Before It Ends • Hessa • Emery Scott

𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚃𝚠𝚘

I hang up with her, glancing over at a moody Emery kicking at the concrete. I look down at her phone peaking out of her pocket. "What were you listening to?" I ask curiously and she shrugs.

"Porn." She says and I lift my eyebrows in shock.

"Fuck no!" I reach for her phone but she pulls back laughing.

"I'm kidding!" She laughs, "I wasn't."

"Good." I don't even know what to say. Would I punish her if she was? I watched it when I was little, but that doesn't make me feel like it's okay. It really ruined my view on women, and I'm not okay with disrespecting them. I know, I've changed so much bla bla bla! I now have morals bla bla fucking bla! But having children really changes your outlook on life in general. Surprise!Now I actually have a fucking heart. "That shit ruins your life." I add.

"You would know." She replies in a sing song tone, shaking her head. I roll my eyes and look down the street.

"Emery," I begin, and she glances up at me. "Your mum really loves you. I wish you would see that and stop being an asshole." I hate Emery talking to Tessa that way, it really stresses Tess out.

"She wouldn't have called the police if she did." She says lowly, sitting crisscross onto the sidewalk.

"Em, we both made that decision. It wasn't just her." I sit down beside her and she lifts her head to look out towards the other houses in the neighborhood. "Did you really think I'd sit there and let him get away with what he did? It took every fiber of my being to not go to his house myself and shoot him fucking dead."

I see tears gather in her eyes, and I wish I could wipe them away and never discuss this again. "He didn't mean to do it."

"But he did." I say simply, "baby, I would never ever lay a finger on a women with violence and he did much more than that." My voice is calm and comforting, but I can tell my words are cutting through her like a sword. She knows it's the truth, she just doing want it to be.

She covers her face in her hands and I wrap my arm around her. "He loved me." She timidly says, I can hear her tears through her words and I hug her closer. Her hands run through her freshly cut blonde hair, and I let my fingers run through a piece.

"He didn't love you in the right way." I'm one to fucking talk! I didn't love Tessa in the right way for years, because it was so fucking hard to do it right. But that's the thing, he wasn't strong enough to even try, and instead he beat my daughters fucking face in like a maniac.

I remember the first time it happened. It feels like just yesterday even though it was a year ago...

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Tessa and I were on the couch, her head laying down on my chest, and my legs spread out so her tiny frame could fit in between. I love the feeling of her body on mine, it's so fucking comforting and when she looks up with her big adorable gray eyes I'm reminded of what it feels like to be loved.

I lean up and press my lips wherever my 'unflexible' body will let me. She's just out of my lips reach and she giggles at me before leaning up and kissing my lips. I am suddenly reminded of all the moments we've kissed. Everything single fucking moment.

"Tess..." I sink myself further into the couch, pulling her up closer to me.

"No, Hardin. Emery and Auden will be home soon." She argues immediately, knowing exactly what I mean. I'm immediately caught off guard that she even knew I was suggesting sex. Damn, I've lost my talent.

I frown at the thought, "why? Are you not attracted to me anymore?" I genuinely ask, and Tessa shakes her head laughing. "What?"

"Of course I'm attracted to you!" She looks around before leaning up towards my ear. Oh shit, here we go. "It makes me wet just thinking about it." Tessa has gotten very good at dirty talk. So good that the sound of her dirty words makes me hard. "How about you?" She reaches her hand down to grab me. She smiles softly and nods. "You too, huh?"

I lift my hips up with a smirk and she lets go. "Stop teasing me." I whine and she just barely kisses my lips. She lays her head back on my chest and by the sigh that escapes her lips I know she's done teasing. Damn it, I didn't mean to stop! "I mean... you don't have to stop, Tess."

She lets out a loud laugh. "No, Hardin." I can tell by her tone she's done discussing this and I huff. She lets out another chuckle and I look down at her.

Okay, I'll fucking bite. "What's so funny?"

"You are!" She giggles, "you're so horny all the time. It's kind of funny."

"You find my needs funny?" I ask, and she looks up at me with her big beautiful as fuck gray eyes and my heart skips a beat. She only nods, a small smile on her face.

I can't help but smile too, tucking a piece of her hair from her face. We both turn our heads as we hear the front door open.

"Hey children." I greet half-assed. Tessa gets off of my chest and leans her elbows on the back of the couch as she looks at them. Her mouth drops slightly, her face becomes paler than usual, and her eyes fill with worry. I furrow my eyebrows as I lift my body up to look myself.

My heart drops and anger boils through me. "What the fuck happened, Em?" I get off the couch and rush over towards her. She rolls her eyes and looks away from me. On the left side of her eye she has a big shiner, purple and blue.

Tessa is still on the couch, watching our exchange. "It's nothing, dad." She mumbles and I sigh. I'm not mad at her, but the thought of someone harming her hurts my chest. Although I've been through this. Fighting at school and getting home with bruises. I just hope it doesn't become an annual thing.

"Fine it's nothing." I oblige, decided to take her word for it. "Can I at least clean it up for you?" I ask, stepping closer to her.

She closes her eyes and sighs. "I really am tired, dad."

"Let me rephrase this, I am going to clean it for you or it will get infected." I say more sternly and she nods.

Tessa finally gets off the couch and comes over. "We should also check for a concussion. It looks pretty bad."

I feel a flick of fear strike my gut at the reality that no girl could've hit her that hard. And if I'm right about it, then she most likely has other scrapes on her knees and elbows from hitting the ground afterwards. I quickly push that thought to the side, walking towards the steps. "I'll get the first aid. Go into the bathroom."

She nods and Tessa takes her upstairs. I sigh, looking down and rubbing my eyes.

"Is she okay?" A small voice says, and I look up to see Auden. I didn't even realize he was there. I straighten my posture and nod.

"She'll be fine, Aud." I smile at him and place my hand roughly on his shoulder, shaking him a little. "How was school for you?"

"It was good." Auden seems zoned out as he stares at the steps towards Emery. I know he knows something is up just as much as I do. But maybe we're wrong. What if one of her friends accidentally hit her or something. Like... with a mop? That would make that big of a shiner... right?

◉‿◉

I should've listened to my instincts and asked her if it was a man who hit her, but I didn't want to believe it. And now she's a broken girl because I didn't take action the first time it happened.

I sigh and rub my palm over her head on my chest, brushing her short hair away from her face, and looking down at her now calm sleeping body. "I'm sorry." I whisper softly, kissing her forehead. I gulp down the need to cry and man through the aching in my eyes and my tense jaw.

I've caused my own child's depression, and I've fucked up my wife's life. Good job, Hardin Scott, here's your award of being the biggest fuck-up.

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𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎

     This one was so sad for me to write. I've made a connection with my characters and I honestly almost cried whenever I wrote this. "I gulp down the need to cry and man through the aching in my eyes and my tense jaw." That was basically me...

Chapter twenty two: Nov. 30, 2020