We Know What You Did

4: Getting Physical

Chelsea and Tyler were fairly quiet on the way to the hotel. By the time they got to the hotel, it was getting late and Chelsea was tired.
"We need to talk about this" Tyler said once they were in their beds.
"Can we talk in the morning? I just want to sleep." Chelsea told him.
"Sure. Goodnight, hun, I love you" Tyler said softly. Chelsea mumbled a goodnight and rolled over.

The next morning, Tyler and Chelsea stood in the hotel room, ready to talk about the events of the previous day.
"What were you thinking running off like that?" Tyler asked.
"Why did you have the entire state looking for me? It was only a few hours. I was going to call once I was at Uncle Sonny's" Chelsea answered defensively.
"Do you know how worried I was?" Tyler was becoming agitated.
"Do you know how scared I was?!" Chelsea shot back. Tyler gave her a confused look. "When you grabbed my arm the other night."
Tyler became defensive. "But I didn't hurt you!"
"I thought you were going to! Like you did to mom!" Chelsea shouted. Tyler slapped Chelsea across the face. "Or like that" she muttered. There was a second of silence. It was the first time Tyler had ever laid a finger on Chelsea and neither one knew what to say.
"I'm sorry Chelsea." Tyler said. "You know I loved your mom"
Chelsea had had enough. Her mom married Tyler when she was 3 and for as long as she could remember he'd beat her. "That didn't stop you from beating her." Chelsea finally confronted Tyler.
"Hey!" Tyler yelled. "Your mother never got anything she didn't deserve!"
"What does that mean?" Chelsea was disgusted. "You can't love someone and beat them!"
"Watch me" Tyler grabbed Chelsea by the back of her hair. "All women are the same. Never listen to their man." He shoved Chelsea backward, harder than he had intended, and Chelsea fell against the wall. He waited a few seconds before he went over to her. "Get up. We should get some breakfast." He extended his hand for Chelsea to take. She didn't take his help and got up on her own.
"I'm not hungry" Chelsea mumbled.
"Well you need to eat. So let's go" Tyler said.
"No!" Chelsea put her foot down.
"Really?" Tyler looked at the girl. He took a step toward her. "Did you learn nothing about listening to me?"
"Ok" Chelsea said out of fear he'd hurt her again. "But I'm not feeling well. Cramps" Chelsea lied and put her hands over her pelvis. Bringing up her period was always a way for Chelsea to get Tyler to leave her alone.
Tyler sighed. "I'll pick something up. pancakes sound good?" Chelsea nodded. "Alright. You stay here and rest. I'll be back soon. I love you." He left the room and Chelsea didn't move until she figured he had made it to the elevator. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and called Olivia.
"Benson" Olivia said as she answered her phone.
"You were right. And I don't know when he's coming back. I don't know what to do" Chelsea sounded panicked.
"Ok Chelsea, stay calm. Tell me where you are and I'll come to you." Olivia was already on her way out of her office. Chelsea gave her the hotel information. "Ok. I'll be there as fast as I can." Olivia hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Fin asked.
"Chelsea. Apparently we were right about Tyler" Olivia continued walking out of the squad room.
"I'll come with you." Fin called after her. Olivia nodded at him and the two left the building.

Chelsea looked at her phone for the hundredth time. She just hoped Olivia would get to her before Tyler. There was a knock on the door.
"NYPD" the person announced. Chelsea opened the door and was relieved to see Olivia and Fin.
"Hi, honey" Olivia and Fin entered the room.
"Hi," Chelsea mumbled. She was grateful they came but also ashamed that she didn't listen to them earlier. "I'm sorry." She stared at the ground.
"Chelsea, look at me," Olivia spoke firmly. "You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault." Chelsea wiped away the tears that slowly ran down her face. "It's ok sweetheart." Olivia reassuringly put her hand on Chelsea's shoulder.
"Can we get out of here? I don't want to see Dad when he gets back." Chelsea told her.
"Ok" Olivia agreed. She protectively wrapped her arm around the teen. Fin stayed behind to bring in Tyler.
———
Amanda and Olivia sat across from Chelsea in the interview room. Chelsea avoided eye contact and wasn't sure where to begin. "We were fighting about me running off. It started with just yelling, which isn't that unusual. He slapped me when I brought up mom. I shouldn't have kept talking but he hurt her all the time. He needed to admit it." Olivia and Amanda shared looks of concern but let Chelsea finish before they asked her more. "That's when he threw me against the wall. He acted like nothing happened. He always did." Chelsea played with her sleeves.
"We know this is hard. You're doing great Chelsea," Olivia said. "Can you tell us what you meant about Tyler hurting your mom?"
Chelsea nodded. "He used to take her to their bedroom and lock the door. I could hear him yelling at her and they'd fight. Mom would scream. She'd sometimes get bruises on her stomach or have red marks on her face. But she always denied there was a problem. She used to tell me all married people fought and the injuries were just an accident."
"Has Tyler ever hurt you before?" Amanda asked.
Chelsea shook her head. "I never thought he would until the other day. I mean yeah we'd fight and he'd yell when I misbehaved but it never got violent. The other night we were arguing about me going to spend a night a guy's house- as a friend. I went to storm out of the room and he grabbed my arm. I had seen him pull mom into the bedroom and I was worried he would do the same to me. He let go and that was the end of it. But that's really why I wanted to go to Uncle Sonny's." Chelsea's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Uncle Sonny is going to be so mad. He's going to kill Dad."
Amanda and Olivia both smiled at the last comment. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen." Olivia paused. "Is there anything else you want to tell us?" Chelsea shook her head. "Ok. You did really well Chelsea. You're safe now."