i believe in yesterday ☽ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒 [𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐞]

𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

as she expected, molly's punishment was indeed one to remember. it was only eleven when she arrived home.

susie and her mother came back in at just the right time to help them pick up the shelves and sort the books out, making molly almost three hours late. funnily enough, susie's mother wasn't half as mad as they expected her to be.

but eduardo was. he got home just five minutes before she did to find her room dark and empty. so, he got drunk and waited for her. when she finally got home, eduardo was standing right at the door with a dark, angry face.

"i can explain-"

but it was too late. his hand already left the beer bottle, discarding it on the hard-wood floors, making the liquid splash all over their shoes. molly jumped at the sudden breakage and tensed up at what she knew was to come. just as she thought, his hand curled into a tight fist, making direct contact right to her nose.

she fell backwards and hit her head on the side of the doorframe, letting a small whimper out when she felt a sort of hot liquid trickle from her nose.

"dammit, molly," he swore. "look what you made me do." turning on his heel, eduardo left the room, leaving molly laying on the floor with a heavy nosebleed.

in full retaliation, molly decided to flee to the only place where she knew she'd be one hundred percent safe; george's. his mother might help her, but she would lie and say she fell down the stairs at any questions so she didn't have to be sent away to an orphanage somewhere.

with a dripping nose, she made her way down the sidewalk to george's. she knocked on the door, worrying no one was home. she would've gone to paul's, but susie's mother called his father who ordered him home.

with a thump and a thud, it sounded like someone was coming downstairs. she tried to hold the blood back, but it just kept flowing.

"molly!" george's mother answered the door. she looked horrified at the condition molly was in. "come in!" she was only in her nightgown.

she obeyed, stepping into the warm house in comparison to the cold weather outside. her hands were covered in blood along with her bloody dress.

"wha's happened?" louise asked while grabbing napkins from a cupboard.

molly sighed through her mouth. "i fell down the stairs. eduardo's asleep, and i didn't want to wake him up..." she lied. louise ran back to the couch where she sat and gave her a ton of napkins. "i hope this isn't an imposition,"

"oh, dear, no!" louise replied with a shake of her head. "i must call the doctor, but first, let me get george down here," she leapt from the couch and hurried upstairs.

after some small chatter, george came down in only his pajamas. "molly!" he had the same reaction as his mother.

"oh, hi, george," molly waved from the couch while holding the blood soaked napkin up her nose.

"what 'ave you done?" he came up to her and took the napkin away for a moment before turning his upper lip upward at the sight. "your nose... it looks broken,"

"your mother's calling the doctor, so we'll see," she frowned.

george swallowed and carefully sat down next to her as if it was her whole body that was hurt. "what happened?"

"well, you can't tell your mother or the doctor," molly turned. "it was... eduardo. he hit me again." she almost sniffled, but saved herself. the blood would've gone down her throat if she did that.

"oh, molly..." george gave her a small hug and looked at her again. "you really can't put up with this anymore!"

"i know... but i don't have anywhere to go," she argued.