House Empty Like My Heart

Chapter 11

The silence was interrupted by Max's gentle voice.

"You weren't sitting with him at the cafeteria today"

"I think... it's because Dan told him it's lame to bully a girl. I think he didn't want to do that in front of you guys"

"That piece of shit always wanted to belong to our crew,"Dan said with visible disgust.

Charles silenced Dan with meaningful glare and Andrew continued asking questions.

"Back to the topic. What happened today? Where and when did he hit you?"

"In the bathroom, during recess between math and history class"

"What were you doing in a bathroom with him?"

"Nothing, we didn't do anything he just... He was angry at me because I told him I don't want to do this anymore. Spend time with him I mean. I said that I don't care about our deal so he hit me"

"Did he ever used physical violence against you before?" I tried to avert my gaze by Andrew stopped me with sharp command "No, Elisabeth look at me when you answer"

"I- he sometimes would catch me by my shirt or my arm but that's it" I muttered, feeling ashamed for some reason.

Charles's attention was on my long sleeves and in a blink, he was rolling them up to see the ugly purple bruises. He didn't say anything, he just went to fetch the salve he used for my cheek and applied it to my wrists.

"In the bathroom did he try to do something something else?" Andrew asked in clear, emotionless voice.

"I mean... he wanted to kiss me? He told me the deal would be over quicker if I agree to one kiss"

"I will cut off his dick," Dan said calmly.

"No," Andrew said simply.

Finally a word of reason "You're welcome to do anything you want as long as there's no lasting damage" okay, I retract that statement. "I will deal with him, in court so don't make any troubles. You know how to settle it"

"Fine" Dan scoffed clearly unhappy with his father's directions.

"What are you talking about? I don't want any of this just leave it, it's done. He won't bother me anymore" I said trying to discourage from using any violence. They were making too much fuss over something so small.

"Elisabeth, one last question" Andrew ignored my request "Did he ever touched you inappropriately?"

"No"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure" I had to answer truthfully. I was trapped in Andrew's gaze and I realized it's impossible to lie when he was staring at me like that. I just couldn't.

"I see. That will be all for today. Go to your room"

"But-"

"Now"

It's almost like he couldn't look at me. Am I so disgusting?

Several minutes later I was lying on my bed tired of crying. I looked like a complete mess. It's when Charles entered the room. There was no anger or dislike in his eyes, on the contrary, he looked at me with what felt like... love?

"Ellie, why are you crying baby girl?" Charles asked gently sitting next to me. "Princess, everything will be fine I promise"

"Why beat him? Sue him? Why all this? I don't want it I just don't want this to be a thing" I said through my tears.

"Why? Why would you want us to leave it? Someone hurt you it's not okay. Family is everything, it means you have to do everything to protect it. Always remember that. We will never just sit quietly and let anyone hurt you"

"I never wanted to hurt him back I just wanted him to leave me alone" I responded quietly, not looking at Charles.

"You told him to leave you alone, right? He didn't, you're not hurting him. He's facing consequences of his action you're not doing anything to him, he did it to himself"

"What if dad will just think I'm wasting his time and what if Dan will get in trouble in school? Max already hates me I don't want to be a bother"

"You're not a bother we're all happy to have you here. You're not wasting anyone's time. I promise. We all love you and want you safe and happy"

"You can't speak for everyone"

"I can. I know them all my life and you should too but you didn't and we all feel the burden of that. Dad loves you, he's just bad at feelings and he feels guilty. Max? Max is cold and distant towards everyone he needs time to warm up to people. Once he does he will be your best friend. Dan couldn't wait to see you since he learned about you, you just met under bad circumstances but you will see he doesn't see you as a burden he always was nagging mom about giving him a sister"

"And what about you? You're leaving so soon. We didn't have a time to spend together at all. Do you really have to go now?"

I know I was selfish for asking him that. He had a job, of course he needed to leave. I had no right to tell him to stay, and I shouldn't whine like a little kid about him leaving. Stupid.

"I do. I'm sorry baby" he kissed me on the forehead in a fatherly way. My oldest brother acted more like a father than Andrew ever did.

And he was leaving me.

Then I did something that surprised even me. I hugged him for the first time.

Just because. He was there for me.

"I don't want you to leave," I say quietly.

"I will be back as soon as I can," he said gently and I believed him.
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Dear Readers,
How do you feel about the brothers and Andrew's reaction? What do you think about Ellie? Let me know your thoughts, I'm really curious what you think.

Thank you for your feedback so far ❤️

PS. If you have any questions about the story I will gladly answer.