I Love You - Elizabeth Olsen

sixty seven

2008 Holmes Chapel

"Leave her alone, you little shit!" I yell in pure anger, taking a swing and hit my dad in the jaw with full force. He stumbles back a little, placing his hand on the spot I just hit before his face turns into pure rage and I gulp in fear.

I just wanted to protect my sister. He's drunk as hell right now and Charlie by accident kicked a ball inside the house and kicked a vase, making it fall and smash on the floor. He became so angry with her and I only heard some yelling before I run into the room. Charlie was in the corner, full into a break-down and apologizing, but he just kept yelling. And when he took a step forward to her, I stepped in front of her, protecting her from him. From that, it all went down. I was just praying that mom will come back home in time before he does something worse than simply hit me.

"You ungrateful bitch! How fucking dare you call me that?!" He shouts at me, punching me straight into the face. I fall back on my ass, blinking the tears and biting my lip not to cry out in pain. I may have got bigger in a few last years, but I'm still weaker than him. "You should be never born!" He snaps and kicks me into the stomach, making me curl into fetal position to prevent him from hitting me again in the same place. The only thing I hear is his yelling and Charlie crying as he keeps hitting me.

And then everything goes black.

2008 Holmes Chapel

"Oh, sweetheart!" Mom exclaims with tears running from her eyes in rapid speed. She rushes to my side and pulls me into a hug, but I flinch in pain. She immediately steps back from me and I take a shaky breath. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry" She keeps repeating 'sorry' endlessly, caressing my head.

I lean into her gentle touch as tears falls from my closed eyes. When she becomes silent after some time, I open my eyes tiredly and look around. The walls are white and there are a lot of medical things around, which tells me that I'm in a hospital room. I blink rapidly, disposing tears from my eyes.

"M-Mommy?" I croak out, coughing at the dryness in my throat. She immediately leaves my side and gives me a glass of water from the table beside.

"Here, drink, baby" She says, pushing the straw to my lips. I open them slowly, taking the end of the plastic straw inside my mouth and taking a sip. The cold water makes my throat feels a bit better and when I'm done, I push my head backwards. "How are you feeling, Perry?" She asks, putting the glass back from where she took it and wraps her arm around my shoulder and sitting next to me on the bed.

"My body hurts and it's hard to breathe" I tell her the truth, hissing in pain when I try to take a deep breath. "W-What happened?" I find myself asking, voice just above the whisper as I don't really remember why I'm here.

"Em, y-your dad..." She begins hesitantly and it gives me some flashbacks.

"Charlie. Is Charlie okay?!" I rush out, cutting in to mom's explaining. "Where she is?" I start to panic, looking around the room in search of my 5 years old sister.

"Shh, she's fine. She's with Anne right now. Calm down, you can't stress out" She assures me and I sigh in relief. Anne as Harry's mom, which means she's safe with the woman. "Harry is outside the room. He went for some drink before you woke up"

"What happened, mom?" I groggily ask, now feeling relaxed about my little sister safety and having my best friend just outside the room. Mom takes a long inhale as she looks at me with so much guilt in her eyes that it hurts my heart. I hate seeing her like these, it's not her fault what happened. It never was.

"Your dad did this, honey. Harry was the one who called police when he heard yelling in our house. And then he called me, I was coming back from work at the time. I drove as fast as I could, but the ambulance and cops were there. I'm so sorry, Perry. I've never wanted this for you. I'm so sorry, baby" She cries and I hug her as much I can with the pain in my body. I cry with her as she keeps apologizing to me.

"It's okay, mom. It's not your fault. Please stop crying" I try to calm her, but she just shakes her head.

"He's never going to hurt you again, okay? I promise you that. It's over, he's never going to touch you or Charlie again. I'm so sorry it took me so long" She reassures me and I give her a nod when she looks at me in tears. "Police got him in the act. He won't leave the prison for some time, okay? You're safe now. I'm so sorry"

"Mom, mom, it's okay. I promise you I'm okay. The only thing matters that he won't be in our life again, okay? We'll be fine"

We keep this conversation, hugging each other tightly for a little longer. What I said is true, I've never blamed mom for any of this. She was as much a victim as I was, if not more. She tried to leave him once, but before she even could leave the city, he found us and it wasn't nice. And then she was pregnant with Charlie, stuck with him more. The town loved that men, he was a respected man by almost everyone. No one ever knew what's happening in our house. He knew what to do, where to hit to not leave any visible bruises. Until now.

Harry was the only one to know about him, but he swore to never tell anyone. He kept this promise until today. And I want to feel angry at him for breaking my trust, but if not his actions, I'd probably be dead right now. He made a right choice and I love him so much. He practically saved me and my family. He's the true friend.

A few months later, dad, or Hunter as I started to call him, was sentenced to prison for a few years... He never truly deserved to be called a dad, but I wouldn't dare say his name to his face before that. But now, I'm not scared of him anymore. When I left the hospital, I began to attending self-defense classes and boxing. I'm stronger, faster and more tough than before. He can suck my dick to be honest.

I took as my job to protect my family from any danger. I won't ever let anything to happen to them, not anymore.

We moved to London, trying to escape the small town and people who were talking about the whole situation for so long. We could never have peace there. I don't regret doing it too much, I hate them all. The only exception are Styles, but we're still keeping in touch. They're the only family we have. We don't have anyone else.

Mom found a job in a local high school near our small apartment. We don't have much, but it's enough. I found a job on weekends to help my mom and after school, I have music lesson to pursue my passion. Charlie keeps growing up pretty normally after help from therapy. We all see a therapist at least once a week. We all try to move on and learn to live again.

Without him.

2009 London

Earlier this year, the divorce were finalized. It was easy, he's in prison for abusing, after all. They didn't hesitate to took his rights away and giving his money to us. Everything, what he had, is ours now. I didn't want to take it, but we needed the money. It helped us a lot and I could quit my job because of that and focused on my last year in school.

After the divorce, we decided to cut everything with that man and we all changed our last names to my mom's maiden name. And that's how I became Perry Clower instead of being Burton. I hated that last name as much I hated the man with this name.

My last year in school was game-changing for me. Everyone could see my passion in talent in music and I earned a full scholarship in San Francisco Conservatory of Music. And it wasn't even a time for that, they just wanted me there with my talent. My mom was so happy for me, we had a party to celebrate my success.

I was truly happy for the first time in my life.

And that was just a beginning of the life.

And that's part 2 of Perry's childhood!

Published: October 14, 2022