" Stop talking now ," I ordered Liam , pressing my palm over his mouth ," Just look at me and stop talking ."
He cried silently in my arms.
While I was dying myself, he was too .
" You need to calm down first ,then we can talk ."
It took him a while . He picked up a strand of my hair and put it before his nose . He probably liked the smell of my shampoo.
I could not exactly judge him for that . His scent had calmed me down on multiple occasions.
Or maybe we were just two people obsessed with each other's colongue.
I smiled humourlessly at that thought.
He stared at me curiously. I realised that he was watching my every movement like this . Well , it was better to concentrate on me than those negative thoughts inside his head that was making him spiral down a dark path .
" Let's get up ," I told him in a gentle voice and helped him up . At some point ,we had come to sit in the corridor while he was having a panic attack.
I did not know if it was the first time or had this happened before . Hell , I did not even know how long he had been suffering from this conditions.
With a childhood like that , no wonder .....I just thanked the God for atleast giving him the strength to act like a normal human being .
I talked to him in a soft voice , until he fell asleep . Then called Jewel , since it was either her or a mother-in-law who could not stand my gut .
She rushed in with the medical team and security.
The chaos who Liam up .
" You will be fine now ," I gently patted his arm .
" Are you going somewhere?," he asked in a weak voice .
" Yeah , but I will be back ," I kissed his forehead and left .
A part of me ached as I realised that his feelings for me were not fake . I had just assumed that about him .
There was a reason for his most of his misbehaviour. There was so much I did not know about him or even my own family infact .
My brother gave me company as I left to go back to the agency .
I explained to him in short - of everything I had heard . He was quiet for a while and said ," Are you not upset at all ?"
" About what ?"
" About the bankruptcy of our family I mean . Andersons they admitted that they were behind the ruining of our company...and you know father got worse after that . It was at that time that mother became like that and you - you also has to -"
" Stop ," I felt dizzy just thinking about that . I knew that Liam and his mother did everything to survive themselves although they made my family situation to the worst for that .
A part of me thought about how unfair it was . But then again , I was a human after all . I understood enough to know that my father was a monster even before and after it .
Without the involvement of Andersons , he would have eventually broken us anyway .
So I could take my proper time to make my heart understand.....and next time , I wanted to blame the person who was actually behind of everything after all.
" People here had no other way ," I told my brother ," I told you how awful their situation was ."
" I am still holding grudges ," my brother grumbled ," Not everything he had done can be blamed on his trauma ."
I flicked his forehead.
Before he could argue with me , the car screeched to a stop.
I prepared myself with my glasses and cap to get down.
There was already a crowd waiting before us .
I looked at my manager and told her ," Can you please call the security first ?"
For fifteen minutes I waited painfully for the security to clear up a way from the van to the building.
When I got down , I flinched as people call my name ," Autumn , Autumn! "
" It's really Autumn !"
" Oh my ghosh !"
God , I was scared . I knew how easy it was to be hated by people . How terrifying it was to meet the glaring eyes. I ducked my head as low as I could and quickened my pace .
"Autumn look at us !"
" Look !"
My brother grabbed my hand and whisphered ," Sis , look ."
I took a small glance at them . There was smiles in their eyes .
I read a single board they were holding first .
"YOU ARE BRAVE !"
And then another .
" YOU SURVIVED! THAT'S ALL IT MATTERS "
Then another.
" YOU HAVE FOUGHT LONG ENOUGH "
Another , another , another .
"NOONE DESERVES TO BE TREATED LIKE THAT "
" WE ARE WITH YOU "
"YOU WON ! "
" IT'S THEM , IT'S NOT YOU !"
I felt the tears in my eyes and hid them between my palms . I could hear them . I could hear the women , the kids , the men shouting my name , telling me anything but it was my fault.
I got on my knees and placed my head on the ground .
I could not go any lower even whe the weight of gratitude wanted me to be .