Her Lesson

Chapter 10 | Never With Me

LILY

"GET YOUR SEXY ASS back here, Lily!" Vanessa calls out from the bathroom. I laugh and shake my head as I step out into my bedroom. Showering with Vanessa is seventy percent fooling around and thirty percent actually showering. Wrapped in a light gray towel that I hold to my body loosely, I wander around my bedroom, searching through my drawers for some comfy clothes.

Just as I slip on a pair of sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, Vanessa's phone buzzes on the dresser next to my hand. I know I shouldn't but I take a glance at the lit-up screen and my heart plummets to the floor.

SPERM DONOR: Out of beer. Better get your ass back here or your mom is getting her face smashed in. Don't make me wait long.

I stare at the text in shock, my hands shaking as I pick up her phone. What the fuck? I put the pieces together in my head. Sperm donor equals her father. And by the sound of this message, he is not a nice guy. Threatening his daughter by using her mother who she cares about and has cancer? That's low.

If...If I would have known how bad things were for her at home, I would have given much more thought to the bruises on her arms and neck. But I always brushed them off as nothing more than kinky sex because that's how they looked. But one day she came in with a black eye and with this text in front of me, I know. I just fucking know now.

Grading papers in my usual spot at my desk as students filtered through the hallways and switched to their next class, I didn't look up until Vanessa Ashley walked through the door. I knew it was her the moment her combat boots thumped against the tiled floor and her scent engulfed me, something fruity that made my mouth water.

"Morning, Vanessa," I said to her softly and peaked up at her from behind my glasses. She grinned at me, a curve on her soft pink lips. But what I wasn't prepared for was the hardly noticeable bruise forming under her eye. "What happened?" I gasped and shot out of my chair.

I moved my hand towards her face and she flinched back from me if I'd burned her. It stung, stung so bad at the thought that she was afraid of me. I was the only person she'd never have to fear. Ever.

"Don't worry about it," she ground out through a tight smile. I stared at her and stared until more students started to filter into my classroom. But eventually, I nodded. She didn't want me involved and I wouldn't be, not unless she came directly to me and explained what was going on. And told me who gave her that bruise that had no business running her beautiful, tan creamy skin.

With nothing left to say, she spun around and I whispered, "You're always safe with me." She stood still for a few seconds before sliding into her desk in the back row, by her friends. She avoided my eyes the whole period and I could understand. I understood her more than anything.

Even as she was going through the worst pain imaginable, she still smiled at me. She made sure to avoid talking about the bruise for the rest of my classes with her and it pissed me off. I'd told Principal Marks as it's my job to inform him of anything suspicious like cases of child abuse. Principal Marks told me an investigation was launched and that was it. I hadn't heard anything in over two months.

So caught up in my thoughts, I don't hear the bathroom door squeak open or the sound of Vanessa's footsteps approaching me. But as soon as she rips her phone out of my hand, I come back to reality. A gasp tears from my throat and my eyes find hers. They're a blazing rage, her blue irises darker as she stares at me.

"What did you see?" She demands as her eyes scan over her phone screen. She clutches the phone to her chest, looking up at me. Fear and anger swirl through her eyes.

I swallow hard, stepping towards her. "Everything, sweetie."

She closes her eyes and releases a heavy breath. "Fuck me, it's nothing."

My eyebrows pinch together as I look at my beautiful vixen in disbelief. "Nothing? Vanessa that is not nothing. He threatened you, threatened your ill mother. He has hit you for fuck's sake!"

At my raised voice, she flinches away from me and for the first time in a long time, she looks scared. Scared of me. And it hits my heart with violent stabs. Instead of replying calmly like she usually would, she replies with a venomous, "I can handle him, Lily! I can take it. I'm a big fucking girl!"

"I know you are! I'm your girlfriend, I'd like to know when you're in danger and if you need to be protected! I can protect you, Vanessa, let me protect you!"

She narrows her eyes at me. "When the fuck was that decided. When did we ever agree that this." She waves her hand around us. "Was a fucking relationship?"

That stings, stings so fucking bad I gasp on a tiny sob. It feels as if she ripped me open and laughed at my pain and screams. "It was fucking decided... when I started risking my entire life for you...my fucking job for you Vanessa." My voice comes out in little, cracked pieces and her eyes soften as she steps towards me.

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me into her clothed body, her warmth seeking me out. I tuck my head in the crook of her neck and she places her chin on top of my wet hair.

"I'm sorry," she whispers through the silence. "But I need to take care of this, of him."

"You have me, Vanessa. I can't handle the images of you being hurt in my head. I need to know you're safe...I know people, know how to make sure you and your mother are safe. You'll be safe with me, sweetie."

"I believe you...but I'm so scared to tell you, scared to tell anyone else. I have to deal with him myself right now."

"I would never ever judge you. You never have to be afraid of or with me. Never with me."

She tightens her arms around me and I sigh, basking in her warmth and giving her the best comfort I can. "I know, I know...I'll always come back to you. And I'll tell you everything one day, but today is not that day. I'm protecting you as much as you're trying to protect me. My father is a ruthless bastard and if anything happened to you because of me I'd never forgive myself."

She pulls away from me and I whimper. "Please, don't go."

"I have to." She kisses me on the forehead before capturing my lips in hers in a slow, gentle kiss.

"I'll miss you," I whisper in defeat and she smiles softly, grabbing my hand and pressing a kiss to it.

"I already know you will because I miss you every time you're not in my arms."

And then with that, she grabs her few things and then is out of the bedroom. I follow after her and walk her out of my house, watching her get into her car and drive off. I know she didn't say we're over or anything like that, but watching her drive away chips at my heart a little. I wish she could stay, stay for the rest of our lives.