Xavier's POV:
I stared at the amount of people that were still here, still out of the front of my parents house. The police had steadily been making their way through the crowd, getting statements from everyone now so they wouldn't have to chase them up later. Soraya had been taken to hospital first, Zeke and Ashton had gone with her. Alistair and Willow were still here, all three of us had given accounts of tonight while Alistair and I had given extra background information on Adam's stalking of Soraya.
Willow had called Soraya's parents straight after that, telling them what happened, that Soraya was at the hospital and to meet us all there.
Alistair had explained why he was over the top of an unconscious Adam, who had also been taken to hospital due to the broken nose and hit onto the pavement. The police seemed to be okay with it once they saw the footage that showed Adam had swung first and had clearly started something he couldn't finish. Self-defence, and defence of others because who knows who else he might have hurt.
Me, on the other hand... I felt useless.
All I did when I heard Ashton shout Soraya's name was freeze. I wish I meant I just didn't move, but I felt my blood turn cold as his voice reached my ears. My mind paused, and I didn't know what to do. Sure, we had been through some shit this year, sure I had broken my face which was still tender, Ashton got drugged at some point...
But this... this under my own roof.
If Alistair hadn't moved the millisecond he heard Ashton shout we might have never seen Soraya again. At least alive. Ashton would have done his best, but his panic would have gotten the better of him.
Zeke had grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the crowd, following Willow as she barrelled through people to get to her friend even though there wasn't much she could do.
As I looked at Willow and Alistair, standing together, Alistair's arm around her shoulders as she cried into his chest, I realised something. The panic I felt hearing Ashton shout after Soraya, that's the same panic that Zeke felt when I told him about my situation in this fucking house.
I didn't want to make this about me, and I wouldn't, but some part of my brain clicked into place and told me that this anxiety was something that the people in my life felt for me. Worrying about my own safety. Not just Zeke, but Alistair and especially Ashton. I didn't want to live in a constant state of fear anymore either...
If tonight proved anything it's that we don't know what's going to happen next, we could get hurt, we could die and never see it coming. It took me too long to realise it, but I understood now.
"Soraya's awake, she'll be okay." Alistair said. We had all been standing here for the better part of three hours as the police went to everyone present for statements. I had been too far in my own thoughts to even notice that he was on the phone. "She's just doing her statement, her family is there and took the evidence with them to give to the police." He said next, I nodded as I looked back at the house I had lived in for my entire life. The house that my sister had chosen to leave...
I hadn't talked to her since she left, and I missed her so fucking much.
"Are you talking to Ashton?" I asked quietly, Alistair nodded. "Can I... I need to ask him something. I know now is a bad time..."
"Hey, Ash, Xav needs to ask you something." Alistair said, waiting a second for a response before he passed the phone to me. I turned away from Alistair and Willow, looking at the house behind the hundred or so people still here.
"So Soraya's okay?" I asked, needing to be sure.
"I mean, as okay as she can be." He responded, I nodded even though he couldn't see. "That's not what you wanted to ask though, is it?"
"No..." I trailed off, running a hand through my hair. "I know that now is a really bad time to ask this, but I've been thinking about everything and I..." I didn't really know how to ask for help, I never really had to before. Either I acted like everything was fine or I figured it out on my own.
"You want to know if you can still come and live at my house?" He asked, normally I would ask how he knew that's what I was going to ask. Normally I would then get defensive and decide that I was making a mistake and had to act like I hadn't just asked for help. I would normally go back into my house, scared of my future and where I would end up â either dead or like my father. I wasn't sure which was worse.
"Yeah. Look, you don't have to answer now, you're at the hospital with Soraya and her family so-"
"If you want to leave that house you leave it, the offer never went away just because you didn't accept it. We can put you in the basement, get a bed set up down there for you." He responded, and the house is front of me blurred as tears began to sting my eyes.
"I don't know if I can take anything... I haven't paid for anything and don't want them to pull some shit that I stole my belongings."
"Look, just take the things they won't notice. Just a couple changes of clothes, some shoes, smaller items they never really paid attention to. We'll sort it out, okay? You know you're already my Mum's second son. This is going to be hard for you, but we'll get through it together."
"I won't have a phone, or a car-"
"We'll get you a new phone tomorrow, and who needs a car of their own anyway? You have plenty of friends, and we'll get you a job so you can save up for your own."
"Ashton... thank you."
"You don't need to thank family, not in this situation anyway..." He trailed off, there was muffled speech in the background. I caught very few words but figured if it was important I would catch up on it later. "Zeke is apparently coming to help you pack, he is walking out of the hospital right now."
"He... he should be staying there-"
"The police just left and Soraya pretty much fell asleep the second they left, according to him anyway. He wanted me to tell you that there's nothing he can do here but he can help you so..." Ashton trailed off.
"What are you going to do?"
"Well, the nurses are trying to kick us out. Telling us all to go home and get some sleep, so I'll go to my house, start setting your temporary bed up. I'll see you soon, yeah?" He asked, I once again nodded.
"Yeah, see you soon." I replied, hanging up the phone then and handing it back to Alistair.
"So you're leaving?" Alistair asked, I stared him in the eyes as I realised exactly what I was now going to do and nodded. Willow stared at me as well, confusion on her face as she looked back at the house and then at me. Her eyebrows furrowed as she seemed to somehow piece two and two together.
"Oh..." She said, before pulling away from Alistair and walking over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I couldn't stop my tears from falling then, because I knew that her softness and empathy was something I wasn't used to, not from my own blood at least. But that didn't matter now.
Because I had a family, one that I chose and chose me.
Alistair joined in on the hug, which gave me a better sense of familiarity.
I heard a voice echo over the crowd, saying that statements had all been taken and that everyone could now leave. So the flood of people left my house, and after about ten minutes the front yard was once again empty and the street silent. I was used to the silence, staying in the house by myself more often than not had made me used to it. But it was always eerie here, in a huge and empty house.
The silence always gnawed away at me, but I wouldn't have to worry about that either. I knew what the Klarence household was like, and I smiled at the thought of never being alone again.
"Do you want us to help you pack?"
"No, Zeke is on his way now. He'll take me to the Klarence house." I said, he nodded.
"You said you wouldn't have a phone..." Willow said.
"No, this thing cost one and half thousand dollars. I'm not risking it. I don't want them to contact me, and they might be able to find me at the Klarence house, but they won't be able to call me, and who knows how long it will be before they realise I'm gone. But at least... I can contact Leah, can find her." I said, letting the tears continue to fall as I thought about my sister. I should have gone with her, she had offered to take me with her but I thought that my parents were right. As a stupid kid, I thought their indifference to their children, bigotry, racism and homophobia was the correct thing to think.
"Damn, we should all catch up with her. She was great, helped me with my homework and I remember that time she hit Ashton over the head for being an ass." Alistair said, making me laugh at the memory. My brunette sister with her long hair, a purple dip dye on the ends, her green eyes to match mine, her laugh and her gentle voice which lulled me to sleep more nights than not.
"I'm going to go and pack my bag." I said, breaking the happy mood that Alistair had created. He nodded.
"Okay. I'll come by tomorrow, we can play some games or something." He said.
"That would be great." I said, realising that Willow was still hugging me after everything. That was how comfortable she made the contact feel, how normalised it was for her to express her emotions in such a way.
"I'm here for you if you need me too, okay?" She said as she let go of me, and I nodded even though I felt a sudden loss of warmth and comfort. She was such a kind person that the feeling of safety just emanated from her.
"Yeah, I know." I replied, not that I knew it before but I did now. She smiled briefly before turning to Alistair, taking his hand in hers and they walked back to his car.
I smiled before walking into the house for the last time, heading straight to my room. The only things I packed were some cheaper items of clothing, my baseball uniform, my cleats and a pair of sneakers. I took my school shit, packed it all into my backpack and left my phone and keys on the bed. I copied everything off of my MacBook onto a hard drive and shoved that into my bag as well, leaving the computer on the bed.
When I stood in my bedroom door I expected to feel emotional about leaving... but I didn't feel a thing. None of this was mine, my parents made sure I knew that I had nothing to my name, that everything I had was because of them, that I owed everything to them.
While packing I had thought briefly about leaving a note, a letter to explain why I left but when I looked at the empty bedroom across the hallway from mine I knew it was worthless. They hadn't even opened the letter that Leah left behind, so why would I even bother?
I put my backpack over my shoulder and walked down the stairs. There was no attachment to this house, there never was if I was honest. The grand staircase wasn't something I thought was important, it was always just a spectacle to look at and never a part of a home. Never a part of my home anyway.
When I reached the front door I looked back for a second, Zeke was waiting under the porch for me.
"Second thoughts?" He asked, I shook my head as I turned to look directly into the camera. While I had stopped the notifications from going to my parents during the party I had turned it back on before turning my phone off one last time.
"No, I'm just wondering whether to leave the front door wide open or not." I replied, keeping my eyes on the camera as I reached for his hand and took it in mine. "You know they're going to be pissed at you because they can see you're the one escorting me out."
"Yeah, look, homophobia isn't necessarily anger. It can be fear. And honestly, knowing that grown ass adults are terrified of me gives me such an unholy power and boosted ego so they can do whatever the hell they want." He said, taking a hold of my cheek before kissing me hard. I kissed back, I had to. This was what I wanted, and I wasn't afraid of it anymore.
A weight lifted off of my shoulders as we kissed, and I was almost angry at myself for not doing this sooner. For not leaving sooner.
He pulled away and shut the door for me, since he knew I was going to leave it open.
"We won't leave it open, but it can stay unlocked." He said, pulling me off of the porch by the hand I still gripped his with like he was a lifeline. A smile was on my face as he walked us to his car.
"I don't know how I'm going to do it..." I trailed off after we both climbed into his hatchback. My backpack sat on my lap and I realised how small I must seem, the only belongings I bother to take from my entire life sat on my lap, in a bag that wasn't even at full capacity.
"By leaning on the people you trust, the people who care about you." He said as I pulled out a diamond necklace from a pocket. It had been Leah's, she had left it behind for the same reasons I left anything of value to me behind. Because our parents would have come after her for it. She had loved it, because it was from a time that my parents somewhat cared.
"Yeah..." I trailed off, looking at the necklace and wondering what Leah would do when I gave it back to her. Would she keep it? Throw it back at me? Take it to a pawn shop immediately?
"Hey, it's going to be okay." He said, reaching over and taking my hand in his again as he began driving down the street. I didn't even look back at the house, didn't look in the mirrors in case I could catch a glimpse of it one last time.
And for the first time in a long while I felt completely safe, any anxiety I had left was melting away as his thumb rubbed my palm in small circles. For once I believed in the words he said, that everything would be okay. For once I could see a future for myself, and that made tears sting my eyes once again.
"I know. I know it's going to be okay. It's going to be better than okay, because I'm going to be happy."