from Lillian. So when they pulled up, Rob parked and looked at Mitch. Mitch stared at the dashboard.

"Mitch, I won't say anything you don't want me too," Rob said. Mitch grips his sweatshirt.

"You shouldn't let me have that, Rob. I'll just say to stay in the car because I don't want her to know anything about my pathetic life." Mitch said. Rob's eyes soften, he looks away. 'Was is this giving me deja vu? I know why, because that reminds me of myself, some time ago actually.' Rob thought. Rob and Mitch got out, walking in and going into the waiting room as they checked in. Rob could see Mitch trembling.

"Mitch--"

"I-I'm fine," Mitch mumbled, his voice shaky. When Carrie came out, Rob stood. He looked at Mitch and then looked at Carrie.

"Mitch wants me to talk to you, alone for him," Rob said. Mitch looks at Rob. Rob meets his eyes. "That's okay, right? I can tell you aren't comfortable with this." Mitch nods and looks at the floor. Rob follows Carrie to her office.

"I'm sure Mitch told you, but I'm Carrie." She said as they sat.

"I'm Rob, one of Mitch's friends. He asked me to tell you what's been going on because he didn't trust himself to tell you." Rob said. She nods and grabs a clipboard and a pencil.

"I'm happy he asked you, that's good." She said. He smiles a little and nods.

"Okay, so this started a year or two years ago. I'm not sure on the timeline. But has he mentioned Jessica to you?" Rob asks. She nods.

"He has mentioned her." She said.

"Jessica is his x-girlfriend. Mitch and she recently broke up, but that isn't what is bothering him. Jessica starting abusing Mitch physically and mentally for months. I don't know how I didn't know something was up with him." Rob said. She looks at him.

"Jessica victimized him. She made him feel like he had no one to turn to, that's what abusers make their victims feel in order to keep the relationship." She said.

"Jessica was only dating him because of...did he tells you about his job?" Rob asks. She nods. "Okay well, that's all Jessica wanted. She wanted his YouTube money. And whenever he tried to end it, she wouldn't let him and would hurt him for it. Jerome, another one of his friends, flew to Canada to check up on Mitch since Mitch went dark for three weeks straight. This all happened when Mitch still lived in Canada by the way. And Jerome told me that Mitch was getting better when he was there, but Jessica found out that Jerome was there and..I assume you know how she reacted. After that Mitch started getting worse, sinking in his depression. It got so bad that he, that he tried to...commit suicide with an opioid overdose. He didn't die, but he put himself in a coma for a long time. When he woke up, Jerome took Mitch to Florida immediately. His parents didn't want Mitch in Canada anymore, Jessica was still there and he had to leave the house. But now I'm wondering if it was the right thing to do." She nods.

"Yeah, I think so. His home had too many bad memories for him, the longer he stayed there the worse things would get. Even after waking up from that coma, going back there would have been toxic to him. He needed a fresh start. What Mitch lacked and what could have been a big difference was that he needed to feel appreciated. He needed to feel like he actually had someone who cared, Jessica did a lot of damage to his emotional and mental state with the physical and I'm assuming verbal abuse." She said.

"That's what I thought too. That's why I was glad Jerome brought him home here. And yet things got worse before they got better. And even now, things aren't really better."

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Mitch picked his head up when he heard his name get called. He stood up, Rob standing beside her. She smiles at him.

"Do you want Rob to come or stay?" She asks. Mitch looks at Rob.

"Stay." He said. Rob nods and walks past, Mitch.

"I'm fine with that." He said before he sat in a chair. Mitch and Carrie went to her office.

"I'm glad you had Rob talk to me, Mitch." She said. Mitch sat on the couch, feeling uncomfortable again. His heart was hearing and he was feeling the panic in his chest rising. 'She knows. She knows everything, that should be a good thing. Instead, I feel as if I'm going to have a heart attack.' Mitch thought. Carrie smiles a little, she sits down next to Mitch. Mitch sit stuck in his thoughts, didn't notice that she had put her arms around him. Mitch was shocked at first but found an odd comfort. "You've had a hard life, and I'll always be here to help you. I know you probably aren't very comfortable talking about this." She lets go of him and rest her hands in her lap. "Mitch, what do you like to do?" Mitch hesitated, thinking.

"Lillian took me roller skating last week. That was fun." Mitch said. She smiles a little.

"Have you taken your friends there since you got here?" She asks. Mitch shakes his head.

"B-But...Jessica she....she's here." Mitch said. Carrie loses her smile.

"She is? Did she do anything?" She asks. Mitch stays silent, Carrie looks away from Mitch. "Mitch, you aren't in Canada anymore. Stop being afraid, I know you must still love this girl, but.....you've been pushing her away this whole time." Mitch looks at her.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"That you should call the police if she shows up again. She won't leave you alone, Mitch. She's been abusing you, that's enough for the police to get involved. And I know they want to see it happen before they arrest someone, but your...but you can tell that something is wrong but looking at you and the video you posted on Youtube. And not the mention what happened at the hospital." She said.

"She said she would kill me before they got there if I ever did that," Mitch said. Carrie looks at him. She touches his arm.

"I don't think I would be able to help you until Jessica is taken care of. I may be able to improve your emotional state, but if she keeps coming back, you'll be back down to square one. And remember Mitch, you have friends who can help you." She said. She can tell that he calmed down, making her smile. "Good..now lets gets started."