The Story Left Untold

After I had called Louis with my simple ‘hurricane’ greeting, I had crumpled further into a ball on the floor and continued to cry. I could hear voices downstairs, meaning my grandparents and Mr. Taveres were still downstairs discussing whatever they needed to discuss. Their voices ceased at the sound of the doorbell, and after what sounded like a hushed yelling match, the door to my room creaked open. I opened my eyes and Jay was instantly by my side and pulling me into her arms. I clung onto her, my sobs becoming more violent, and tried to steady my breathing as she rubbed my back.

“It’s okay Payton, I’ve got you,” she whispered softly, “They have no right to be doing this to you. You are an amazing young girl, and are doing absolutely everything right in raising Kennedy.”

“They said that too, but said my personal life was what was wrong,” I spat, the words tasting bitter, “They said that by dating Louis I wasn’t being responsible, and I’m pretty sure they inadvertently called me a slag while they were scolding me. I thought they were my family, meaning they would stand by me, not rip my whole life to shreds.”

“They’re delusional, sweetheart,” she said, helping me stand up and walk to my bed, “We’ll do everything we can to help.”

I choked at her words, realizing how much Jay truly meant to me, and started crying hard again. I latched onto her in a hug again, and she let me cry into her shoulder. I couldn’t stop the tears from coming, and I realized that most of them weren’t even because of the situation at hand. Jay’s embrace was extremely similar to how my mothers had been, and clinging onto her made me miss her even more.

Before the accident, my mom had been one of my best friends. I was always a mommy’s girl, while Kennedy had definitely been a daddy’s girl. The pair of them had always put us girls first, hardly ever doing things strictly for themselves, and made sure we had the best lives possible. They spoiled us rotten, something I was never shy to admit, but always made sure we appreciated what we had. My mom was considered a ‘homemaker’, and was always taking Kennedy and I out to do things when we didn’t have school. She was the best mom in the world, and now that I couldn’t hug her when I needed to most, I realized how much I missed her.

“What if they win, Jay?” I whispered, not wanting to hear a real answer, “If they win, they take the one person of my family left. They’ll take Kennedy and I’ll be left with nothing. I’ll have myself, and be all alone in a town that will turn into nothing but bad memories. What would I have left to live for, huh? Cause living for myself seems pretty pointless right now.”

“You have Lou, me, and the girls, Payton,” she said, clutching me even tighter, “And I never want to hear you speak like that again. You have so much to live for, because you are a beautiful, strong woman. If you weren’t strong, you wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“Thank you Jay, you have no idea how much you mean to me,” I whispered, not wanting to let her go, “I’m sorry I tore you away from the girls.”

“You’re my fifth girl, Payton, and always will be,” she said back, squeezing me another time, “Let’s go make you a cuppa, and then you can decide if you want to stay here or head to mine, yeah?”

I nodded, finally detaching myself from her embrace, and wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my shirt. She nudged me towards the bathroom, ordering I changed into pajamas and washed my face before heading downstairs. I took her advice, and emerged a few minutes later in some plaid pants and a jumper I had swiped from Louis some time before. She was already sat at the island bar, two mugs in front of her, and a plate of cookies that I could tell she had made earlier in the day at home. We tucked into our tea and cookies, light conversation about my London trip flowing easily, and I smiled at the hope that everything could possibly be okay.

===

There was no worse feeling in the world than walking up to the courthouse on the day of the custody hearing for Payton. I had one of her hands clenched tightly in mine, while using my other one to cling onto Louis. My grandparents were already inside, having walked in as we pulled up, and I could feel my stomach clenching as I thought about facing them. I hadn’t spoken to them in the month since they delivered the news, opting to spend the holiday’s with the Tomlinson’s, and still had immense amounts of anger pent up towards them.

Jay met us inside, and I could tell she was doing her best to not glare openly at my grandparents. She greeted me with a hug, and even straightened the lapels of my blazer as she pulled away. I shot her the best smile I could muster, which wasn’t much, and took in a breath as we stepped towards the conference room we were scheduled in. My grandparents were already sat with Mr. Tavares, and their eyes locked onto Kennedy and me as we filed in behind our lawyer. Mr. Lockwood was one of the best lawyers in London, and thanks to Louis he had agreed to represent me in the custody hearing. He had built what I thought was a strong case for me to keep her, and I could only hope that the law saw it that way too.

My palms were sweaty as we all had to do the normal oath as we sat down. I knew that everything I had been trying to prepare myself was finally here, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Kennedy was sat at the end of the table, doodling on a spare legal pad, with Louis sitting next to her. I had asked Jay to sit next to me, knowing she would be a good calming source for me. I was right, because as soon as the judge started reading the means of our hearing, I felt her place a hand on my arm in a comforting manner.

I listened, a knot forming in my stomach as my grandparents lawyer stated their case, and used all of the strength I had to keep tears from building in my eyes. Their case was simple, saying I wasn’t fit to raise a child due to my ‘new found celebrity romance’. Mr. Lockwood quickly defended me when he read our case, saying that to Kennedy, Louis was a normal person. This naturally caused Louis to be brought as the first ‘witness’ to the case. He shuffled into the chair near our end of the table, and listened intently as Mr. Tavares asked him about Kennedy.

“Kenny will always be like my fifth little sister,” he stated, using the nickname she only let Louis call her, “I got to hold her mere hours after she was born, and from then I’ve loved her like she was my own sister. Payton has always been motherly towards Kenny. I remember many times when she would cancel her own plans so she could babysit Kenny, and let her parents go out.

“The amount of love she has for that little girl is limitless, and anyone who has been around them can tell you that. If Payton ever felt that her relationship with me was affecting Kennedy in a bad way, she would end it. She will do anything to make sure that Kennedy is raised the best way possible, even if it means sacrificing things in her own life.”

I mouthed a thank you to Louis as he looked at me, and could tell his eyes were telling me everything I needed to hear. He answered a few more questions, and was allowed to move back to where Kennedy was sitting watching everything with full attention. My grandparents started to state their case, and I wanted to scoff at the horrible, as well as false, picture they were making out of me to the judge. They brought up recent articles about me, focusing on the one that showcased the pictures of Louis and I kissing in public. They were trying to convince everyone that the hate I was occasionally getting would soon be transferred to Kennedy if his fans found out about her, which lead to Jay being asked a few questions. I didn’t move my gaze from her face as she talked about me, the amount of love she had for Kennedy and I obvious in her voice, and nearly found myself in tears as she finished her statement. The judge decided he had heard enough, and told us we could have a forty five recess before returning for his decision. My grandparents left the room quickly, and I waited until I was sure they were far enough away before standing up and sliding my coat back on.

“I’m gonna take Payt to get some tea mum, are you alright staying with Kenny for a few?” Lou asked, walking over and grabbing my hand.

She nodded, a sad and knowing smile painted on her lips, and I followed Louis out of the stuffy room. We walked silently towards the small coffee cart, and I stayed quiet as he ordered both of our drinks. We sat on a secluded bench, and I all but melted into Louis side as he pulled me into him. Our tea was soon forgotten, and I latched both of my arms around his middle as he rubbed my back softly. I let a few tears I had been holding in fall softly, but wiped them away before they could stain his button down shirt. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, letting his lips linger longer than normal to show me he was there for me, and passed me the tea.

“Drink up, I know it’ll calm you down a bit,” he said, still keeping an arm around my shoulders.

“I just don’t know what’s going to happen,” I mumbled, letting the scalding liquid burn my tongue, “I know what I want to happen, but I don’t want to get my hopes up, and have them completely torn down.”

“Whatever happens, I’ll be right by your side,” he said, giving my frame a squeeze, “I promise.”

I smiled at his words, and reached my free hand up to grip the one resting on my shoulder. We finished our tear in a comfortable silence, not exactly having any words to exchange, and I took our cups to the nearest bin. When I returned, Louis had barely moved, and I felt myself begin to pace back in forth in front of him. In under 10 minutes I would be receiving news that could possibly change my life forever. Louis watched me closely, knowing that if I stopped my motions I would more than likely have a breakdown, and barely spoke above a whisper to tell me it was time to return. I gulped, taking a death grip on his hand as we made the short walk back, pulling him into the seat I had asked Jay to occupy earlier.

“Well, this was quite the tough decision to make, I must say,” the judge started, removing his glasses slowly, “Kennedy is very lucky to have you guys as her family, and you as her friends. From what I can gather Payton, you have done a phenomenal job at raising Kennedy this past year.”

“Thank you,” I stated quietly, inching towards the edge of my seat.

“Unfortunately, I think that with your new found romance, and pseudo celebrity fame, that you won’t be able to raise her the way you have been,” he said, making my heart stop, “Which means, I hereby grant custody of Kennedy-Mae Beckett to Mr. and Mrs. Stengl.”

I wasn’t sure what was said after that, because I could only hear the rushing of blood in my ears and the pounding of my heart in my chest. My breathing became labored, and I immediately rushed over to Kennedy and pulled her into a hug. She was crying, telling me she didn’t want to leave me, and I clunt onto her as I practically sobbed.

“I love you Kennedy-Mae, don’t you ever forget that,” I said, brushing her brown hair from her eyes, “You can always call me, no matter what time of day it is, I’ll always answer. I promise. I love you so much.”

“I don’t wanna go, PayPay,” she uttered, the old nickname breaking my heart, “I’m going to miss you. Please don’t let them do this. I love you too much.”

“I wish I could stop it, baby girl,” I said shaking my head, “You stay strong, okay? I know you’ll be fine, because you’ve got that Beckett blood in you. I’ll miss you more than you’ll ever know.”

She grasped onto me again, and I clung to her for dear life, until I felt her being pried away. I looked up at the culprit, my grandmother, and gritted my teeth as I saw the smirk playing on her lips. I uttered words I never thought I’d tell a family member, and was up and running from the room before I could even see her reaction. My heels sounded loud against the tiled floor, and I fled towards the nearest exit. Louis voice was calling for me from behind, but I ignored him and barreled out the door without stopping. My ankles finally gave in from the pain of running in heels, and I collapsed onto the cold cement, tearing my knees up in the process. I hunched over, losing most of my ability to breathe, and let out a loud sob. I cradled my midsection as I sobbed, and clung onto Louis as he dropped onto the ground next to me. I felt a few of his own tears drop onto my hair as he tried to sooth me, even though we both knew it was useless.