Blown Away (CURRENTLY EDITING)

Chapter 7: Establishing New Grounds

TRAVIS'S POV

I can't believe what I'm seeing. When Abi lifted her shirt, I only thought I was gonna see a few scratches.

But I was horribly mistaken.

There were handprints, bruises, and scars all over her back and upper arms. A lot of the bruises have faded away. But even so, there were many fresh ones, including on the small of her back where I tried to hold her. Whoever did this to her is going to get one helluva beating from me if I ever come face to face with the bastard that laid their hands on her.

"Abi, I... Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why would I after what you did to me?"

"I told you it was a mistake. Who did this to you?

"... My dad..."

"W-what?"

"You heard me... When mama died, dad broke all of his promises. He gets wasted just about every chance he gets, and... He's started to hit me and treat me like I'm the one that killed mama..."

"So, wait a minute, was that what all the guys were yelling at you for?"

"Yeah..."

"So... they all know?"

"Yeah..."

"Who else knows?"

"Lea and Mr. Barnes. Tucker probably would've told Aunt Mal and Uncle Marc when he found out, but I begged him not to. And we finally settled that if I told him what my dad was up to, then he wouldn't spill. And Wen wanted to tell you when he found out, but he knew that I thought you hated me. So, we agreed that if I told him what happened every time I went through a beating, then he wouldn't spill, either."

"Did anyone ever try to get you out of there?" By now, I was getting mad. First of all, back before now, I thought Mr. White was a pretty cool guy, but now I wanna knock the daylights out of him for even touching Abi like that. A father shouldn't lash out on his daughter because something goes wrong, or break his promises to his family for that matter. Second, nobody told me about this. I mean, sure, there were reasons that everyone thought we hated each other, but come on, I would've gone back to her in a heartbeat if I found out.

"Yeah..."

"Why didn't you stay?"

"Because, I'm the only person left that'll help my dad on the ranch and to make sure he doesn't drink himself to death."

"Dammit, Abi, why did you keep this from me!?!"

"Because you left, Travis. And don't think that I didn't want you there! Do you know how desperately I wanted you to help me!?! Do you know how desprately I needed you there after a beating instead of Wen!?! Do you know how much it hurts when your own father is attempting to beat the life out of you and disowning you because he believes you're the one that killed the woman he loved the most and not having my best friend there for me when I needed him!?!"

"Abi, if you would've told me, I would've-"

"Told me that I was lying and-"

"Be there for you in a heartbeat, anyway."

ABI'S POV

Dammit, he's good at this. I'm generally losing here, even though we both know each other like the backs of our hands, so why do I even bother? Well, I guess this helps us know where we stand, right?

"You know you're playing on dangerous ground if you're lying to me, right?"

"Abi, why would I lie to you about something this serious?"