Bad girl

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven.

When Libia arrived home, she looked up at Damon. "Thank you. Even though I got wet, I had fun," Libia shrugged with a slight smile.

Damon smiled back. "I'm glad, Babe," He kissed her cheek. "If you need me, I'm a phone call away," He reminded her.

She nodded, smiling. "I know."

He watched her go, hoping against hope that she didn't get sick. It was now cold out, and she was wearing shorts and soaking wet. He could only hope.

Libia entered her home, letting out a breath of relief when silence greeted her. No one had told her father just yet, and her brother and mother didn't seem to be home.

She let herself relax, and then a sneeze wracked her body.

She cursed through her sniffles, wiping her nose on her sleeve as she walked back to her room, grabbing a towel before walking into the bathroom and taking a hot shower.

***

A week later.

Libia sat waiting for her brother to arrive home, refusing to let her heavy eyes close until his warm presence was in the house. After that night, she hadn't been able to fall asleep peacefully in an empty home. She always had nightmares of someone attacking her in her sleep. Her brother didn't know this, of course. He assumed the first night he'd found her watching TV in the living room that she was worried about him. She didn't offer any explanation, just hugged him and set off to bed without a word.

The Breakfast Club played on low volume, Libia remembering her brother's words to her. 

I'm going to a party, Libs. You don't need to wait up for me tonight.

 She worried about what those words meant. Did that mean he wouldn't be home that night? If so...would she have to endure her never ending nightmares alone? She sniffled, wiping her slightly runny nose with yet another tissue. She'd gotten a minor cold from her night with Damon, but she was getting over it now. 

Her mother took a double shift because the hospital was short on nurses, and she was the only one willing to take it. She needed the money more than the others. So her mother would be working nonstop from eight tonight to twelve tomorrow. She'd be dead on her feet when she finally came back home.

Libia bit her lip as she looked at the clock below the TV. It was already one in the morning, and Ben wasn't home yet. Libia couldn't stay awake much longer. 

Sighing, she blinked back the tears stinging her eyes and stood up, making her way into the kitchen. She glanced out the front window for headlights, or even the silhouette of her brother coming up the sidewalk. There was none. Rubbing her arms with her lip between her teeth, Libia opened the fridge and grabbed a water. She settled down in a stool, and was about to twist the cap off, when there came a knock.

Libia's eyes brightened, and she jumped up from the stool, her water forgotten. She eagerly ran to the door, but when she unlocked it and threw it open, it was not who she thought it was going to be.

Damon stood, a little wobbly, as he looked in at Libia. Libia tilted her head, frowning. Her eyes moved over the bruises he had all over his face. "Damon, your face!"

There was ten seconds of silence. Damon stared into her caring, but confused eyes, and his strength crumbled. He staggered forward, and she caught him in her arms as he wrapped his own weakly around her. He was shaking as she lowered him to the ground, and the heartbreaking gasp that left his lips struck Libia as she realized he was crying.