Before It Ends • Hessa • Emery Scott

𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎

"If I'm being honest..." I pause. Am I really going to be honest about this? That's what she wants though, right? Honesty. She has always wanted honesty. "No. I'm relieved she hates you and not me."

Fuck... see! This is why I'm not honest. I end up fucking it up.

She seems hurt by my comment but quickly recovers. "Oh..." she trails off, looking down at my chest that her chin was rested on seconds ago. "You're right. That was a stupid question."

"Yeah..." I mumble, unable to stop my unplanned words. Damn it, Hardin! Stop fucking talking!

Tessa sighs, leaning her head down on my chest, and I hug her closer. My phone blings, and I read Emery's text aloud. "Out."

Tessa let's out a pathetic laugh and lifts herself up. "Great." She shakes her head and I try to pull her back towards me but she's too quick. "I'm going to go clean around the house. Last time I checked there were dishes that needed to be tended to." She explains, crawling off of me and putting her robe on.

I decide to give up on trying to make her stay. It is 4:30. This isn't a time to be in bed. "Careful with your robe. The blinds are open downstairs." I say, tucking the blanket further around my chest. I don't feel like getting up yet. I did a fuck ton of work downstairs from 9:00 AM to, I believe, 2:30 PM. I've had a very productive day. I might take a shower with Tess once she's finished doing whatever she said she was about to do. I don't know, I wasn't fucking listening. All I heard her say is 'I'm going to go' and then something about chores? I huff as she leaves the room. Why can't she just spend time with me since the kids aren't here? It's rare we get to do this. And of course she leaves when I want her here the most.

◉‿◉

I jolt awake as I hear a bloodcurdling scream come from downstairs. It's nighttime now, and it's raining so hard that it almost meets the volume of the retched shouts. I quickly look over to where Tessa usually rests and she's sound asleep.

"No..." my words are barely audible, but my mind is screaming at me. This is a dream, I know it is. But this isn't how it usually goes. I usually wake up and Tessa is no where to be seen, which helps me connect that she's the one screaming downstairs. But she's peacefully asleep beside me, which means someone else is screaming downstairs. Who is it?

"Dad!" My blood pumps quicker as I push myself off the bed, scrambling off the hard wood floor and running down the steps.

I suddenly forget that this is a dream and my body begins to panic when I see the shitty boy who terrorized her pinning her down onto the ottoman with his hand on her face. She's swinging her arms at him, smacking his sweaty skin with her small hands. All of the sudden I can't move and I'm forced to watch as he takes advantage of my little girl.

"Stop!" I scream, "please, stop!" It's the only thing I really can do in this situation. I can't move, I can't think straight, and I can't even breath without feeling immense pain spread through my chest. Is this what it's like when your world crumbles?

Suddenly I'm able to move and I run towards the fucker and tackle him off of her and onto the ground.

◉‿◉

I wake up, pushing myself out of the covers and pressing my head against the headboard. My breathing is so frantic that you can hear each breath and I'm trying my hardest to calm down.

I look around the room in search for Tessa, but she isn't here. Where is she? Fuck, no. Please don't happen again. Please.

"Tessa!" I scream helplessly, my whole body tightening up, making it hard for me to even move. Fuck, it's happening again. "Fuck..." I breathe, my breath wheezing while I try to find some good fresh air. There is no good fresh air in nightmares.