unbreak the broken ✘ shawn hunter (BMW)

S E V E N T E E N

I knock on the boys apartment door, hoping that someone will be home.

It takes a couple of seconds, but I hear footsteps come to the door. It's swung open to reveal a smiling Eric.

His face drops and he guides me inside. "Ophelia, what's wrong?"

I hand him the box and go sit on the couch, hugging a pillow into my body and sobbing into it.

"How did this happen?" Eric asks, sitting next to me on the couch, "Holy shit, what happened to your hands? Did you have a fire?"

"Keith. I told him I found an apartment. He got mad," I cried, looking up and sniffling.

Eric takes my face in his hand, "Jack, can you come here? Fast?"

I realize he sees my face, which is no doubt starting to bruise over.

Jack comes out of his room, "what?" He sees me and comes over to us.

Without saying another word, he comes and takes my hand, leading me to the kitchen. He immediately grabs an ice pack and tells me to hold it to my jaw.

"Look at her hands," Eric voice cracks from behind me. He wraps his arms around me.

I raise my hands and Jack stares for a minute, "Ophelia, what the fuck happened?"

"Keith," I look at my feet, "I thought we were okay. He got a fucking job, for gods sake. He stopped drinking. We've eaten meals together, drank coffee before work."

I feel Eric kiss the top of my head. I look up and see a tear fall from his eye. I reach up and wipe it away.

"This is what men like him do, Ophelia," Jack speaks as he takes my hand and applies an antiseptic cream, "they give you hope and then rip it away."

Jack finishes whatever he was doing with my hands, them being bright red with raw skin, and wraps them up with some sort of medical cloth.

"What else?"

"What do you mean?" I ask Jack.

"What else did he do?" Jack looks me in the eye.

I stand up out of the chair and lift up my shirt exposing my side. It's slightly red but hurting more now than it did before.

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick," Eric mumbles.

"You just need ice for that," Jack says, grabbing a pack of frozen peas from the freezer.

I go sit down on the couch and hold the ice pack to my jaw, the peas to my side.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" I ask both Jack and Eric.

"Of course you can stay. You can stay here tomorrow night, too. We're both going home for Thanksgiving early tomorrow morning. Shawn's already gone to my house," Eric replies.

Thanksgiving already? How did I not notice?

I nod and thank them.

It's not the first year I'll be skipping the Thanksgiving celebration. Keith always disappeared and I didn't think buying myself a meal would make any sense.

We sit there for a while in a silence that's broken every-so-often with the boys asking me if I'm okay.

"I have to finish packing. Ophelia, if you need me, call out. At any point," Jack rubs my back, and goes off into him room.

I chuckle, "you just want me to scream your name in the middle of the night."

I hear a laugh from his room and he shuts the door behind him.

It's now just Eric and I.

"Funny, the last time I was here, your dad was the dick. Now we're back to me," I joke.

Eric stiffens up, but lets out a forced laugh. I look at him and see his face is showing an array of emotions; his eyes sorrow, his eyebrows anger, his mouth holding back whatever he is itching to say.

"What?"

"Phelia, you can't go back there," he finally lets out.

I lower my head and stare at my lap. I know I can't. This was all my mental health could take before I have to check myself into a hospital. I was full of hope, and it was ripped away in an instant. I was so naive to think that we could be okay. Why would I want to be okay with someone who beats the life out of me, someone who's been abusing me for almost 6 years of my life?

"I have to get my clothes out of there, if he didn't burn everything in my room. All of my school stuff is there. So is my money," I rub my eyes, feeling tears bubble up again. "I found an apartment, a nice one. I'm gonna call tomorrow and tell the lady I want it."

Eric nods, "You can't go there alone. Wait until we get back to help you."

I shake my head, "He's going to wreck all of my things if I don't get it out tomorrow. I have a feeling he won't be there, so I'll go myself."

Eric shoots up out of his seat, "No, Ophelia. I'm serious. You won't go there without us. I want to be able to protect you if he's there and tries to hurt you."

In order to make Eric at peace, I agree. Even though I probably will go tomorrow, he won't have to worry about it.

He hugs me tight and then looks to his room, "I also have to finish packing, Phelia."

Understanding, I stand up, ready to go into his room.

I start to walk towards it when he lightly grabs my wrist.

"Phelia," Eric pauses before speaking again, "You can't stay in my room tonight."

My brows furrow, but I hide the confusion quickly, "It was stupid of me to assume, I'm sorry."

"No, it wasn't," he pulls me slightly closer. "It's just, Jane and I are getting serious. I really don't want to do anything to jeopardize us."

"Jane?" Who the hell is Jane?

"She's sort of my girlfriend."

"For how long?"

Eric rubs the back of his neck, "a couple of weeks now."

"Oh" was all I could say. I smiled, trying to show him that I was fine. I turn back around and go back to the couch, facing the back so that he couldn't see my face anymore.

"Phelia-"

"Goodnight, Eric."

"Goodnight, Ophelia."

I hear his door shut and I roll onto my back.

So Eric has had a girlfriend for a couple of weeks. Why did he call me for comfort then when he was having a breakdown about his dad? Because I have my own daddy issues? Because he didn't want his girlfriend to know he empties his dresser when he's angry?

I'm not completely sure why, but hot tears start streaming down my face, falling until I fall asleep.

-

I awake to someone shaking me, whispering, "We're leaving now, Phelia."

I open my eyes and see Jack close to me, and Eric lifting the strap of his duffle over his shoulder.

"We'll see you after break," Eric comes over and sits on the couch, half laying on me, half hugging.

"Have a good time with your families," I smile at them sitting up.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Phelia," Jack leans down and hugs me, kissing the top of my head.

I wish them a happy Thanksgiving and tell Eric to tell the others the same.

They leave after our goodbyes, and I'm left alone in an apartment that's not mine.

Time to face the damage.