Meet me halfway

16. Octavian (YUCK)

TW: Domestic abuse, both physical and emotional

(A little over eighteen months ago)

I sank down next to my bed, leaning my head back with a mix of a sigh and a sob. Today was supposed to be just a fun movie night with Octavian, my boyfriend of six months, but I guess I did something to ruin that. Now I was back home, everything hurt, my ribs especially, bruises were surely forming by now. 

His anger had started a month into the relationship and the beatings had begun soon after. At least once a week, he'd yell at me and or hit me. The next they, he would either apologize or expect me to.

At first, I thought it was because of the extra stress of finals coming up, but then it continued and now I don't think it will end.

He never got physical on my face or hands, since that would bring a lot of attention, which he knows I don't like, and usually, it wouldn't be hard enough for the bruises to last more than a week at a time.

But tonight, something snapped inside of him. He had punched me with his fist, and then just continued doing so until I fell to the ground. And he didn't stop then, instead, he resorted to kicking me and the pain just won't stop, I have gotten pretty used to it by now, it usually only is noticeable an hour or so, but it had been two and it wasn't getting better.

"Hey, Nico? Could you help me- what's wrong?" Hazel asked as she appeared in the doorway, eyes turning from cheerful to worried she saw my wet cheeks. I put on a playful smile and dried them off.

"It's nothing, I stubbed my toe, and gods, it hurts." I said and she raised a brow, clearly not believing me. "Anyways, what was it you wanted help with?" I asked and she gave me one more suspicious look, before sighing.

"I was going to draw, but my pencil is done for and the new packet is just out of my reach." she said and I chuckled.

"You do realize I'm only like five centimeters taller than you." I said and she smiled slightly.

"And it is just out of my reach." she repeated and I shook my head, standing up from where I was sitting and following her to where she needed help. She stopped in her room, looking up at her closet where I saw the small packet she wanted. With a sigh, I stood on my tippy-toes and picked it down, freezing when I hear her gasp. The motion had made my shirt lift, which meant the bruises would be visible. "What happened?" she asked quietly and I slowly turned back to her, putting the pen case down on the desk beside us.

"It's nothing, Hazel-"

"That is not nothing. Someone did that to you. Who?" she asked, suddenly having a murderous glimpse in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter-" I said, choking on the words and she softened a little.

"It does matter. Who did it?" she asked and I sighed, looking away from her. "Was it Octavian?" she asked carefully and I gulped. A small sob escaped me as I turned to her.

"I'm so fucking scared, Hazel." I whispered and she pulled me into a tight embrace. I froze for a second, before wrapping my arms around her and burying my face in her hair.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry this happened to you. How long has this been going on?" she asked and I sighed.

"Five months, but it has never been this bad." I said and she pulled apart with a sigh of her own.

"You should have told us. You can't go around carrying this on your own." she told me. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I didn't want you worrying about something so stupid. I mean, it wouldn't happen if I didn't anger him-" I started, but she cut me off.

"It is not your fault." she said strongly. "Did he tell you it was?" she asked and I nodded. "It isn't. Octavian is an ass and that is his fault." I nodded slowly.

"But what am I going to do now?" I asked quietly and she gave me a soft smile.

"You're going to have to tell dad."

(The next day)

"He's been what?!" Dad exclaimed, voice freakishly cold and Hazel took a step forward.

"Octavian has been hurting Nico physically and emotionally for the past five months, telling Nico it is his fault and making him scared of sharing this with us." she told him and I felt relief at not having to explain it all to him again.

"That arrogant, insignificant, no good, stuck-up brat." dad exclaimed, voice so venomous that I flinched. He noticed and softened for a moment. "He was lying when he said it was your fault. You did nothing wrong and I am so proud of you for daring to share this with us. I'm going to fix this so that the Augustus boy won't bother you again." he said softly, before turning menacing again. "I could always kill him." he said and Hazel sighed.

"Sadly, that's not legal." she reminded him and he shot her a smile.

"I'm a lawyer, my whole profession is based on finding ways around legal issues." he said and I chuckled silently.

"Dad, you can't kill someone." I said and he sighed but nodded.

"Alright. What do you want to do?"

"I want to go back to having a semi-normal life. I don't want to be afraid anymore." I said and he nodded.

"I'll call his parents. We'll come to an arrangement and if you want, I could make sure it stays under the radar of people's gossiping." he said and I smiled.

"That sounds nice."

"Good, I'll fix it. But you and your sister will have to leave me for now. I have a call to make and it might not be pretty." Hazel and I nodded and went into the living room next to his office. She picked out some show called Sherlock to watch, so we did. 

Only minutes later when I had already started enjoying the show, dad raised his voice enough for us to be able to hear what he was saying through the walls.

"If your son comes even near my son again, I'll bring all of this to court, and believe me, I'll win." He snapped. It was silent for a while as he waited for an answer, but then he spoke again, too quietly for us to hear. The door to his office opened as he said; "Glad we could come to an agreement." He turned off the phone and turned to us, who were both looking at him now.

"How did it go?"

"Good news is, it looks like the Augustus family will be moving away. The bad news is," he paused with a somber expression, before smirking wickedly. "We won't get to see the look on that brat's face when he finds out."

Have I mentioned that my dad is awesome?

1188 words

So, this was intense... peace out?

- A/N