Each Bird That Sings

Chapter 2

.
And I run.

And run.
.
Sitting cross-legged across from me, I can see her face is a mask. A solid wall of stoic stone.
"He. Did. What?"

She asks, a low growl under her breath. Her voice is harsh, cutting.

"H-Hannah. It-, I-"

"Claire Elizabeth... Don't you dare."

I look at my feet. Tears threatening to unleash themselves.
"He h-hit me." I say, barley a whisper.

Somehow, saying the words make the situation that much more real.

He hit me. Called me worthless.

He hit me.

He
HIT
Me.

Hannah has such hatred in her eyes I can't look up at her any longer.

Dropping my chin to my chest, I hear her start to lowly growl out, "That freaking piece of sh-"

I cringe at what she was about to say, not being the biggest fan of swearing , and she stops herself before continuing,

"At least I replaced freaking. But that guy is gonna get a piece of my mind."

Unable to hold back the stinging tears, I let them fall freely down my cheeks, creating a warm pool on my ankle.

"Shhhh...," Hannah breaths, engulfing me in a crushing hug.

"It'll be ok. You're alright now."

He hit me.

My shoulders begin to shake with the silent sobs wracking my body.

I have nowhere to go and I'm not returning home. Home to me was now just a lie. A place to store me until I transformed into a picture perfect daughter.

"What am I going to do? Han, I-I have nowhere to go." I sob, hating used for how weak I sounded, but unable to do anything, too far beyond broken to be repaired.

She grasped me by my shoulders and looked directly at me, "Claire, you will always have somewhere to go. I'm here for you. I will always be here for you, even if you don't want me to be." She smiled softly.

I hold back a sob. How did I ever deserve her?

"Hannah, you don't have to do this."

She smirked. "Oh, but I am."

This is why I loved her. Wiping the tears off my cheeks, I hug her tightly.

"C-Claire?"

"Yea?"

"Ow." I let go of her and laugh lightly. 

Giving me a signature smirk, she says "I mean, I know you love me and all...."

I whack her with a pillow and grin.  "In your dreams sista."

***********************************

I end up sleeping on Hannah's bed while she took the floor, refusing to let me sleep there despite my complaints.

Laying on my back and staring at the glowing plastic stars on her ceiling, I think of everything my 'father' called me, said to me, and mentally abused with in the past 17 years of my life.

Worthless. Piece of scum. Disgraceful. Ugly. He hit me.

How could I even consider him my father anymore? Even my mom just stood there and went along with it. I obviously couldn't go back.

To say I got a wink of sleep that night would be a downright lie.

___________________________

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Hope you are enjoying the story so far! Sorry about the slow updates, I promise they will become more frequent. I'm having some serious writers block though:(

I got an update from Wattpad that this story has reached 100 reads.... But I think that it's a mix up based on what the literal reads on my story are.... Whoops?

But if my story actually got that many reads and my phone is just screwed up, then YAY! That's incredible:) Thank you all!
(But truthfully I think it's a mix up)
Anywho, Happy Reading!
-Sky