The princess in the painting

Chapter 16- when the truth comes out pt.2

Wednesday

Taehyungs P.O.V.

When I saw Alyssa in art class she said Emma still hasn't come home. I didn't think she would come back so early but there's still hope.

Namjoon told everyone to try not to talk about it so we could concentrate on school. I only wanted to talk about Emma so today was pretty quiet for me.

When everyone got home, Jin said Chris wasn't in his class today. After speaking to some other friends, he said Chris didn't attend any of his classes today and his baseball team has his car. So even if we see his car, it'll be useless.

Again, I try to fall asleep on the couch. Again, I cannot.

Thursday

Taehyungs P.O.V.

Another quiet day. Jimin kept passing me noted to keep me occupied but it was no use. I feel bad for the guys because they keep trying to make me feel better but nothing helps. I can't stop thinking about her. When I think about her, I keep thinking about what he could be doing to her which makes me want to punch the closest thing to me which is usually a friend and I don't want to punch a friend. There are expected thunderstorms all week so cheer practice was cancelled. That's lucky because if Emma were to miss a practice without notice, she'd be kicked off the team.

11:47pm.
Still can't fall asleep on the couch.

Friday

2:30am.
I start to count all of the houses along our street that I can see. I start from the left and work my way all the way to the right. 10. Same number I get every night. Taehyung they can't build houses in under 24 hours. I look at the tenth house and take notice of how much it looks like the one I live in. Wow 2 story's, same color, same order of windows. Out of nowhere, I see a man run in front of the house. It's a little early to go for a run right now dude. The man starts to yell. What? I can't hear what he's saying so I decide to be nosy and open the door. "MISS ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU HURT?", he's yelling to a girl who's screaming 'help' from far down the road. It could be Emma. I run down the road and see the man holding a girl on the ground and asking for her name and what happened. She just kept saying, "Cold, I'm cold, Taehyung... Taehyung", ITS EMMA. I keep running and I say to the man, "That's my girlfriend, I got her", as soon as I reached them I saw that Emma only had on a bra, and underwear. I immediately take off my shirt and put it on her. "Taehyung", she says as she cups my face in her hands. She's freezing. I thank the man and he asks if I need help or anything. I tell him no and he goes on his way. "Oh emma... what has he done to you", I say as I pick her up and start walking towards my house. She has so many cuts and bruises on her. Most of them are only on the parts where her uniform covers. The newer bruises and cuts are everywhere. She keeps shivering in my arms making it a little harder to carry her. I can tell she's warming up a little bit so she actually starts making full sentences. "Taehyung, I'm so sorry", I cut her off immediately, "don't apologize, it's not you're fault, don't worry, you're safe now", "what day is it?", this question makes my blood boil. What could he have done to her to make her lose track of what day it is. "It's Friday, I think it's almost 3 a.m.", "what are you doing up?", she asks making me slightly chuckle, "you think I was able to sleep while you were gone?", "that's true", she says in a very clear voice. She's said before that when it's cold out, it's hard for her to speak right so that might have been why she was having a hard time talking to that guy.

We finally reached the house and I set her down on the couch. I texted the boys and Alyssa, and said she was here and safe with me in the living room, I said she's going to stay the night here and in the morning I'll take her to the nurse. I put her on a heating pad and grabbed a cream from the bathroom to put on her cuts. I finished with her legs and arms but I remember seeing some on her stomach and chest. "Would you be comfortable taking your shirt off so I can put the cream on?", "whatever we're all adults here" she said before slowly taking her shirt off and placing it on the floor. The first touch of the cream on her stomach makes her curl up and giggle, but immediately gasp in pain. "Ahhh... the cold was funny but laughing hurts", I rubbed the cream around on my fingers for a couple seconds to warm it up before trying again. When I was done I got her to sit up so I could get her back. There weren't any cuts on her back but there were a bunch of long welts running up and down it. I handed Emma the shirt and put away the cream and heating pad.

When I came back she had already put on the shirt. I sat down on the coffee table directly in front of her and said, "whenever you're ready, and on your terms, I would like you to tell me everything", "I want to get it off my chest right now, I wanna tell you", "only if you're comfortable", I said while cupping her face so she can look me in the eyes, "well I'll never be comfortable, but I'm ready", she said while patting the seat next to her on the end of the couch. I sat down putting one leg behind her and one hanging off the couch. I gave her one of my famous rectangular smiles and gestured for her to sit with me. She sat between my legs as we both laid back and I wrapped my arms around her.

She started to unintentionally trace my arms with her finger as she started to explain, "I met him in my sophomore year of high school. I thought it would make me cool to date a senior and he was a huge jock. He told me he was 19 at the time and he only failed 1 grade. Apparently that was a lie, that's what we were arguing about when he got me. He was mad that I argued with him in public and I didn't tell him I switched schools.", she asks for her cup so I hand it to her and she takes another sip. As I set the cup back down, she continues, "this might be awkward to say but, I used to have this... choking? kink? Anyway. He used it to his advantage which made him think it was okay to hurt me. That's how it started. Over the last 4 years it gradually got worse.", she grabbed my hand and held it tight, "anytime he would get mad at me, I would go 'missing', he would keep me at his house and use me as a human punching bag, not even a human punching bag, just a regular punching bag. He didn't think of me as a human. He didn't give me food or water, he didn't even let me sleep on the bed. When he knocked me out, I would wake up in the same position, in the same place. I'd I didn't come when he told me to, he would threaten me and my family. I was scared. If I put him in jail he would just come back mad and probably kill me. I didn't want to die so I just went with the pain. For a very short time in my life, I wanted him to kill me. I was on the floor in his bedroom, I had just woken up after he knocked me out, I remember hearing a women talking to him and giggling, I heard the door close and he came back in the room, he told me he wanted me to stay unconscious to he continued to strangle me. I realized I had no friends, people would bully me at school for my weight, my boyfriend was cheating on me, and he also abused me, I have nothing. So I stopped fighting it. I had a chance to leave the next morning and I wasn't going to take it, but then I remembered my family, they love me, they care deeply about me, I knew they would be crushed if they found out I was dead", she was crying and squeezing my hand. I was holding her tight and handing her tissues. Between sniffles, blowing her nose, and stutter breathing, she continues to speak, "I stayed alive for my parents and my brother. I hid the bruises, cuts, and welts from my family pretty well. I used concealer, sunglasses, leggings, and jackets. If anyone saw anything I would make up a lame excuse and tell them I was clumsy, which I am, but you know. After my freshman year at my old college, I decided to focus on my education. I would make that my top priority. I got into this school on a scholarship and vowed that I would make at least 1 friend. I'm so lucky to have you, Alyssa, and the guys. You were all so quick to take me in. I love you guys so much". She turned around so now she's laying on top of me, she hugged me tightly as I wrapped one arm around her and the other one played with her hair, "I love you so much Taehyung, now you know why I couldn't be with you, oh gosh from the moment I saw you on that escalator, I was in love", she said muffled into my chest. I chuckled and said, "I know... me too... we're together now", she giggled and put her head up before saying, "that felt funny", I pulled her up so our faces were level and kissed her. She was into it. I should've given her a warning or something at least but I couldn't help it. We eventually stopped kissing and she started to giggle, "if you don't want me to kiss you then stop being so damn adorable", I said before she giggled and replied, "okay be right back, I need to go find out how to be adorable for every second of every day", I said, "you already are", before chuckling and kissing her again.

After a little while of that, I told her we had a very big day planned so we better get to sleep. I told her I would sleep on the other side of the couch but she kissed me and whined like a little baby while saying, "now how am I supposed to kiss you if you're all the way over there?". She has a very valid point. I let her sleep on my chest and it took me a while to get to sleep but for good reasons this time. I'm trying to cherish my time with Emma. I finally had her back. Nobody else is around. We're kissing. This is amazing. Well... she's all beat up and kinda broken, but I have her back, and I love her.