Without You

32

The room was cold, painfully bright, and every second seemed to stretch on forever. I sat across from the officer, my hands clasped so tightly in my lap that my fingers were starting to go numb. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears, fast and uneven, like it might drown out everything else.

The officer, a man with kind eyes and a patient expression, looked at me, his voice low and steady. "Take your time, Amore. We're here to help you. Just start wherever you're comfortable."

I looked down, focusing on the edge of the table, trying to find the words that felt trapped inside my chest. "I... I don't know where to start," I finally managed, my voice barely above a whisper.

"That's okay," he said softly. "Just tell me what you remember."

I took a shaky breath, my mind racing back to that night, to everything I'd tried so hard not to think about. "I was at a party," I said, my voice breaking. "I was trying to help a friend, but he wasn't acting like himself. I was trying to find him...when his friends...when they...hurt me."

The officer leaned in, his face calm, but his eyes sharper now, listening intently. "How many where there?"

I felt the words catch in my throat, like they were too heavy to say out loud. But somehow, I managed to nod. "two...there were two of them."

I glanced up, afraid of what I might see in his eyes, but he just nodded, encouraging me to keep going. "And then... what happened?"

I closed my eyes, feeling tears burn, wishing I could be anywhere else. "I told them to stop, but they wouldn't listen," I whispered. The memories crashed over me, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

When I finished, the officer looked at me with a kindness that made my heart ache, like he could see how hard this was. "Thank you for sharing that with us, Amore," he said gently. "We're going to do everything we can to help you and make sure this doesn't happen again."

I nodded.

I walked out of the room, and the officer started talking to my parents stealing glances in my way. I wrap my arms around myself and my parents come out the room my dad massages his temples.

"Two of them." My dad mutters. 

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this alone." My mom says.

"I'm not alone," I say. "I have you guys, I have Taylor, Adam and Kiara."

Dad raises his eyebrows and they exchange looks. "Who are they?"

"My friends."

"We should go somewhere we haven't been in a while." My dad says. my mom looks at him understanding.

Dad places his arm around my shoulder and we walk out of the police station.

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"Ella." 

My mom says placing flowers by her grave. "I am so sorry I haven't visited you in a long time sweetheart."

My dad stands there staring at her grave his expression hard.

"You don't know how much I love you."

I lower myself to my knees and touch her headstone. "I miss you sis." I say. "So much, you don't know how much I have to tell you. first things first, I had my first kiss."

I look at my parents to see the look of surprise on their faces.

"It was amazing he is so nice to me and so sweet. he makes me feel things I've never felt before, I had my first date with him. I wish you were here to meet him, I have a feeling you guys would have gotten along."