45. Kelsey makes us happy

Chapter  45: Kelsey makes us happy

Kelsey's POV

*****

I tried as hard as I could to seem calm and collected in front of the kids, but as soon as Meg appeared in my room, I couldn't help but break down into sobs right in her arms. She didn't say anything, and instead stroked my hair gently, allowing me to cry into her shoulders.

"Ethan's parents are coming tonight. They don't want me here, and I'm also scared for your sake. You were the one who recommended me, and that means that you've also been dragged into this story," I sobbed, feeling horrible about the amount of people which had to be dragged into the story.

"Well, yeah, but that's why I'm going to be right here with you. We've dealt with so many things together, and we'll deal with this as well," she said before holding me tighter, running her hand up and down my back in a reassuring way.

I didn't know what great thing I had ever done to deserve someone like Meg in my life. She was the only person which could have been able to make such a tough situation seem like a stroll in the park, and that was exactly why I loved her so much. We had been through so much together, starting with the death of my mom, and she never left my side through any of it.

Meg and I sprang apart as soon as my door flung open, revealing Lara who had burst into my room in tears, her arms wrapping around me immediately as he eyes landed on me. "I don't want mommy to hate you Kelsey. You're so special to me, it's like you're my best friend, no matter how much older you are than me. I love you, and I promise that mommy will just have to hear me out."

Hearing her say those words to me only made me more emotional, but I knew that crying in front of Lara would have only made her feel sadder. That was why I decided to be strong and wiped away my tears, wanting to reassure the sweet little girl embracing me that it was all going to be okay.

"Don't worry my little Lara. Ethan and I are going to talk to your mom and we will figure something out together. I promise you that it's all going to end up okay."

I wished that I myself could have believed those words, but the situation was a tough one, and getting through it was going to be a lot harder than that. If I wanted to be honest with myself, I had to admit that I was petrified. I could not believe that my perfect summer job was backfiring like that. I never needed any of what was happening-all I wanted was to earn some money to help my dad, and not to have my whole life ruined with just one lie.

*****

I paced back and forth in the kitchen at around the time that Mr and Mrs Walker had to be getting home. They were expecting me to be gone when they got back, and I knew that I was only playing with fire by staying there, but leaving was for guilty cowards, and I was neither of those things.

"Mom will be here any minute, but I promise you princess, that I'll be right here with you, they won't do anything," Ethan said, taking my hand to try and stop my pacing as he tried to calm me down. I appreciated his words, but no matter what he said to try and make me calm down, I was positive that I couldn't.

"She's here," Noah said with a broken voice, entering the kitchen and approaching me, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

I knew that Noah was hurting about it as much as I was, and the fact that he was putting all of that aside to reassure me only made me grow fonder of him. He had been beaten down ever since he found out what was happening, and that was understandable. I was not the only one who had something to lose out of it. Noah could get into huge trouble with his parents, and I couldn't help but feel awful.

I gave Ellie, Lara, and Noah a quick nod towards the stairs, hinting to them that I wanted them to go to their rooms until it was safe for them to get down. They wanted to help me, and were not planning to leave, but so many people had already been dragged into the story, and I didn't want two sweet, innocent girls to get in trouble with their mother because of it. I also knew that if Noah were to stay in the kitchen, things wouldn't have ended well with him being seen next to me.

The door barged open soon after they ran upstairs, the angry, booming voice of Mrs Walker calling out for Noah drawing closer to us. Ethan intertwined our fingers together, giving my hand a squeeze as he looked at me reassuringly. I knew that things would have been much worse if Ethan wasn't there in that moment.

I jumped slightly as Mrs.Walker walked in the kitchen, her eyes narrowing into slits as she caught sight of me before walking towards me, the clacking of her heels only adding on to my nerves.

"You. I thought I told you to be gone! How dare you! After I let you take care of my children, you play with my son like a toy! You're a brat, and I don't know why you're still in my house. I trusted you, and instead you take away the innocence of my little boy," she screamed in my face, her own red with anger.

Her words stung, and even after all the time I had spent practicing what to tell her, I found myself at a loss for words. It was horrible hearing something which couldn't have been further from the truth, especially when it was about me hurting the people I cared about. I could feel Ethan stiffening beside me, his jaw clenched and his eyes dark as he took a step forward, shielding me with his body before pointing an accusing finger at his mother, who simply looked shock at her son's actions.

"How dare you? Scream at Kelsey like that when you have no proof! You're so stupid mom, I'm sorry but you are! Zack just tells you something and you believe him without proof, why? Do you really think Meg would recommend someone knowing she's bad? Mom you've known Meg all your life, and you've known Kelsey as well," he said, his voice breaking in the last part.

Mrs. Walker froze for a second, Ethan's angry words only seeming to have angered her further. "How dare you talk to your mother like that? Besides, I don't know this Kelsey, and maybe Meg didn't know she would turn out to be someone who sets out ruining people's innocence," she screamed, glaring at both Ethan and I.

I tried so hard not to break down in front of her, wanting to remain strong and proving my innocence, but her words were too much for me. I could feel my hot tears stream down my face as her words continuously repeated themselves in my head. Katie's eyes met mine, and she let out a scoff as soon as she caught sight of my tears, shaking her head disbelievingly.

"Oh look, the poor thing is acting like she's sad. Just get out before I call the police on you, why are you still here?"

"I didn't do anything," I sobbed, unable to form any other words because of my crying.

Her face suddenly morphed into a dangerous one, and she took a step towards me, surprising even Ethan who was trying to cover me. I closed my eyes and looked away as I noticed her raising her hand, about to slap me, but opened them soon after when the impact never came. I gasped slightly as I saw Ethan holding his mom by the wrist, his face one of pure anger.

"Mom, stop," he spat, tossing her hand away.

It was clear that she was shocked by Ethan's actions, but she quickly tried to hide that shock by faking out a smile as she looked straight at him. "Ethan, honey, why are you even defending her? You didn't even like her when she came here, and now I can clearly see why."

"I'm defending her because she's my girlfriend!" Ethan yelled, his mother letting out a shocked gasp at his words.

Her eyes narrowed on our still intertwined hands, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as her eyes met mine before she turned back to look at her son.

"Your girlfriend? Ethan for god's sake, she slept with your little brother."

"Mom, do you seriously think I'd be the boyfriend of someone who sleeps with my brother? She didn't do such a thing. Zack made it up. Kelsey's the sweetest person ever, the kids love her, everyone loves her. I love her," he said, making my heart melt with every word he said. I felt my legs go weak as I thought about the lengths he was going to to stand up for me in front of his own mother.

"You're even trying to get with my eldest son now?" She asked, looking straight at me, hatred evident in every inch of her face. "That's it. I'm calling the police right now." She reached into her bag and took out her phone, ready to dial the number before Noah showed up from behind her and snatched the phone from her hands, Ellie and Lara standing behind him in tears.

"There you are!" Mrs. Walker said with a glare as soon as she saw Noah.

"Mom stop!" Lara said as she ran in between Noah and her mother, clearly standing her ground. "Just listen to us for once. We have been with Kelsey every second of every day. We would know if she did something. She would never do anything like that, because he loves us. She even got us a dog!" She smiled.

"A dog?" Katie asked, Lara's revelation shocking her.

Lara nodded before calling out for Elsey, who happily ran into the room, wiggling her tail and her tongue sticking out happily. Katie's eyes widened as soon as she saw what stood in front of her, and turned around to glance at me before turning back to the dog.

"Yes, and they named her my nickname. Elsey. Kelsey got her for Ethan on her birthday, to thank him for everything he did for her. Every girl who came in to this house was just a gold digger, but Kelsey gave us more then we could have ever given her. She loves us and we love her," Ellie said before running up to hug me.

I was speechless at that point, finding myself getting emotional at everything that they were saying to try and convince their mother that I was not a bad person. I could hear the love with which they spoke, as well as the determination in their voice.

"Yeah mom, she even got Ethan to do chores! Ethan never does chores," Lara said. "He has been so responsible, even cooking us breakfast everyday, and it's all thanks to Kelsey."

Noah cleared his throat after Lara stopped talking, turning his mother's attention on him before he spoke.

"Mom, I promise you that Kelsey and I did nothing. She's my best friend, and she's so supportive of me. She helped me have faith in myself and do what I love the most, I would not have gotten to where I am if it weren't for her. She's special and perfect in every single way, and every single person in this house loves her," he said, sending a smile my way and making my heart almost burst with happiness at his words.

Mrs. Walker stood there stunned, her mouth hanging agape as she looked between every single person standing in the kitchen in that exact moment. "I-I don't know what to say," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "You got this dog for them?" She asked, finally turning to me.

"Yes, I wanted to make them happy, the same way they make me happy. I found a family here. I love them and I would never do anything to ruin that," I said in all honesty, hoping that she could find it in her to believe me.

"You got Ethan to do chores?" She asked, her tone a mixture of shock and amusement.

"Yes, and he's pretty good at it," I said, sending Ethan a small smile which he quickly returned.

The room fell silent for a moment, the massive amount of information which Katie had had to take in clearly overwhelming for her. She took a seat, putting her head in her hands before turning to look at us once again.

"Mom please don't make Kelsey leave. We love her so much," Ellie said, practically in tears.

"Yeah," Lara said, coming up to hug me as well.

Katie looked at her two daughters in my arms before looking at Ethan, whose arm stood protectively around me and Noah. "I want to believe you, you don't know how much,"

"Then why don't you?" Ethan asked, his voice broken.

"Because Zack-"

"Zack, Zack, Zack. Always Zack. You won't believe us just because Zack told you something! What's the matter with you?! I tell you Zack killed Bradley, and you tell me that he died because I was irresponsible. I tell you that Zack took your car and you tell me that I was just blaming my mistakes on him. Why mom? Why must you believe him over your son?" Ethan asked his voice shaking, the hurt evident in it.

Hearing Ethan say those things truly hurt me. He had a tough past, even when he did not deserve it. His mother was clearly not a perfect one, but the least she could do was believe her children when they told her something. I was certainly not condemning her actions, knowing that everybody had the right to make a mistake, but I also felt for Ethan, who meant so much to me that I couldn't help but take his side on that matter.

"I'm sorry Ethan. Zack had such a terrible childhood, I just don't want to believe that he-"

"Oh so it's okay if you think that I did that. Mom, for once in my life I'm happy. Kelsey makes me happy, she makes us all happy. Do you really think she would do something wrong?" He asked.

He sighed as his mother didn't say anything, nodding his head slowly before speaking again. "Perfect, if you do then just listen yourself," he said before taking out his phone from his back pocket and playing a recording of Zack.

My eyes widened as I realised that Ethan had managed to get Zack to admit everything and record him. I didn't know how Ethan even managed all of that, but I couldn't help but be glad and impressed about it. Katie seemed shock as she heard the confession come straight out of Zack's mouth, and her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at me.

"I-I'm so sorry. Kelsey, I apologise for acting so horribly. I just I thought that my babies were in danger and I-I felt like I had to protect them," she said.

"That's alright, I would have probably done the same thing I felt that my children needed me," I said.

I was still mad at her for making assumptions, but they were her kids, and at the end of the day, I could understand why she felt the need to be overprotective of them. She wouldn't have been a good mom if she thought that her children were in danger and not having done anything about it. Her words certainly hurt me, but she was a mother, and the love a mother feels for her children overshadows any reason. I could only wish for my mom to be there and look out for me like that, leaving her work to catch a flight just to be able to protect me. I admired her, especially for the fact that she admitted her mistakes, and apologised for them.

"I don't know what to do to make it up to you, I feel so stupid right now," she said with a sigh.

"It's okay mom, thank you for taking so much care of us," Noah said hugging his mother to make her feel better, making me smile at his sweet actions.

"What are we gonna do about Zack?" Lara asked.

"I'll have a word with him later," Mrs.Walker said before standing up from her chair and walking over to me, engulfing me in a hug. "I'm sorry Kelsey, and I'm so glad you made my children so happy. I haven't seen them this happy in ages. I'm so foolish for not having seen that before."

"It's okay," I replied with a small nod, right as my phone started ringing with my father's special ringtone. "I'm sorry I have to take this," I said, excusing myself before walking into the living room to answer my phone.

"Hey dad what's up?" I asked as soon as I answered the call. I knew that he had an interview that day, and with all that was going on, I didn't even wish him a good luck. It was possible that his call had something to do with whether or not he got the new job, and I couldn't wait to congratulate him for having surely gotten it.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," he said, his voice sounding serious and making me slightly nervous at the mention of bad news.

"What is it?" I asked, wanting to rip off the band aid.

"I got the job!" He excitedly said, making a squeal escape from my mouth.

"Oh my god that's great! But, what's the bad news?" I said, unable to understand how something so pleasurable could have involved any type of bad news.

"It's in New York. Princess, we have to move."

I felt as if the air was being sucked right out of my lungs, leaving me frozen in place with my mind running wild. After everything that I had gone through, I was going to need to move to New York with my father, leaving everything and everyone that had ever made me happy. How could that even be happening?

A/N: Hey guys! I apologize for not updating yesterday. I told you that I might not and I just didn't have time. In the morning I had a competition thing and then in the evening I went out and just didn't have the time. I'm multi ultra sorry! Please forgive me.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll be honest, it was a bit rushed so I don't know how it came out. I didn't proof read either so there might be some mistakes but I hope you enjoyed anyways!

Stay perfect,

Love,

~M