𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐘 | ✔

୨ chapter eleven ୧

"Hey, Theo?" This is the first time any of us speak in a long time.

"What's up?"

"Can I ask you a very personal question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to" this scares me a little.

"Sure, what do you wanna know?"

"What happened with your family? What was it that made you stay at our house constantly? Because I know it wasn't just because of Oli. I saw the scared look you had on your face every time you knocked on our door. My parents never told me anything about it even when I asked but I know something happened."

Shit, I was not expecting this.

"Hm okay... I was definitely not waiting for this one." I need a drink for this. "Can you give me a minute?"

"Sure?"

I leave Lena's room to go grab a bottle of tequila and two cups. If I'm gonna do this, I need alcohol.

"Okay, I'm back" I say, entering her room.

"You and the tequila... that's a problem, you know?" That makes me roll my eyes.

"Before I tell you anything, we have to set some rules."

"Rules? What are you talking about-"

"Would you shut up and listen to me? What I was trying to say is that you're not allowed to feel sorry for me. Nothing I'm going to tell you can change whatever your hate thing for me is all about. I don't want you to pitty me or be nice to me just because I went through some shit, okay?" I know these rules sound stupid but I really hate to share this part of my life because I know that people would feel bad for me, which I don't want them to.

"Jeez, okay Sage. Calm your tits, I'll be a bitch to you any day. You don't need to ask more than once."

"Okay, okay"

And so I start to tell her everything.

"The first time my dad hit my mom, I was 10. She was so shocked that she threw him out of the house and told him to go sleep somewhere else." He pauses and drinks a tequila shot before continuing. "Seeing that at such a young age confused the shit out of me. It made me scared. For that reason, I asked Oliver if Matthew had ever hit your mom. He told me that your dad told him that hitting women was for cowards, which made me realize that what happened in my house wasn't normal. I wish I could tell you that was the only time I saw something like that but in reality, it wasn't. My mom forgave him and he did it again. Actually, he did it constantly. Whenever his day didn't go well, he would yell at both of us and hit her. He would hit her until she was crying. After some time, she just stopped reacting. She let him slap her, punch her and treat her however he felt like. I never did anything because I was scared. The first time I tried to stop my dad from hitting my mom was when I was 13. I remember everything. My dad was drunk and had a bad day at work. Instead of going to bed and dealing with his emotions without hurting anyone, he started kissing my mom. I remember exactly what she said stop that, you're drunk to which he replied with what is wrong with you Athena? I'm just showing you how much I love you. Even after hearing my mom say that she didn't feel comfortable with him touching her in that moment, he kept going. He pushed her to the couch and jumped on top of her, kissing her everywhere while she was crying. Stop that, you're hurting me, was all she could say. I couldn't sit by and watch that happen so for the first time in my life, I did something. I hit him, Elena." Theo's now crying so I put my arms around him. "I grabbed his shirt from the back and punched him in the face. He didn't like it, of course. He stopped what he was doing to my mom and turned to me instead. He grabbed me by the neck and pinned me against the wall." Now I'm the one crying. "My mom tried to stop him but it was okay, at least he wasn't hitting her. He disappeared the next day. My dad went missing for a month. It was the most peaceful one in my family's life. But of course, he had to come back. Not long after, my mom asked for a divorce. We were both tired of broken promises, it was always the same. That's when your parents get into the picture. As a lawyer, your mom helped mine file the divorce papers and tried to make it fast. She knew the reason why she wanted a divorce, Oliver told your parents all about my family because he was worried about me when he saw what my dad did to me." I'm in shock, I honestly expected anything but this. "Matthew talked to my mom and promised her he would keep an eye out for my dad and protect us from him." He pauses again. "A few months later, my mom met Shawn and they had Starlie not long after. That's it, that's my story. Now, 8 years later here I am telling you this."

"I'm literally speechless right now. I didn't see this coming." I manage to say "I'm so sorry I was such a bitch to you whenever you came over, asking you if you didn't have a house to go to."

"What did I say about feeling bad?"

"I know but I was so self-centered that I didn't even see that you weren't there to annoy me"

"Well, annoying you had a big part on my choice of second home, you know? It's not easy to find anyone as annoying as you." he clearly tries to make this whole thing lighter. "Well, now for real. You're the first person I open up to about this. Besides your parents and Oliver, no one else knows. Enzo probably suspects but no one else, so I'd appreciate it if you just kept this to yourself."

"Your secret is safe with me, Sage. I'm not telling anyone any of this, ever."

"Thanks for that." he smiles "I should probably head home now, it's getting late"

"Oh, okay..." how long have we been talking? It is late. "I guess you're right. Bye Theo!"

"Bye El."

As he heads to the door and exits my room, I can't help but see him with other eyes. I finally understand the part of him I couldn't figure out and honestly, the way my perspective on him has been changing as I get to know him better, is making it harder and harder to hate him.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay soooo, this one is truly something... Theo finally opened up to Lena about his past. I don't know why but it felt right for me to write this in here.

Let me know what you think about this and them. I feel like I'm finally back on the writing flow and temporarily out of my writer's block but I do know that my writing is still not the best.

Also, again, I can't finish this without asking you to please tell me if you find any grammar or spelling mistakes and leave if you're not enjoying my book.

Anyways, thank you for sticking around, I appreciate every single one of you that takes time to read ALLURINGLY.

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