𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 ⇝ 𝙆𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙧𝙖

𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔 {𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝘿𝙉𝙏 𝙇𝙄𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 }

𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑

My brother pulls up outside the chateau and he grabs a hold of my hand, seeming hesitant to let me go.

"I will be okay" I assure him.

"Keep your phone on you at all times. Don't leave it laying around" He warns me firmly, handing me my phone and I take it from him in relief, slipping it into my other pocket "I'll call you to check on you before I go to bed and if you don't answer I'll come down here to take you home"

"I'll answer. Don't worry about me too much" I plead with a small frown "Worrying isn't good for you. It'll give you worry lines"

"I know you're in good hands, but i'll always worry about you" He smiles softly.

"Thank you for showing up when I needed you" I smile back at him.

"Of course. You're, like, my favourite person in the whole world" He chuckles.

I lean over the console and wrap my arms around Thomas with a shaky exhale, my big brother wrapping his large arms around me tightly.

"Stay safe, Al" He begs and I can hear the clear stress in his tone.

"I will, Tommy" I mumble, gently pulling away from him.

My brother watches carefully as I exit his car and he waits until I enter the chateau to start up the engine, peeling away from the house slowly.

The first thing I notice is how dark the chateau is, the rooms completely empty and barren of any life. I then notice the bright lights from the back yard and the sound of bubbling water loud from the same direction.

I exit the house through the back door and I'm met with the sight of JJ Maybank in a large expensive looking hot tub with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Princess!" He cheers, lifting his bottle of champagne up and pointing it at me.

He lifts his sunglasses up onto his head and as his eyes properly take in my body his smile slips away, concern flashing across his expression.

"What the fuck happened to you?" He demands, jumping up to his feet.

When the blonde boy stands up, he reveals a macabre series of mottled bruises across his torso and I walk up to the hot tub.

"Could say the same to you" I hum, still floating on whatever strong medication I was injected with at the hospital.

He seems to realise his own state and nods with a chuckle, his eyes glinting a little under the fairy lights strung up across the yard. I decide to join the boy in the hot tub, peeling off my clothes and leaving myself in my baby blue bikini I wore underneath.

I ignore JJ's concerned eyes wandering my bruised body as I climb into the hot tub and stand face to face with the blonde boy. We both just stand for a couple minutes, taking in each other's wounds and sharing sorrow filled looks.

I flinch a little as JJ reaches out to me, his fingers gently tracing the huge bruise on my side and I watch as his eyes fill up with unshed tears. My own eyes well up and I reach out myself, being as careful as I can to trace a nasty bruise on his abdomen.

"My dad hits me" JJ admits, his voice cracking as he tells me "He tried to gamble my restitution money and I told him no. He didn't like that"

Letting JJ's horrifying truth settle into my brain, I decide that maybe it's finally time to tell someone the truth about Rafe. If anyone could understand what it's like to go through something like that, it's JJ.

"Rafe likes to hurt me" I reveal for the first time in my life and I can feel a weight being lifted off my shoulders "He found out I was hanging out with you guys and he didn't like that"

"Rafe did this to you?" JJ questions me, sounding angry as tears roll down both of our cheeks and I nod "Does he hit you a lot?"

"He only started hitting me recently. Before he'd only hold my arms too tight or shake me or push me" I explain to the blonde boy and his frown deepens "He yells at me a lot and says really hurtful things, especially when I cry because he hates when I cry"

"You're allowed to cry with me, princess" JJ assures me and I smile up at him through my tears.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself to say what I have to say next, a lump forming in my throat as I try to gulp it down.

"Sometimes he makes me do things that I don't want to do" I croak weakly and JJ frowns in confusion so I breathe shakily before elaborating "He forces himself on me...sexually"

"He hates when I cry during it, so if I do he'll choke me until I pass out" I add on before I lose all confidence I have and JJ looks down at me in horror.

Before either of us can say another word, I throw my arms around JJ's neck and he wraps his arms around my body, hugging me to him tightly. I don't even register the pain as we both cry quietly in each other's arms, both of us finding comfort in the other's embrace.

»»-------------¤-------------««

After JJ and I swearing each other to secrecy about our abusers and promising to protect each other, we unwind from all our stress in the hot tub and decide to drink the rest of his champagne before opening another bottle to drown our sorrows in.

"Hey, Jayj?" I speak up and he looks at me from the floating flamingo he was messing around with.

"Yeah" He answers.

"If you ever need somewhere to go, like, to get away from your dad. You're always welcome at my house" I tell the blonde boy.

"You really mean that?" He questions hopefully.

"Yes, of course. You're my friend and I care about you" I smile warmly, offering him the bottle "Plus we have multiple spare rooms that are never used, so you can have your own"

"My own room" He grins with a small nod.

"Oh, we can have sleepovers and do face masks and watch movies. It'll be so fun" I gasp excitedly before realising JJ might not like that kind of thing "If you'd like to do that"

"I'd love to do that, princess" He chuckles, taking a swig from the bottle and I grin happily "Won't your parents or brother be pissed though?"

"Nah, my brother likes you already and my parents will love you. They're pretty relaxed with rules" I assure the Maybank boy.

"They might not like me" He counters.

"Trust me, JJ. They're going to adore you" I declare, taking the bottle from him to take a mouthful of it.

"I'll believe it when I see it" He murmurs, plucking the bottle from my fingers.