Beautiful Storms

chapter eighteen | jude

"Sometimes the worse place you can be is in your own head."

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beautiful storms | chapter eighteen

"What is she talking about?"

Jude makes his way into the living room and he goes straight to Sadie, who is shaking and she closes her eyes. He stares down at her with a hurt expression.

"Sadie, is she telling the truth?"

Sadie nods and tears fall down her cheeks.

His voice trembles as his body starts to shake and he turns to Hayes. His fists clench causing his knuckles to turn white. His heart starts to beat rapidly, blood rushes through his body. His nails dig into his palms as he slowly turns his uncle. "I'm gonna kill you." He exclaims and he punches Hayes in his jaw, sending him stumbling. Jude clenches his jaw as he charges as at Hayes, bringing both of them to the ground. Blood decorates Jude's fists and he tunes out every other sound besides the sound of his fists hitting Hayes's face. Hayes tries to grab Jude's fists but Jude punches him in right in the nose. Hayes pushes Jude off of him and Jude falls against the couch, hitting his head on the arm of the chair. He groans, rubbing the back of his head and he pulls his hand away, seeing blood and his eyes widen. He glares at Hayes who has his head in his hands.

At that exact moment, he hears his grandmother shouting at Cara to leave and take Sadie with her. Jude turns his head, seeing them leave and she rushes to him, cupping his face in her hands.

"Jude."

He meets her eyes and he blinks at her not wanting to speak. He fought a battle with his mind and he knew he couldn't win. He stares at his grandmother and she lets go of him before nodding.

"Hayes?"

"What?" he sneers, glaring at her. She gets off the floor and walks towards then she slaps him again and she goes for another slap but he grabs her hand, standing up. She tries to pull away but his grip just gets tighter.

"W-what is wrong with you?" She looks at him with so much disgust and hatred bleeding from her eyes. He lets go of her hand and he glares down at his mother who he towers over.

Jude stands up as he holds on to the arm of the couch, struggling to get up. He collapses on the couch and he groans as his body hits the pillows on the couch.

"He's a fucking sociopath. He only cares for himself."

Jude says, staring at Hayes and his once gentle features display something way worse. Fury or was it rage?-- He only felt this when his parents died and now all these unwanted feelings were coming back.

Jude wipes the blood off his hands as he stares at himself in the mirror. Don't let him tell you any different. He stops breathing and he rushes out of the bathroom to his grandmother's room and he barges in her room without knocking. She jumps as she turns to look at him and Jude shuts the door.

"You figured out quickly."

"Tell me why she left. The whole story and don't leave anything out." He demands.

Her blonde hair falls in front of her face as she stares at the pregnancy test in front of her and she could already feel tears fall. She brings her legs to her chest and she stares at her mother with teary eyes. Her mother sits on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands.

"Rachel, why didn't you tell me or your father?"

"He told me not to. He said he-." She stops herself from saying the rest, letting the tears fall and her mother turns to look at her with pity in her blue eyes and she reaches out to wipe her tears away. She lays a kiss on her forehead and she cups her cheek.

"What do you want to do?-- your father and I will deal with Hayes."

"I don't want to get rid of it."

"Then you need to leave for Portland and do not come back. Do you understand me?-- He can not know you're pregnant with that child."

Rachels nods then she sighs. "I'll leave with the baby." Her mother smiles at her daughter and she pulls her in her embrace, holding her tight. Her mother lets tears fall from her eyes as she kisses the top of her daughter's hair. So many emotions running through Rachel's mind.

"Can you promise me something, Mom?"

"Anything."

"If something is to ever happen to me, protect the baby and tell them everything. Please keep them from H-Hayes."

Jude couldn't speak. He couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. He didn't want to breathe anymore. He was numb. He stares at his grandmother with tears in his eyes and she hugs him as she lets him cry. His body shakes and his cries slowly turn into sobs. "We kept it hidden because Rachel didn't want anyone to know so Hayes was never committed." She gulps as Jude stares at her.

"He got custody of us because you wanted to keep her secret. He hurt my sister for months because YOU wanted to keep her secret." He stands up and she stares up at him. He could feel himself losing control of his body and he falls to the ground.

"She should've aborted me when she had the chance." He whispers and she catches what he says and she frowns deeply before sighing.

"I talked to a lawyer after you called me and he's helping me get custody of Sadie and she'll be away from him for good." She reassures him and he nods.

"Hayes isn't coming back." She glances at the box in the corner of her room and she gets up going to it. She picks it up and takes it to him and she sits down in front of him.

"He's always been good at hiding when he was a kid."

She opens the box and she pulls out stacks of papers and photographs. Jude picks up the first thing he sees: it's a letter in his mother's handwriting.

"I think it's her will but I'm not completely sure. "

To my beautiful Jude, I'm sorry, I had to leave you but you and Sadie will be okay, I just know it. I don't have much of anything but I did so, I'm guessing your grandmother told you about Hayes being your father and Sam not being your father. I'm so sorry, I couldn't tell you myself. I made sure to leave you and Sadie money but you can't get it until you turn 18.

"Did my dad know?"

Jude sits the letter back down and he picks up a picture of his mother and his father with Jude in his arms. Jude smiles down at the picture before sitting it back down.

"Your mother didn't tell him because he wouldn't been able to handle it and in the end, he didn't. He killed her after finding out that Hayes was your father. He couldn't handle it and he lost it."

Jude sighs and picks up a picture of Sadie when she was a baby. Blonde curls wrapping around her small head and her big blue eyes staring up at the camera.

"Should I tell her?"

"You should but not now, she's already going through a lot."

Jude flinches and he sits the picture down. He really tries not to think about all the things Sadie had to go through. Why didn't I notice? Jude runs a hand through his hair and his grandmother stares over at him.

"She'll be okay with time, Jude. Give her time. None of it is your fault."

"All those times she wanted me to stay home and just be with her and I didn't because I was so caught up in my own life to notice how she was acting. All of this was happening under my nose, h-he was doing that to her and I couldn't stop it." His voice cracks and he rubs a hand over his face.

"You couldn't have known, just like I couldn't have known anything about your mother." She tells him, softly.

Jude nods.

His heart breaks as every second goes by and he blames himself against her advice. His mind became his worst enemy. He didn't want to cry anymore but he couldn't stop. Jude was giving up and he didn't seem to care. He's giving up. He looks up at his grandmother with tears in his eyes.

"W-why was I even born?"

Something snaps inside him.