the bully

c h p 20

justin's pov

"claudia wait-"

she grabbed her purse from the bed and stormed down the stairs and i ran after her.

"i'm sorry please don't do this-"

i grabbed a hold of her arm and stopped her in the middle of the living room.

"don't touch me!" she screamed. "i'm disgusting, i'm worthless, just let me go,"

"no i'm not gonna let you go." i twisted my lips. "you're not any of those things. i love you and you're beautiful and you mean everything to me-"

"you don't mean any of that." her jaw twitched as more tears spilled down her cheeks.

"how could you think that?" i pulled her closer to me and brought her to my chest. "you mean the world to me. and don't think for a second that i don't love you. because i love you more than anything."

"you cheated on me." she mumbled.

"i was way too drunk to understand what was going on." i sighed. "and if i could take it back i would. i had no idea what was going on. she has the same dress on as you, so i assumed it was you and i just wanted to kiss you because i had been separated from you the entire night and i couldn't wait any longer. when i woke up next to her and i realized it wasn't you, my heart broke. i felt so dumb and stupid thinking she was you...i mean look at you. you're irreplaceable."

claudia licked her lips as she continued to listen.

"at that point, all i was worried about was where you were. i called you over and over again, and that's when i realized that everything was all bad. i called madison and she said she wasn't with you, which made me break even more. my priority was finding you. when i saw you standing there on your street, i couldn't be more relieved. you were alive." i paused and swallowed the dry lump in my throat. "but when you turned around and your dress was all ripped, your eyes were bright red, and you had bruises and cuts everywhere...i knew something had gone horribly wrong. and i don't think i could ever forgive myself for not protecting you, because that's my priority."

claudia kept her eyes on the ground but i lifted her chin up so she had to look at me.

she sniffled as her lip quivered.

"please don't hate me for some stupid thing i did. i love you so much and you didn't deserve any of this."

she bit her lip as she stared into my eyes, her beautiful brown eyes showed sadness and confusion.

"i could never hate you-i just." she paused and looked down again. "i just wish you were there when i needed you the most. i was scared, cold, sad, and alone...and this small metal room...and he'd always-hurt me whenever i talked back."

my arms tightened around her as i tried to remain calm.

"i'm so sorry." i breathed. "don't worry because i'm never gonna let him come near you again, got it?"

she looked back at me and nodded slowly.

just before i was going to give her a kiss, loud banging knocks were coming from the door.