She Will Be Loved

Chapter 8

We stood there for 20 minutes, me still shaking in his arms.

"Please, don't leave me. I'm scared." I whispered. For the first time in a long time, I was scared.

"Stay for the night. Please." I begged.

"I will. Don't worry. I'll protect you."

I took his hand and brought him upstairs to my spotless room. I set up the fold-out couch so that it was a bed. I put sheets on it for him to sleep on. I was still shaking.

"Get in bed." He whispered. I got under the covers and pulled my legs to my chest. I felt helpless.

"Goodnight." He said and tucked me in. He shut the lights off and went on the fold-out couch.

After 30 minutes of sitting there shaking, I started whimpering and crying. I tried to be as quiet as I could, but I couldn't stop myself. I was acting up. I was shaking out of control. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to forget about what happened earlier. Then, I felt my bed move. Jason wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head.

"Don't worry. I'm here. I'll keep you safe."

I stopped shivering and let his warm body curl into mine. He kissed my neck.

"Go to bed."

As told, I fell asleep wrapped in his arms.

----

I woke up in Jason's arms, curled around his body. I tried not to wake him up, but failed when he took his arms away from me.

"Sophia..." Jason said quietly. I turned over to him. He was on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Can we please tell someone about your dad? It hurts to see you suffer from this."

"I can't. He'll put me on the streets. He's already threatened to kill me. I can't tell."

"But you have to. One day, he'll go too far and maybe he will kill you. Do you want that to happen?"

"No. Believe me, Jason. I want to tell on him. But then what happens? I can't live by myself. I couldn't take care of myself even if my life depended on it."

"You could come live with my family. I don't know. But you can't live with him. It's not safe."

"I'll be okay. One day, I will have the guts to tell. But for now, I'll take care of myself. I promise."

We got up and I went in the shower and washed up quickly. When I stepped out, Jason was sitting on my bed looking at the picture of my mom.

"Is this her?" He asked, looking up at me. "She's beautiful. Just like you."

"I know. She was gorgeous."

"Sophie, where is she now?"

"I don't know. One day, I'll find her. I know she's out there somewhere."

We sat and looked at the picture.

"Okay. Well since it's Saturday, we don't have to go to school. So how about breakfast? Sound good?" He said cheerfully. I smiled at him. It was nice to have a friend around.

"That sounds good."