Just Let Me Be Yours

Chapter One

(Harper's POV)

What In God's name are you doing home so late?!? It's 3: a.m.!!!" Dad exclaimed, knocking stuff off the table.

"I was at work, Sherry had me doing the cleanup tonight so it took longer than expected," I replied, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"You promised me that you would be home by midnight, and you go and disrespect me like this?!?"

I got a whiff of his breath, it smelled strongly of whiskey and cheap cigars. "Have you been drinking again?" I asked him in a serious tone.

"It doesn't matter, it has nothing to do with what I'm talking about, the problem is your disrespect, I was worried sick, you're so fucking inconsiderate." He said to me angrily and slapped my face.

Dad never hit me, not unless he was drunk. Normally I would lock myself in my room with my little brother Isaac when Dad got drunk, but this time I stood up for myself, I grabbed his hand so he couldn't hit me with it, and slammed his head against the wall. "You're a grown-ass man and my own Father! You need to stop drinking, I'm sick of this bullshit." I yelled, slamming his head again.

"You know nothing about me! I only drink for the flavor of it, I don't even feel it." He slurred. "You become an abusive asshole when you drink!" I screamed, and we got into a full-blown fight.

I was able to hold him against the wall for a minute, but Dad was 6'2 and about double my size, so he quickly was able to push me down to the ground, knocking my head to the ground. I couldn't get him off me. Then I saw a bottle of his whiskey on the table, and I knew what I had to do. I grabbed it off the table and broke it on his head. Then I grabbed his head and slammed it onto the floor, knocking him unconscious. I didn't know what was gonna happen next, I just knew I had to get out of there.

"Isaac, get your favorite toys and clothes, we're going on a little adventure," I told him, trying to seem calm. Then I packed up all of my important belongings in a suitcase, grabbed him in my arms, and left the house out the back door, so that he wouldn't see his father lying on the floor, his leg covered in blood.

We got into the car and I started driving away fast. "What about Daddy? Won't he want to go on an adventure with us?" Isaac asked.

"Ohh well, he went on a little vacation of his own, I don't think he'll be back for quite a long time," I replied to him, immediate guilt filling my heart.

"Did I hit his head too hard? Did I just leave my father to die? What Just happened?" I thought to myself. I was planning on heading to My sister Talia's house in Virginia, I knew I'd be safe there at least. "Hey Talia.. I, I did something terrible, I don't know what to do, Me and Isaac have nowhere to go, can I come to your house?" I asked her over the phone, shaking rapidly.

"Is everything okay? And yeah of course you can come down here, don't even think twice." She replied.

"Thank you sis, and, I'm gonna explain when I see you," I replied.

"Okay, well...see you soon. Drive safe, I love you." She said to me.

"I will, I love you too," I replied and hung up the phone.

A few hours later:

I pulled up to my sister's house that morning, it was almost 8 a:m, and I hadn't slept in over 24 hours, and neither had Isaac, so he fell asleep on the couch right away.

"So, Talia, Now that Isaac is asleep I wanna tell you what happened. So, Um, I got home from work late last night, and Dad was drinking again, so he threw a major fit, and I decided to fight back. And I know that was a stupid idea, but I needed to defend myself. So then we got into a huge physical fight, and He pushed me against the ground, then I grabbed his bottle off the table, broke it on his head, and bashed his head against the ground, knocking him unconscious. Then, I fled the house with Isaac." I explained.

"Wow, that was stupid. But, I'm glad you defended yourself, and you made the right choice by coming here. Dad probably was too drunk to even remember what happened. So, we're gonna go back up there tomorrow and tell him that you and Isaac are gonna be spending some time with me." Talia said.

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Talia, it means a lot." I smiled.

"I was in a... let's just say not an ideal relationship with Dad my whole life too, I understand the pain. I should've forced Dad to let you guys come live with me sooner." She sighed, putting her hand over mine.

And that's how I ended up where I am now, Sleeping next to my little brother, in the living room of my 21-year-old sister's house, fleeing from my abusive father.

(Alex's POV)

Inside a movie theater:

"We need that touch from the one we love almost as much as we need air to breathe. But I never understood the importance of touch. His touch. Until I couldn't have it. So if you're watching this, and you're able to, touch him. Touch her. Life's too short to waste a second." Haley Lu Richardson's character said, as the movie "five feet apart" ended.
 
"Damn, that's gonna give me an existential crisis for weeks, thanks for dragging me to come to watch this chick flick, Alex." My best friend Sam joked as we started to walk out of the theater.

"Let me remind you that it was your idea to skip our last day of school and come to the movies, so I just suggested this one, cause it looked good," I replied. "Plus Haley Lu Richardson is smoking hot." He giggled. I punched him in the arm and we both laughed.

"So when are you gonna break it off with Vivian? She's becoming super toxic and clingy." Sam asked me, as we walked back to my house on the sidewalk.

"I don't know man, I keep trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she's crossed the line so many times. like that time when she came to your house in the middle of the night by tracking my location thinking I was at another girl's house."

"Yeesh that was freaking creepy." He replied, clenching his teeth.

"Well, Either way, creep or not, I can't keep leading her on. Nobody deserves that. I need to break up with her." I said to him, taking a deep breath to gather my thoughts.

"Seems like your best bet." He nodded, popping some leftover popcorn from the theater in his mouth.