I'm Not Broken - TH

•12•

It's been days of me reading through this file, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. This is so much more than what Chloe thought. She's always wondered what was wrong with her, why her dad never loved her, when all this time it was him. She is perfect, and he destroyed her self image. I'm trying so hard not to blame him, in a way it's not his fault, but she was an innocent kid. She deserved to be loved and treated fairly. He should have taken his fucking pills and got help, not beat the shit out of his daughter.
Chloe walks into my office and I quickly shut the file and put it in my drawer. I notice a frown on her face as she sits in the chair across from me.
"What's wrong Darlin?" I ask.
"I just always pictured us graduating together and now I don't even get to watch you graduate." She sighs.
"C'mere." I say, rolling my chair back.
She walks over, and I pull her to stand in front of me and sit on the edge of my desk. Reaching down into the bottom drawer, I pull out a pair of sunglasses, and put them on her face.
"Boom. A disguise." I state and she laughs loudly, pulling the glasses off her face.
"Tom that doesn't hide enough." She shakes her head.
"Your hair is brown now, you can wear glasses and lipstick. No one will know it's you." I explain.
"You think it'd work?" She asks.
"I know it would. It'll be a big crowd." I state. "Unless you don't want to go, I'd understand if you don't-"
"Of course I want to go Tom! I won't believe you actually graduated unless I see it for myself." She giggles.
Her laugh is what I'd imagine sunshine sounds like. It's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard.
I stand to my feet, coming face to face with her in a very close proximity. I feel tension building, but it's quickly interrupted by the door opening.
"I've been looking all over this god damn house for you guys." Haz says.
"Guess who's going to the graduation." Chloe smiles, walking over towards Haz. My mood drops, kinda bummed that Haz showed up. Not that anything was going to happen but.. god I wish it would.
"How?!" Haz asks.
"I'm going undercover." Chloe says sillily.
"That's gonna be sick!" Haz exclaims, putting his hand up to high five her. Chloe flinches, her hands going to block her face purely out of instinct. I feel my heart drop at the sight.
"Chloe I didn't mean to-" Haz starts.
"No im sorry it's just- a habit I guess um- I should go." She mumbles quickly, and walks out of the room.
Haz gets a worried face, looking over to me.
"I didn't mean to scare her." He says.
"It's fine, she's just cautious around males is all." I shake my head. "I really should go check on her.
"It seems like she wants to be alone.." he mutters.
"Trust me, she needs me. She feels bad. I'll uh- I'll see you at the graduation." I say, and leave the office to walk down towards her room. I already know she's going to feel so guilty for reacting that way because she'll be worried that she made Haz feel bad.
I get to her room, and open the door to see her sitting on the edge of her bed, obviously upset about what happened. I stay silent, sitting down next to her. I grab her hand in mine, and wait for her to speak.
"Is he upset?" She asks quietly.
"Haz is fine, we just want to make sure you're okay." I state.
She groans, shoving her head in her hands.
"It's stupid to be this way. I know Haz would never hurt me.. but for some reason I still did that."
"Darling.. it's okay to be scared." I state. "You've been traumatized. You have every right to be cautious around men. Haz understands that. We will do whatever it takes to make you comfortable again, okay?"
She rests her head on my shoulder, and I press a kiss to her forehead.
"Everything is going to be okay. I've got you. Always."
•Chloes pov•
I get ready for the graduation, dressing in a way I never really would before so I can be unrecognizable. It won't be that hard though, barely anyone pays me any attention, and I'll just be sitting in the back with Harry and Sam anyways.
Waiting in the living room for Tom to finish getting ready, I open Toms laptop to check my socials. My brows scrunch together in confusion when I see a bunch of tabs up on schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Why is he looking this stuff up? Does he... think somethings wrong with me?
I feel slightly hurt, but I push it away instantly because it's dumb for me to just assume this is about me. I close the laptop, and he walks into the room.
"What do ya think?" He asks, giving me a little turn in his fancy grey suit.
"The girls will be swooning." I tease. "You look great."
"Yeah? What about you?" He asks.
"What about me?" I question.
"Are you swooning?" He grins.
"You know by now I'm immune to your charm."
I stand and he takes my hand, raising it to press a kiss to my knuckles.
"You sure about that pretty girl?" He asks.
I feel a weird sensation in my stomach, but ignore it, letting out a laugh.
"Yeah I'm sure about that pretty boy." I joke. "I have a present for you.. it's just something small and not all that special.."
"A present? You got me a present?" He asks with a smile, almost seeming a bit shocked.
I grab the wrapped gift, handing it to him. He excitedly rips into it, and opens the thin large box that the present is sitting in.
"It's the star map of the night we became friends." I explain. "I know it's cheesy I just-"
"Chloe I love it." He grins widely.
"You do?" I ask.
"This is the sweetest present I've ever gotten." He sets it down to pull me into a hug, and I melt into his warm embrace. Tom has this way of always making me feel okay and protected. "You're going to be late." I say quietly.
"Yeah.." he nods, pulling away.
"Let's go see you graduate." I say excitedly, grabbing my bag and walking out the front door.
We get in the car, and drive to the school. This is my first time properly being out since I got here, and as nice as it is, I'm also extremely nervous.
Who knows what could happen. Someone could recognize me, and tell everyone. I need to be careful.
He parks the car, and hands me the keys.
"If at any point you want to leave, you just take my car and I'll get a ride back with Haz." He says.
"Okay." I nod, taking the keys in my hand. "I'll meet you out there."
He grabs his cap and gown, and heads out. 
I take a deep breath, fixing my appearance to make me unrecognizable. Honestly, with the brown hair, sunglasses, and bright pink lipstick, no one would recognize me unless they were actively trying to spot me in the crowd. This will be just fine.
I accidentally hit my knee into the glove box, groaning in irritation. It falls open and I reach to shut it, but my hands stop when I see a silver pistol sitting in front of me. My eyes widen, why in the world does he have a gun?! This isn't like Tom.. at all. He's not violent.
I close the glove box, anxiety now pulsing through my body. Maybe Tom isn't who I think he is.. why would he just keep that thing in his car..
Trying to forget about the pistol, I get out of the car and head towards the outdoor graduation.