Abused and Bullied (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter 32

Eddie starts to look around nervously, as if someone is following him.

"Look, I know that you don't exactly want to see me or talk to me right now-"

"Understatement of the year," I spit out, getting a little gutsy. I know that if he's going to hurt me, he can't do it here. Not in front of all of these people.

"Please, just let me explain. Let me explain and try to save your life, and then I will never bother you again."

Melanie emerges from the back area, ending her break. "Hey doll, you haven't taken your break yet. Wanna' take it now?"

I groan internally, knowing that I really don't have the excuse to avoid Eddie. "Sure, Mel. Is it alright if me and Eddie sit in the corner booth and talk?" I ask. Normally, employees can't really stay in the main area; we are supposed to go to a designated break area or outside. With Eddie here, I don't feel safe with the latter. "Sure, doll. Go on ahead. Here; have a blueberry muffin on the house." Melanie says, winking at me.

I roll my eyes at her, knowing full well that she grabbed it and bought it with the intention of making me take my break. If I could, I would work through my whole shift without taking a break. That way, I can go home and just crash after work. Sadly, I can never seem to slip that past Melanie.

I grab my coffee from the back table and Eddie leads me to the corner booth. We sit down and I arch my eyebrow at him, waiting for him to start talking.

Eddie checks outside the window quickly, then starts to talk.

"Look, I never wanted to do any of that stuff to you, but Tyler didn't give me or the others a choice. After we did what we did the last time we saw you, we kind of got shaken into reality. I want to say that me and the others, with the exception of Tyler, are truly sorry. And I want to warn you that you're in danger."

"In danger how?"

"Tyler; he's kind of gone mad. You didn't show up to class today and it really pissed him off. It's almost like he's addicted to hurting other people," Eddie mumbles the last part, looking down at the table.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" I ask, putting down my coffee, which I was about to take a sip of.

"Look, this isn't about me right now. This is about getting you the hell out of here. Tyler went to your dad's place to find you. Your dad said that those boyband guys that were with our class on Thursday took you. I knew that they didn't take you for no reason, and that's when I pieced it together. All of the time, especially after weekends, you'd show up with bruises that we did not give you. I'm sorry. Nothing I do will ever make up for that, but helping save your life right now is a start."

"Okay; wanna' get back to the part about Tyler showing up at my house and what it is that he wants?" I ask, getting impatient; I don't want to take that long of a break.

"Yeah, sorry. After Tyler found out that you were living with those boyband guys, he started looking for them in order to find you. He found out that they were doing an interview and followed them from where it was filmed to their house. Tyler's sadistic, and it's sad that I'm only just now realizing it. He wants you gone, either by your own will or his. Says that if you don't leave town, he'll hurt the boys."

I freeze at the mention of the boys. I feel my skin grow pale and my hands start to shake; I place my hands on my knees, trying to wipe off the sweat starting to form on my palms.

I don't speak for a minute or two, gathering my thoughts. It's not that difficult of a decision, really. I can drop out of school and leave; that will keep the boys safe. But where can I go?

"Look. I know you're probably really freaked out right now and wondering what to do. But this is partly my fault. If I would have told Tyler to stop from the beginning or reported him, it never would've gotten this far. I want to help you."

"H-how can you help me? I need to leave the state in order to never see Tyler. This is a small town; I can't just hide out here and hope that he won't see me." I begin to panic, forgetting all about the muffin that Melanie gave me.

"My cousin owns a place in NYC that he's trying to sell. I can buy it and pre-pay rent and utilities for two months until you can get on your feet. I'll even pay for your damn plane ticket there. I just need to do something. It may be too late for me to change the past, but I can still help you hear. Please, let me help. This is partly my fault, and I'd like to right my wrongs."

I'm normally almost intensely independent; I don't like accepting help. But in this case, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice.

"Okay. It looks like I'm going to New York."