Haines's Home For Mistreated Boys *on hold*

Chapter 7

3rd Person POV

Griffin sat at the head of the dinner table, all of the seats were full but two. Riley was still in bed, Blaine staying with him while the others ate. They had all decided that someone should stay with Riley at all times, trying to provide the distant boy with some form of comfort.

They ate dinner in silence, everyone deep in their thoughts. Suddenly, Hayden stood up from the table. His chair screeched against the wood floor as it flew back. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back," he said, his voice low. He walked out of the back door and into the night.

The other boys looked at Griffin, who shook his head and told the boys to go back to eating. This wasn't a new thing for Hayden to do, but that didn't make the others less concerned. Griffin knew he would come back once he had calmed down. He could deal with his feelings on his own, but he needed the space and time to do it.
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Hayden POV

I walked just out until the beginning of the tree line that surrounded the backyard. Sitting down with my back against the trunk of a tree, I closed my eyes.

I was angry. Angry that I couldn't do anything to help Riley. I felt so helpless. I hadn't known him long, but Riley had grown on me quickly. On all of us quickly. He was someone who you instinctively wanted to protect. Seeing him in the state he was in, was painful.

I could feel the anger spread from my chest down into my arms. As I tensed my muscles, I could feel the anger retreat back up into my torso.

Taking a deep breath, I visualized pushing all of the thoughts out of my head. Being angry at myself wouldn't help anyone. The best I could do was be there for Riley, and everyone else in the house. I knew that if I felt like shit, they would too. Blaine hadn't left Riley's side in days, and I knew Dakota was so stressed he would barely sleep and eat.

I opened my eyes, the anger in my chest being replaced with determination. There was things I could do, I just needed to clear my head to see them. I got up, dusting myself off before heading back inside. I didn't know how long I'd been out, but Griffin was already putting dinner away.

I approached him, lifting myself up so I was sitting on the counter. "Sorry for storming out like that. It was rude," I apologized, knowing I shouldn't have disrupted dinner like that.

He gave me a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it. We all knew you just had to clear your head." I just nodded. "The boys are in the living room, I believe they're having a movie night."

I thanked him before hopping off the counter and going to the living room. I sat down on the loveseat with Eric, who as soon as I sat down, moved his legs up onto my lap so that he was laying down.

While the overall vibe of the room was on the sad side, what mattered most was that we were spending time together. And that's all we could've wanted in that moment.

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Author's Note
Hello again everyone! Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I ended up getting a burst of inspiration and wrote this in one sitting. I think so far this is the longest chapter, so hopefully you all like it. I haven't proofread it, I just really want to get this out.

Let me know what you think! Thank you for reading

(~550 words)