My Straight Teacher? [Discontinued]

21-"It'll be okay."

A/N:

Because I was gone for so long, I'm posting two chapters! I'll finally be going back to my normal Monday/Thursday updates. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the wait.

Ajax-

I sighed, explaining the story for the hundredth time.

"I was babysitting Griffin with Addy, Echo, and Grace. It was all going great until Addy got a text from Duke, her boyfriend, about a party.

"She left. I let her go, but it just... it just didn't feel right. I wasn't sure why. I thought it might have been because Eric, the white guy, beat me up a week before.

"So, I left Griffin with Grace, and hopped in my car. Echo told me not to, but Grace said it was okay. I drove over here, getting Addy's location from Find-My-Friends. The light in the basement was on, so I just sat beside the window, listening.

"It was just some drunk conversations, at first. But then I heard yelling from Addy. I looked inside the window, and saw Eric, Daniel, and Duke all unzipping their flys. Eric said he got to go first.

"I knew what was happening, obviously. So, I kicked open the window, jumping in. I punched Eric, he tried to tackle me, and I beat him up—for self defense, of course. By this point, Addy was blacked out on the couch. I punched Dan and Duke—again, self defense—then called you guys."

The police officer nodded, putting the little notebook he was taking notes in back in his pocket. "Thank you, Ajax. We'll make sure to keep in touch." I nodded, walking over to Mom and Dad as the officer—Officer Hudson—went over to question the Harris brothers.

"Will she be okay?" I asked Mom.

She hugged me. I barely even registered the tears that occasionally slid down my face. "Ajax, thank god," she sighed in a shaky voice.

I hugged her back. "Will Addy be okay?" I repeated.

Mom sniffed, trying to compose herself. Dad cut in. "She'll be fine physically," he explained. "Even though she was blacked out, they believe that she will start to remember what happened. She'll need therapy, of course. Emotional damage, mostly."

My mind wasn't processing anything, but my mouth was ready and rambling. "Where is she? Can I see her? What'll happen to her?" I asked more and more questions, giving no time for them to be answered.

Dad put his hand out. "Ajax, just—"

"I need to see her, Dad," I told him. "I need to."

He sighed, but nodded. "Okay. She's still out cold, though." I nodded.

He led me to the ambulance, where doctors were checking Addy to see if she was seriously hurt anywhere. I was suddenly aware of the tears that started pouring out of my eyes.

My knees felt weak. I waited until the doctors were done checking her out before doing anything.

I gently touched the back of my hand to her forehead. "Please be okay, Addy," I whispered in a shaky voice.

I heard a sniff from behind me, and turned around. It was Dad.

Dad was in full on tears, snot running down his face and body shaking. I felt so bad about not doing anything sooner that I forgot about Dad.

Anything involving alcohol was a tough subject for Dad. He rarely had any alcohol, and never got enough to get drunk. He told us to not have too much to drink, but he told us we could do it if we wanted.

But...

Not only was Addy drinking, she was underage drinking. I could only imagine the memories of Uncle Jax that this brought up.

I don't know what made me feel compiled to do what I did next.

I went over to Dad and hugged him. "It'll be okay," I told him.

This wasn't the first time I had seen Dad in this way. He still woke up from nightmares in sweats and tears.

"She'll be okay," I assured him.

I didn't mention the money they'd have to pay, the community service she might have to do, and the added expense of therapy. For a second, I just let it go. I let it all go.

But, seconds end.

We pulled away, eyes locking as we silently agreed to never talk about the moment again.

I walked back over to Mom. I started pacing around the sidewalk, when the doctors finally told us it was okay. They said that they'd have to take Addy over to the hospital, but that she was in good physical health.

We drove over to the hospital, and waited for a while until Addy finally woke up. We all immediately rushed in, but I was the first.

I wrapped my arms around her, and felt a tear escape my eye. "Addy," I cried. "Addy, you're okay." I stroked her brown hair, and saw her chuckle slightly.

"Well," she answered, "I had to be. What would you do without me?"

I chuckled, too, and allowed Mom and Dad to hug her. We talked with the doctor for a while, though I tuned out most of it.

When I finally got a chance to talk to Addy alone, I couldn't even think of anything to say. Addy was the one to break the silence. "You were right," she said simply.

I scoffed. "You can say that again," I told her.

"You were right," she repeated. "I... I shouldn't have even started dating Duke."

I shrugged. "He's a hot dude, I get it," I admitted. "Sometimes it's nice to have somebody there for you." My thoughts trailed to Steve.

Addy nodded. "And, I'm sorry. Please accept my apology."

I shrugged. "Addison, I will always forgive you."

A tear rolled down her cheek, and I wiped it away. "And I'll always be here," I added. "You always have me."

Addy nodded. "Ditto."

I chuckled, and wrapped my arms around Addy in another embrace.