Abused {ACM}

Chapter 33

"I love you." Austin climbed in next to me and pulled me closer, closer, closer. Our legs tangled together and I shoved my arm under his, wrapping myself around him. In this position, I don't know who was protecting who. Who was the weak one, who was the strong one. Which one of us was comforting the other, telling the other that everything was going to be okay. Our lips brushed together once, twice, and barely disconnected - I could feel the tip of his nose on my cheek, the stuffed koala tossed somewhere behind me so there would be less room in-between us, our stomachs touching, fingers locked together, a tangle of limbs and tears and air.

"I love you too." I said back, and never in my life have I ever meant something more than I meant that, right there, right then. "So much. So, so god damn much."

"I won't lose you." He said as I drifted in and out of consciousness. "Never, ever again."

"Is that a fact?" I whispered, lips twisting up in a tired smile.

"It's a promise."

Abby's POV

"I'm goin' tuh fuckin' murder you if you dun' let me go right the fuck now!"

I leaned closer to Austin, my eyes wide, and he tightened his grip on me, his gaze incredulous as he stared at the large, fitful man with his green eyes.

The man being dragged into the police station caught us staring, and he twisted his lips into a disturbing grin, spitting on the floor through his teeth.

"Lookin' at somethin', big boy?" He sneered to Austin. "I'll trade a picture for that pretty lil' looker you got on your arm there."

Austin snapped back into himself and immediately tensed, scowling and dragging me closer to him. "Fuck off."

The man guffawed, throwing his head back and laughing so loudly that everybody in the building looked up.

"I'd gladly fuck her." The man winked at me.

I raised my eyebrows and held onto Austin's hand as he snarled curses and insults at the man, rubbing his back to calm him down. Overly touchy men weren't new to me - I wouldn't be surprised if this man was friends with my father.

"It's okay, Austin. Let the man have his fun. We'll see who's laughing when he realizes that he's going to rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life." I soothed loud enough for the man to hear.

Before he could react, the officers holding the man's cuffed hands behind his back shoved him through a door, and Austin huffed.

"I don't like this place." He growled.

I laughed. "We won't be here for much longer, we're just here to pick up Alex's uncle, remember?"

Austin shrugged, scowling again. He absentmindedly played with my fingers on one hand, rubbing at my cracked nails and running his thumbs over my knuckles.

"I don't like your plan, either."

It was my turn to shrug.

"Listen, Abs," Austin looked up at me, not for the first time today, with a pleading expression on his face. "Please don't do this. Please," he buried his face into my neck and sat down on a chair, pulling me onto his lap so he could bundle me up like a small child and pull me into him tighter. He sponged a kiss onto my neck and tickled me with his eyelashes. "This is dangerous. This is stupid. It might not even work! You just got back, your bruises have just started healing, I can't -"

"Austin, you know I have to do this. For my aunt and her boyfriend. Practically my uncle. They could be hurt because of me, they could be -" my voice got caught in my throat, and it felt like the whole ocean was suffocating me, daring me to voice my thoughts. Austin soothed circles into my arms with his thumbs. "They could be dead because of me."

"But none of this is your fault, sweetie. Abby. Sweet, sweet, Abby." Austin murmured into my hair, almost to himself.

A voice cleared and I opened my eyes, looking up.

"I assume you two are Abby and Austin?" Alex's uncle stood there, a briefcase slung neatly over his shoulder, his greying hair slicked back and white dress shirt tucked into his trousers. He had deep smile lines around his eyes and lips, and I immediately trusted him. I hopped off of Austin's lap, and he stood up, grinning.

"Hello, Mr. Anderson." I stuck my hand out for him to shake, but he grabbed it and pulled me into a hug instead.

"No need to be so formal, darling. You've known Alex since forever, you both have. We're practically family. I've met you two before, you know." Mr. Anderson informed.

"Have you?" Austin furrowed his eyebrows, being pulled into a hug after I was released.

"Yes, at Alex's ninth birthday party. You two were playing on the swings, and Austin, you started crying because Abby was paying more attention to Robert than to you." Mr. Anderson had a surprisingly loud laugh, sounding more like a playful cackle than a chuckle.

"I remember that!" I snorted, playfully shoving Austin's shoulders.

"My eyes were sweating." Austin pouted.

"Okay, let's go home and discuss this plan of yours." Mr. Anderson opened the door for us, and Austin latched onto my hand again, walking to the car.

************

"So basically, I want to use myself as bait. My dad took my aunt Amy and her boyfriend Joe Solomon. I need to get them back - they are my main priority. So I'm thinking we drop an anonymous hint to some close friends of my father's that I'm back in town, and that I've inhabited my house again. I'll wait there, with police hidden around the house, which might be a bit difficult to have men 24/7 waiting for him to get back, so I'm not sure if that part's possible. But I'll wait there and wait until he comes home, and we can grab him, interrogate him for the location of my aunt and uncle, and then you can..." I stopped. And then what? What were they going to do? Were they going to throw him in jail? As much as my father emotionally and physically abused me, did I really want both of my parents to be imprisoned for the rest of their lives? Hot tears automatically surfaced at the thought, and I didn't finish my sentence.

"And then what? Do you want to press charges against your father?" Mr. Anderson asked, his tie on the back of his chair, his briefcase open, papers and pens spilling out onto the carpet where we sat in Austin's living room.

"I...I don't know yet." I whispered, fiddling with my hair.

Nobody decided to push it.

"You do know that this wouldn't be possible if you didn't have me," Mr. Anderson stated seriously. "No normal police officer, not even a police chief, would do something like this. I'm still rather reluctant -"

"Please, Mr. Anderson! It's the quickest way to get back-"

"Hush, Abby, I know. That's why I'm going to allow you to do this. Even though it puts my job at risk."

I bit my lip. "Could you really get fired because of this?"

Alex's uncle shrugged noncommittally, writing something down on a yellow notepad.

After a long pause, I exhaled.

"Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Thank you for doing this for me."

He looked up and smiled warmly. "It's no problem, doll. Are you sure you're ready for this? There might be violence, there will be stressful plans, there will be timing, there will be cases, there will be lawsuits, there will be questions and interrogations, there will be guns and running and hiding and it isn't easy like they make it look in movies and shit - it won't be a scene with flashing red and blue lights, some gunshots, and then it skips to the next day where the bad guy is in jail and the heroine gets away with a few scratches. People might die, your aunt and uncle might be mentally damaged, you might have to stay up all night waiting for your father to show up, you'll be in uncomfortable situations, you're going to have to listen to every single thing that an officer tells you to do, it won't be easy, Abby."

I gulped, the reality of this situation fully hitting me.

"I know. And I'm ready."