A New Beginning

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

We walked into his house, and I said hello to his mother. We went into his room to start the project. It was going good, and the poster was almost finished. When we were finished, our hands were sticky with glue. I laughed as I touched my hand to his face. I rubbed it on his face, and he tackled me playfully to the ground.

"Not fair!" I whined. "You're bigger than me."

"Too bad. You shouldn't have wiped glue on my face." He said pinning my arms to the ground.

As he pinned my arms and legs, his face started to inch closer to mine. I was about to kiss him, when I heard shouting.

"Carol, get your ass over here!" I heard someone yell fiercely.

Elliot tensed up and hopped off me. "Shit, he wasn't supposed to be home until 5:30."

"Who?" I asked worried.

"Get in my closet, now." He ordered with fear in his eyes.

"Elliot, who?" I asked being shoved into his closet.

"Just stay in there and don't move, stay quiet." He said closing the door and avoiding my questions.

I heard shouting downstairs, and I started to get scared. The next thing I heard was someone being slapped and another person pounding up the stairs. I looked over at Elliot, but he wasn't looking at the closet, he was on his bed watching the door.

"Elliot, what the hell are you doing sitting down being a lazy-ass bum? Get the hell downstairs, and do your work now!" the man yelled. The man was tall, taller than Elliot, with a shaved head, and eyes so dark they looked like black holes.

"Sorry." Elliot muttered, not looking at the man.

"Sorry my ass. You know what? I had a bad day at work, and I come home to a useless teenager. Just perfect." The man ranted.

I saw the man walk up to Elliot, and he punched him square in the nose. I gasped in fear, but Elliot's whimper blocked it. I held my mouth closed, watching in horror as the man repeatedly punched Elliot in the abdomen. This was why he was in pain every day.

He came home to an abusive step-father. I tore my eyes from the sight and started crying for Elliot. Eventually the man grew tired and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

I ran out of the closet, over to Elliot. His nose was gushing blood all over his white shirt. He was lying on the ground in pain; I didn't know what I could do without hurting him. I sat cross-legged on the floor by his head. I gently lifted his head and placed it on my crossed legs. I started to run my fingers through his hair, trying to relax him. He seemed to calm down a bit, and the blood stopped dripping out of his nose.

"Elliot, I'm so sorry." I said trying not to cry looking at him.

He tried to lift himself up, but he winced and fell back into my arms. "Don't be, it's not your fault; he's a douche."

"I know, but that scared the crap out of me. I wasn't afraid for myself; I was afraid for you. I thought he was going to kill you or something. I don't know what I'd do without you though Elliot. You should've told me." I said, yet again holding back the tears that I felt forming.

"I didn't want you to know. You would have thought I was weak." He said closing his eyes.

"No I wouldn't. If you can sit through that, you are not weak." I said. He sighed, finally sitting up.

"I should change my shirt." He walked over to his dresser and took off his blood-soaked shirt, grabbing another one.

I let out another gasp as I witnessed his back and shoulder blades. Black and blue bruises covered his entire back.

"Oh Elliot, you really should have told me. I'm so sorry that I hit you there; now I know why you were mad." I said, finally letting the tears fall.

"Don't cry. It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have thrown you on my shoulder, I should have told you." He said.

I got off the ground and ran over to him crying. I wrapped my arms around him carefully and placed my head on his still naked chest. I lifted my head up and kissed him. I didn't care if there was blood on his face. He snaked his hands around my waist pulling me closer; I was careful not to put too much pressure on his back. I pulled away first and looked into his eyes.

"Not to ruin the moment, but how do I get out of here? I don't want you to get into any more trouble." I asked. He tensed at my words.

"I didn't think about that. Um, if you stay a little longer, he'll probably go out to the bars, so then you can leave." He answered.

"Do you think he'll come back up here?" I asked afraid. He shook his head.

"As long as we stay up here, nothing will happen." He stated.

"Ok." I said.

I pulled him over to his bed, and I carefully pulled him on to it. I didn't want to hurt him.

"It's ok. I'm not that fragile." He laughed as he read my thoughts.

He wrapped his strong arms around me, and I turned to look him in the eyes. I smiled at him, which he returned. I buried my head into his naked chest.

We stayed like that for over an hour, until we heard someone storm out of the house.

"He's gone." Elliot whispered into my hair as he stood up. I didn't want him to pull away, but I knew I had to leave before he came back.

"Ok." I said. "I'll talk to you later." I kissed him on the cheek.

I made my way downstairs and I saw Carol. She had a bruise forming on her cheek. She walked over to me.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." She smiled at me.

"It's ok. I'm glad that I know now." I gave her a hug. "He doesn't deserve you." I whispered into her ear, so Elliot could not hear me.

She gave me another warm smile as I walked out the door.

"Paige, wait. It's late you shouldn't walk these streets by yourself." Elliot said as he grabbed my arm.

"I'll be fine, seriously. Stay here with your mom." I said. He gave me a sad smile.

"Ok." He stated as he dropped my arm.

I made my way back to my house without any problems. An idea popped into my head, and I immediately called my mom.

"Is everything alright, PJ?" my mom answered. I quickly smiled at her use of my nickname.

"Kind of. I was wondering if you could order three more tickets though. It's really important. Please?" I begged.

"Of course. You can tell me why later. I will send the tickets with yours." She said. "Love you."

"Love you, too." I beamed as I hung up the phone.

Things were starting to get better between us, and I was happy. I went to sleep dreaming about my vacation.