Nonexistent

~Chapter Twenty-Three~

"Did I give you permission to leave?" Justin's voice was harsh, and his hand tightened around my wrist as I tugged at it. My eyes began watering, my tugging growing more desperate as I strained to get away.

"Let me go. Please." I begged, looking back towards my mother whose smile had turned to a frown as she went to step forward before Justin turned and glared at her, a surefire warning to stay away. My begging turned to rapid pleas as he pulled me away from the door slightly, my feet planting on the ground as I tried to remain close to the door.

"Hey!" My head snapped towards the voice, Hunter striding up to my door. Justin narrowed his eyes at Hunter, looking him over before shoving me out the door. I stumbled towards Hunter as he caught me by my forearms. Justin scoffed, turning away from us before moving back inside as my mother moved to shut the door with a sad smile.

"Go out with your little boyfriend, you little-" The door slamming cut off the rest of his words as I winced, another tear trailing down my cheek. Hunter looked down at me his eyes scanning over my face carefully before shifting to slip his arm around my waist and walking with me back to his car and helping me into the passenger seat before he slid into the driver's seat and pulled out of my driveway, leaving the house behind.

The two of us were quiet for a few moments, the only sound was the car as we drove along and the low hum of the radio. I wasn't sure how long we drove for, Hunter suddenly turned into a mostly empty parking lot, one of the higher overlooks of the beach. Pulling into a parking space, I kept my head turned away, looking over the rails to the gray-blue ocean.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Hunter turned the car off and shifted in his seat to face me slightly. I took a slow deep breath, one of my hands picking at the nail on the other. I could feel his eyes watching me, my breathing picked up slightly as we sat there in silence.

I winced slightly as I twisted my hand wrong, my sleeve sliding up a little to show the forming bruise on my wrist. His hand reached over gently to trace his fingers over it, grasping my hand lightly. I flinched away, causing him to glance up at me with a worried look. I tried to relax, allowing him to pull my hand towards him as he looked over the marks.

Finishing his assessment of my wrist, he moved a little closer and gently grasped my chin with one hand, brushing my hair behind my ear with the other. I shivered as his hand brushed my cheek. The touch on my cheek was foreign, but his cool hand was soothing to the tenderness under my eye.

Heaving a sigh, I felt the remaining tension seep out of my body as I relaxed into his touch. A tear fell, tracing down my cheek until he wiped it away softly. "Lizzie..." He trailed off, his voice quiet and calming. I glanced up to meet his eyes for a moment before returning them back to my fidgeting hands.

"I know," I responded in the same tone, my voice almost breaking as I tried to refrain from crying once more. I could feel my hands start to shake, if they had ever stopped. Hunter's hands dropped away from my face, and moved to gently grasp my hands. A strangled sob escaped, and I attempted to remain quiet as the tears started to run down my face.

We sat there for what felt like hours, his hands holding mine while I cried. I think he wanted to pull me into a hug, but I wasn't sure myself if that's what I wanted.

When my breathing finally slowed, the tears had stopped and I had worn myself out from all the crying. Taking deep breaths, I could feel Hunter running his thumb over my knuckles, trying to be a comforting presence without overstepping boundaries.

"Do you," he hesitated, glancing at my face, "Want to talk about it? You definitely don't have to, I just thought that- oh I don't know, maybe it'd make you feel better or-" I cut him off with a small laugh.

"Um, I guess I could give you the short version?" I half smiled, trying to maintain a small semblance of okayness. He gave me a small smile, attempting to seem encouraging. "So, uh, my parents used to, well, fight. A lot. And they, um, got a divorce when I was twelve. And, apparently my father wanted to 'visit' or something I don't even know." I let out a half hearted laugh, the venom present in my response.

"Then, he I guess decided that I was just like my mother, said some stuff, I went up to my room after he uh.." I gestured towards my bruised cheek, "And then I accidentally called you and now we're here." I attempted a wane smile, but it was weak, and I could see the almost pity in his expression. "Don't, uh, feel bad or anything, it's just the hand I was dealt, y'know? Can't exactly do much about it," I laughed bitterly.

It was quiet for a moment, then Hunter leaned forward slowly, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me into a gentle, but tight hug. I felt myself tense for a moment, before I inhaled deeply, allowing myself to relax into his warm embrace. I shuddered, still holding back the remaining tears, though I didn't feel as though I needed to cry, not with his arms around me.

After a few minutes, he released me and we both sat back, my cheeks warm from the contact and he cleared his throat. I glanced up at him to see him running a hand through his hair. We were quiet till Hunter spoke, "So... we should probably head home- well, I mean to our like, uh, own homes." He laughs at the end, cheeks slowly tinting pink.

I smiled, nodding and putting my seatbelt on and looking at the time. 10:00 p.m. we had been out for over two hours, though it had felt like minutes. Hopefully Justin would have left by now, if not I would probably just go stay the night at Harper's. It didn't take us too long to get back to my house, and I couldn't see Justin's car in the driveway so I deemed it safe.

Hopping out, I turned back to give Hunter a smile, one he returned. "Thank you, for tonight.. and everything really." His grin widened.

"Of course, let me know if you need anything. And ice that cheek would you? It should be gone by Monday if you keep ice on it." I nodded shyly, almost forgetting about the bruise on my face and how the school would react. I stood there for a moment, before shutting the door of his truck and stepping away. "Goodnight Lizzie!" He called, and I twisted slightly to respond.

"Night Hunt, see you at school." Moving up to my door, I quickly unlocked and stepped inside, leaning against the door and taking a breath, attempting to calm my racing heart.

The house was quiet, and there were no traces of anything that had occurred just hours before. I made my way up to my room, ignoring the kitchen altogether, and shut the door behind me. Flopping onto my bed, I stared at the ceiling, a soft smile tracing my lips at the memories of the past couple hours. I could still feel the warmth from his embrace around me.

Sighing, I relished in the feeling, maintaining the smile until long after I had slipped into unconsciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the semi later update, and lack of update on My Artwork, I'll be getting back on track with art soon, and I have several exciting projects coming up as well. Have a great week and stay safe!