Frozen

Chapter 19)

Brianna

I handed a small bowl of buttery popcorn and M&M's to Bentley, and kept the larger one for Barney and me. Barney was sitting on the futon-turned-bed with his legs stretched out, one bent and one straight. Bentley was sitting in between Barney's legs with his head resting on Barn's chest. I sat down next to Barney, and he immediately pulled me into him so my head was tucked in the crook of his shoulder and I folded my legs in next to me, resting the popcorn in between Barney's side and my stomach.

"Play the movie, Bri," Bentley whined even though I had been sitting for less than five seconds.

"Hold your horses, little monster, I'm not superman," I said, grabbing the remote and starting Monsters University.

Barney turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"Hold your horses?" he mouthed.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled and leaned in to give me a quick kiss.

About ten minutes into the movie, there was a knock on the door.

"Ooh, that's probably the pizza, I'll get it," I said.

"My wallet is on the counter," Barney said distractedly, his attention riveted on the movie.

My boyfriend is a seven year old child.

I grabbed a few bills from his wallet without really looking at them because I had forgotten the total. I also knew Barney would be upset if I didn't let him pay. I opened the door, not really looking at who was outside.

"How much did I owe you again?" I asked, sifting through the bills to find a twenty.

"A car and a son."

I froze at the voice. The voice that had tortured me so many times. The voice that had plagued my nightmares. The voice that had raised me.

I looked up into the cold, stony face of my father and forgot how to breathe.

I had a good three seconds of heart stopping, gut wrenching terror but then everything came back.

He couldn't control me anymore.

Then there was the fact that Barney was a room over and nothing could hurt me with him around. Nothing. Not even my father.

Then I got pissed.

Barn and I had just gotten everything sorted. Finally we were settled and fucking happy and then Barney's dad sends the letter and then my dad shows up at the door. All I wanted was a month or two with no drama, but obviously that's too much to ask for.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a hard voice.

"Like I said, I want my car and I want my son," he said, looking down at my black sweatpants and coke sweatshirt and sneering. Okay, so it wasn't the dressiest outfit ever but I wasn't planning on seeing anyone except Bentley and Barney.

Fucking Sue me.

"You don't get your car or your son," I said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"So you want me to take you to court for theft and kidnapping. Wow, I was guessing you would at least be smart and pick one."

"Court?" I asked, my lip curling. "You mean a court of law? With judges and officers and a jury? That's fine, dad, and I guess since we're already going to be there, I might as well talk about what you did to me almost every night for the majority of my life."

His face paled then turned beet red.

"No one would believe you," he said, his voice a harsh whisper.