My Brother's Best Friend -VS- My Abusive Ex.

Chapter Two

Somewhere between my sobs and Aiden's understanding and comforting gestures, I fell asleep, and so did Aiden. I felt safe in his arms, and even though I knew how horrible that made me because I hadn't officially broke-up with Joe, even though it was pretty obvious, I couldn't help it. Aiden had always been there for me, and I knew, without a doubt, that he would never leave. As I slept, my head against his muscular chest, I was at peace.

I was sure, for the first time in a long time, that I wouldn't wake up to someone hitting me, because I'd accidentally fallen asleep on them during the long period of silence we'd shared. For the first time in a month I felt safe enough to allow myself to fall into a deep enough sleep that I could dream, and dream is exactly what I did.

I dreamt of a world that no longer existed, a world where my parents were always home, and showed they cared, a world where Joe had never changed, and was still protective of me instead of hitting me, and where I wasn't confused about my feelings towards Aiden. I wished my life could be that simple.

I woke up with a content sigh, and soon realized why. I had fallen asleep with Aiden's arms wrapped around me, my head resting on his chest, and Aiden's cheek was pressed against the top of my head, in a comfortable enough position for him to sleep. I was so comfortable that I didn't ever want to move, but my face had begun to throb and I knew I should take some medicine before it got any worse. I slowly unraveled myself from Aiden's arms, careful not to wake him from his peaceful looking slumber. I noticed that the chair my brother had occupied before I had passed out was now empty. I laughed to myself, it was just like my brother to leave because emotions begin to show. He probably stayed for a few minutes while I was crying, until Aiden gave him a signal saying he could leave because he looked so uncomfortable.

I made my way to the bathroom that was located in my room. I opened my medicine cabinet before I could actually see my face in the mirror. I knew I'd have to look, I just needed a few minutes to prepare myself. Without closing the cabinet, I took a paper cup off of the counter and filled it with water, using it to swallow the two pills that would soon relieve my pain. I took a deep breath before slowly closing the cabinet to reveal my face. I gasped and whimpered. My once mildly tanned face was semi-swollen and had a gash on the forehead. My long, dark brown hair had some blood in it causing it to fall in clumps. I gently touched my face to try and find the extent of my injuries. The touch made me wince and whine, it really hurt.

I heard someone clearing their throat behind me and whirled around backing up against the counter. "It's just me," Aiden said softly realizing he'd scared me from the petrified look that I was sure was clearly displayed on my face. My tense stance relaxed a little knowing it wasn't Joe about to kill me for getting him caught by the police.

Aiden grabbed a wash rag from a drawer near my hip. He made it somewhat damp and quickly, surprising me in the process, lifted me off my feet and plopped me down on the counter top. "This might hurt," he said aiming the wash rag at the gash on my forehead. As soon as it touched my hideous looking gash, I squealed in pain, jumping back. "I told you it might hurt," he said smirking at me as I glared at him. "I'll try to be more careful." This time when the rag touched me I could feel the softness Aiden was using. It gave me butterflies to think of the care he was using with me. "There," he said stepping back and smiling at me. "You should probably jump in the shower and wash the blood out of your hair for school. You skipped yesterday with him," he spat using all the venom he could to make it known he was speaking about Joe, "so Eric has decided you have to go today."

"What about this," I asked motioning to my face. "How am I suppose to explain this? Oh God," I said realizing something. "How am I suppose to stay away from Joe? I have every class with him." I was freaking out, beginning to have an anxiety attack. I was shaking, crying, and breathing heavy.