The Artist's Amour (BWWM) ✓

Chapter 28: The Decision

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Aria's POV

I was awakened by the sound of my phone going off as the vibrations erupted from under my stomach.

This shit took me like 400 years to find.

Note to self? Set phone on the fucking bedside table before going to bed.

"What." I grumbled into the line after I finally got the phone to my ear.

"Excuse me?" My mother answered. In seconds, my body was up and out of bed.

"No- I didn't know it was you- shit, hi mom." I answered, brutally stumbling over my words as I awkwardly paced my room in sleep deprivation.

"Hi. I'm outside. Open up." She demanded, her voice losing its angry edge as I slipped some house shoes on and took off my sleeping cap. The bedside clock read that it was already 8am.

"Right. I'll be there in a second." I said, before ending the line and opening up my bedroom door. As I reached the top of the stairs, I could see Lacey down below resting peacefully on my couch as she unconsciously held the frozen peas to the side of her face. My body froze completely.

I had forgotten about that whole situation the night before. And my mother was right outside.

It wasn't like I could kick Lacey out, she was horribly injured and I still didn't feel okay enough to move her. My mother, on the other hand, would break down that door if I didn't open it up with the next 30 seconds. I sighed, silently walking down the stairs before heading to the front door. From what I could see as I passed her, the swelling on her face had gone down significantly since last night.

I undid the locks and slowly opened the door. My eyes quickly came face to face with familiar hazel ones. "Hello, Mother." I smiled, unable to mask the sheer amount of happiness from seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar place.

"Hi, baby." She smiled back, before walking through and embracing me. Hugs weren't something my mom and I did often, so my body stiffened a little at first. Soon, I relaxed into her touch.

"How was the flight?" I asked quietly, as we pulled away.

"It was good. This home looks nice. I can already feel your touch shining through with it." She commented as another smile graced my lips. Compliments from my mother was not something to be taken lightly.

"It's been a process. Lots of work still needs to be done, but I'm not in a rush at the moment." I explained, taking her coat and hanging it up for her. "How do you like Maine?"

"It's... Different." She paused, choosing her words carefully. I chuckled at her reply.

"No worries, I felt the same when I arrived. I'm just out on the outskirts of Portland though, as you drive further in through the main road, the town appears. It's actually quite beautiful there." I explained.

"You'll have to take me." She nodded. "So shall I come in? I'd love for you to give me a tour." She pushed, trying to see the house behind me.

"Y-Yes." I whispered, attempting to figure out how to go about that without her seeing the half beaten up girl laying on my couch.

"And why are we talking so low?" She asked, her voice dropping to a whisper to match mine.

I glanced at her for some time, before I slowly grabbed her hand, letting her slip of her boots by the door and leading her out, into the living room.

That was when she saw Lacey. "Who is this?" She whispered to me.

"T-This is... Lacey. She's, uhm, she's Chris's ex wife. Nick's mom." I whispered as we drew nearer to her.

"What the hell happened to her? Did Chris do this to her?" My mom asked, her voice getting rougher. My eyes softened.

"No. It was her boyfriend, Steve. She came to me last night in a really bad state so I did everything I could to help her." I explained.

"Why didn't you bring her to a hospital?" My mother asked, although, she already knew why.

"It wasn't an option for her."

She nodded, silently watching Lacey as she slept.

~

"What were you thinking?" My mother asked as we moved into the kitchen area.

"I'm not sure yet. It all depends on how Lacey wants to go about this. It's her call." I replied, sipping more of the rich dark roast coffee my mom had made. I'd almost forgotten how good my mom was at brewing coffee.

"That sounds reasonable." My mother nodded.

"Aria-" my mom and I both whipped our heads around to find Lacey leaning against the wall of the kitchens entryway.

"Shit, Lacey, you shouldn't be up." I scolded her, quickly latching my arm under her armpit to hold her up as we walked her back to the couch.

"Who's that?" She asked, referring to my mom as she moved closer to us.

"I'm Aria's mother, Ms. Lane. It's nice to meet you, Lacey." My mom introduced herself, sitting beside me. "I'm sorry that this is the way we are meeting."

"It's okay. Nice to meet you to." Lacey croaked out, her voice catching in her throat.

"Is it okay if I take a look?" My mom asked, moving closer to the side of the couch where Lacey lay. Lacey hesitantly nodded, lifting the large shirt up to where the bondages where. My mom quickly but carefully unwrapped the bandages and revealed a large purplish-blue bruise that covered the span of Lacey's entire rib cage. The swelling was reduced, yet the bruise itself didn't look good at all. "Oh honey," my mom whispered as she sighed, "you really need to go to the ER."

Lacey's eyes shut for a few minutes before she finally spoke. "O-Okay." She nodded.

"I'm just going to help Aria grab a few things upstairs, then we'll come help you. We'll take my rental to the hospital." My mom added, glancing at me to throw some serious shade at my ride outside. Lacey nodded, as her eyelids fluttered closed. My mom signaled for me to follow her as we went upstairs. "What's going through your head?" She asked me as we made it into my room.

"It depends on how she wants to go about it but I... I want to represent her, I want to be her attorney if she does decide to take legal action."

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I'm not going to lie to y'all. I had work yesterday, then played Pokemon Go directly after. I completely forgot to upload this lol. Anyways, thank you so much for all the support you've been giving this book, I seriously appreciate it. ❤️