There All Along

Chapter Nine

But before I knew it I was sitting naked on the sofa with a quilt over me, watching We're the Millers with Josh beside me. We had sex again. I'm such a slut!

"I love you," Josh says before kissing my forehead.

"I love you too," I tell him.

"You have improved with sex," he says. "But not by much."

I feel disappointed in myself. Even though how good I was at sex didn't matter to me, Josh somehow made it seem like one of the most important things in my life.

"By the way, have you been losing weight?"

My face lights up. Oh my gosh he noticed! He actually noticed that I had been losing weight!! This diet has been working! It's finally paid off!

"Yes," I reply. "I feel so much better about myself now that I'm not stuffing my face. Did you notice that I'd lost weight?"

"Hmmmm...." he stops and thinks for a moment whilst looking at my face then at my body under the covers. My cheeks blush. He looks at me and says, "nah. Not really. You look the same fat, horrible slut that I used to know. Go lose some weight you fat cow!" .

I start crying in front of him.

"Shut up you cry baby!" he screams in my face. I stand up and rush upstairs. I quickly put on my pyjamas then he bursts my bedroom door open. If Emma wasn't awake before then she certainly is now.

"What were you doing? What have you been up to?!"

"Nothing. I just came upstairs to put on my pyjamas. I was cold."

"Well fucking tell me next time!" Josh screams at me. Tears uncontrollably race down my cheeks. I close my eyes and bawl my heart out. "Look I'm sorry!"

"There's no time for apologies! You disgust me!" he exclaims, making me cry ten times harder. "I knew it was you who ate all the chocolate biscuits. It wasn't your mum. Unlike you she's actually thin. You? You're nothing but a pig! I would be better off with dating your mum! She'd be better in bed."

I fell to the floor and curled up in a ball and cried some more. He started hitting into my back and I screamed loud. With every extra hit he gave me, the louder my screams got. Then he started kicking into me. He pushed me over onto my back and he started punching my stomach. Once he was satisfied he ran downstairs and out the front door.

I wanted to move to see if Emma was ok, but I couldn't. I couldn't move. I was too hurt. I knew I was going to get bruises everywhere.

..........

"Anna?" I heard a small voice shout through to me from the other room. I opened my eyes to find myself still lying in the same position on my bedroom floor. I was still in agony from the hits.

"Emma are you ok?" I shout through to her.

"Yes!"

I smile. That gave me less to worry about. I was scared incase Josh would start beating her. I would obviously do anything to protect my little sister but I was so weak that I couldn't.

"Has Josh left?" Emma asks.

"Yes you can come through!"

I hear Emma jump off her bed and race through to see me. When she sees me lying on the floor she gasps and starts crying. "Anna!" she screams which causes me to cry when I realise what had happened was more serious and heartbreaking than I first thought.

"Emma please don't worry about me," I tell her. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes I'm fine. Where's mum?" she asks.

"She's still at work, she hasn't came home yet," I tell her.

"What time is it?"

"I actually have no idea. But can you please go back to sleep and don't tell mum anything about what has happened. Don't tell anyone. Nobody should know. I will tell mum myself but no one else so promise me you won't."

"I promise I won't," she promises.

"If you break that promise do you remember what happens?" I ask her.

"Santa gives me a dead spider for Christmas?"

"Yep."

Emma shivers.

"Now go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Ok. Goodnight Anna." Emma leans over and kisses my cheek. My body warms up after she kisses me.

"Goodnight Emma."

And with that Emma races back through to her room and goes back to sleep.