friends //cody bellinger

seventeen

"You're joking, right? Oh god please tell me that you're joking." Chris pleads.

"Oh yea cause this is something that I would joke about. I'm not. It's one of your guys' teammates. He's one of your friends."

"Which one is it? You have to tell me Emberly; we have to fix this."

"I can't."

"I'm trying to keep my cool here Em, but it's getting hard. Someone's hurting you, and I need to know who it is now."

"It's just going to cause more trouble, Chris. It's not worth it."

"You're my friend, and you're my best friend's girl, which means you're important to me. I'm not going to let this keep happening to you. So tell me who it is or I'm going down to the field tomorrow and I'll find out myself."

I felt torn. If I don't tell Chris, if I don't tell Cody, Chase will keep doing what he's been doing; he won't stop. But if I do tell them, they'll inevitably turn Chase in which will result in a massive case where my past will be exposed, and most likely my relationship with Cody will be too.

"I'm going to give you some time to yourself. I'm going to go find Cody, and when we get back, you're going to tell us. Okay?"

I don't say anything in return, so he answers himself. "Okay. I'll see you later. You have my number. Call me if you need anything." He says before walking out.

I sit in silence by myself. I stare at the wall for what feels like hours. My body started to feel numb a while ago, and it felt like my brain was collapsing to static. I don't know how long I had been out of it when Chris and Cody eventually came into me and Cody's room.

Cody's face was blotchy and tear-stained; Chris had obviously told him.

"Who is it Emberly?" Cody says.

"Guys..." I didn't want to tell them.

"No. You're going to tell us. Even if I have to sit in this room the whole day. You're going to tell me who this bastard is."

I looked at the alarm clock that sat on the nightstand. How did I not realize it was already one in the morning.

"Emberly!"

I couldn't find the words to speak, so I showed them the text Chase had sent me a couple of weeks ago. The one that read:

You're never alone Emberly. You'll never get rid of me. ~Silver Fox

"Silver Fox..." Chris whispers to himself for a second before erupting in shouts, "Chase?! Chase did this to you?"

I nod, choking back my tears.

Chris looked at me with a mix of confusion and pity in his eyes.

I turned to Cody who was gripping the blankets under him so tightly that his knuckles were white. When he spoke, his voice was low and dangerous. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!"

"Cody..." I say. I look at him, and his face softens with guilt when he sees the tears that were slowly falling on my cheeks.

"Chris, can you leave please?" Cody asks quietly.

Chris nods. He kisses the top of my forehead then puts his hand on Cody's shoulder before walking out and closing the door behind him.

Cody runs his thumb over the massive bruise on my neck that he had noticed earlier. He wipes the tear off my face before kissing my lips softly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He pulls me into his chest and whispers in my ear.

"It's not your fault Cody, it's mine. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"He hurt you. None of this is your fault. I'm gonna take care of him. Okay?"

"Cody, you can't."

"You're not safe Emberly. Not with him around you all the time."

"If you turn Chase in then, e'll tell the court how I'm underaged and a prostitute and then me and your relationship will be exposed too."

Cody sighed because he knew I was right. "I put you in this position. If I hadn't been so persistent to get to know you after that night, you wouldn't be in this position right now."

"I wouldn't change anything," I say, delicately kissing his lips.

"We'll figure something out. I'm not letting anything happen to us, and I'm not letting anything happen to you, okay?" He tells me.

I nod. Cody was too important to me to lose. I'd do anything to avoid losing him.

"How about this. We'll just keep you home during games. Chase can't do anything to you if you're not there. And when we go to away games you'll just have to stay in the hotel until I'm done playing, okay? I know it's gonna be boring and lonely, but it's just for now, okay. We'll make something happen, but for right now it'll just have to be like that. Okay?"

I nod again. This was going to suck, but at least I'd be away from Chase.

"Get some sleep, it's late. Tomorrow we'll get some breakfast before I have to go to the stadium, okay."

"Okay," I reply, watching Cody get up off the bed and walk over to the dresser. He takes his shirt and jeans off before sliding sweatpants on.

"Goodnight gorgeous. We'll be alright, I promise." He says, slipping up the covers and pulling me into his chest.