Sabrina ; The next generation

30

When I got home, I was exhausted. I was completely drained and I just collapsed on the sofa in the living room, shutting my eyes.

I could hear Willow's laughter somewhere in the house. It was her very high pitched laughter that cut you right in the ear.

I was too tired to get up, and eventually I fell asleep on the sofa.

I only woke up again when I felt someone sit on the sofa, and now I was in a different position. Someone had pulled my feet onto the sofa and pulled a blanket over me.

My head was also placed onto a pillow.

I yawned, moving a hand to my mouth before I looked around. My eyes landed on Naomi who was the one who had sat down.

She was looking at me, moving her fingers through my hair, and when our eyes met, I offered her a smile.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"I just got home, so I have no idea"

I groaned and ran a hand over my face before pulling the blanket up closer to my face.

"Do you want to talk about what happened before you called me?"

I shook my head. "I'd rather not."

"Breena." She whispered, brushing hair out of my face. "You have to talk about it. You can't keep everything locked up in your head."

I shut my eyes, sighing.

"I can't serve alcohol at the bar." I told her. "My uncle is scared that having access to it will make me relapse in some kind of way, and Theodore ordered something with alcohol, but the way he looked at me made me realise that he already knew I'm not allowed to serve it."

As I explained about today, Naomi kept brushing her fingers through my hair, combing through it.

She sat so close that I could feel the warmth of her thigh.

"He was mocking it and he was saying some shit about me being an addict and fucking up my baby. He assumed that I was high during the pregnancy, which I wasn't, Omi. I wasn't on any kind of drugs while pregnant with her."

"I know, Breena." She said softly, watching me with such a soft expression that made me shut my eyes again.

"I wanted to get them another waitress because they wanted alcohol, but he grabbed my wrist so hard that it burned. My uncle, his father forced him to leave, but my wrist is still sore."

Naomi reached for my left arm, but knowing it was the wrong one, I rolled onto my back and showed her the right wrist.

She studied the red marks without saying anything.

Then she lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of my wrist.

"What about Adriana? Didn't she say anything?"

"She didn't say a word to me." I whispered, staring at the ceiling. "And it's so weird because she's been my best friend since we were eleven and now we don't even speak. He's got her sucked in so much and it hurts to watch because I just want her to be able to get away from him."

"I know..." Naomi said quietly, continuing to stroke my hair.

"She just didn't say a word to me." I said quietly, chewing on my lip. "She must be so scared of him."

"You can't— I know what you're thinking, but you can't go meddle with that. You have your own stuff to think about, and you have Willow to take care of."

I nodded, because I knew she was right. I couldn't get meddled with Adriana and her toxic relationship, no matter how selfish it was of me.

I had gone through something traumatic. I had been forced to be pregnant and birth the child, and now I was a mother.

I had to take care of her and protect her by not putting myself in danger with Theodore.

"You were right earlier." I whispered, drawing by fingers over the side of her thigh. "I had flashbacks."

"Yeah?"

"I couldn't breathe. The images just kept invading my head and I couldn't stop it." I said. "And I'm sorry I'm such a wreck and that I can't be there for you in the same way that you are there for me."

"It's okay." She assured me, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"But you know you can talk to me, right?" I asked. "No matter what. You can always talk to me. You can wake me up at four in the morning if that's when you need to talk."

Naomi smiled at me, keeping her lips against my forehead as she kissed my skin again.

"Go back to sleep, my love. You look tired."

-

Tonight, Naomi was the one having a nightmare.

I was up late reading because I couldn't sleep, but Naomi was sleeping peacefully and so was Willow who was sleeping between us.

Then Naomi started muttering in her sleep, and first I didn't think anything of it, but then she moved and I looked at her as she clenched her fist in the pillow.

Her muttering sounded painful. She was whining and her face was all scrunched up.

"Omi." I whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to gently wake her up.

When she didn't wake up, I put my book away and moved closer, shaking her head.

"Naomi wake up." I said, this time a little louder and I watched as her eyes opened, wide and full of fear.

She looked around and sat up, breathing heavily. When she realised where she was, she took a deep breath and ran both hands through her hair.

"It was a dream." I assured her, running my hand up and down her back. "Just a bad dream."

She shook her head and ran a hand over her mouth, staring into the room in complete shock, and I knew she was thinking about whatever happened in that dream.

But she didn't say anything, and I just sat with her, rubbing her back while waiting for her to say something.

Then she finally turned towards me and her eyes met mine.

"You're okay." She whispered, shutting her eyes as she let her forehead fall against my knee. "Fuck. You're okay."

"I'm okay." I confirmed, running my fingers through her hair, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

She stayed against me like that, her head resting on my legs and my hand brushing through her hair.

"But are you?" I asked after a moment. "Are you okay?"

"He was beating me." She said quietly, staring at Willow while laying on me. "While telling me what Tomas did to you upstairs. I couldn't breathe."