Loving Her (UNEDITED)

Catilina

We made it home luckily before Martin but not by much. He walked in just as I was starting dinner.

"Hi honey, how was your day?" I asked, trying to hide the quiver in my voice as I stirred the noodles in the pot.

"You tell me." He said calmly as he leaned against the door frame. "What took you so long to get home today?"

"I was home at the same time I always am." I replied lowly, trying not to piss him off.

He chuckled dryly as he walked closer slowly. "You know," he started as he backed me against the counter, placing his hands beside me. "You never were a good liar. Plus I have a few officers who told me they saw you at that ugly old library."

He brought his hand up and gripped my chin tightly earning a small whimper from me. "And you weren't alone."

Shit.

"Who was the guy? Hm? One of your many men you slut yourself out to?" He asked.

"N-no one." I replied shakily.

"No one? Oh okay then." He said with a scarily calm smile before he pushed himself away from me.

I let out a shaky breath before he turned back around and back handed me, knocking me to the ground.

"Do you think I like hurting you, Catilina!? I don't! I love you but you just never listen!" He yelled as I sat on the floor holding my busted lip and red cheek.

Before he could say or do anything else, the door bell rang. I looked towards the door before looking back up to Martin.

"Don't just look at me, go get the damn door. Make yourself useful." He said.

I got up and walked to the door before opening it. "Lila?"

"Catilina, hey I'm sorry to stop by like this I jus- oh my god what happened to your lip?" She asked with wide eyes.

"N-nothing I just ran into a um an open cabinet while uh cooking dinner. You know me and my clumsy self." I replied.

"Lina." She started, looking at me with sympathy.

"I'm fine Lila I promise."

"Catilina! Hurry up!" I heard from somewhere in the house.

I sighed "I have to go, I'm sorry." I told Lila before closing the door, not even giving her a chance to respond.

~•~

It's been a week since the incident and everything just gets increasingly worse.

Everyday, more bruises. More lies I have to make up. Last night was one of the worst though. He came home drunk and just started hitting me without saying anything.

The boys tried to stop him and Kingston got a bruised cheek. I ended up keeping the boys out of school today and they are in my classroom with me.

I can't let my boys live in this environment anymore but I can't get out. I have no where to go and no way out.

We're stuck.

"Okay class, that's all the time we have for today. Remember to study for the finals coming up." I said before turning around to my desk where the boys had been sitting quietly drawing.

"Cat?" I heard that unmistakable deep voice say behind me. The same voice that made a shiver of delight travel up my spin every time. The same voice I've only heard once, two weeks ago.

"Killian, hi." I smiled at him, earning a smile back.

"I'm sorry to intrude on your class but I was wondering if we could talk." He said as Lila walked in with two other men and a woman behind her.

"Lila? What's going on?" I asked.

"Lila!" Kolson and Kolton yelled before running over to her. Kingston however, just got up and stood in front of me, staring at Killian.

"Hey guys why don't we go get something from the vending machine while your mom talks to my brother?" She asked, looking between the three boys.

"Yeah!" Kolson and Kolton exclaimed running towards the door, holding Lila's hands.

"Kingston honey why don't you go with them?" I bent down to him, pushing his hair out of his face.

"No thanks mom, I'll stay with you." He replied, never taking his eyes off of Killian.

"I'm sorry about him he's just really over protective." I said, returning my attention to Killian.

"That's okay Cat, I can understand. We just want to talk to you though." He said.

"We?" I asked.

"Hi, dear I've heard so much about you from Lila. It's lovely to finally meet you." The woman said, sending a warm smile my way. "I'm Mirella, Killian and Lila's mom. This is my husband, James and this is Riker, Killian's best friend since childhood." She explained.

"It's nice to meet y'all." I replied with a smile. "So what may I ask is the cause of this unexpected visit?" I asked.

"Lila told me about Martin, who he is and how he treats you and your kids. I asked about him when y'all seemed genuinely terrified of him at the library." Killian explained.

"I-I don't know what your talking about." I replied as I turned around to finish packing my stuff.

"Catilina, dear I've been in your position before, I understand your scared he'll find you and bring you back. But he won't-"

"He will." I interrupted Mirella as I turned around, tears blurring my vision. "He always does, his minions always bring us back to him on a silver platter and it only gets worse every time." I said, letting a few tears fall.

"Mom." Kingston said, grabbing my attention, "it's almost four o'clock." He said, showing me his little watch I got him for his birthday.

"I appreciate the concern but if you'll excuse us, we have to leave before Martin gets home and sees we aren't home yet." I explained, grabbing my bag and wiping my eyes.

"Cat, please just let us help you. We've arranged for y'all to stay with us and we have more than enough room and would love nothing more than y'all to stay with us. You won't be the only female, you'll have my mom and Lila. Just please let us help you." Killian pleaded, looking into my eyes.

"You don't have to decide right now, my son isn't trying to push you to make a choice at this moment. We just want what's best for you and your kids, you helped our little Lila when she was going through a tough time that none of us seemed to to be able to help her with. This is just us, returning the favor by helping you in a tough time." James explained.

"Lila gave me your number so if you ever need to talk just call me." Mirella smiled at me.

"Mom! Mom!" Kolson and Kolton yelled, running back in the room. "Can we spend the weekend with Lila? She has puppies!" They asked excitedly.

I sighed, looking at them before looking over to Kingston, my eyes instantly zeroing in on the bruise on his cheek.

They don't deserve this, the deserve to be happy and feel safe. To have a normal childhood.

I don't know Killian that well but I trust him and I don't really know if it's because he's Lila's brother or what but it scares me.

He makes me feel safe and it's something I haven't felt in a very long time.

"Yeah we're gonna spend the weekend with Lila." I finally said, causing them to jump up in excitement.