Abused {ACM}

Chapter 2

Abby's POV

He was crouching beside me now, and he undid the towel from my head. My damp wavy hair fell down my shoulders, and I stared at the towel in shock.

It was soaked in my blood.

"Austin. Just leave!" I screeched, grabbing the towel from him and throwing it into the bathtub, making a wet slapping noise. I wanted to pretend this wasn't happening.

I wanted to pretend this was all a horrible nightmare.

"Abby. Who did this to you?" He asked, softy brushing strands of hair off my face.

"No one. Can you please just leave?" I asked. Every part of me hurt. I wanted to just lay here and go to sleep.

"Why won't you tell me? I'm your best friend," Austin demanded. "You have to tell me who hurt you."

He forced me to look into his dark hazel eyes, which were glaring into mine, his mouth set into a stubborn frown.

I just closed my eyes, which were getting extremely droopy.

"Shit." Austin muttered. I felt the air whoosh around me and I was in his arms, probably getting his shirt all bloody. He set me down on my bed and I heard him take out his phone. I shot up, which caused me to shriek in pain.

"Don't call!" I cried, clutching my stomach. "Don't call the police, or the ambulance. Please don't call."

I looked at him desperately.

"Why not? You're dying." Austin threw his hands up in the air in frustration. His face was desperate and angry and extremely...disbelieving.

He was probably trying to pretend this was all a nightmare, too.

"Because they'll take me away." I whimpered.

Shoot.

I should not have said that.

Austin put the pieces together and his eyes widened in rage.

"Your dad did this to you?"

I just collapsed back onto the bed and closed my eyes, giving into the darkness, not even bothering to answer his question.

**********

I woke up, every part of me sore. It was still dark - only about 3:30 in the morning. I kept my eyes closed, and concentrated on the sound of my breathing. It gave me something to hold on to-something that was real and calm and painless.

It was peaceful. No sounds of my dad clicking away on his laptop, and no cars driving by on the road with their radios turned too loud.

I rolled around, and realized Austin was in the bed with me. I didn't care. I had suspected this. I peeled my eyes open and looked down - he had re-bandaged all my cuts and my head had a long strip of cloth around it, too. My bruises were prominent and purple now.

Attractive.

Austin's eyes were closed, but I knew he was asleep from the way his mouth was set. When he slept, his lips parted the tiniest bit, and his breathing was always calm. His messy brown hair fell in his face, and I had a sudden strong urge to push it back with my hand.

Right now his mouth was set into a tight line, and his eyebrows were furrowed. It seemed as if he was thinking about something. He had his arms around me and it was warm.

I remember when I was little, my mom had a job where she stayed home most of the time and my dad was happy. Whenever I had nightmares he would come into my room and hold me in his arms, protecting me from the monsters.

I snuggled deeper into Austin's chest, trying to escape reality.

His hands came up to my head and started stroking my hair, which was somehow no longer caked in blood. I realized that I was in a set of clean clothes, instead of my bloody ones from last night. I blushed at the thought of how I got into these clothes, but was too tired to care.

"Thank you." I whispered to him. He didn't say anything.

"How long has this been going on?" He asked after a while. I contemplated lying. "And don't you dare lie to me."

Guess not.

"About...five years?" I estimated.

"What?" He shouted, pulling me out of his chest. "You've been hiding this for five years?"

I cringed as his voice raised, every sound echoing around in my mind and making my headache worse. I just nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've...I would've..." His voice broke. "I would have protected you."

His words ran through my mind.

He would have protected me.

I swallowed.

"I don't know if you could...my dad's pretty strong. I don't want you to get hurt, too. I never told anybody because then somehow the secret would get out, and they would take me away from you and Alex and everybody." I frowned, eyes still closed. "You guys are all I have left." I said softly.

I needed to go back to sleep. My head was pounding and every breath I took hurt my stomach.

"You'd be surprised at what you can do for someone you love..." Austin breathed out, his lips parting and his eyes closing.

But mine did the exact opposite. My eyes shot open and I looked at his face.

He loved me?

Surely he meant like...a friend love.

Right?

The pain in the stomach got shoved aside by the butterflies, which had managed to make their way in there. I wanted to ask him about it, but the dark circles under his eyes made me keep my mouth shut.

So I laid my hand on his cheek and stroked his face.

"Thank you for taking care of me." I whispered again, closing my own eyes. I felt his hand come up and cup mine, holding it.