Safe [COMPLETED]

Safe (One Shot)

A/N: Moodboard by Starksparker on Tumblr

You ran down the street, the words your dad told you still playing over and over in your head.

"You will never amount to anything! You're an embarrassment! I want you out of this house before I do something I'll regret."

You weren't sure if your eyes were burning from the rain or from the tears that threatened to spill down your cheeks. Out of breath and soaked, you finally reached the front yard you spent so much time playing in as a child. Your cold knuckles knocked lightly on the window of your best friend. You waited, flinching in surprise when his drapes were pulled back, revealing a tired and frazzled Tom. You took in his appearance, his dark hair, fluffier than usual, adding to his exhausted physique. You instantly felt guilty for waking him, but you had nowhere else to go. Where is a 16-year-old supposed to turn when her father kicks her out of the house? His tired, brown eyes widened when he saw your cold, shaking frame on the other side of the glass. He reacted quickly, pulling the window open.

"Y/N? What are you doing here, its 1 in the morning!" He whispered, holding out his hand to help you inside. You climbed through the window, instantly feeling the warmth of his room on your cold skin. He hadn't realized you were crying until the window was shut, and he could clearly see your face in the dim light of his lamp. "Darling, what did he do?" His voice became low and his face was contorted in anger, the feelings he had about your father's recent drinking habit bubbling to the surface. You stepped forward, letting his arms embrace you and shaking your head, signaling that you didn't want to talk about it. He wrapped his arms around your waist and held you against his chest for a moment. "Let's get you dried off, yeah?" He sighed, accepting that you weren't ready to open up to him. He released you and passed by to enter the bathroom, grabbing a towel and his housecoat off the door. Tom turned away as you undressed quickly, wanting to be rid of the frigid fabric that was clinging to your body. You slipped on his robe as he walked into the hallway to place your clothes into the dryer. When he returned, you were laid on his bed, sleep already taking you. You felt Tom get in beside you and pull you close, his embrace making you feel safer than you had in a long time.

Being able to get away from your father was a dream of yours. Since that night when you were sixteen, his drinking had become more aggressive and he began abusing your mother. It was only a matter of time before he started to hit you too, but there was nowhere in the world where you felt safer than with your best mate. Tom, your best friend since primary school, knew that you would do anything do get out. From the first night you climbed through his window with tear-stained cheeks, he unknowingly took the role of your knight in shining armor. He hated seeing you cry and would do anything to keep it from happening. Since that day, you had been going back and forth between your parent's house and Tom's. Your father's drunken episodes were happening more and more often now, and your mother refused to stand up to him. You crawled into Tom's bed last night, once again, but this time, you had bruises along your arms in the shape of large handprints and a split lip. You could still feel his hands that held you up against the wall as he screamed at you till you were in tears. You knew it was only a matter of time. Tom held you all night as you cried, trying to keep his own anger at bay.

"You will never have to go back there again, I promise," he whispered into your hair as the tears continued to fall down your cheeks. You spent the next day trying to convince Tom not to tell his parents or the police about what had happened the night before. As much as he terrified you, you still wouldn't feel right sending your father off to prison which is exactly what would happen if Tom's parents found out or if Tom himself called the police.

"I turn eighteen in a week, Tom. After a week I'll be done with him forever. There's no use in calling the police," you assured yourself and him, laying back onto Tom's bed while he rummaged for some clothes in his dresser. It had been nearly two years since your father had kicked you out for the first time, and since then, his temper only worsened until it came to a boiling point last night, and he actually put his hands on you. Tom hadn't answered you and you weren't sure if he was still furious or if it was because he was too busy looking for a suit to wear to his press event he had in an hour. He had recently finished filming In the Heart of the Sea and you knew after being in a movie with Chris Hemsworth, his career was about to take off. "Hello, Holland? I need some comforting and maybe a little support," you groaned, finally attracting his attention.