*Graces POV*
A few days later I was with Mark again. We were walking around town and I was teasing him. "You're walking on thin ice." He said to me. "Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" I responded. "Seriously." "I bet." I said laughing. Just then he struck me. Hard. Right across my face. "I said you're walking on thin ice. Do not back talk me." "Ow!" I yelled grabbing my face. "Sorry. I thought we were messing around." I said still holding my face. "Well we weren't." He said sternly. I was, again, shaken by this incident but I knew he didn't mean it. I had just provoked him. He loved me. A few minutes later he apologized and said we could get ice cream. He was so sweet, I loved him. After that he had tennis with some friends so I was just walking around by myself for the rest of the day. It was getting hot so I went to the tree house to cool off. To my surprise all four of the boys were there. "What? No invite?" I said closing the hatch. "Nice bruise you're sporting there, Cashman." Teddy said. "Oh go fuck yourself. What's up guys? I haven't seen you in ages." I said trying to ignore it. "No, wait, hold up. What happened?" Gordie asked. "Oh nothing. It's not important. What have you been up to recently?" Trying to switch the subject yet again. "Oh me," he said, and I was relieved, "Actually not much. This and that. Trying to figure out what the fuck happened and why you won't tell me. The usual." He said smiling flatly. Fuck. "Alright, you wanna know?" They all nodded. "I was at the park earlier and I was walking behind the swings and some kid kicked me in the face. There. See? I told you it was nothing." I said. "Yeah okay." Vern said. "I'm not the brightest, but I'm smart enough to know that's total bullshit." I cleared my throat, "So Chris, how's Lucy?" He gave me a weird look and said, "She fine. We've been together most of the time. She's so cute." I smiled, "Aw, that sounds nice. How about you three, what's been going on?" "You know what I've been doing." Teddy said smirking. I just rolled my eyes. "Actually Vern and I have been going places, doing stuff, keeping busy. How's Mark?" Gordie said. "He's good. Yeah real good. He had tennis, and it was hot so I thought I'd come back here. I didn't expect everyone to be here." I said wringing my hands nervously in my lap. "Clearly." Vern said. "Alright Chambers. Deal. We're playing cards." They all laughed and Teddy grabbed some beers. Just like old times. We still had a lot of time until school starts up, and it's shaping up to be a good summer.
***
A few weeks after that nice time with the gang it was a rainy night and I stayed at Marks to watch movies. I had noticed that he has weird mood swings and he would lash out on me but apologize soon after. Tonight it was really bad. We were just giggling and watching the movie when he got really mad for no reason at all. He started yelling at me and hitting me really hard. Back and fourth continuously. He went into the kitchen and I was scared. He came back out and was waving a knife and yelling. "Calm down!" I shouted. "Calm down? Calm down! Why would I calm down when you're such an ungrateful bitch!" He yelled back. The words stung, and I didn't know where they had come from. "I want to break up!" I yelled and burst into tears. "Fine!" He said throwing the knife into the wall, which was probably a good thing. I ran out the door and down the street as fast as I could. My eyes were blurry with tears and I had no where to go. Hell if I was going home, and if I went to the tree house I risked the chance of seeing the boys, and I knew I was bruised and bleeding. I decided to go to the spot Chris had showed me. I just ran and I didn't care what happened to me as long as I got there. I was running through the woods, rain pelting into me, I could see the old dock and jumped onto it with more force than it could probably handle at this point. I collapsed into a heap and started screaming into the rain. I was crying and shaking. From fear, and cold. I heard the water stir from the side my back was to. The weight shifted on the dock. "What are you doing here?" I heard a voice say. "I had no where else to go." I replied. "Really? What about your little boyfriends house?" "I'm really not in the mood okay. Something really bad happened and I just didn't want to see anyone." There was a hand in my shoulder, "We caught on. It's not rocket science." I really didn't want anyone to see me like this and I sincerely didn't expect anyone to be here on a night like this. "So why didn't you help me huh!" I said standing up and turning around to face him. "I was almost killed tonight! And none of you seemed to give a shit!" I yelled out of frustration. "How were we supposed to help you when you wouldn't let us!" He yelled back. He had a point so I just shook my head. "I don't know.." I said trailing off. I was soaking wet at this point. He walked towards me and I took a step back. He put his arms around my shoulders, "Tell me what happened." He said quietly. "It just started one day during a walk for no reason and only got worse from there. He apologized and I truly believed he didn't mean it, but tonight. Tonight was different. He was hitting me so hard, so much, so fast. He pulled a knife on me and was yelling his lungs out. He could've killed me." I was sobbing and heaving. I couldn't get control over myself. "Shh, it's okay, you're alright now. Why didn't you tell anyone?" His lips were against my head and it comforted me to know that he cared. "I just didn't want anyone to know. But it's over with, I should just let it go. Thank you for being here." I said. "No. Don't just let it go. Why would you do that? None of this is okay and you don't deserve it." I just nodded. We stood up and I hugged him for a long time. "I'm so sorry, Chris." I whispered into his chest. "It's okay." He said. The rain had gotten harder and the wind was howling. I looked up at him, "I miss you." "I miss you too. I miss our gang. We should start hanging out again like we used to. I can bring Lucy too." "Oh yeah, her." I said. "Oh yeah her. What's that supposed to mean? What, did you think just because I'm helping you out, like someone who has known you all your life is supposed to do, that I'm just going to act like nothing ever happened and fall into you? Well I'm not." He said as he started walking into the woods to head for home. "I'm sorry!" I yelled. "Yeah? Well I'm not. Don't try and play games anymore." He yelled back. "I need you, Chris!" I yelled. "I don't need you." He said coldly and walked on. I just stayed there, stunned. Too shocked to do or feel anything. My mind was cloudy and I went numb. My knees felt weak and I collapsed into the cold ground. Into the mud, disappearing into the rain, becoming one with the earth. I had no concept of time and I felt like I had grown roots into that spot. Once I regained any sense of time or feeling and the rain had let up, I was pretty sure I had hypothermia. I somehow found my way back to town and I was in a euphoric state. I couldn't believe what just happened. It wasn't true. He has to need me. I'm one of he best friends- or was. I don't even know if I made it home that night.
