We stare at Landon and CJ, waiting for their response. CJ is the first to speak up, voice trembling, "Please don't turn us in guys, we had a very serious reason to run away."
The guys and I shake our heads, why would we turn them in before we get the whole story? "We didn't turn y'all in, none of us are that type of person who turns someone in before they get the whole story.
We know you guys don't know us that well, but please, trust us and tell us the whole story." I locked eyes with CJ, the multi faceted cuts of blue and green that dance in her eyes glowing in the soft moonlight through the window. She's beautiful, she's a gem and there is absolutely no doubt about that. When I was getting ready for a sports function earlier today, the others guys besides our group wouldn't shut up about her.
~Flashback~
I'm pulling my jersey on, when I hear my name behind a row of lockers. Curious, I crept towards the voices. "So what do you guys think of Christian? Like, she's hot as hell!" I heard several murmurs of agreement, before a sound of slapping flesh.
"Guys, she's with Landon, plus she's pregnant, why are you talking about her like that?" This is another guy, a guy with a good head on his shoulders. "Aw, come on, Leo. We're not saying we're going to ask her out, we're just saying that we'd sleep with her if asks. Word is she's a whore who doesn't even know who the father of her child is.
We know she's with Landon, any idiot can see that. I'm wondering how she was such an idiot and got stuck with a guy like him. I'm just saying that she's hot, way hotter than Landon. I mean, with that ass, those eyes, that hair, those breasts. Not to mention she's mysterious, lethal, kick ass, and a whiz in history."
My fists ball, but they say the one thing that makes my blood freeze. "Do you think something is going on between her and Asher?"
~Flashback Ends~
CJ sighs, "Yes, I'm really Clair, and he's really Liam. Sit back, get some popcorn, and relax, this is going to be a long story." Her voice is grim, her face stone as she tucks a short lock of hair behind her ear. Landon squeezes her hand, pulling her into his lap.
Taking her advice, Damon disperses to get drinks, Jazz some snacks. I leave to go pee, Ky to get some blankets. Luke comes back with pillows, Tony with pajamas(we all left pajamas here in case we ended up crashing. Don't worry, we all stay away from CJ's room.)
Sam comes back with CJ's comfort t-shirt (the shirt she wears when she just needs to relax, the shirt is soft and comfortable as hell. It's a lacrosse jersey, and on the back it says Hale...wonder who that is), slipping it over her head and on top of her other shirt, before he plops onto the pile of pillows and blankets on the floor. CJ smiles at him gratefully, snuggling into Landon's chest.
She takes a deep breath, before she begins, "First of all, Liam and I aren't 18, we're 16. We're going to tell you the ENTIRE story, about how we met, our relationship, and why we're here now. Wait until we finish to ask questions please. Our story starts when I was 14, and about to go into the 8th grade. It was a hot summer day, and I was walking my friend Jackson to the library. I was wearing some-"
Landon cuts her off with a grin, "Sexy blue shorts, and a long Alaska t-shirt." CJ slaps Landon's chest playfully, before resuming her story, "When Liam walked up on the other side of Jack, we locked eyes."
Speaking in synchronization, they looked into each others eyes while revealing. (both) "It was like my world shifted. Gravity was non existent, she became my center of gravity, the only thing keeping me on the ground.
It was like I knew ya know? I knew we were meant to be together." Landon twines his fingers with CJ's, placing their linked hands on his heart.
(Landon)"When school started, Clair was a lot different than the care-free bad ass country girl I'd met that summer. She was instead shy and reserved, and honestly a bit of a pushover, hiding behind her thick wiry curls.
I was crushing on her so hard, but she was a little oblivious." He nudges CJ playfully, before CJ picks up where he left off,
(CJ)"We went through the class together, Liam dropped several hints that he liked me throughout the entire year, but I never picked up on his hints. A week before school let out, a creeper went too far." This time it's Landon's turn, "This kid Joel had been hitting on Clair a lot, but she never noticed.
He wanted her, and he wanted her bad. Taking desperate measures, he took a chance and got physical. Clair had her head on a desk, refusing to sing in front of the class for a project. Clair was, and still is, a choir nerd. But back then she was self conscience about her voice, not realizing that her voice is alluring and beautiful. Joel came up behind her when she had her head down, and started massaging her shoulders in the middle of the classroom. She jerked up in alarm, hunching forward. I wanted to punch him so bad, it took every ounce of strength I possessed to NOT punch him.
Clair was a pushover back then, and she didn't believe she was beautiful or that anyone would love her. It took everything in me to not beat Joel to a bloody pulp, but at the time I couldn't, she wasn't mine."
(CJ) "After I got out of the class, my next class period passed without any incidents. In my last class however, shit hit the fan. My friend Greyson had a very steady crush on me the whole year, and that day he took things too far. We had been talking and joking, when he suddenly put half his hand on my thigh, the other half on my...area. I took his hand off, and five starred his cheek. He had a handprint on his cheek for three days after that. Once I left the class, one of Liam's friends who knew what I look like, told me Liam wanted to meet me. When Liam tried to ask me, he was so cute. It made me smile inside when I saw this normally collected and cool country boy stuttering like a fool."
(Landon) "Well Baby, you're a beautiful girl. I was worried you'd want to go out with someone better looking."
(CJ)"You are good looking Soldier, don't deny that!"
Landon laughs, "I was really nervous when I asked, but she just patiently waited for me to get my head together and pop the question. When I asked, the biggest grin stretched across her face, while her eyes sparkled and danced in happiness."
(CJ) "I said Yes obviously, I mean, he's so sweet, caring, and not to mention drop dead gorgeous.
We dated through the rest of the week, and got scolded for PDA on the last day we had the same class together. When our school took us to splashtown for the very last day of middle school, Liam kissed me for the first time. He claimed my first kiss at the bottom of a set of water slides, but it couldn't have been more perfect."
(Landon) "When we were about to leave Splashtown, I pulled her close and told her I loved her. I was worried she would shove me off of her, worried she would tell me it was too soon. It was too soon, but I knew it deep in my gut, I knew she's the girl I'm gonna marry. She still is. Instead of pushing me away, my little Clair surprised me. When I almost pulled away from her, she pulled me closer and told me she loved me too."
(CJ) "When we started high school, things got complicated. We had applied to different schools, and we hardly saw each other. I met a guy in my math class about a week after school started, a guy named Joshua Woods."
(Landon) "Things went downhill from there. A couple weeks into the new school year, I got a call from someone I didn't know, someone who threatened to kill Clair unless I broke up with her. I didn't think, I was so damn terrified. It was made even worse because the guy told me that he had contacts everywhere, and that he could and would get away with killing Clair were things to get to that point. In the depth of my gut wrenching fear, I did what the person wanted, I broke Clair's heart to protect her."
(CJ) "I was confused, and heartbroken. I thought it was my fault. When I got that text, I was a wreck. I ran to my friend's house, unable to tell my parents what happened. I mean, I thought I did something to make him hate me. A few days later, Josh asked me to homecoming. I said yes, but we went as friends. Josh however, took my "as friends" as something else, that became apparent when he gave me a huge ass homecoming mum. At the homecoming game, we ran into Liam."
(Landon) "When I saw her with him, I was attacked by jealousy. She looked so god damn beautiful, and so different. It was obvious she had changed. My sweet, meek Clair had grown into a strong, bad ass teenager with a saucy attitude. She seemed more relaxed and open, and I could actually see her eyes. When we were in middle school, Clair would keep her eyes covered whatever chance she got. At the game I wanted to hold her close and comfort her, her eyes were so empty. I wanted to tell her everything, but I was so scared of losing her to death. When I saw that prick she was with, my mind went to places I didn't want it too. She seemed so...happy without me, I started to wonder if having me in her life dragged her down. However, all those thoughts were put to rest when I saw the depth of pain and brokenness in her eyes, she was hurting just as much as me. The only reason I called things off with her was to protect her. These guys started to mess with her, but she left before I could ask her what happened. Taking a few gut and confidence pills, I sent her a text asking what happened. After that, we started to text again, slowly rekindling our relationship."
(CJ) "Meanwhile, Josh started lying to me and being possessive. Josh told me if his father was aware he liked me, his father would track me down and kill me. Over the course of several weeks, he smothered and possessed me to the point I was pulling away from those I was closest to. He was overprotective and was always in my personal space, he loved touching me. I was scared, but then Josh told one lie that alerted me that everything he said was bullshit."
(Me) "Sorry to interrupt, but what did he say?"
(CJ) "It was late, and Josh was babbling about God and soulmates and such. He told me God gave him a picture of my face when he was down on his knees praying as a child, he said God said he would meet a girl freshman year, that she'd play hard to get for a year before she stopped fighting the feelings. He was talking about me. When I told Josh I wasn't playing hard to get, he got all smart assy and assholish by saying, "Brother zoning a guy is playing hard to get." I was honestly creeped out, so taking a leaf out of Josh's book, I tried another tactic by telling him God told me Liam was my soulmate, because that's the god honest truth. Josh reacted immediately, saying I could never go back to Liam, that Liam said he would hurt me. When I asked him when Liam said this, he claimed Liam said that at the homecoming game when I had ducked into the restroom for two seconds. Then when I asked him how Liam said he would hurt me, Josh told me Liam said he would hurt me by raping me if I got back together with him. I knew Josh was lying, and I was sick of his possessive boyfriend attitude, so I cut off ties with him and blocked him on all mobile devices. But, even though I knew Liam would never do that, it'd been months since I'd seen him. I had to be sure, so I asked four of my closest friends to make sure I wasn't being blinded by love when I said he'd never do that."
(Landon) "My friend Calvin hacked my phone once when I fell asleep, and saw the real reason I'd called things off with her. He got Clair's number, and told her to come over. He told her that it was urgent, and like the loyal girl she is, she came over. She let me explain, we got back together, but secretly."
(CJ) "We both started getting terrible nightmares, nightmares that ended in either my death, or Liam's. Liam got them more than I did, my insomnia really helped the less nightmares thing. He continued to get death threats targeted at me, he was constantly climbing through my window, having this primal need to just hold me and insure himself that I was alive."
(Landon) "We planned a weekend to get away, needing space to just be a couple. On that weekend, we did *ahem*, it. A few weeks later, Clair started getting sick. I was worried about her, but the stubborn girl she is, she insisted she was fine. She refused to go to the doctor, but she finally caved."
(CJ) "After I found out I was pregnant, I knew I needed to tell Liam face to face. Things went smoothly when Liam found out, he came to my first scan. When we told my parents, all hell broke loose. My parents were furious, they threw Liam out of the house. Then my mother told me they found a "suitable" boyfriend for me, told me that I would follow all his rules, and that boy was Josh. For the next four months, he abused me. He wouldn't let me leave the house without supervision he approved of, I was always strapped with a tracker when I did leave the house, I wasn't even allowed to go to school. In my time stuck in that house, the only solace I had were senior textbooks that I busied myself with, learning things way beyond my age. That's how I'm passing senior classes as a sophomore, I read physics, biology, U.S History, business, Trigonometry and Calculus textbooks cover to cover every day for four months. The house was locked from the outside so I couldn't escape, the windows were reinforced with three extra layers of glass, and barred. Besides abusing me, Josh would roofie and rape me. He went as far as trying to force me to get an abortion, but thankfully the doctors refused since I was already past the abortion limit thing. I was always screaming, and begging my parents or brother to help me."
CJ has tears running down her face, Landon holds her closer while his own eyes sparkle with unshed tears.
(Landon) "I was affected too, my parents didn't let me leave the house for other reasons than school, all my electronics were taken, and I was locked into my room at night. I got another call a couple months ago, another call about Clair. The voice was different than Josh's voice, this person sounded younger. The person told me that they knew how I could help Clair, and to meet them in the park in an hour. I almost didn't go, but I was desperate to help Clair. When I got to the park, my mouth dropped open, literally. Turns out, the person who wanted to help was Clair's younger brother Brandon. He said he was sick of hearing her scream, sick of seeing her battered and bruised. He gave me instructions how to get her out, and he gave me advice on how to avoid the cops. We drove for a while, until Clair got a really bad fever. Luckily, we ran into a man named Austin who helped us, a man who had known Clair when she was little. He gave us fake documents that gave us each a new identity, and he gave us this house. We enrolled into the high school as seniors so we could finish high school, but we've been taking online classes as well so we can have a complete high school education. The rest you guys know. Getting through high school senior classes as sophomores isn't easy, but I'm lucky I fell in love with such a smart woman with an endless amount of capacity in her brain for storing information."
All of us are silent, processing the information. Luke speaks, "We won't turn you guys in, we don't want to send Christian back to Josh's clutch, we want her to be happy, she's happy with you." We all get up, enveloping Landon and CJ in a big group hug, comforting them from the hell they had to go through. We're never going to tell, CJ would NEVER go back to Josh, not if any of us can help it.
There ya go :) Damon gave them the benefit of the doubt :D now the question is, will the group in Texas find them? Or worse will JOSH find them?! Find out next chapter :)
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