unbreak the broken ✘ shawn hunter (BMW)

S E V E N

This week has gone pretty well.

Classes went by easily, although some people were hard to ignore. Shawn is once again avoiding me.

It has officially been a week since Keith has laid a hand on me. It has, however, only been 30 seconds since he threw a beer bottle at my forehead.

As the blood trickles down my face, Keith storms out to wherever he is off to after throwing his fit. I grab the phone and dial Eric's number; something he gave me this week "in case I needed to contact him". Which is obviously coming in handy now.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you busy?" I run a paper towel under water and wipe off the blood on me cheek, then holding pressure on the gash with a rag.

"No, just watching a movie, why? Do you need something?"

"I need a friend right now."

"Okay, what can I do?"

"I need you to come get me, I would drive myself but I'm afraid if blood gets in my eye I will crash."

"Blood?"

"I had an accident, I just need a ride to the emergency room or something." I try to sound as put together as possible so Eric doesn't freak out.

"We'll be right there."

The line goes dead and around 10 minutes later I hear a car pull in front. That was way too fast. I don't live 10 minutes from their apartment.

I open the door and walk down the steps to the vehicle in front of my house. Car doors slam open and someone yells, "What the fuck happened to you?"

Both Eric and Jack run over to me with very concerned looks on their faces. The adrenaline has stopped and the sting of the cut worsens.

They walk me towards the car, Jack gets in the driver seat and Eric climbs in the back with me, holding the rag to my forehead so I don't have to. I lean against his chest, finally letting my body relax.

"Can you please tell us what happened?"

I make eye contact with Jack through the rearview mirror and as if he reads minds he says, "Your dad."

I nod, "Beer bottle to be exact."

They don't say anything else until we pull into their apartments parking lot, "Why didn't we go to the ER?"

They help me out of the car and Jack says, "I can help you."

Once I am settled on their couch, Jack brings over an antiseptic cream and some sort of butterfly shaped bandaid.

"This is going to sting a bit, but it will help it heal faster, you don't need stitches, definitely an icepack though- Eric, can you grab one from the freezer for her?" Jack cleans up the dried blood around my face and whispers, "I had to help my mom a lot when I was younger."

His sad expressions stops me from asking any questions, "Thank you."

"Here you go," Eric hands me an ice pack and sits behind me, letting me lean against him again and wraps his arms around my body. It reminds me of how I felt the morning after. Comfortable and unafraid.

Jack sits with us and we talk a bit, they try to take my mind off of it for a couple of minutes but Jack just can't help himself when he says, "At least you look badass."

"Kind of sexy to be honest," Eric says from behind me.

I laugh and am extremely thankful they make a joke instead of repeating the "you need to get out of that house" speech I get from everyone.

One of the bedroom doors opens and Shawn emerges. "Ophelia, I didn't know you were here."

"Just got here a little bit ago." I face him and smile.

"What are you guys- Ophelia, are you okay? What happened?" Shawn stands in front of me, studying what I'm guessing is the start of a bruise and partly bleeding cut.

"Oh, this?" I tuck my hair behind my ear, "A new thing I'm trying. Breaking glass on my face. Isn't very pretty for my image though, is it?"

"Are you okay?" This is the most we've talked in two weeks.

I nod and then decide to make the air uncomfortable, "Are you talking to me again?"

A chuckle comes from Jack before he shuts up when Shawn shoots him a mean glare.

"It's been a rough week for me, I'm sorry for not talking to you, and for how I left things off at the party." Shawn shuffles on his feet, not expecting I would bring it up in front of Eric and Jack. "Angela actually broke up with me. She said I'm not who I was when we first started dating. She wants me to find myself before I stay in a relationship with her or some shit."

"Damn, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Ophelia, you can stay in my bed tonight." Eric offers, receiving another annoyed look from Shawn until he says, "I'll stay on the couch tonight."

Shawn needs to stop staring at everyone like he's going to hurt them. No one's gonna like him soon.

"Could you stay with me actually? I don't really want to be alone tonight." I stand up and get ready to head into his room, "Only if you don't mind."

"Of course not." Eric takes my hand and brings me into his room, giving me a pair of clothes to sleep in for the night.

I lay down on one side of the bed, wondering if Keith ever regrets hurting his one and only daughter. Just thinking about him makes my head hurt. "Do you guys happen to have any painkiller? My head isn't feeling the best."

Eric changes his shirt and heads for the door, "Jack should have some, I'll be back with your pills and water."

He's gone for a solid minute before I decide to use the bathroom before bed. I get up and push the door open a crack when I hear voices in the kitchen.

"She's fragile right now, Shawn. I'm being a friend to her. We talked about it and came to the mutual agreement that she needs a friend." Eric.

"I've known her for a while. The last thing she needs right now is to be hurt. She's been through enough." Shawn.

Eric almost pleads, "Maybe what she needs is you. Maybe she needs you to be there for her. I know you've known her, and I know you grew up in the same environment. So help her. You got help."

"I want to be what she needs."

I sneak back into Eric's room and sit on his bed. I guess I never thought that Shawn could help me in a way most people wouldn't be able to.

Maybe I want Shawn to be there for me, too.