Hold Me By The Heart

14

{BRENAE'S POV}

Location: Tallahassee, Fl

The brown skin girl sighed as she watched the video that was displayed on her phone. It was a video that was posted on the shade-room of her best-friend, in front of a nightclub back in Miami fighting.  See Brenae and Juniper were best friends , practically sisters. She loved that girl with ever fiber of her being. They'd went through the lowest of lows and the highest of highs together and to hell and back over the course of their friendship. And it all started 7 Years ago.

FLASHBACK
7 years ago..,

As Brenae and her mother pulled into the driveway of their small duplex in the rural area of Lexington, Kentucky the laughs that once filled the air was now silence. As Brenae looked up she could see a girl sitting, hunched over with her back turned away from the drive way on her front steps. "Juniper?" Her mother whispered. As the car came to a stop Brenae quickly exited the car. "Juni." Brenae called out as she walked up the drive way. As she got closer to the girl she could hear the wet sniffles. "Juni what are you doing here ?" The girl asked as she walked around. Standing there in confusion her eyes widened as Juni looked up with tears rolling down her cheeks as she saw the bruise on her best friend's face. "I'm sorry I had no where else to go". Juni said through her sniffles. "Who did this to? Did Derick do this to you?" Brenae asked as she reached out to touch the girls black eye.

"Juniper?" Brenae's mother called out as she joined the girls. She gasped at the sight of the black bruise that was covering the girls eye. "Baby who did this to you?" Brenae's mother, Renee asked as she wrapped her arms around the girl, tightly hugging her. Juni let out a loud sob as she melted into the older women's arms feeling her warm embrace. For once in a long time she felt safe. "Brenae open the door, and can you get these bags please?" Her mother asked her. Brenae nodded as she walked up the concrete steps doing as mother said. She was fuming. She knew exactly who did this to juniper and she also knew exactly why. A week before this, Juni had confided in Brenae , telling her about the pregnancy and how scared she was to tell Derick and her mother.

See, Brenae knew Derick and she hated him She thought it was disgusting that someone his age would be dating a 15 year old and she also knew how manipulative and verbally abusive he could be towards Juni. But because that was her best friend she swallowed her feelings and kept them to herself. She knew that all Juni wanted was love, well at least Juni's version of love. As Juni and Brenae's mother made their way into the house the older woman sat Juniper at the table.  That night Juni told them everything. From the pregnancy , to her mother kicking her out, to her going to Derick's house and to what lead up to him hitting her. "He was just so upset. He was angry that I told my mother. Apparently she told my brother and that's how he found out. He wants me to get rid of it and hide it but said I couldn't. That's when he started hitting me and yelling at me and calling me names. Telling me how if I had the baby that he would pretend he didn't know me and that he wouldn't be in its life. " Juniper said between sobs.

"I'm calling my brother. "Brenae yelled as she pulled her phone out. "We're about to settle this once and for all. This nigga cannot get away with this". She exclaimed. Her mother followed her as the angry girl paced back and forward snatching the phone away from her. "You and I both know that if your brother goes over there acting a fool there's no telling what he would do. And on top of that he just got out of prison. So no we're not calling him". Brenae's mother whispered. She turned around facing Juni. It hurt her as well to see the girl physically and mentally in pain. She was like another daughter to her. "Juniper listen, you can stay here as long as you need to okay, baby? You know that you're always welcomed here and I don't want you going back to that house. There's no telling what that man will do to you. For now you can take the second bedroom until we figure everything out. You're safe here." She said as she wrapped her arms around her giving a small kiss on the top of the girls head.