The next morning Marley headed home as she intended to do what she should've done months ago. She needed to find the contact information for Bailey's family, she needed to get him back to Chicago. She wanted to stay with the young man and keep an eye on him but this was something she couldn't do in his flat. For starters Bailey had no internet and secondly she didn't want to risk him finding out yet, she was afraid he'd panic and bolt. As soon as she stepped through her front door Marley wasted no time in grabbing her laptop and quickly searching up Bailey's parents. In the past when she searched up Bailey's name she'd found a news article with a number to contact at the end, she'd shown it to Bailey once hoping it would show him how much he was needed back home but he believed once his parents knew the truth they'd change their minds. No amount of convincing would ever change his mind. However this time as she scrolled to the bottom of the page she noticed a number of links to more recent articles from the same area , usually she would have ignored them but one article caught her eye. As she read the headline a jolt of fear went through her body ; she felt almost as if the ground had fallen from underneath her. She held her breath as quickly scanned through the article, there'd be an explosion that had left three firefighters in critical condition and another had died on the scene. The more details she learnt the more her heart began to race, but one line in particular made her heart feel as if it was going to explode "four fighters from station fifty one working on second shift".
"Oh god" she cursed as she let the information sink in, if Bailey's father or step mother passed away she knew he would never forgive himself for not being there, it would truly send the boy over the edge he was already balancing on. Despite the risks she knew she had to tell him the truth, because if things were really bad the boy deserved to know, and if his father was one of the critically injured maybe Bailey would have a chance to say goodbye if things were that bad, he deserved that. She wiped away the tears stinging her eyes, she had to tell him the truth ,Secrets had already destroyed enough of Bailey's life.
When she returned to his flat it was exactly how she left it, completely silent. Even though it was nearly mid-day she wasn't surprised that Bailey was still in bed, he'd barely moved over the past twenty four hours. She padded over to his bedroom and gently opened the door. Bailey was in the same position he'd been in all night, curled up under his duvet with his knees hugged tightly to his chest and his head buried under his pillow. She suspected it was the first time in over a week that he had slept for more than three hours in a had been far from good recently, she knew everything was getting too much for him, this was the most peaceful she'd seen him in a very long time ; she didn't feel ready to ruin it.
"Bailey" she whispered as she sat herself down on the edge of the bed. The mattress was extremely lumpy at the bed squeaked as she sat down, she'd tried countless times to persuade him in the past to move in with her or at least swap his bed with the nicer one in her spare bedroom but he'd always insist he was fine. As she looked at the lump in the bed she felt sick at the realisation of just how young he was, when she'd first met him he'd told her he was twenty one. Of course his rough extremist from a while longer the streets had aided his lie, she'd been extremely shocked when she'd found out a few months ago that at the time he'd on,y been eighteen. If she had known back then she definitely would've
"Go away" came a low mumble from the lump in the middle of the bed, any other day she would've laughed but currently her whole body was consumed with worry, she had no idea how he would take her news. Hesitantly she tapped his shoulder and attempted to pull the duvet down in an attempt to see him better. But even then He refused to open his eyes. Guilt was rising in his chest as it must have been over a week of struggling to fall asleep he was finally getting some rest and she had to disturb it.
"Bailey, we need to talk" ,
"tired", mumbled Bailey. Any other day she'd probably laugh at release, in a strange way despite being half asleep he seemed more alive than he had in a long time.
"Please It's important honey", with that one sentence Bailey's entire body froze just like she expected it too. She never used nicknames casually, it just wasn't the sort of person she was. She didn't regularly call people honey or sweetie, she could count on one hand how many times she'd used those endearments over the last few years, but she needed to say something she knew would grab his attention. Bailey sat himself up before looking right at her, a lump formed in her throat at the worry dancing in his eyes. And the fear in his voice as he spoke felt like a stab in the heart, she didn't understand how an already devastating situation had gotten worse,
"What's going on?"
