19. Into The Ocean
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"Not knowing how to think
I scream aloud, begin to sink
My legs and arms are broken down
With envy for the solid ground
I'm reaching for the life within me
How can one man stop his ending?
I thought of just your face
Relaxed, and floated into space"
~ Into The Ocean by Blue October
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A/N: if you read this chapter prior to 12/18/20, you may want to give it another read. I ended up just adding to the end to wrap things up instead of starting another chapter.
Part two will be up soon!
⚠️ Trigger Warnings: Mentions of sexual abuse/rape, aftermath of sexual abuse/rape, mentions of domestic abuse ⚠️
(If you are particularly triggered by the above mentioned warnings, skip the flashback at the beginning of this chapter. It's not too graphic, but could still be triggering for some.)
•••
Three Years Ago...
Valerie half-dragged herself down the darkened street. It was just after midnight and she'd finally peeled herself away from the sticky vinyl on her bathroom floor. She wasn't sure how long she'd laid there after Cale left. A few hours maybe. Her tear-stained eyes staring blindly at the wall.
Her mind was in another world and she barely noticed when she came to the end of her street. Her feet moved to take an automatic left. Programmed from years of following the same path. Even if she hadn't been there in well over a year.
She made her way slowly down the hill, every step a painful reminder of what had happened. Her body ached in new places now. Places she'd never even dreamed of. She tried to forget the way he had touched her, the sound of her own pleading voice, the weight of his body crushing her against the floor.
She felt broken. Dirty. Alone.
She subconsciously followed the road all the way down until she found herself standing outside the familiar trailer. The yard was dark as usual (Valerie imagined that porch light would stay busted for the rest of eternity), but the glow from inside told her someone was home.
She wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, as if the pressure could hold her together just a little bit longer, and stepped further into the yard.
She immediately froze as a crash sounded from inside the trailer, followed by angry shouting that made her flinch. Her heart beat faster and a part of her screamed that she should make a run for it. But the other part, the part that still cared, told her to do something. Anything. After all, how many bad nights had she prayed for someone to come rescue her so she wouldn't have to go through things alone.
Before she could decide what to do, the front door slammed open and she quickly ducked back into the trees. A familiar blonde mop came into view as her ex-best friend stormed down the steps, screaming curses over his shoulder and kicking random objects lying around the yard.
He was taller now, she noticed. He'd definitely taken a growth spurt over the past year. His hair a little longer and shaggier. But everything else was the same. It tugged painfully at her heart.
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𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 // 𝕁𝕁 𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕜
Fanfiction𝙅𝙅 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠 knew there would be 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 to pay when he stole that money from Barry, he just never expected it to come in the form of an 𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵. Or The 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓬 story of a boy and a girl who got in way over their heads. //Pa...
