Behind These Bruises...

Behind These Bruises...[Part 16]

"My dad...he's an alcoholic. He wasn't always one. He probably started drinking heavily about 7 years ago. But once he started, he got abusive, too. He would drink, feel guilty about drinking, and then he would be my mother and I. It progressively got worse. He wouldn't listen to anyone. He wouldn't get help. My mother would beg him to seek help, but he would just get angry and hurt her. Last spring, he had been drinking a lot. My mother touched a bad nerve and he exploded. I guess he didn't mean to, but he was really violent that time. And he...she's...she's dead now," I began. I felt Derek tense a little. "Before she died, she told me not to turn my father in. She said that there is good in him, even though now I don't see it. She said just wait it out until I turn 18 and then I can legally move out. So now I'm waiting for March," I continued. I adjusted myself and he lifted his arm a little. "I guess I was asking for this to happen to me. I was stupid for thinking that I could get away with going out on a date with some random guy and lying to him," I said.

"Why didn't you just tell him?" Derek asked softly, stroking my hair.

"I didn't want Kyle to get the run-down. Especially because...the whole Kyle situation was a failure. He and I are clearly not good together," I replied. "That was our first and last date. We both agreed that it was best that we don't see each other again," I added. "No one knows about my dad. Everyone thinks my mother died in a car accident. That's the story we put out. Alisha's the only one that knows. And, well, now you, too," I said.

"What does Alisha think about your dad?" he asked.

"She wants me to turn him in. She always tells me to call child abuse. Every time I show up to school with a new bruise or cut on my arm or body, she gets angry and tells me that I didn't deserve any of it. She's been here for me through everything. She was the only who knew how my mother really died and she's been by my side this whole time. I feel like such a bad friend sometimes," I said. I sat up a little and faced him. He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. He traced his finger gently along the side of my face and jaw-line to my chin and then caressed my cheek.

"That night that you had that bruise on your face..." he began softly, gently brushing that cheek. "I'm so stupid..." he muttered, putting his hand down.

"What did you think happened?" I asked him, leaning back against him.

"I thought maybe...well...the other times that we ran into each other, you were always falling and I was always catching you. I just-gosh I'm sorry for saying this-I just thought you were clumsy," he said. I almost smiled.

"I guess that would have made sense from your perspective," I said. He chuckled lightly and then kissed the side of my head again.

"Derek?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Mmm?"

"Are you..." I paused, trying to think of how I should phrase my question. "Are you still with Leah?" I asked.

"No. Oddly enough, we broke up tonight, or last night, too," he replied.

"Why?" I asked.

"Umm..." he stopped and then took a deep breath, making my head go up and then down with his chest. "I guess it's my turn to tell a story," he said. I re-positioned myself so that his arm was resting on my good arm and my broken arm was on my stomach.

"My parents are arrogant, strict, and ambitious. They're both extremely successful doctors and they want their kids to live up to their expectations and their success. If you knew my parents, you'd know that this was a difficult thing to accomplish," he began. "Up until this past summer, I had an older sister. She was 4 years older than me and going into her last year of college. She was waiting to get accepted into the medical schools that she applied to. My sister; she wasn't a science geek like me. She was more of an artsy kind of person. What she really wanted to do as a career was travel the world and take photographs for National Geographic. That was her dream job. And she was amazing with a camera. The things she could capture with the lens were extraordinary. But photography wasn't a good enough career choice for my parents. They wanted her to become a doctor, like them. So they pushed her. They forced her to do pre-med and all of the requirements that go with it. She did do it. Got through 3 years of it. But during this summer, she got a rejection letter from Harvard Med. That's where both of my parents graduated from. My parents gave her so much grief about this and made her feel so guilty. So she couldn't take it anymore and she..." he trailed off and I knew what he was going to say. "She killed herself," he said. A long pause followed this. We just sat, letting his words sink in. We both lost someone close to us recently.

"That happened in July. Her suicide pulled my mother back down to reality. My father though, only got worse. He put even more pressure on me to get into a good school and become a doctor. The difference, I guess, between me and my sister is that I actually like science and math. I'm good at it. She wasn't. She forced herself to take all those science classes and do all that research. Now, my mother tells me to do what I think is best for me; that there's no pressure. My dad, he says the opposite. And so they're always fighting. My mother was really depressed after my sister died. I mean, what parent wouldn't be? It was her only daughter. My dad channels his guilt by arguing. And so pretty much every day at home is a living hell for me. It's so obvious they want to get divorced, but they won't because of me and their reputation. Behind closed doors, though, their relationship is a mess. They don't even sleep in the same room anymore," he explained. "But what this all has to do with Leah is that we both didn't even go out because we liked each other. I wanted to test how my parents would act around a girl and Leah wanted to make Kyle jealous. I guess Kyle didn't really get jealous and I realized that my father is going to be a jack-ass to anyone that doesn't have plans for a higher education. He completely embarassed Leah at dinner because she wants to get a business degree and then open up her own wedding-planning business. It's a good career choice. Nothing wrong with it. But my father thinks it's not ambitious enough. And Leah, she can handle anything. But even she got upset with what my father was saying. We decided to end it last night," he told me. I wanted to ask, "What about me?", but didn't. "I'm hoping, though, that you won't mind as much since I'm warning you beforehand," he said. And after all the hurt and sob-stories that I heard that night, my heart felt elated. He indirectly just said that he wanted to be with me.

"So does that mean..." I began.

"Yeah," he replied, smiling down at me. I sat up and faced him, a small smile at my lips.

"Derek..." I started.

"Who are we kidding? We wasted 3 months of our senior year already. We should have been together for a while now. I was stupid for agreeing to Leah's plan. But I didn't want to dump my messed up life on you. But I guess now, we both have messed up lives. Might as well get through it together," he said. I smiled at him and took a breath.

"Now what?" I asked after a moment.

"Now...let's go to sleep. It's 5 in the morning and you must be tired," he said. I nodded, although I wanted to stay up talking to him longer. He started to get out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Uhh...to sleep on the couch..." he replied, blinking at me with his green eyes. I shook my head.

"No. Sleep here," I said, patting the bed.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking uncertain.

"Umm...well you don't have to if you don't want to..." I said awkwardly, not knowing if he was all right with sleeping with a girl or not. "I just...I don't mind is what I meant," I added. He got back into his bed.

"Well if you don't mind, then neither do I," he said. I smiled at him and laid down gingerly. My body cast made it hard to move around and my arm cast got in the way.

"God, these casts are ruining the moment," I whispered as he laid down next to me.

"It's ok. I don't mind," he said, pulling me closer to him. I snuggled in next to him, taking in his scent and his prescence. His arms were around me lightly and I fit perfectly into the nook of his arm. The moment was perfect and for once, I was truly happy.

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A/N: Sorry it's so short, guys! It was a good place to end this part. I got in all the important stuff. Next chapter will start with their relationship. =)

Just as an FYI, this story is going to end soon. I'd really appreciate it if you guys didn't ask me to continue with it. Where I want to end it is best for the story's sake. But don't be sad! I have another idea brewing inside my mind and once this story is over, I'll get started on a new one! Yayy!!!

Again, thanks so much for your support guys. It means a lot. Thanks for voting and thanks for commenting! Sometimes I need some encouragement. =D