Niall's POV
"He hurts her." Eli mumbles and that's when my vision goes red and suddenly my chest feels compressed. I'm angry, confused, hurt, conflicted all in one. How am I suppose to react to this?
"What do you mean? What does he do to her? When? Recently?" I can't help but spur out a thousand and one questions. I hate that deep down I knew Noelle was hiding something. I just wanted to believe what she told me. I wanted to believe she was a boxer. I wanted to believe she sort of sucked at it too.
"When he drinks too much.... he just does everything to her... last time he did something was before he left on his trip...." Eli tells me, worry set deep in his eyes.
I couldn't imagine what his life has been.
"Eli, you have to tell me what he does to her. Did he give her those bruises? The marks on her neck aren't from lotion are they..." I pester him and he sucks in a breath.
"He did all of that." Eli mumbles and I shut my eyes, groaning into my hands, leaning against my couch. I want to cry for her, punch at the air for her lying to me but also because her deadbeat of a dad.
"You can't tell her, or anybody!" Eli says worriedly and I look at him with a confused look.
"Are you kidding me? We have to tell someone? The police? Anyone!" I start to shout and Eli gets red in the face.
"She didn't want me to tell you, nobody knows and she will hate me if she knew I told someone, especially you." He says and I clutch my fists.
I couldn't keep this a secret. I couldn't look at her the same anymore. I can't pretend to not know shes hurting and suffering in front of me. I can't look at her pretty face and not want to protect her...
"Eli... I have to tell her I know about it, I can't keep it from her." I tell him and he shakes his head at me, his brows scrunching together.
"She'll hate me."
"She could never hate you Eli..." I tell him, my hand landing on his knee. I can't believe this. Any of this, really.
"Please don't say anything." He begs, a tear slipping down his cheek. I suck in a breath at the same time.
"I'll make a deal with you..." I tell him and he waits for me to continue. "If you answer all of my questions, right now, I won't bring it up to her. Ever. Promise." I tell him as sincerely as I can.
He hesitates but nods, his hand wiping against his cheek. "Okay..."
I nod, squeezing his leg before mustering up the courage to ask the first question.
"How many times has he done it since I met you guys..." I ask, not looking at him, too scared to see Noelle in his features.
"Too many times to count...." Eli says and I gulp.
"Always drunk?" I ask, my voice hoarse.
"And angry." He adds.
"What else is she hiding?" I whisper.
"Bruises, lost of them..." He says his voice full of sadness. He hates it as much as I do.
"More than just her face?" I ask.
"Her entire body... she tries to hide them from me by wearing clothes that don't show her skin but she flinches when I hug her stomach... and her wrists.... are always red." Eli says and I feel a shutter run through my spine. No. Oh please, no. Don't tell me her dad....
"What else does he do besides hit her..." I ask, holding my breath till he answers.
"Bad stuff... in his bedro-"
"Don't finish, please." I shut my eyes. Suddenly feeling sick. My brain is all over the place right now. Noelle gets raped... by her father.... I feel sick.
I can feel my heart beat in my throat, my face warm from anger and anxiousness.
"Noelle doesn't think I know... she always pretends nothing happens. She acts like he isn't mean to us, sometimes she sides with him..." Eli says, his small voice filled with pain... slight angst.
"I'm sure she doesn't side with hi-"
"She lies like him! She agrees with him when he says I should stay over at Janie's... she protects him when I ask her if he hurts her!" Eli argues, his eyes filling up with tears.
"Eli... I'm sure she just does that to prote-"
"I can protect myself." He muffles, his small hands in fists on his lap.
"I'm sure you can..." I tell him, unsure of how to defuse him.
He huffs in his spot, wiping angrily at his eyes. I look at Miranda who's silent, watching Eli and I, her teeth nipping at her nails. It's silent between us, the crumpled paper laying flat on my couch between Eli and I.
"You can't tell her, or anybody. Please." Eli mumbles, his face worried. It instantly reminds me of Noelle, same nose... same stare...
"I..." I start out, it's not like I can go to her with this information. She'll hate me, she'll close herself off more than she already is. "I won't..."
-
The drive to Noelle's place was dreadful. My mind was only imagining what exactly Noelle goes through at home. I can't help but picture how she got her face so badly bruised. Her own fathers hands. I notice my knuckles going white at the thought.
"Thanks for the ride and the ice cream, Niall. Bye-bye Miranda." Eli says from the backseat, climbing out steadily.
"No biggie." I tell him, watching as he walks up to his front door. He rings the doorbell and looks back at me. Seconds later it's swung open to reveal Noelle, dressed in a hoodie and some dark jeans, her hair pushed back into a ponytail, leaving her face on full display.
I see the confusion on her face as she talks to Eli, she then looks towards my car. I gulp when she starts walking towards me.
"You didn't have to drop him off, I was going to get him." She jokes, her hands dug into her hoodie pocket.
"No, it's fine, I was with them anyways..." I tell her, trying to bite my tongue as I look back at her. The bruises across her face... the red marks against her neck... I can't help but want to just hold her and tell her that it's okay. Whatever 'it' is.
"You okay? You look a bit sick..." Noelle questions, her eyebrows furrowing as she pushes a hand to my cheek, then my forehead.
I should be asking her if she's okay.
I clear my throat, nodding at her.
"I feel fine, haven't ate much today so maybe that's it." I tell her and she nods, ready to pull her hand away but I grab it before she can.
Her eyes go big and her lips part in surprise.
"Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night?" I ask her, my fingers burning against hers.
She nods, her eyes louder then her voice. "Yeah."
"Great, I'll pick you up around 7... then after we'll go to the party, sound good?" I continue to blabber, I need to distract myself from the information I know.
She's okay right now.
"Yeah, sounds good." She says, her hand slipping from mine. She backs away from the car, giving me a small smile before waving goodbye.
I stifle a smile, starting up my car.
God, what was I going to do now?
