I know that I'm late, and I am very sorry, I had problems logging in on fanfiction, so I couldn't post a new chapter, still, I hope you'll like it and forgive me!
CHAPTER 8 – THE RAIN CAME DOWN (SECRETS REVEALED)
On the first day of school, a week after the camping trip, Jude was waiting for Connor on their usual spot, a bench near the beach. Last time Jude had seen Connor, which was the day before, Connor still didn't have bruises, which Jude thought was curious. Just before the first bell rang, Connor arrived, and nothing seemed to have happened, but Jude noticed that Connor was wearing a long sleeved shirt, which was unusual for such a warm day. When Connor came closer and greeted him, Jude greeted Connor back. It didn't take long before Jude's curiosity took over.
"Why are you wearing a long sleeved shirt?" he asked.
"I'm cold," Connor said.
"Really?" Jude asked.
"Yeah, it's quite chilly here by the beach," Connor said, but Jude could see that he was lying.
"Connor, don't lie to me. Why are you wearing a long sleeved shirt?" Jude asked, but something in him already knew the answer.
"My dad beat me up again yesterday evening," Connor said, looking to the ground. Jude saw a few tears fall on the warm said, and he wanted to hug his boyfriend, but he realized he couldn't, as there were people around, and they weren't out on school yet.
"I'm so sorry to hear that," Jude said, "is there anything I can do?"
"Just be the angel by my side, please," Connor said, and smiled to Jude.
"I will be," Jude said, and the bell rang. They got up, dried Connor's tears and made sure that nobody could see Connor had been crying. They went to their lesson whispering about what Connor's dad had done.
During their first break, Connor didn't want to sit near their friends, so he and Jude ate their snacks on the beach, which was one of the most beautiful places on Anchor Beach.
"Could you roll up your sleeves?" Jude asked.
"Why?" Connor asked, looking very nervous.
"I wanna see what it was your dad did to you," Jude said. Slowly, Connor rolled up his sleeves, exposing his arms. Jude was shocked by what he saw. Connors arms were black and blue, and even if Connor had worn a shirt without sleeves, Jude would still have thought Connor was wearing sleeves.
"We have to do something about it!" Jude exclaimed.
"Sssssh," Connor shushed Jude, "Nobody can know!"
"Why not? This is not good, Connor. You'll never get out of this!"
"Jude, please," Connor begged, but couldn't finish his sentence as the bell rang and everybody stood up. There was too much noise for Connor to say what he wanted without anyone hearing him, so he and Jude made their way to the main building, where they parted for their own lessons.
During the second break, nothing happened. Connor didn't want to sit near their friends, so he and Jude sat down on the beach again and quietly ate their lunch. Jude shot worried looks at Connor from time to time, which Connor couldn't see, as he was too busy devouring his sandwich. When the bell finally ran, and Connor stood up to go to class, Jude grabbed his hand for a moment, stood op and whispered in Connor's ear that he loves him. Connor responded with a vacant smile and walked away.
After his lessons, Jude went to Lena's office and knocked on the door. Lena wasn't too busy and always had time for her students, so she said that he could come in, and was surprised to see Jude standing in the doorway.
"Hey bud, what's up? Need a ride home?"
"No, I got here by bike, but can I talk to you?"
"Sure," Lena said, a bit worried, "What is it?"
"Could you ask Monte to come too? She kinda needs to know too," Jude said.
Lena, feeling worried about what might be going on with her son, summoned Monte, and the three of them sat down. Jude stood up to close the door, and lowered the curtains on the door, so nobody could look in.
"You seem serious," Monte commented, and when she saw Jude's face, she went silent. Jude's face was covered in tears, as he knew that he was going against his boyfriend's will to tell his vice-principal and principal this, but he just couldn't stand it anymore. Lena walked over and hugged Jude until he stopped crying.
"What's wrong honey?" She said, while she stepped in her role as mother instead of her role of vice-principal.
"I… He asked me not to tell you, but… I just can't stand it anymore…" Jude stammered.
"Who asked you not to tell? What can't you stand anymore?" Monte asked.
"Connor… his dad beats him up almost daily," Jude said, his voice breaking.
"Is that where all the bruises came from?" Lena asked.
"Yes," Jude sobbed.
"But I didn't see any bruises today," Monte began, but she was interrupted by Lena.
"No, but he was wearing a long sleeved shirt," she said, "Jude, was he wearing a long sleeved shirt because his arms are bruised?"
Jude nodded, knowing that he could not speak, but somehow, he found a little piece in himself that wanted to say how badly Connor was beaten up.
"When I asked him to roll up his sleeve, I thought he had another shirt under it, his arms were that black and blue," Jude said. Monte and Lena cringed at the thought of that.
"How long have you known about this?" Lena asked.
"Since the first time he slept over," Jude admitted, "He was trying to lock the bedroom door, and I asked why, he told me then".
Lena and Monte assured that Jude had done what was right for both him and Connor, and Jude just nodded and cried. Lena gave him the car keys and told him to wait in the car, even though Jude came by bike. Jude accepted her request and walked off.
"What should we do now?" Monte asked, unexperienced with these kinds of situations.
"I don't know," was the unsatisfying reaction of the experienced educator, "first of all, we gotta talk to Connor."
So the two of them walked over to Connor's maths class, where they asked for Connor. Connor, who was a popular student in his year, got cheers from his class, who all thought he'd done something bad. Connor was led to Lena's office, where he was sat down by Monte.
"Connor, roll up your sleeve please," Monte asked, a little nervous of what she'd see.
Connor, feeling very nervous, refused to do so.
"Connor, it's okay, we're trying to help you," Lena said.
Reluctantly, Connor rolled up his sleeves and Lena and Monte were shocked by what they saw.
"Connor, who did this to you?"
Connor, who couldn't hold himself together anymore, began to cry again, and said his dad had done it.
"How long has this been going on?" Monte asked.
"Ever since my mum and he divorced," Connor sobbed.
"But that's nine years ago!" Lena exclaimed, shocked by that she'd never known.
Connor nodded in confirmation.
"Go to the nurse, Connor, get yourself checked up," Monte said, and Connor rolled up his sleeve and left.
Jude was sitting in Lena's car. He had just loaded his bike in the back, thinking he wouldn't have to cycle home. He had just settled in the passenger seat when he saw a figure in the distance, coming out of the school. As the figure came closer, he saw that it was Connor, and part of him wanted to get out of the car and embrace the love of his life, but part of him was too embarrassed to do so, as he knew that he'd broken his promise never to tell anyone. As Connor came closer, Jude saw his facial expression, and it didn't look good. Connor looked upset and Jude knew that he'd talked with Lena. As Connor saw Lena's car, he gazed through the window, half expecting to see Jude there, and when he did see Jude, his face became a rollercoaster of emotions. He felt in love as he saw Jude, but sad that Jude has broken his promise, and most of all, Connor felt angry at Jude for telling the principal and the vice-principal about his secret. Connor stared at Jude for a little while, but then broke the eye contact, turned around and walked away, not wanting to see Jude.
Jude opened the door of the car and got out of the car. He ran towards Connor, screaming out his name.
"Connor, wait up," Jude said, but Connor didn't answer.
"Connor stop," Jude tried again, but it didn't make a difference.
"Connor please," Jude begged, but Connor increased his pace, leaving Jude with no choice but to run as fast as he could, but when Jude tried to get Connor's attention once again, Connor began to run as fast as he could, and Jude couldn't keep up with him. Soon, Connor was out of sight, and Jude returned to the car, pulling up his legs to his head, and he started crying.
After a little while, Lena came walking towards the car, and she saw Jude with his head buried in his legs, crying. She got into the car and laid her hand on Jude's back.
"Sweetie it's alright, you've done what's right," She said, which made Jude cry even more.
"Honey, in life you gotta choose between what's good and what's easy. Connor chose to do what's easy, taking his father's blows and not tell anybody. You've chosen to do what is right, standing up to Connor's dad by telling us what he did," Lena explained.
"I just saw Connor, he saw me too. He looked angry at me. When he walked away, I tried to go after him, and he just increased his pace and finally ran away. He didn't even answer, he didn't stop, he didn't want to talk to me." Jude said, sobbing.
"Oh sweetie, Connor is just upset that you told us, but he'll get over it and eventually, he'll thank you for it. He just needs some time to think about it. He knows you love him, and he knows you did it out of love for him."
Just at that moment, they both were startled by a knock on the window, and they found Monte there. Lena opened the car door and let Monte speak.
"Hey, you forgot your purse, so I was hoping you were still here. Turns out you are. Anyway, here's your purse!" she said.
Lena thanked her and Monte turned to Jude.
"It'll be alright, Jude, he'll come back," she said.
After Lena had closed the door again, she said that Monte was right, and that Jude had to wait until Connor came back to him, and not to go looking for Connor, as Connor needed some time and space to figure this out for himself.
And Connor would come back, but sooner than expected. In fact, already that same evening, Connor would return into Jude's life, still angry and still upset, but he would be there again, seeking Jude.
They pulled out of the parking lot and went left, like always, and they headed home. Lena had her hand on Jude's, and only let go of his hand to switch gears, but her hand always returned to Jude's. When they got home, Stef had already come home from work, and Lena and Jude told her what had happened on school today, and Stef was equally as shocked as Lena had been to find out about what Connor's father had done to Connor during so many years. When Jude told her how Connor reacted when Jude wanted to make it right to Connor, Stef pulled him closer, and told him some of the same things that Lena had already told him, that everything would be alright and that Jude chose to do what was right, and that she could only admire Jude for it. Jude ended up receiving a mama sandwich, after which the three of them prepared dinner to distract Jude from thinking about Connor.
Authors note:
I do not own anything recognizable.
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think via a message on here, or use my askbox on tumblr: always-jonnor-love-.-tumblr-.-com-/-ask (Without the dashes, but otherwise this site wouldn't let me post it).
Please let me know what you think, your opinion means a great deal to me!
The next chapter is called "The Fight pt. 1".
