You were dancing in a small bar to an indie band playing. Just moving your hips gently swaying them, getting lost in the music. You felt as it flooded your body and stuck in your bones taking your mind far away. You loved the music, for you it was the only place you could escape to and forget everything that happened. Tonight you wore your long sleeve lace shirt and some black skinny jeans. You had the sleeves rolled up a bit, your wrists covered in bracelets with the names of your favourite bands written on them. The bands that kept you alive the ones that helped you to survive. You were brought back to hear and now, when you felt someone bump into your side, making you fall to the ground. You scrunched your face up as you took in a sharp breath because of the surprising sensation of the pain shooting through your bones. "Oh, I'm very sorry, come on I'll help you up!" You heard a soft voice say and seconds later a big hand grabbed your arm and pulled you up to your feet again. You tried to suppress the pain you felt, as he touched a very hard bruise on your arm that made you whimpered a little. "Are you ok, have I hurt you very bad? Should I bring you to an hospital?" You looked up into his gentle brown eyes as he shot you a worried look. You just shook your head no and took a step away from him, so he let go of your bruised arm. Even though you wanted to just go back to dancing he wouldn't let you. "What's that?" He asked and grabbed hold of your arm again. When you followed his gaze you saw what he meant. You quickly dropped your eyes to the ground and pulled your sleeves down again, covering the nearly black bruise that was placed on the inside of your forearm. You tried to pull your hand away but he wouldn't let you, so you gave in and just stood there, your gaze fixed on the ground. A silence settled between the stranger and you as he pushed the fabric of your shirt up along your arm, revealing not only the really big black one but also the others which were covering your whole right arm. You flinched, when you suddenly felt the big hand of the stranger softly caress your arms, sweeping over the bruises that painted it in many different colours. "Who did that to you, love?", he asked and when you didn't answer he grabbed your chin in one of his hands and gently lifted it up, so you were looking into his warm brown eyes. You didn't say anything again you just looked into his brown gentle eyes. Forgetting the moving bodies around you getting lost in his eyes that were so warm and caring looking down at you. Never ever had a person looked at you with such caring eyes before. As he realized that you won't answer he started speaking again. "Come on, let's go somewhere more silent, where we can talk!" With those words he gently grasped your hand with his much bigger and stronger one and guided you through the moving bodies to the exit. It wasn't until now that you had listened to the music which was unusual because as soon as there was music you escaped into your own world. But this time with him was different instead of losing yourself in the music you got lost in his presence. He treated you like you were precious trying not to speak harsh or touch you too hard so you wouldn't break. He treated you like nobody ever has before. You stepped out of the club inhaling the fresh air, just letting him guide you somewhere without thinking. There was something about this guy, that was taking away all of your caution and fear. You wanted to talk to him, wanted to tell him about all your misery. There were so many words inside your head but none of them left your mouth and rolled off your lips even though you wanted them to get heard by him so badly. After some time you found yourself at a park with him. "Come on, let's sit down and talk!" He said and guided you to the monkey bars where you sat down beside him on the edge of the wood. He looked at you expectantly but you didn't say a word even though there were so many shooting through your head none of them rolled off your lips. "Okay, you don't need to talk... It must be weird talking to a stranger you don't even know the name of. I'm Liam by the way!" You didn't know why but something about his way made you feel safe and feel like you could trust him, which were feelings you never felt especially not around men. "I'm (Y/N)." You said nearly inaudible with a thin voice. Liam’s head shot in your direction as your answer took him by surprise. He didn't expect you to say anything. "Nice to meet you (Y/N)." You thought he didn't hear you but as he now let your name roll of his soft lips in such a gentle way you felt something inside you, like falling. "So would you like to tell me about those bruises now?" He asked curious. You opened your mouth to answer his question and tell him about your misery, but before even a tone could escape your mouth a harsh ringtone cut you off. It was him, you knew, it was his ringtone. Fuck, that meant he noticed that you weren't there and now he was angry. You were such an idiot. He was going to hit you until you couldn't stand anymore, like it happened the last time. You didn't want to take the call and get confronted with reality again, since you got lost in your own world with Liam, but you knew not taking the call or letting him wait would only enrage him more. "Hello." You said with a week voice answering the call. "Where are you useless kid?! Get your ass out of boys beds and get home as quick as you can! Don't make me wait, it will only make things worse!" You heard your father scream through the phone. You bit your lip in fear, he was furious. You didn't want to go home, but sadly you had to since you had nowhere else to go. As you wanted to slide off the wood onto the ground Liam suddenly grabbed you to hold you in place. "The guy who just called, he's the one who gave you the bruises am I right?" He asked with an angry look. You just nodded your head yes and wanted to slide off again but he held you in place looking at you. "He's your dad." He whispered with a horrified expression. You didn't knew what to do so you just nodded your head again, released his hold of you and then got off the monkey bars starting to walk home, which wasn't very far from this park. You had already walked a few meters when a voice stopped you. "(Y/N), wait don't go back home to him! You don't need to, stay at my place, its ok I have plenty of space, just don't let him hurt you again, I won't let that happen!" Before you knew he held you in a tight embrace and you crawled into his chest more absorbing the warmth while tasting the feeling of safety.
