Raising Chandler

"We need to talk," Jack said. I rolled my eyes, I wasn't having any of this bullshit. I was flat out angry at both of them.

"Do we? You mean, thirteen years into my life, and now that I already know what happened, you're ready to talk?! Jack, Lillian, neither of you are who you said you were! I can't believe you didn't tell me about what happened to my real parents!" I yelled, pacing back and forth in my room.

"Aubrey, honey, why don't you go watch some TV or go hang out with Orin, here," Jack said, handing Aubrey $20," go have fun, okay?" Aubrey took the money and hugged Jack, then Lilly, then me, and left.

Jack shut the door behind her and turned back to face me. Lilly sat on the edge of my bed and put her head in her hands. I continued to pace. "We were going to tell you...we just didn't think you could handle it..." Lilly muttered. "I couldn't handle it or you couldn't?" I asked furiously. She sighed.

"I need to take a walk and cool down," I said and moved towards the door, but Jack mom-armed me and stopped me. "No, we need to talk about this," he said. "Just let him go, Jack...." Lilly said from the bed. Jack put his arm down and I pushed past and opened my bedroom door. I turned to look at Lilly and felt a tinge of regret for the things I'd said, but then turned and left anyways.

I ran through the house and back out the front door. I got to the main road and saw a familiar truck....it was Ella's dad's truck! I ran up to the truck and peered in to see the beautiful girl I'd met earlier laying bruised and bloody in the back seat. I gasped and studied her body for signs of life, and sighed in relief when I saw her chest rise and fall ever so slightly with a breath.

I stepped down onto the road again and looked at my surroundings. The truck was parked in front of a liquor store. I could see her dad looking through the beer cooler inside, so I ducked behind a trash can. I pulled out my phone and dialed the only number I could think to dial....Uncle Jaime's.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" he answered in his (almost) ever-cheerful voice. "Uncle Jaime this is an emergency I don't have time to explain please just meet me in front of the Black Cherry Liquor Store on 3rd Street as quickly as you can," I whispered quickly into the phone. "Is everything okay?" he asked, but at that moment I heard the bell on the door of the shop ding. I stood up and peeked over the trash can to see a woman come out. I noticed that Ella's dad was now at the checkout, third in line. "No it's not, please Jaime just get here as quick as you can," I said, then hung up and got to work. I opened the back door of the large truck (which was thankfully unlocked) and picked a limp and fragile Ella up, taking notice of how incredibly light she was. I closed the truck door and darted into the maternity shop next door, hiding behind a rack of clothing and watching as Ella's dad got into his truck.

A few minutes passed and he climbed back out of the truck and kicked it. He began looking around, obviously trying to find the young girl in my arms. A woman came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder as Ella's dad burst into the store. "Come this way," she whispered seeing the fear in my eyes. I nodded and we ducked into a room in the back of the store. She ushered us into an office and locked the door. I laid Ella's frail being on a bench behind a desk.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Jaime.

I see your problem. I'll take care of him, the shop owner is calling the police.

I nodded and went to Ella's side. She opened one eye and tried to say something, but I hushed her. "Ella, it's me, Chandler. The police are on their way," I whispered. She looked scared and tried to sit up, but fell back. I caught her and held her in my arms. She started to cry, and I gently rubbed her back. "Everything's going to be okay now," I whispered.

I heard sirens and sighed. "Where will I go now?" she asked weakly. "We'll figure it out, let's just get you better and your father handled first, okay?" I whispered back. I heard the door unlock and two paramedics rushed in and took Ella away. I followed hot on their trails as they put her on a stretcher. "You're a brave kid," one of them said to me as they closed the doors of the ambulance with the even braver girl inside.

I looked around and saw a police officer holding Ella's dad down as he kicked and screamed. He saw me and got even angrier. "It was you, you little fucking bastard!" he screamed, before one of the officers shut him up. "Oh you have no idea," I thoughtand smirked a little. I turned around and saw my Uncle Jaime sporting a new black eye. I ran to him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much Jaime," I said as I felt an unexpected tear fall down my face.

"Kid, you're the hero. All I did was keep him occupied. You probably saved that little girl's life," he said, smiling down at me.

We got into his car and took off for the hospital. I hope she'll be alright.

Notes

God I'm so sorry I've been gone so long loves!!!! I've had some bad stuff going on, but I'm better now! Thank you for being so patient and not giving up on me <3
Don't forget to sub and rate and leave feedback in the comments cuz I LOVE hearing from y'all!!!
~Shayde