I sat there in my room in complete silence, absentmindedly staring at the pastel pink and white stripes on the wall. It was what I called home. At least, it was what I was familiar to and associate as home. Band posters and Polaroid pictures of the memories I once treasured covered the contrasting navy blue wall above my bed.
It was a hot, sunny day, at least that's what I overheard from the weather man on TV. yet here I am, shutting everything and everyone out. I never attempted to leave the house in fear that people would see the black and blue patches that covered my skin, the red streaks that cut into it. But I was contented with the coldness of the air-conditioning unit over the heat of the sun.
I jumped back to reality as I heard the front door being slammed shut. My mother's concerned voice followed after. From her tone, she was frantic, asking my probably drunk father where he has been all night. I closed my eyes, trying to shut them out only to hear the sound glass shattering against what I think was the wall and a scream in agony.
I felt completely sick to my stomach. My hands and feet were frozen in panic, the cold air only adding up to it. I quickly played a random song in order to block them out.
"Get out, y/n! You might be next! He's going to hurt you too!"
I ran over to my closet and grabbed a duffel bag to put some of my belongings in. Clothes, the Polaroids, phone, charger... I shoved as many as I could. The sound of heavy footsteps outside the door made my heart drop. The remembrance of the metallic taste of blood filled my senses, making me cringe as I thought of the nights I didn't run or couldn't leave fast enough.
A warm hand on my shoulder made me flinch in shock and pain as it was where one of the bruises were located. But when I looked up, I was met with the familiar chocolate brown eyes with concern written all over them. I calmed down and wrapped my arms around him almost immediately. He's here. I'm going to be safe.
"Let's go." He whispered, grabbing my bag from the bed and leading me over to the nearest window.
I stared at the white sill and the open window. The sky is now a dark shade of blue, almost black, making me realize that time seemed to pass by before I could even notice. There was a tree a few feet away from the window. It's trunk seems rough and the leaves, as what I could tell from the moonlight, are a dark shade of burnt orange. We climbed out and leaped towards the tree. Shawn made it down effortlessly while I struggled to hang on to a branch. It was difficult to hang on as it was thicker than my hand and the bark of it was digging painfully into my palm.
I look down. My distance from the ground made me nauseous. It was as if the piece of toast I ate for breakfast– the only thing I ate within the day– was about to come back out. Shawn has already made it down while I was still hanging around like a rag doll.
"Where are you?!" I heard my father scream from my door.
I held in a scream and closed my eyes, praying for the best. I opened my eyes again once I heard Shawn call my name.
"Jump! I'll catch you, trust me!" he said from below me, his arms raised up.
I jumped. I braced myself as I thought of the worst like not being able to land into his arms. Yet once I didn't feel the impact of the ground and instead, met a warm, toned chest, I let out a breathe of relief. He then pulled me with him towards his motorcycle, revving the engine before riding off into the night.
My hair flew almost everywhere as the wind whipped through it. I could hear his soft, melodious humming over the sound of the engine. I buried my face into the soft material of his gray cotton shirt as my arms wrapped tightly around his well-built torso. His brown eyes met mine briefly to check if I was okay. And I am.
We drove to the farthest side of town. He had once told me that he had another place there, other than the one right beside mine. He stayed there whenever he had to stay close to work in case he needed to go down to the studio and record a song.
He was the only person who I know. The only one I could reach out to. I have refused to go to school because I didn't want to show the marks that our broken home has given me. But Shawn... During the first few years of it, he would sneak into my room after a beating and tried to comfort me. He wanted to do something but we were too young to do anything. As we grew older, he would try to persuade me to leave but I was too afraid to do so.
"Shawn." I muttered as he lead me to his apartment.
"Yes, y/n?" He said, placing my bag on his bed.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and placed a kiss on his lips. He tensed up before placing his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.
"Thank you."
"No problem. It's about time you left." He said, placing his head on top of mine. "I love you so much and the thought of you getting hurt by someone who's supposed to love you as well is unbearable."
"What would I do without you?"
Home is not just a place you live in, a building with four walls and a roof. Sometimes, it's the people you're with. And just by being around him, I know that I'm finally home.
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A/N: Another activity during Kuris Festival that I wanted to turn into a story. In this activity, we were given queues and around five minutes to write. This is my re-written version considering that my first one had no connections to each other. I really miss it. :( I'm working on something at the moment so expect it to be up probably tomorrow.
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