Winter's World.

Chapter 10. Beat

The rest of the day is complete hell.

After mine and Tae's argument i guess i go back to being worthless. In 7th hour all the group does is pick fun at me, "She can't apply makeup for shit!"

And..

"She makes expensive clothes look trashy."

What did i do to deserve this?

Why do they hate me so bad?

On my way out of the school, im pulled into the small Gym. Out of surprise i let out a small yelp, but its no good.

"Look who got all prettied up today." A familiar, haunting voice calls out and i turn to face it, seeing Jungkook and a few of the other boys.

"Can i please just go home-" "Not so safe now huh, whore?" I'm cut off by Hoseok and i can feel both anger and fear raise in me, knowing what's about to happen.

"What do you want?" I barely stutter out and they all chuckle at me, "Just some fun." Jungkook pushes me hard, making me stumble and drop my bag.

I let out a loud hiss and throw my hardest punch towards the boy, earning chuckles from the others. Yoongi holds his cheek angrily,

"You're going to pay for that."

~

I sit down on the couch, throwing my bag to the side of me. I run my hands through my messy hair, trying to tame it.

I try to relax, but i can hear someone knock on the door. Deciding to ignore it and close my eyes, being too sore to want to move.

"Winter," i can hear Tae's voice through the door, "Please i know your home." He knocks again and i groan, getting up to open the door.

Looking over him i can see that he's clearly upset- but his expressions changes when he sees me. He furrows his eye brows and cups my face, "Winter what happened to your face?"

"What do you mean?" I want to pull back from him, but i can't bring myself to. "Beautiful you have a purple mark on your cheek-" i hiss when he runs a thumb over it.

"Im so sorry-," he lets go of my face but grabs my hands, "What happened? You look... Beat?" The word makes me flinch and he notices.

Anger grows in his eyes but not at me, "Who was it-" "Tae-" "No! What happened? I'll kill them-" Tears build in my eyes, "I don't want to talk about it." He nods and takes a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for not being there today," He steps closer to me, "I wanted to tell you i swear. But my mom was rushing to leave while Charles was asleep."

"Did she leave him?" I look up at him with hopeful eyes, but he shakes his head, "After her and my dad split when i was little," he sighs, "She's been struggling to find a good guy, i think she's afraid of being alone."

"Want to talk?" My hands go up to cup his face gently as my eyes stay locked on his. Sighing he nods, walking in and shutting the door behind him.

"I'm actually ordering pizza this time." I let out a small laugh dialing the number while Tae makes himself at home. He lays on the couch and takes a drink from my water bottle.

After im done ordering i make my way to the couch, pushing his legs to make room for me. He chuckles and sits up, "Where's your mom?"

"Uhm," i look away from him, "I'm not quite sure, but she should be home sometime next month." Nodding he sighs, "Well my mom is at work right now-"

"What are you getting at?" I blush and look up to see him smirking and licking his lips. "Tae I can't," i sigh, "I'm so sore right now."

"I'm sorry about that-" "Actually," i look down, "It's not from you." I can feel confusion radiating off of him, "Wait, what?"

I take a deep breath before standing up, "Don't overreact?" He doesn't say anything and only eyes me curiously. Slowly i lift up my shirt, revealing countless bruises and scratches.

His breathing automatically picks up, "Turns out Charlie and her goons still don't like me." I pull my shirt down with my shakey hands.

"Still- Winter," He stands up and grabs my waist gently, "How long has this been going on?" I shake my head, not wanting to tell him out of embarrassment.

"Winter?" "Uhm," i take a deep breath, "Five years?" I can feel his grip tighten a bit before he pulls me into a warm hug, "Im so sorry," he whispers, "I didn't know."

Hugging him back i sigh, "I didn't want you to know." "Winter who did this," he sighs, "Was it Charlie and Jessica-" "I won't tell you."

With that he pulls back to face me, "Why not?" I keep my hands on his chest and look up at him, "What would you do if you knew?"

"I'd kill them." He answers without hesitation and i nod, "I don't want you to get in any trouble, Tae." He shrugs and looks at me with his stubborn face, "I don't give a fuck if i get-"

"And then what," i shake my head, "You get thrown in jail for fighting mercilessly and I'm left alone again?" "I won't get thrown in jail-"

"Tae you can't risk it," i cup his face, "You're 18- you're an adult-" "And i suppose i can be thrown in jail for sleeping with you." He rolls his eyes and flops back on the couch.

"That's different," I straddle his lap and run my hands through his hair, "Who's going to press charges? Definitely not my mom."

Nodding he wraps his arms around my waist, "Fine. Don't tell me, but i can't guarantee i won't beat the living shit out of them when i find out who it was."

I roll my eye at how stubborn he is, but i can't help smiling at how much he actually cares for me.