A/n: hey guys! So as you can tell I've started editing this story. Now it's gonna end up being longer than it was when I done because I'm gonna do it right this time so keep an eye out for the edited and new chapters. Let me know what you think and check out my Harry Potted Fan Fic, The Forgotten Riddle: Darkness Descending.
-CourtneyNicole
*this story contains themes which may be inappropriate for some readers. (I.e. language and violence) readers discretion is advised*
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All the townhouses and apartments in Hoboken, New Jersey looked the same: relatively large, made out of red or brown brick with flower boxes in the windows and a gray stoop. At least, on the outside they were the same. Most of the families that lived on the block were friendly, some kept to themselves more than others but, for the most part, they were nice. One family, in particular, was almost overly friendly.
The Monroe family was very well known in Hoboken. Derek Monroe was the patriarch, a contractor who worked 5 days a week and Carrie, his wife, was a social butterfly and a dedicated mother. She was at every PTA meeting and back to school night as well as class mom. They had two boys; John, the oldest, and Nicholas, the baby of the family. John was a bookworm, very intelligent and preferring to read while Nicky was an athlete. He loved anything to do with sports and was the apple of his father's eye. John was more of a mama's boy. They seemed like a typical, all American family. However, like any family, they had their problems, and their secrets.
Carrie had learned, years ago, that Derek was not what he appeared. He was far from the charming man she had thought she had known and fallen in love with in college. He was an angry, violent, man that had complete control over his wife. He beat her senseless if she disobeyed him, but to him that was okay. Wives were meant to be disciplined harshly, to be seen, not heard. Carrie had been on many trips to the hospital and suffered a multitude of injuries: a broken arm/leg/nose/ribs, a concussion, lacerations, and multiple contusions throughout her 15 year marriage. Carrie wanted to leave Derek, desperately, but she wouldn't leave her boys with him, so Carrie tried to find a distraction. And she did. In the form of her 7 year old son's teacher.
Carrie knew, deep down, that if Derek ever found out he would kill her. Secretly she hoped he would so she wouldn't have to live with the pain of her marriage. She loved her husband, yes, but she couldn't handle the abuse anymore.
While his wife was having her affair, Derek was teaching Nicholas everything his own father had taught him about women. That you should always be in controls of them, that they were on earth to serve men. Derek didn't bother teaching John anything. The child was too soft, too much of a weakling to be able to handle the knowledge Derek had bestowed on his youngest son.
Eventually, Derek found out about his wife's affair. She had broken one of his most sacred rules: Never look at another man, let alone touch one. And he was livid.
"Nicholas, why don't you and John go out side and play for a bit, huh? I have to talk to mom for a bit." Derek said nudging Nicky towards the front door, handing him his coat. "Stay on the stoop and play cards or something." Carrie gulped, frozen at the kitchen sink, the hot water splashing over her hands as it over flowed in the coffee mug she had been washing. How did he know?
"But dad I don't want to go outside. I want to finish my book!" John whined, looking up from The Hobbit. Derek whipped his head around to glare at John, his blue eyes narrowing.
"Sweetheart, do as your father says. Go outside with your brother. I'll read the ending aloud to you tonight before bed," Carrie said hurriedly, watching her husbands reflection in the mirror. The telltale vein in his temple was throbbing.
John sighed. "Okay mom. Come on Nick, let's go." He got up from the table, scratching at the back of his head, the blonde curls at the nape of his neck touching his collar. He would need a haircut soon. Derek didn't like long hair on boys he though it made them seem like barbarians.
"Don't forget your coat," Carrie mumbled, finally turning off the water and turning around, her long brown hair following over her shoulder. John nodded and hurried after his little brother.
"What did you want to talk about, Bab-"
"Shut up!" Derek barked, standing up suddenly. Carrie flinched and backed away, her head down.
"You look at me when I'm speaking to you!" Derek grabbed her jaw and pushed up, tilting Carrie's head all the way back. "You're a slut," he hissed running a finger down her cheek. A tear leaked out of Carrie's eye and rolled down her face, into her hair. She couldn't speak with Derek's hand so tight around her face.
"Nothing to say for yourself, hmm?" Derek's eyes flashed and he pushed Carrie away, sending her flying into the stove. She cried out and slumped to the floor. "Derek, I-"
"I said SHUT UP!" He screamed, stalking over to her and kicking her hard in the stomach. His wife coughed and gripped her stomach, curling into a ball. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked Carrie off if the floor. She clamped her mouth closed, tears streaming down her face.
"I've warned you about cheating on me, Carrie! I WARNED you! You deserve every bit of this!" With that, he shoved her hard and Carrie stumbled, falling. She made a tiny, "oh," sound as her head connected with the granite counter top and she collapsed onto the ground.
Derek calmly walked to the phone and dialed 911. "Yes, h-hello," he said, making his voice shake. "My w-wife fell. She hit her head. Oh my God, there's so much blood-" he sobbed. After he hung up, Derek calmly sat down and shrugged. "She deserved it."
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Twelve years later
Nicky's POV
"Hey, Nicky! What's up man?" I looked up and nodded as I got out of my car, grinning at my friend Gerry as he ran towards me to walk with me to class. We were both freshmen at Marymount University, studying prelaw for me and biology for him.
"Not much, just got back from vacation, how's it going?" I asked, fist bumping him.
"Same, same. Finally got Vanessa to go out with me!" Gerry beamed, his teeth stark white against his tan. As he started walking with me across campus.
"No way! Damn, you've been after her for years, what changed?" I asked, happy for my friend.
"I finally grew some balls and asked her properly." I clapped Gerry on the back, proud of him. He was a bit like my brother, timid around girls, although John, at 23, was married now. Not like me who knew how to handle women. Not that I really bothered with them much, I hadn't found a girl that caught my eye.
"Speaking of asking chicks out, I got a girl for you," Gerry was saying as we neared the main entrance. I chuckled.
"Oh, yeah? Who?" I asked.
"Well, you know that girl Jackie Garcia who's in my English class?"
"Yeah? I guess she's cute but Spanish girls aren't really my-" I started but Gerry laughed, interrupting me.
"Relax Nick! I know that. She's got a friend that studies performing arts at The dramatic Arts academy. She's 18, 19 in march. Apparently she's smokin'. Her name is Charlotte Andrews. I haven't met her but Jackie says she's chill. There's a party at Ricky's on Thursday and Jackie's bringing her so you should come."
I thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "Yeah, alright, that sounds cool" I normally didn't like when people tried to play matchmaker with me but I trusted Gerry's judgement.
"Awesome! I'll see you after class then," Gerry said as he turned right. I nodded and headed to sociology.
On Thursday night, I stood in my dorm, getting ready for the party. I threw in a green tshirt and some low slung jeans, with a leather jacket over the top and a leather cord around my neck. I sprayed some axe on and ran a brush through my hair, shoveling a couple of mints in my mouth.
A few minutes later Gerry, Vanessa, and I were piled into my jeep. I grinned when I saw Gerry sneak glances at Vanessa in the passenger mirror. He really liked her and I couldn't blame him. She was tall and thin with little curves and an olive skin tone. Her black hair was cut short to her shoulders. She was wearing minimal makeup, black leggings and an off the shoulder red top. She was very pretty and very popular. The girl didn't have a mean bone in her body.
We pulled up to Ricky's apartment about ten minutes later, parking in the lot across the street. As we walked towards the apartment, Vanessa and Gerry holding hands, you could see it was going to be a crazy party. The music was loud and obnoxious, there was the smell of vodka in the air. Ricky was lucky that the apartment was filled with college students and not adults.
"Gerry! Over here!" A voice called. We turned to see Jackie waving from the living room wearing a tight dress with her hair braided down her back.
"Hey Jackie, you remember Vanessa and Nicky, right?" Gerry asked. Jackie nodded, smiling and turned to the couch at the far end of the room where a girl sat, looking in the opposite direction.
"Char, come here!" Jackie yelled. The girl got up and walked over.i gasped quietly to myself when she walked into the light. She was gorgeous.she had to be a few inches shorter than my 6 feet. She was curvy in all the right places with a small waist. Long black hair hung down to her lower back and her skin was pale. What really got me was her eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of amber, accentuated by long, thick, lashes. She wore a blue botton down shirt over a black tank top with black leggings and blue ballet flats.
"Hi, I'm Charlotte Andrews," she said holding out her hand. Her voice was soft and she seemed a little shy.
"I'm Nicholas Monroe," I smiled, shaking her hand.
"Like Marilyn," she grinned.
I laughed, "exactly."
Gerry looked between the two of us. "We'll Vanessa and I are gonna go dance and Jackie wants to go find Ricky so we'll see you guys a little later okay?"
I nodded silently thanking him for leaving. "O-okay," Charlotte said shyly. Jackie winked at her and walked away with my friend and his girl.
"You wanna grab a drink?" I asked after a slightly awkward silence. She shrugged.
"Okay, lead the way." I grabbed her hand so I didn't lose her in the crowd and walked her into the kitchen where Ricky had set up a cooler on the counter filled with drinks. I grabbed us a couple of beers and handed one to her.
"So tell me about yourself," I prompted, leaning against the counter.
"Well, I'm an only child, I study theatre a few blocks away from Marymount, I love music and animals and I'm pretty shy but once I'm comfortable around people I get loud." She smiled and sipped her beer, grimacing slightly. "Oh, and I hate beer, I like harder stuff." She winked and I laughed turning to pour her some Jäger and coke. "Thanks," she smiled as I handed her the glass. "What about you?"
"Let's see. I'm studying law, I love sports and music. I have an older brother who's married and my mom died when I was seven."
Her eyes widened a bit and she touched my arm. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said sincerely.
I smiled. "Thanks." I didn't mention that my mom was a cheating whore and deserved it I thought that would be too much information. We chatted for a while longer, finishing our drinks when Rihanna's "Please don't stop the music" came on.
"I love this song! Come dance with me?" Charlotte said excitedly. I smiled and nodded walking with her to the living room where everyone was dancing. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I put my own hands on her waist and we swayed to the music. After a minute she got into it and we started grinding, moving closer to each other. I looked down at her, her eyes sparkling from the booze and the fun she was having and I couldn't help it.i decided to test her. I leaned down, pressing my lips to hers. She smiled against my lips and kissed me back, tightening her grip on me. I tangled my tongue with hers sliding my hands down to grip her butt, she pulled away giggling. "Slow down, tiger, I'm not that drunk."
I grinned, moving my hands up, pleased that she wasn't some slut after a good time. We continued to dance for a few more songs and then we took a break, moving to sit on the couch. She leaned against me holding my hand. "You know, when Jackie told me she wanted me to meet you, I wasn't expecting to have so much fun or to be attracted to you...or to even like you." She admitted.
I smiled down at her. "Well we should definitely see each other again then."
"Are you asking me out?" She questioned.
"Yeah, I guess I am."
"Yeah, alright then. I'll go out with you." I beamed and kissed her temple.
"Awesome!" We chatted a bit more and I got her number the excused myself to tell Gerry the good news. When I came back, I saw Charlotte talking to some guy and I saw red. I waited until the guy walked away. "Hey I'm gonna go get a drink, you want one?" I asked when I neared her. She said sure and I walked away, following the guy.
"Hey!" I called out.
"Ye-" I punched him in the mouth before he could get the word out, knocking him to the ground. "What the hell?" The guy said, rubbing his jaw.
"Stay away from Charlotte Andrews!" I growled. "Or you'll get worse than a pinch next time." I started to walk away and then stopped. "Oh and spread the word. Charlotte,s mine!"
I turned on my heel and walked to the kitchen, grabbing two Mikes Hard Lemonade and heading back to my girl. Hmm 'my girl' I liked the sound of that.