The stars and the sun- Rudy Pankow

8 | fifteen

Rudy's pov

I woke up at 3am that night.

Just this morning I saw Stella after her dad beat her up, I watched her slit her wrist, I watched her falling apart in my arms but finally letting me help. I knew that when we went to sleep in was about 12pm and since it was 3 in the morning but there was an incredibly loud noise coming from the apartment I should go check it out.

I shifted slightly to get myself out of bed without waking Stella up. After I did I left the room and closed the door. I walked to the living room which connected to the front door and kitchen to see all of my friends entering one by one.

"Oh hi Rudy. Jeez what happened here?" Chase greeted me then asked when he noticed the kitchen. There was blood on the floor, the shelves were messy, and the small knife Stella used was sitting on the counter.

"Rudy what happened here?" Drew questioned as he observed the damage. "Look guys I need to tell you something." I motioned them all to sit at the living room knowing I had to tell them. "Wait where's Stella? Madelyn and I texted her on the girl's group chat and she never responded." Madison looked anxious.

"It's Stella." They all looked at me when JD asked, "did she do that? And why is there blood on your shirt man?"

"What? No it wasn't her. She's asleep right now. This morning, her dad came to pay her a visit." Austin looked confused. " so that's good why is the kitchen a blood bath?"

"No, that's the thing. Her dad is, not the greatest." Everyone stared at me in shock. "I talked to her about it after he left, he's been doing this since she was young, a little child. She never told anyone, because when her mom found out, he killed her." Mads started tearing up, thinking of her good friend suffering, "What did he do?"

" He beat the shit out of her Mads." Drew spoke intensely. I nodded which made everyone freeze in place.

"She's really vulnerable right now. She had a horrible panic attack, I had never seen one like that, she was coughing blood, her entire body is basically numb with pain right now. I cleaned up her wounds but tomorrow I'll inform Jonas that she needs some off time. Just be careful with her, make sure if she's okay but don't pressure."

They all nodded in agreement with eyes tearing. We all decided we'll go to sleep and after everyone locked up their rooms I climbed back into Stella's bed, I didn't want her to wake up alone.

I laid in bed on the side just like her, her body was curled up and I did the same around her small frame. When she started moving I moved back, scared that I scared her, but when I realised she moved intentionally closer to me and brought my arm around her waist, that I was good to go. I laid my head in the crook of her neck and drifted to sleep.

Stella's pov

I woke up to an unfamiliar feeling of comfort and warmth.

Collecting my thoughts I realised that after everything that happened yesterday, I asked Rudy to stay and he did. I was grateful but also felt like a burden, as if he now owes me help because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I got out of bed and walked to my bathroom. I washed my face and stared at the mirror for at least 5 minutes, observing my wounds and cuts. I went to the kitchen to make coffee and saw Chase cleaning the floor, mopping blood of the tiles. Fuck.