Heads up. This chapter might trigger some stuff. Read at your own risk. Just wanted to warn you.
I'm back in my old room, at home. I can hear him screaming, yelling, calling my name. I'm scared, hiding under my bed, praying for God to make me a bird, so I can fly away, and never come back.
"Mia, doll. Come out, I promise, I won't hurt you." His voice is dripping in venom. The lies, they never stop. Nobody can be trusted anymore, except maybe Matt. Everyone has left me, to deal with him. "come on you little bitch!" The fake sweet tone is completely gone. My door doesn't have a useful lock, but I locked it anyway. The door jiggles, shakes, and I know it's not going to hold. I make a decision, I'm leaving. I get up, open my window, and begin to climb out. I'm almost there. I can taste the freedom, just a little bit more... "get back here!" He grabs me by the foot, pulling me back, then drags me in by my hair. I scream, tears streaming like a waterfall. He's jerking me, shaking me...
"Mia!" it's Taylor. I jerk awake, look at him, and crawl back, still not fully able to comprehend what's going on. "Mia, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise." I let him scoot towards me, and wrap his arms around me. "You need to tell me what's going on. I want to help you; just let me in."
"My dad. He's an alcoholic. Our mom died a while ago, from a car crash. Matt left, and that's when dad started drinking. He's an abusive alcoholic. I stay in my room, all the time. I don't have friends; I push people away, because everyone either leaves me or hurts me. I don't trust people anymore. But you're different. I don't know why, but I trust you. It scares me."
"Well, you don't have to be afraid. I'll keep you safe. And, I won't hurt you, or leave you. I promise. But, Matt needs to know. He's worried about you."
"Matt put you up to this, didn't he." I accuse, and his eyes get wide.
"No, Mia. I was going to do this anyway. He just wanted me to make sure you were okay. He had no idea about any of the rest of this, I promise." I think for a few minutes, before deciding to go ahead.
"Okay. But no one else is allowed to know. Ever." He nods, and grabs his phone. A few minutes later, Matt comes in, and sits on the edge of the bed.
"Mia, what's going on?" He asks. He actually looks like he cares. That's a first; someone from my family, actually caring.
"Dad. He caused everything. The cuts, bruises, nightmares, paranoia, anxiety. All of it. He's an alcoholic, and beats me. He has been since mom died, and you left." I can see tears rolling down Matt's face. "When I hung up on you suddenly, yesterday, it was because he came in, and I didn't want you to hear him beating me unconscious." A sob escapes from his throat, and his face is red. I caused my brother to cry. I feel horrible.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. You're not going back. Ever. I'm making sure he goes and rots in jail, then rots in hell." Matt's getting mad, and stands up quickly, and I scoot back towards Taylor, out of instinct. "Mia, I'm not going to hurt you. None of us will. I promise." I hesitantly scoot off the bed, and wrap Matt in a hug. I'm almost free. But it's more than I've ever gotten before.
Sammy POV
Last night, I brought Mac home, well, to my place, and we just spent the night there. I've known her forever.
"Sammy? Are you up?" Her adorable morning voice pierced the silence, and I looked over.
"Yeah. I'm up."
"When do you leave?" She whispers. I sigh, knowing she's find out eventually.
"Within the next few days." She stiffens, and turns over, facing away from me. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Go ahead; I don't want to hold you back." Her voice sounds like it's straining itself.
"They offered to let me bring someone, but I wasn't sure, so I didn't respond. Do you want to come with me?"
"What? Really? Sam, you know I don't do well with... people in general. It would be like a constant panic attack." I sigh, pulling her towards me. "But you could sing, with me. The Jacks, Shawn, even
Skate. Please?" She wiggles, and I loosen my grip, just to have Mac slip away, and out of bed. "Mac..."
"Don't. You're leaving, and that's bad enough." I groan.
"Please? If you don't want to, you don't have to talk to anyone."
"What would be the point of me going, if I didn't talk to anyone? Sammy, I hate, everything about myself! I can't even talk to anyone without flipping out. Just, no. No. No." She throws her hands up, and walks, no, paces around my room. I stay quiet, and let her cool down. Last time I didn't do that, she threw her phone at me. She stops, and looks out my window. I can see her little body, lightly shaking, as she attempts to pull herself together.
"I would never take you anywhere that you wouldn't be safe in, or that you wouldn't feel safe in. You've said it yourself, you want to get out, meet people, come out of your shell. This is the perfect opportunity, you'll be with people you know, but you will also be with people you don't know. Please. I need you there." I stretched a bit, before standing up slowly. I walk up, quietly, and wrap my arms around her middle. She suddenly turns herself, and hugs me back.
"I'm just scared. Scared that nobody will like me, that everyone will just tolerate me, or even hate me. I can't stop thinking it."
"I won't let that happen. I promise. They'll like you, and before you know it, you'll have tons of new friends. I promise." It's quiet, and we stay there, content with each others silence.
"Fine. I'll go." She suddenly says, making me smile. "But I have to room with you. I can't do that with someone I don't know." I laugh a little, resting my chin on the top of her head.
"I know. I promise we'll room together."
~sorry it took so long and that it's so short I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for too long, and I wasn't able to actually post until now. Really sorry. Will try and post again soon.~
