Camryn's POV

"Mom?" Colton says confusedly. Oh my god. I feel like I've just been punched in the gut, so I can't imagine how Colton must feel. He's seeing his mother for the first time in five years.

"Colton I-" the lady starts, but Colton storms out of the diner, slamming the door behind him. She turns around and takes another drink of her damn water. It's taking all of my strength to not slap this lady across her face. I rush from behind the counter to go check on Colton. "Don't worry, I know my son, he'll be back," she says once I reach the door.

"It's been five years, you don't know shit about your son," I spit, shutting the door behind me. I get outside and see Colton getting onto his bike, but he's struggling. I run across the parking lot to him. Once I reach him, he throws his helmet on the floor. I flinch, but move closer to him.

He looks at me and his eyes are glossy. Without a word, he wraps his arms tightly around me and rests his forehead on my shoulder and begins to cry. Hard.

I hold him tightly, using one hand to caress the back of his neck. His entire body is shaking as he sobs and I can't help the tears that fall down my cheeks.

Be strong Camryn, now is not the time for you to cry, you need to be strong. I've never seen him hurt this bad and it's killing me.

"I don't want to see her Cam," he cries. "I can't."

"Shhh it's okay, you don't have to," I whisper into his ear. I run my hand up and down his back and Colton flinches. My touch must've hurt him. Oh no. "No, not again," I whisper shakily. I knew it. I shouldn't have let him go home. This is my fault.

"It was bad Cam," he whispers, still crying.

"Colton." We both turn to see his mom standing in the parking lot with us. Colton releases me and turns away.

"You should really go, he doesn't want to see you," I tell her.

"Don't tell me what to do, he's my son," she says, crossing her arms.

"Don't talk to her like that," Colton snaps at her. Her eyes widen and she uncrosses her arms, standing up a little straighter. I can see her face fall in this poorly lit parking lot. Colton is no longer crying, he looks pissed.

"Colton can we please just talk?" She begs.

"For what?" He asks angrily. "So you can just tell me some bullshit excuse as to why you left me!" He starts pacing and running his fingers through his hair. He always does this when he's angry.

"Please, just give me a chance to explain," she whispers, tears brimming her eyes. Colton stops pacing to look at her. His face falls and I can tell he feels terrible, even though he has no reason to, but she is still his mother.

"Fine," he whispers.

"What?" She asks, surprised by his response.

"You have five minutes," he says, grabbing my hand tightly and walking back towards the diner.

"I was hoping we could talk alone," she says, walking behind us and Colton just glares at her. I squeeze his hand a little tighter.

Once inside, Colton walks to the booth at the back of the diner so none of the workers can hear us. He lets me sit in the booth first, then slides in next to me. He probably doesn't want to be trapped in case he needs to make a quick escape.

His mom sits across from us and takes a deep breath.

"You look so handsome," she says, smiling at him slightly.

"What are you doing here?" He asks angrily.

"I came back for you, like I said I would," she mumbles and Colton lets out a cold laugh. "I'm not lying," she defends.

"I never said you were, I just think it's a little late for that," he spits. He's holding my hand under the table pretty tightly that it's almost starting to hurt, but I just take it.

"I know it took me a while but-"

"You call five years 'a while'? You left me to be beaten by my father for five years for your own good and now you suddenly think it's a good time to come back for me?"

Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open slightly. "I didn't think he'd continue doing that after I left, I thought I was the problem," she whispers.

"Don't give me that, you knew exactly what he'd do to me, especially after you left. If anything, you just made it all worse!"

"But I'm here now, I'm here to make it better Colton," she says, reaching across the table for Colton's hand, but he pulls it away quickly. It amazes me how much they look alike. The way their faces fall makes their resemblance impossible not to notice.

"You can't make it better," Colton mutters. "You being here doesn't take away the pain, the blood, the tears. It does nothing, so just tell me why you came here."

"I already told you-"

"No, why did you come here, to this diner?" He asks.

"I knew your girlfriend worked here," she says, looking at me. "I didn't think you'd show up, and I just wanted to see what she was like."

"How'd you know I worked here?" I ask instinctively.

"I've, um, been watching you guys for a couple of weeks," she admits. "I didn't know how to ever approach you guys." I can't help but feel a little violated. She's been watching us? Where? When did she first spot us? Has she been searching for Colton for long or did she know exactly where he was?

All these questions flood my mind, but I know I can't ask any of them, this is Colton's time to talk.

I glance behind the counter and see Abel and Ryder staring at us confusedly.

"Don't you think you should get back to work?" Colton's mom says. I glare at her and prepare to tell her off but Colton speaks before me.

"What are you doing? Do you really think the way to get me is to be a bitch to my girlfriend?" He defends.

"A bitch? Colton, I know I've made mistakes but that is no way to speak to your mother," she scolds.

"My mother?" Colton spits as if it were a dirty word. "You lost that title when you walked out on me five years ago." He stands up carefully from the table and scrunches his eyes in pain. He then makes his way to the boys restroom.

"What is your problem with me?" I ask. When I was serving her, she knew who I was and she was decent. She even called me pretty and now she's just awful.

"You want the truth?"

"No, I want you to lie to me," I say sarcastically.

"I don't like the way he depends on you," she admits, looking down at her hands on the table.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like he needs you, he needs to be able to take care of himself," she says. Is she serious?

"He does need me," I tell her and she laughs. "How do you expect him to take care of himself when every time he goes home he fears for his physical health? Taking care of him was your job and you left. Now you can hate me all you want, but I'm just doing what you were supposed to be doing all these years which is love him."

Her mouth falls slightly open and her eyes begin to water. "I do love him," she whispers. "When I left, I thought he'd be strong, and he is, look at him, he's a beautiful strong young man."

"Open your eyes lady, in that restroom is a broken boy who needs to be constantly reminded that he is loved and that he is more than his father's punching bag. What kind of mother are you that you can't even notice that your son is in excruciating pain from a beating he took earlier today?"

Colton's mother starts to cry harder as she stands up from the booth and runs out of the diner. There she goes, leaving him again.

I get up to go check on him in the restroom but Abel stops me. "Is everything okay sweetie?" She asks.

"Not really, I just need to check on Colton," I tell her.

"It's pretty dead in here, so why don't you get that poor boy home," she says, hugging me.

"Thanks Abel." I release her and go into the boys restroom.