Five Steps Away

Chapter 20

Big, massive fucking trigger warning on sexual assault. I mean like, proper big trigger warning. Like if you've every gone through something like that, you might wanna skip this chapter cause it's a lot... If you do skip this chapter, read the author's note at the end cause I summarise what happened. 

"Morning" Elijah wakes me up. If he were my alarm clock I'd fully wake up at 2 A.M. every morning with the biggest smile on my face.

I turn around, look at him and smile. "How bad's your hangover?" I ask.

"I feel like something's pounding on my head, but I'm fine." I laugh.

I think back to yesterday's events and my smile shrinks. "You're dad's..." I start.

"An Asshole?" He asks. I laugh again, but not because it's funny.

I look at his eye and it's practically healed, the deep purple colour having died down to a light, barely visible one. And then the thought suddenly enters my mind and I freeze.

"Did your dad... do that to your eye the other day?" I ask. I think I already know the answer though.

"Yeah..." he responds.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not the type of thing I like talking about."

"That's so fucking messed up." I say.

"Yeah, I know. The most fucked up part though, is how it's affected my sister. She barely talks anymore. She's too scared to talk. And my mom would never dare contradict him, she's too blind. It's fucking crazy what love can do to you." He says. The hate in his eyes as he talks about him is palpable.

But now, everything makes sense, how he didn't come to school for days at a time, only to come back looking tired, or with a black eye, or when he asked if he could sleep over at my house that day when he was only supposed to stay the day. All of that was because of his dad.

"I'm really sorry," I say.

"It's fine." He replies. We fall into a comfortable silence, and the sun starts to peek through my windows, making the brown in his eyes lighter. And then, I have to ask the question that's been sitting in my mind since yesterday.

"Elijah? What happens next?" I ask. I mean clearly we aren't just friends, but where do we go from here? What are we?

He looks at me all serious, a smile sneaking onto his face. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" He asks. I laugh, smiling from ear to ear.

"Absolutely." I say, and he kisses me.

When I pull away, I look at Elijah one last time, before getting up to get ready.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Out with Jenna and Lily." I go through my closet and pick out an outfit. Once I have it, I head to the bathroom to change.

"Do you have to go? We just started dating." Elijah jokes, speaking loud enough for me to hear in the bathroom.

"Be quiet, you're gonna wake up my mom" I laugh. But my laughter is halted when I remember. Shit, mom.

I run out of the bathroom and down the stairs to see my mom in the kitchen, placing pancakes onto three plates, already awake, her face dead serious.

"Hi mom" I say nervously. Does she know anything that happened yesterday?

"I know he's here Alyanna." Just as she says this, Elijah walks downstairs.

"Is something wron–" He starts, rubbing his eyes before interrupting himself when he sees my mom. His eyes open wide as he looks at her, frozen. My mom puts her hand on her hip, looking at the both of us expectantly.