The boy who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window
Chapter 63: A Dangerous Secret

Chapter 63: A Dangerous Secret

Johnny had his head in his hands. Jake looked really angry again. "What’s wrong?" I asked, looking between the two of them. Jake looked at me, he looked really stressed and worried.

I didn’t see Jake like this very often, he was always so strong and it actually made me feel a little sick to see him like that now.

"He’s doing it again. He’s hit Johnny and his mom a few times," Jake growled, looking disgusted. Damn it! I told Jake we should have called the police instead of just kicking him out, but he insisted he didn’t want Amber to go through that. And now he was doing it to someone else!

"My mom was talking about leaving him last year.

Then we moved here instead. She said it was a fresh start and that we should all start over, but it hasn’t helped," Johnny said sadly. I knelt down next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I didn’t really know him that well, he was more Angel’s friend than mine, but I knew he was a good kid.

"Johnny, does your mom still want to leave him?" I asked, looking at Jake, who looked like he was ready to explode any minute. I’d have to keep a close eye on him.

If the time came then I’d be there at his side, but we couldn’t go rushing into anything, it would need to look like self-defence.

Johnny shrugged. "I haven’t spoken to her about it since we moved here, so I don’t know. I know that she’s scared for Matt. He hasn’t hit him yet, but he’s only a year old," he replied, his voice breaking.

I squeezed his shoulder supportively. That as**ole was a real sick piece of work. Jake sat down next to him and patted his back awkwardly.

As guys, we weren’t really too good at support. Angel would be perfect for this; she was so damn loving and kind.

"Johnny, you need to tell your mom that he’s done this before. It could be the push that she needs to leave him before he does anything to Matt," Jake said kindly.

Johnny nodded, standing up. "I’ll go home and speak to her when I can."

"Johnny, if you ever need help you call me. Day or night, understand? And if you need a place to stay for a few days, your mom and brother too, then you can stay here," Jake said fiercely.

He meant it, Jake was a great guy and he would never let anyone hurt his family or friends, I guess technically Johnny was his family too.

"Thanks. I’ll wait until he’s not there, and then I’ll talk to her." Johnny nodded, looking really sad, and a little scared.

"Call me and let me know how it goes. And I’m serious about the place to stay, my mom won’t mind, and she’s not even due home for another two weeks," Jake stated, walking Johnny to the door. He put his arm around his shoulder.

"Everything’s going to be fine," Jake assured him. Johnny looked like a little lost boy, he didn’t look ready for this at all, but I guess he’d need to man up quickly like Jake did when he was younger.

"I don’t think you should tell Amber any of this stuff. She doesn’t really need anything else to worry about, and I don’t even know what my mom’s going to say about it all," Johnny muttered, frowning.

I nodded. That was probably a good idea. If Angel knew any of this she would be getting herself all worked up, worrying about Johnny and Matt, and for all we knew his mom might not even want to leave him in the first place. We could tell her when the time comes. "Yeah, good idea," I agreed, nodding.

"OK thanks. See ya." He smiled sadly and headed out of the house.

Jake shut the door and pressed his forehead against it. "Liam, you need to give me one good reason why I shouldn’t go round there and slit his throat," he growled, his whole body stiff.

"Because then you’d be in jail, and Angel wouldn’t have her big brother here to protect her," I said quickly, knowing that Amber was the one thing that would keep him calm and restrained.

Jake turned to me and did something I’d never seen him do in his life; he slumped down against the door, pulled his knees up to his chest, and cried. I felt my insides squirm at the sight of it.

I was so angry again that I needed to remind myself of the exact same reason I couldn’t go around there and slit his throat. I sat down next to Jake and put my arm around his shoulder while he cried. I don’t think he’d ever had a proper release before.

~ Amber ~

Things had been really strained for the last week between me and Johnny. I knew that he knew about what my father had done to us, well, some of it anyway.

Jake assured me that he didn’t tell him too much about me because he knew I wouldn’t want people knowing about it. I’d told Johnny that I didn’t want to talk about any of it, which he respected.

He seemed to hang out with Jake and Liam more than he did me and Kate at the moment. They were always off talking in hushed whispers, and would stop whenever I went near them.

I wondered if they were talking about me, but to be honest I really didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to talk about that man ever again, so if they were happy to talk about me and leave me out of it, then good.

When I woke up on Friday morning, Liam was already up and getting dressed quietly. "Hey, are you doing the walk of shame?" I teased, wondering why he was sneaking out of my room. He never woke up before me.