Bringing Back Hallie

Bringing Back Hallie: Chapter Eighteen

A/N--So I am extremely sorry as to how long it took to get this chapter out.  I had a ton of sorority stuff going on for rush, but it's now all settled down so I should be able to work on this a bit more :)  Anyways...this chapter's a bit lovey dovey and whatnot, but hey...it's a romance story.  There will be some drama in the next chapter, so just look at this as a leadup!  And you'll get to learn more about Mr. Ethan Crest, and well...that's always fun! :)  

So anyways...please vote/comment/and fan.  I'd really like to know what y'all all are thinking of this story.  Love you guys!

"My family...growing up...well, it was kind of messed up. Really messed up, actually. My mom got pregnant with me when she was fifteen, and when my grandparents found out they disowned her. Getting rid of me was never an option to them, my mom could never do that and she was too strong-willed to have my dad talk her into it. So her and my dad moved in with his family, and there they had me. But the fact that my dad did try to talk her into aborting me was always an issue and they ended up having a real messed up break up when I was one or so. My mom didn't have anyone to turn to, seeing as how my grandparents couldn't even look at her-the fuckers-so we were homeless for a while, just bunking with her friends from work until she got a stable enough job. 

"To this day I still remember the shitty apartment we lived in. There was the peeling floral paint in the den, and this big stain on the kitchen floor from where someone had dropped a hot pot or something. My mom always complained about the shower not being hot enough, and I slept in the den since there was only bedroom. But even though it was so shitty, I still miss that place like hell, you know? It's the only place I've ever considered as home." 

I swallow back this big lump of an overwhelming urge to just cry, to just fold myself into his chest and hold him until the world ends. I've never seen Ethan express this kind of emotion, look like he's just a few steps away from crying. To me, he's always been this safety net. The rock. He's always so stable and secure, and to just...to see him looking like this is almost heartbreaking.  

His fingers slipping just a fraction of an inch up my shirt so that he can rub the warm skin of my waist, he continues, "My mom and I were so happy in that apartment. It was shitty and it was a dive, but we were never truly sad there. I still remember us dancing around the kitchen, listening to Tim McGraw or something, and baking brownies or coloring in a dinosaur coloring book. And it pissed my dad off. He hated that we were okay without him, and he hated that my mom didn't need him anymore. One day he actually came over-he always harassed her on the phone but had never actually come to the house-and they got into this big fight. He ended up hitting her and she was yelling about calling the police and it just..." He stops talking. He looks away from me, as if he just cannot keep talking about this anymore.  

Tears pooling in my eyes at how much this is affecting him, about how much this is affecting me, I scoot forward on his lap and cup his face into my hands, tugging just a bit so that he'll look back at me. When he does, I see that the outline of his eyes are turning red and that he has his jaw clenched so tight that it's almost scary. "Hey," I say softly, wanting to calm him down. When I'd asked him about his past, I had no idea that it would be something like this. I just thought that maybe he'd experimented with drugs or was a bully or something. I had no idea it would be something like this. "You don't have to finish telling me if you don't want to. I don't want to pressure you, I just..." 

He shakes his head, his fingers falling from my waist so that he can reach up and place his hands over mine. He says, "No...I want to tell you. I just...I've never really told anyone the whole story before." 

Feeling extremely touched and warm that I'm the first person he's confessed this to, I lean forward and peck him on the lips. "Well I'm definitely here to listen."