Live In The Now (Sequel to Let's Forget The Past)

WHAT SHE WANTS, SHE GETS (Pt. 4)

The night started to grow old; but no one in sight seemed to be ready to wind it down. There were still hundreds of conversations being told in loud voices as everyone danced to Dani's group on stage. Still hundreds of faces gathered next to each other singing along to the lyrics. At the bar Hannah sat alone. She used the mini red straw floating around in an anonymous cup sitting next to her to stir the two liquids together that the bartender had just given her.
"Can I sit here?" Sofia asked.
Hannah's head turned in her friends direction to look at her, but she said nothing.
"Please." She begged Hannah.
"Do what you want." Hannah said.
Sofia sat down on the stool next to her and watched. She'd told herself that she wouldn't say anything but the words still slipped out of her mouth.
"You're not actually going to drink that are you? You just grabbed that straw from that guys cup and I just saw him going down on another dude that I'm pretty sure was homeless."
Hannah laughed for a bit and pushed the drink to the side of her.
"No, I wasn't gonna drink it." She answered.
For a bit they sat and stared at each other before Sofia did the unthinkable.
"I'm sorry, Hannah." She apologized.
"Sof—"
"No, I've been a terrible friend," she said. "Now I'm thinking that I haven't really been a friend at all." She cried.
"You haven't." Hannah confessed with no remorse. "But how were you supposed to know, right?"
"That's exactly what I mean," Sofia spoke again. "Before we even met Courtney it was always me and you Han, I was supposed to know that something was wrong before you even had a chance to tell me. And I'm sorry that you felt like you couldn't tell me that you were gay or what was going on at home. I'm sorry that I treated you like shit when you were going through the hardest thing ever. I'm sorry that you didn't have anyone to tell and I'm fucking sorry that I didn't support you right away and know that you making this decision for Hope is good for both of you."
Again, Hannah turned to see Sofia's face. Her entire face was heated pink and her eyes were bloodshot red. Tears of despondency quickly cascaded down her cheeks leaving her so weak and frail. She tried to hold back the seething avalanche of tears that had been building up since the moment the words raped escaped Courtney's mouth. It was painful to see her like this.
"I just try to be really nice to people but it never works."
"Okay Sofia, it's fine you can stop crying now." Hannah wiped her eyes before doing the same to the blonde.
"Can I ask?" She questioned.
Hannah knew what she meant before she could elaborate. Honestly, at that moment she'd realized that with an exception of one thing she's never told anyone other than Courtney.
"I don't really know what to say, I mean I started dating him when I was fifteen and the fact that he was nine years older than me at the time didn't weird me out. He never gave me rapey vibes," Hannah lightly chuckled to avoid the welling in her eyes. "He was sweet and funny, but that changed and he was quickly turning into a monster in front of my eyes. It started off with the things that he would say. I thought that it was normal; but then he would get so mad and the physical abuse started." She said.
Sofia's eyes gleamed as her friends heartbreaking story was told. There were certain things that she knew of Hannah's situation; but the details proved to her just how little she knew about her best friends life.
"And when the hitting started he would always apologize and tell me how much he loved me, and I thought he did," Hannah confessed. "Long story short, the night of my birthday he beat me and when he was done he took off my clothes and when I tried to stop him he hit me again and I was out cold so he just had his way with me."
"Hannah, you have to—"
"It's too late to report him," she cut Sofia off. "And he has all of this stuff on me, I don't wanna give him a reason to try and take Hope before I can find her a new family." Hannah shrugged.
"Is his name even on her birth certificate?" Sofia asked.
"He signed his name when I had to have an emergency cesarean; and I was too sedated on anesthesia, IV's and spinal block to even tell him to leave, so yeah it is."
"But Bentley and Mechelle kicked him out of the hospital that night, I saw him lea—"
"He never left, he just did whatever he could to find me like he always does." Hannah told her.
Instead of saying anything in response, Sofia hugged Hannah. Her grip was tight. It was like she wanted to hold her forever. Hannah didn't mind, and neither did Sofia.
"Where's the girls?" Hannah asked.
"They're all in the bathroom; Ailyn thinks she's pregnant." Sofia softly mumbled into Hannah's hair.
"Court's with them, right?"
"Yeah, she's too drunk to walk and Alison's on her way so they've been watching her the whole time." Sofia answered a little louder.
The crowd had gotten louder since their conversation began. There were faint sounds of an argument going on while others at the party laughed and recorded.
"You sure?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, why?" Sofia pulled away to question.
"They're not watching her." She pointed out to Courtney and Cierra centered in the crowd of people arguing over something.
"Cierra, she's clearly drunk; it's not that serious." Choyce attempted to defuse the situation.
"No, this bitch needs to watch where she's going." Cierra sneered. "She's all drunk and shit, bumping into people thinking that shit cool; like why is she even here?"
"Because I'm here, what do you want to do about it?" Courtney asked. "Hit me? Because I definitely will hit you back." She slurred her words.
"Aye yo, y'all gotta chill out with all that shit or get out forreal." Dani cut the music to say.
"Shut up, Dani," Cierra told her ex girlfriend. "Somebody let this bitch know that she got the wrong one and she about to make me beat her ass." She threatened Courtney.