Ryan gets abused by her parents.
That's all I've been thinking about for the past 4 hours that she's been here.
I look down at the sleeping girl in my arms.
She looks peaceful all snuggled up against me.
She fell asleep almost immediately after I cleaned up all her cuts for her.
Seeing her all cut up and bruised makes me feel sick to my stomach.
I mean what kind of parent does that to their own child?
I think back to all the times I complained about my parents and cringe.
God, I need to start being more grateful.
I listen as my brother's door opens and hear as he makes his way downstairs.
I gently move Ryan's head onto a pillow and tuck her in under the large blanket.
I kiss the top of her head before making my way downstairs.
When I walk into the kitchen, Xander lets out a yelp.
"Fuck man, you scared me." He laughs.
I don't reply.
"Axton? Are you okay?" He asks before shutting the fridge and quickly walking over to me.
I think I'm having a panic attack.
I feel my knees begin to give out and Xander catches me.
"Dude you're crying," Xander says, his voice full of concern.
I'm not sure what came over me but I immediately wrapped my arms around him.
He doesn't even hesitate before hugging me back.
"What's wrong Ax?" He asks.
"They hurt her." I cry.
"Who hurts her?"
"Her parents hurt her Xander. THEY FUCKING ABUSE HER!" I yell.
"Ryan's parents abuse her?" He gasps and pulls away from me.
"You should have seen her man. She looked so fucking...broken." I whisper while wiping away my tears.
"Where is she?"
"Upstairs sleeping. This is all my fault, I could have stopped it. I-"
"Axton, it's not your fault. You didn't know." He tries to reassure me.
"What kind of fucking boyfriend doesn't realize that their girlfriend is being abused in her own home by her parents?"
"Dude, she hid it really well. I don't even think Arya knows." He says.
"I can't let her go back there, Xander."
"I agree."
"What if- what if she moves in with us?"
"I'm fine with it, as long as she doesn't go back to that hell hole."
And to think, Xander and I despised each other a couple of months ago.
Now we support each other in every way possible.
"You have to talk to her about it though, it is very sudden. I mean you guys have only been officially dating for a couple of weeks."
"Yes but we've known each other for almost 2 months," I say but that doesn't sound any better than what Xander said.
"Just talk to her." He says before patting my shoulder and going back to making his sandwich.
"She uh- she told me about what happened with Arya...are you okay?"
Even though Arya and I aren't the closest, I obviously feel horrible about what happened to her grandma and maybe she felt that being alone is what she needed.
However, the way she went about it...wasn't the best.
"I'm fine."
"It's okay if you're upset-"
"I'm fine Ax." He says before giving me a small smile.
Obviously, I don't believe him but I also don't want to push him.
"Okay...but whenever you want to talk about it, I'm here," I say before walking out of the kitchen and heading back up to my room.
When I walk in I notice Ryan isn't in bed and I start freaking out.
Did she go back?
"Hey, are you okay?" I hear her quiet voice ask from behind me.
I let out a sigh of relief before turning around to face her.
"I'm okay, how are you feeling?" I ask.
"Just a bit sore." She mumbles.
"I uh- I have something to ask you."
She looks at me wearily before taking a seat on the bed next to me.
"What's up?"
"I- I can't watch you get hurt."
"I knew this would happen."
"What?"
"You're freaked out and now you want to break up. I get it-" She gets off the bed quickly and walks over to the door.
I quickly get up and block the door.
"What! No, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to move in with me."
"WHAT?!"
"Ryan, there is no way in hell I'm letting you go back to that shit hole."
"Axton-"
"No, there is no argument Ry. You're staying here."
"Axton, as flattered as I am, I can't stay here."
"And why is that?"
"Because...my parents live off of me and if I leave, they'll be even more pissed than they already are."
"What do you mean?"
"The reason I have a job isn't that I need money but because my parents need it. They take my paychecks to pay rent and buy whatever drugs and alcohol they need."
What the fuck!
"You're telling me that you're the breadwinner?"
"Pretty much." She shrugs.
"But, once I graduate and I move out, they'll leave me alone."
"That's in 4 months!"
"I'll be fine Ax, I've been going through this shit for years, 4 months won't kill me."
"Ryan, please! I hate seeing you like this."
"Axton, just trust me."
"I do but right now I need you to trust me. Ry, you're 18 years old, and you're legally allowed to live on your own without your parents getting involved. If you leave, there is nothing they can do about it, especially since they abused you." I try to explain.
"I just- I don't want things to get messy."
"They won't, I promise."
"Axton...I'm scared." She mumbles.
Hearing her say that breaks my fucking heart.
Ryan is by far the most lighthearted and happy person I have ever met so seeing her all broken like this is killing me.
"Baby, I promise everything will be okay and I will never let anything happen to you again."
I watch as she throws herself into my arms and hugs me so tightly, that I'm actually losing my breath.
"Did I ever tell you how special you are?" She mumbles into my chest.
"No but feel free to tell me now, my ego needs expanding."
"Shut up." She laughs.
"Ry, we're going to your house right now to get you stuff."
"Axton-"
"The sooner we go, the sooner we can get it over with."
She reluctantly nods her head before getting off of my lap.
When we go downstairs I notice my brother's eyes immediately widen when he sees Ryan's face.
I gesture for him not to say anything to make her feel even more uncomfortable than she already does.
But the idiot decides to gasp.
Ryan freezes for a second before grabbing her shoes and heading to the elevator.
"Dude!" I scold my brother.
"Sorry!"
Dumbass.
I meet Ryan in the elevator and we both just stand there awkwardly as the elevator begins to descend to the parking garage.
When we get in the car, I can tell she's nervous about going back.
"Ry, I promise everything will be okay," I say while gently squeezing her thigh.
She gives me a small smile before looking out of the window again.
I can't fucking believe her parents live off of her paychecks.
No wonder why she was always so strict about her job.
All these fucking signs and I didn't even notice...
"Axton, you okay?"
"I'm fine."
I am most definitely not fine.
I park my car in her driveway and just before I get out, she grabs my arm.
"What are you doing?" She asks.
"Uh, going inside."
"No."
"Yes."
"Axton-"
"Ryan there is no way in hell I'm letting you go in there alone, now let go please."
She opens her mouth to say something but just ends up letting go.
"Just let me handle everything." She whispers before unlocking the door.
The second the door is opened, a large whiff of weed and alcohol hits my nose.
"Ryan! Get your ass over here." I hear a man slur.
She cringes and begins walking over but I grab her arm.
"Ax-"
"Go upstairs and get your things."
"But-"
"Go, Ryan."
She nervously looks between me and the living room before slowly going upstairs.
"RYAN!" A woman yells.
I wait till she's all the way upstairs before walking into the living room.
My eyes immediately take in the room.
It's filthy and there are clothes and food scattered all over the place.
Her dad is this short, overweight man covered in tattoos and injection marks.
Her mother looks very underweight with really bad under eye circles and is in the middle of snorting a line of cocaine.
"Why the fuck are you here?" Her dad scoffs.
"I'm here to help your daughter pack her things so she can get the fuck away from you."
"What the fuck did you just say?"
"Your daughter is moving in with me and there is nothing you can do about it."
"Like hell-"
"You two are by far some of the vilest human beings I have ever seen. How can you treat your fucking daughter like that? Using her so she could make money for you. Fucking disgusting." I spit.
"Listen you fucking rich prick, you don't know what it's like living like this." Her mother says while pointing out the messy house.
"You're right, I don't. However, I do know how to get off of my ass and work instead of relying on others to do it for me. I may be fucking rich but everything I have ever accomplished, I've done on my own."
"That's fucking bullshit."
"I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm just here to let you know that your daughter won't be coming back here."
"If you take her away, we'll get the police involved." Her father smirks.
Is he fucking dumb?
I let out a laugh.
"Right...do you really think the cops will believe a couple of abusive drug addicts?"
"Fuck you!" Her mother yells.
I hear Ryan walk down the stairs and over to me with a few bags full of things.
I can tell she's scared because she reaches out to me.
I quickly grab her hand and begin walking us towards the door.
"Ryan if you fucking leave you're dead to us. That boy will leave you the second he realizes how fucked up you are." Her mom says which causes Ryan to stop in her tracks.
She drops all her bags and walks back over to the living room.
She calmly makes her way over to her mom and does something none of us expected.
She slapped her so hard that it caused her mom's head to swing to the side.
"Oh, you little-"
"Shut your fucking mouth for once and listen. Axton has treated me with more fucking love and respect than you two have for the past 10 fucking years."
"That's not true, stop being dramatic."
"Not true?! Would you like me to show you all the fucking scars YOU gave me!" She screams.
"Danny she's not gonna leave, she's fucking bluffing." Her mom laughs.
"Oh yeah, fucking watch me," Ryan spits before turning back towards me, grabbing her bags, and walking towards the car with her head held high.
That's my girl.
I follow her out but not before someone yanks me back.
"Do not touch me," I say calmly while shoving his hand off of me.
Her dad doesn't say anything, instead, he tries to throw a punch which I easily dodge due to his drunken state.
I was about to walk away until I remembered how he hurt Ryan.
I turn back around and punch that fucker so hard, that he knocks out.
"Fucking pathetic." I spit before getting in the car.
When I back out, her mom begins running after the car.
"Ryan, wait! Please!" She cries.
Ryan just looks away from the window while wiping away a few tears.
"I'm sorry baby, you know mommy loves you." Her mom says while banging on my window.
"Just drive Axton," Ryan whispers.
So I do.
Her mother stands there in the middle of the street and I watch as Ryan finally breaks down.
I quickly pulled over in a nearby parking lot.
"Ry-"
"I didn't think it would be that hard." She mumbles.
"I'm proud of you baby."
"Thank you, Ax...for everything."
"You don't need to thank me."
"Of course I do, you're letting me move in with you! Oh god does Xander know? Do your parents know?"
"Xander agreed when I told him and don't worry about my parents, I'll figure it out."
"Oh okay."
"Now, let's go home."
"Okay."
While we're driving, my mind goes back to something she told her parents.
"Axton has treated me with more fucking love and respect than you two have for the past 10 fucking years."
I look back over at the girl sitting in my passenger seat.
She looks away from the window and at me.
"What?" She laughs.
"Nothing, you're just so beautiful."
"Now you're expanding my ego babe." She flips her hair and smirks.
"Ah, there's the Ryan I know," I say while rolling my eyes.
"Shut up, you love me!"
Yes, I do.
----------Author's Note----------
The way Axton had a full on breakdown after seeing Ryan...
Protecting them at all costs.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
-Pradabagg
Word Count: 2057