modern au, another thing about gemma
so basically in the modern au gemma has an abusive boyfriend
haha im good at breaking my friend's hearts
trigger warning: mentions of death, self harm, and partner abuse
--
One of these days, Gemma would break into a million pieces. She knew that she hadn't been acting normally. She knew her friends were starting to get suspicious.
'Don't burden them with your own problems,' she thought, sitting in a corner of her boyfriend's considerably large apartment. 'Raffaele's only getting over Enzo's death, Adelina is still out there, Emma's starting to get over Dante dying and her having to raise Travis by herself..."
She buried her face into her skinny knees. Her curls fell in front of her face. She took out her phone and started scrolling through Tumblr and her semi-popular blog. She checked her feed then turned off her phone.
The door slammed open and loud footsteps sounded in her ears. Gemma jumped up and ran to the living room where her boyfriend was slumped on the couch.
"Nick?" she asked, tenderly tucking a piece of hair behind his ear.
She heard a crack come from her nose as his fist connected with her face. Her head hit the floor and the world started spinning around her. She rolled onto her side and felt warm blood and tears spill now her face.
"Get up. Get up!"
She didn't move from her spot on the ground. Her hair was viciously yanked and she was hauled onto the couch.
"What, are you going to cry?" he mocked, landing another punch in her stomach.
Punch after punch landed on her skin until he walked out like nothing had happened. She laid there as her body started to ache. She reached for her phone and scrolled through her contacts before tapping on Raffaele's contact. Her phone rang for a bit before he picked up.
"Hello?"
"Raffaele?"
"Hey, Gemma."
"Um, can you pick me up from my boyfriend's place?"
"Sorry, I'm actually kind of busy."
Her heart fell. "It's just, I can't go to my car right now."
"Why?"
"He hit me again-"
"Again? How long has this been going on?"
"This happened about maybe 5 times, not counting right now, but-"
"Nope, I'm coming over. Stay there."
He hung up and, with difficulty, she turned herself over on her side.
"He still loves me," she whispered to herself. "He's just bad at showing it."
She tried to convince herself of that, but there was a small piece of her that whispered, "He doesn't. Break up with him."
The door opened and she vaguely felt a pair of arms pick her up. Gemma dozed off with the small piece of her mind still whispering, "He doesn't love you."
--
When Gemma came to, she was lying on a bed that she remembered was her and Michel's bed. He was most likely at classes, though. She sat up and put her face in her hands. That was when she realized she was only in her sports bra and shorts. Looking at the scars and bruises on her skin, she started crying. She kept crying until she finally broke. Rolling up into a ball, tears trickled down her legs.
