broken home - j.f✔️

twentyfour.

The feeling of being fully submerged in the water. Gasping for air, faces watching the struggle at the bottom of the pool. Hearing laughter and the sound of muffled screams. She could only imagine this was how her mother felt, which made the screams louder. Justin was trying to pull her up, but she couldn't rise to the surface. It was like a weight was pulling her down.

"El!" She heard as her eyes opened. "Wake up." She slowly sat up, feeling hot from sweating. She was melting through her clothes, but she wasn't focused on that, she was crying and gasping for air. "It's okay." Justin whispered as he held her, trying to calm her down. "It's all okay."

"I couldn't breathe, I was trapped in the pool." She explained, her arms clinging around him. "I could see everyone but nobody was helping, apart from you." Justin smiled, holding her tightly and kissing her head.

"Hey, it's 6am. Why don't you go and have a shower? I'll make you some food." He suggested, watching as she nodded and stood up to go to the bathroom. She had entered her room once again to find some more clothes, as she sweat through her last ones. Justin watched her as she searched her wardrobe, finally facing him with a happy grin.

The shower made her feel so much better, she was no longer feeling dirty from sweating, and it had been a great reliever from her nightmare. She washed herself, and got out to get dressed. Wrapping a towel around her body, she called out to Justin, who was downstairs making her some breakfast. She watched as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a spatula in his hand.

"I'm meant to be going grocery shopping today, as my dad is going to be gone for a while. Do you think you could come with me?" She asked politely, holding the towel around her tightly. He nodded and winked at her, returning back to the kitchen. This gave her enough time to get dressed, and be presentable enough to go into the outside world.

She finally arrived in the kitchen, two breakfast plates opposite each other. "Breakfast is served." He spoke cockily, inflating his chest. She sat down, seeing eggs, toast, some avocado, and pepper.

"Where did you learn to cook?" She asked, cutting into her food. "It's so delicious." He bowed his head at the compliment and smiled.

"I googled breakfast foods, and decided to make it. And hoped for the best." He replied. "And I'm glad you like it, I need to head home and get some new clothes." He's round here a lot, and ends up leaving really early to get dressed and showered.

"Why don't we buy you some clothes that you can keep here? You're round here a lot, and it saves you time." She offered. "I'm not really taking no for an answer, sorry Foley." He held his hands up, giggling at her.

"I'll be back soon, call me if you need me." He spoke, standing up from his finished plate of food. He hugged her from behind as he left, pressing a small kiss to the side of her head. "See you, El." She chose to wash the dishes, and start making a shopping list. She checked the pantry, the fridges, freezers, other cupboards. And compiled a list of foods.

Hey, dad. I hope everything is okay, call me when you can.

After sending the message, she put her shoes on and waited for Justin by the door. He finally arrived, in a shirt, jeans, and a nice jacket. She smiled, admiring how handsome he looked, before leaving the house. They'd gotten into the car and left for the grocery store, discussing what clothes store to buy from.

"I want to have a party at my house," she stated. Justin looked over to her, puzzled. "I know yesterday was the scariest moment of my life, but it won't happen again, I don't have a pool and it's my house." She made a fair point.

"Okay, well this time I will not be leaving your side. Who are you thinking of inviting?" He asked, opening the door of the car and following her into the store. He clutched the shopping list and wheeled the cart around. "Because, if you want, I can get the message to the whole of our junior year." She nodded in agreement, throwing things into the cart. Ahead of her, she saw Zach and Bryce.

"Oh my God," Elizabeth whispered to Justin. "Look ahead."

"Shit."