Freedom -- A Rocky Lynch Story

Introduction

I know it's late, the text read. It's not like this was the first time she had texted him in the middle of the night. This has been happening ever since she first got a cell phone at the age of 14. They were both 17 now, and the texts only grew more frequent. Meet in our usual place? Rocky yawned and checked the time on the alarm clock that glowed next to his bed. He had to be up and ready for school in four hours, but it hardly mattered to him. There was only ever one reason that she would bother him at this hour.

Slowly, he rolled out of bed to avoid waking his older brother, who slept in the bed across the room. The springs creaked and fabric shuffled until his feet hit the carpeted floor. He didn't bother to get dressed because he knew that Riker would definitely hear him. This was his and Riley's little secret. No one knew about their meetings.

It seemed as if every noise was amplified. The creak of the door as he pulled it open caused him to wince as if he had been hurt. He looked over his shoulder to make sure his brother was still sound asleep. He was. Light crept into the room, but slowly disappeared as Rocky closed the door behind him. The carpet underneath his feet sounded like crushing Autumn leaves. Every step closer to the door caused more adrenaline to pump through his veins. Almost there. He pushed the back sliding door open and slipped out.

In Riley's yard, there was a light coming from the tree house. Inside, she sat wrapped in a quilt that her grandma had made for her when she was much younger. There was a comic book in her lap, and the beam from the flashlight focused on the pages. Her skin was prickled with goosebumps, although she felt like she was on fire. Every sense of hers was on overdrive. The loose blonde curls of her hair were tucked away in a ponytail. She was shaking.

"It's just me," Rocky said quietly as he pushed the fabric that covered the entrance to the side. He climbed into the familiar wooden sanctuary, feeling the grain of the wood against his bare knees. The walls were covered in pictures that she had taken, and the floor was covered in his old comic books. "What'd he do this time?"

"I forgot to take the trash out," she sighed, closing the comic and letting it slip off of her lap. When she lifted the flashlight to find the off switch, he caught a glimpse of the hand marks on her shoulders. She would be wearing a sweater to school in the morning, despite the fact that the California weather in the late spring was growing hotter and hotter with each passing day. Riley saw the expression on Rocky's face and quickly covered herself completely with the soft fabric that had since fallen around her waist. Tears started to fill her eyes. When she blinked, crocodile tears rolled down to her chin.

Rocky clenched his fists. He wanted so badly to tell someone about the pain his best friend was enduring, but she wouldn't allow it. "That doesn't give him the right to lay his hands on you," he said, his voice barely a whisper. He crawled closer to her and he reached his hand up to the edge of the blanket. She flinched slightly, but recovered quickly. Slowly, he pulled the blanket down. The moon from the makeshift window illuminated the marks on her. "Your step dad is disgusting. No man should ever lay hands on a woman, let alone someone who had promised to protect you." He was mostly talking to himself at this point. "You don't deserve this, Riles"

"I don't want to be here anymore," she cried, her shoulders heaving up and down with her shallow breathing. Each word caught in her throat. "I'm broken, Rocky. I have nothing left. He has taken everything I am and I just can't take it anymore." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged tightly, fighting off his own tears. She always said this was it. I'll tell someone, she would say. This is the final straw. Help me, please. Please.

"I know," was all he could say. He rubbed small circles on her back. They stayed like that until the tears dried up and her breathing returned to normal. "We still have a few hours to sleep before school in the morning," he whispered. "You can come over to my place." She usually slept on the floor of the tree house, but he just didn't feel right about leaving her outside. He wanted to protect her.

"Yeah." She didn't bother to put up a fight. She just rolled onto her knees and crawled towards the exit, her toes grasping the ladder as she made her way down to the grass. The early morning dew left a cool sensation on the soles of her feet. Rocky followed close behind.

Quietly, they crept back through the sliding door of the Lynch house. This time, there were two sets of feet causing the carpet to grind together. The doors still creaked and every noise was still louder than they could even imagine. Maybe it was just them, for the house was still full of the sleeping breaths of the family. Riley started to make herself comfortable on the floor next to her best friend's bed. "Take the bed tonight," Rocky offered. "I'll take the floor."

They both got comfortable and they were finally silent, but her small timid voice interrupted it. "Rocky?" she asked. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, hoping for a response.

"Mm?" he sleepily replied.

"Thank you." Her heavy eyelids fell shut and little snores soon followed, but Rocky was wide awake. His mind wouldn't quiet down. He was thinking about all of the things he could do for her, if only she would let him.