Beating You

Chapter 13

I'm sorry that this is quite short, but I thought that if I dragged it out then it wouldn't be as emotional or deep and that was the feel that I wanted to create with this chapter :) Again, some peope have been asking for a Cooper POV chapter, so who would be up for that? :) Please vote and comment, your comments always make me smile! Any-who enjoy! :)

Chapter 13

“Ally,” Cooper’s voice seemed distant when I snapped myself back into reality. I hadn’t told him anything yet and we were sat in his car. He had held me whilst I had cried and told me that everything was going to okay, but I still felt sick to the stomach.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t of...” he cut me off before I could say anything else.

“Ally, I’m here okay?” he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and cupped my face with his warm hand.

“Okay,” I whispered, clutching his hand tightly and he gave it a small, reassuring squeeze.

“Look, let’s go somewhere quiet okay? The pavilion?” he asked whilst starting the car, not taking his warm hand from mine.

“Sure.”

My voice was still weak and I felt a little lightheaded as Cooper drove us to the pavilion.

That was it, I was about to tell him my darkest secret and he said that he would help me; I’d finally be able to get away from my dad.

When Cooper’s car pulled into the pavilion, I felt my heart speed up and Cooper’s arm slipped around my waist, pulling me tight against him as we walked.

The pavilion was fairly empty; I didn’t see many people around as Cooper led me to the small room at the back and locked the door behind him.

He watched me as I sat down on the sofa and breathed deeply, running my hands down my face and flinching when it reached the sore spot on my cheek.

I felt the sofa dip next to me and I looked to the side to see that Cooper was watching me, concern flooded through his entire face.

“Ally, please tell me what’s going on,” he begged, taking my hands in his and sitting beside me cross legged. I took in a deep breath and turned to face him, sitting in the same position as him.

“You have no idea how hard this is,” I started and he shook his head, moving forward to kiss my forehead.

“I’m here for you, baby,” he whispered and I sat forwards so that I could rest my head on his chest. I inhaled his coffee scent and took another breath, I could do this.

I sat back and looked at Cooper, who was still sitting patiently in front of me.

“My dad hits me, Coop,” my voice was barely a whisper but he heard me and he froze, his shoulders were stiff and his eyes were locked on mine, flaring with both sadness and anger.

“How long has it been happening?” he asked, his voice was the same tone as mine.

“Since I was ten,” I replied, trying to keep my voice level, but was failing miserably. I didn’t have time to think before Cooper’s arms were around me, rubbing the top of my back gently. I wrapped my own arms around his firm form and squeezed for support.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I want to know everything Al, I need to help you sort this out,” his voice was like a melody against my ear and I leaned against him. I was reluctant to tell him properly. I had kept it bottled up for so long and spilling everything out would just seem like an explosion, something way too big for me, or Cooper, to handle.

“My mum died when I was ten. She was picking me up from Guides when a speeding car hit her, she was pronounced dead at the scene,” Cooper didn’t interrupt; he just sat there watching me with an unreadable look in his eye and his hand tightly clenched around my own.

“He blamed me for it, didn’t pick me up from the hospital and when I finally found my way home, he was sobbing, shouting at me and telling me that if I wasn’t there, his beautiful wife would still be around,” I paused. “And she would be,” I finished quietly but Cooper only shook his head softly, watching my every move but his eyes were gentle instead of calculating.

“Ever since then he’s blamed me for what happened to her, not being able to forgive me.” I finished, earning me another sincere look from Cooper.

“I don’t know what to say Al, apart from that I’m sorry and that we’re going to sort this.”

His jaw was tight and I sighed.

“Please don’t apologise, none of this is your fault,” he kissed my lips to stop anymore words coming out.

“I’m here for you,” he whispered softly before kissing me again.

Cooper and I had been sat in that room for about two hours, just talking about my experiences. He had done his fair share of wincing, flinching and hugging when he quizzed me about my past. It hurt more than I expected to tell him everything, but it felt like a weight had been lifted. There was some things that I didn’t want to talk about, some of the times that he had attacked me wouldn’t come out of my mouth, it had just etched itself into my mind and wouldn’t come out, so I kept that to myself.

“C’mon, we’re going back to mine,” he said with a hushed tone, pulling me up to my feet.

I shook my head.

“I’d rather just stay here or go home,” I muttered but Cooper ended up gaping at me.

“Ally, if you think that I am letting you go back there to that maniac then you’re crazy!” he exclaimed, staring at me in utter disbelief.

“He’s still my dad,” I begged but he shook his head, pulling me close to him so that I could feel his breath on my cheeks.

“He lost the right to love you when he told you that you weren’t worth it,” he whispered, kissing my injured cheek.

“Plus, I need to get my dad to check your injuries, make sure they’re nothing serious.”

That was when I glued my feet to the floor and refused to move.

“You’re not telling anybody about this, Cooper, I trusted you and you’re the only person that should know,” I replied with a firm tone but he shook his head again.

“He needs to be banged up, Al!”

“He’s not the problem, Cooper! I am!” I sat down on the sofa and he sat down beside me, running his hand up and down my arm in a supportive gesture.

“Ally, baby, none of this is your fault. You’re the innocent party,” he soothed but I shook my head.

“Please don’t make me tell anybody else,” he sighed.

“Just my parents, they can help and my dad can get you cleaned up, come on,” he lifted me up from the sofa and walked us both back to his car. Maybe getting his family to help was a good thing, but whatever happened, as silly as it sounds; I didn’t want my dad to get into too much trouble.

When Cooper pulled up outside of his house and opened the car door for me, I felt like I was walking towards my demise, anything and everything could happen if I walked through those doors and let another two people in on my secret.

“It’s going to be okay, we’re going to fix this,” he whispered in my ear and then kissed the top of my head.