^^^@SunnyKirby, my best friend who lives entirely too far away. =( I love you!!! <3
Also to @giveandtake for the amazing covers on the side! Thanks so much hon! =)
And @PrettiaDean. You can shake that feeling now, lol. =P
Christy’s POV
Flying through the halls, I could feel my heart beating into overdrive between my mad dash and all the emotions that were raging through me.
Guilt for always assuming, and never listening.
Desperation to find him, and to make him accept my apology.
Annoyance with myself that I had to apologize in the first place, and a bit of annoyance with him as well, since it was all his fault to begin with.
If he hadn’t been such an indecisive prick, then we wouldn’t be in this mess now.
Slowing to a stop, I bent slightly to rest my hands on my knees as my head began to spin. Squeezing my eyes shut I waited for the world to stop spinning and for my stomach to stop churning.
Running after smashing my head off the ground probably wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had. Taking deep, calming breaths I gradually straightened my body, making sure to keep my breathing even.
One long breath in through the nose, release through the mouth, and repeat.
When I finally felt as though I wouldn’t either pass out or hurl all over the lovely checkered tiles, I opened my eyes.
Immediately I wished I hadn’t.
Standing before me was Scott in all his douchebag glory.
I watched as a slow smile spread across his face and his eyes turned cold, and felt a shiver of apprehension course through me.
Glancing around I tried to find an escape, because with the way I was feeling, there was no way I could take him on if he decided to make some sort of move on me.
Scoping out my options, I noted a whole lot of closed doors and a stairwell located directly behind him.
I was screwed.
Edging my way closer to the door nearest me, I kept my eyes locked on his the entire time. I watched as his eyes narrowed as he took in my movement and obviously disapproved of it.
“Christy, Christy, Christy…” he trailed off for a moment, “haven’t we gone beyond the point of you running from me yet? I thought maybe with some time and distance you would reflect back on what we had. How great we used to be together. It was you and me, babe. Just us, and we were unstoppable. Don’t you want that again? The feeling of being that perfect couple that others envied?” He queried, raising a brow and looking at me earnestly, as if he believed all the shit he was spouting wholeheartedly.
I continued to inch my way towards the door next to me, praying that it was unlocked and unoccupied, and barely able to suppress the snort that wanted to make its way out of me as I took in what he had said. The only two things stopping me from letting it out were the pounding of my head, and the uncertainty of how far I could push him in my condition before he pushed back.
How the hell had I ever been dumb enough to hook up with this asshole?
Just as my hand brushed the door handle he made his move.
Launching himself at me, I frantically turned the handle and felt defeat fill my chest and squeeze my lungs until my breathing became labored and harsh.
It was locked. And no one was around.
I was completely alone with a guy who was basically proving to be certifiable.
Closing my eyes, I felt a masculine hand wrap around my bicep and jerk me against a lean body that caused waves of revulsion to course through me.
And then his lips were crushing mine, bruising them mercilessly. His teeth were scraping my lips to the point they felt raw, tiny cuts etching themselves into them and the coppery taste of blood leaking in between.
I couldn’t understand how it could even be pleasurable for him. But then it all clicked; it wasn’t necessarily about feeling good.
It was about control.
Fighting back, I landed a couple of blows to any areas I could reach, but with him still holding my bicep and my other arm awkwardly positioned between us, they were pathetically futile attempts at best.
I felt tears leaking between my tightly closed eyes and clamped my teeth together, refusing to grant his seeking tongue access.
His agitation at being refused was becoming more evident as his force increased. His other hand that wasn’t currently trying to cut off the circulation in my bicep came up and gripped my hair, yanking it until I was certain I would have a bald patch by the end of this.
Suddenly the pressure against my lips decreased and a tiny shred of hope entered my heart, only to be dashed as I both felt and heard him mumble against my lips, “Things will go better for you if you cooperate for once.”
And then his lips were attacking mine again, his teeth biting on my lower lip causing me to gasp in pain and a whimper to escape me.
Taking full advantage of my teeth parting, I gagged as his tongue entered my mouth, choking me and causing my stomach to clench and churn uncomfortably.
I had never in my life actually wanted to throw up, until this moment.
As disgusting as it was, thoughts of puking all over him were almost enough to make me smile.
Hearing a small, almost imperceptible gasp I cracked my eyes open, knowing they were likely bloodshot from the tears that continued to course down my cheeks and the sobs that were tearing through me, only to be intercepted by Scotts mouth.
To my left I could just barely make out a flash of blonde hair before it disappeared, and all my hopes of being rescued crumbled in on themselves.
My resolve was slipping and I couldn’t find it in me to care. I was still too drained from other recent events to keep fighting.
So I stopped struggling and shut down. Buried my emotions and put a lock down on my thoughts.
I was there physically, but mentally and emotionally I was thousands of miles away. I was in a void where nothing could touch me. Nothing could hurt me, because I wasn’t me. I was an empty shell.
Everything in me had leaked out through all the tiny cracks of my empty, broken shell.
I felt his lips quirk up at the sides in a smirk of triumph right before they softened against mine.
“That’s better,” he whispered against my lips. “Complacency becomes you. If you could have just been like this to begin with, I wouldn’t have had to be so rough,” he said in a soothing tone, as his body still pressed against mine and I vaguely registered the door handle was now pressing into the small of my back with a bruising force.
How I hadn’t noticed it before was beyond me, but I couldn’t find it in me to try to move away from it. Because by moving away from it I would be moving closer to him, and I could already feel just how excited he was without getting any closer.
Staring blankly into his eyes, I willed myself to not flinch as he lifted his hand up and gently traced my battered lips with a fingertip.
“It won’t be so bad, you’ll see,” he vowed, his eyes roaming my face and stopping on the bump that seemed to be taking over my forehead. Removing his finger from my lips, I noticed the smear of red that coated it before he touched it to my forehead. “Babe, you really need to be more careful. What will people think when they see this?” he queried with false concern.
Giving me a light peck on the lips, he smiled gently before backing away.
“I need to get to class. I’ll catch you later babe.” Throwing me a triumphant smile over his shoulder, I watched as he sauntered away, wondering what the hell I was going to do now.
I had no one to protect me right now beyond Leslie who wouldn't be much help. Ryan was rightfully pissed at me. And James…James wasn’t mine, and I had no idea where I stood with him.
My mind wandered to Brody and his shelter, but could I really impose myself on him again so soon? And was this really something worth bothering him about when there were other women out there who were dealing with way more impossible situations?
I was so tired… Maybe if I just closed my eyes I’d open them later to find this was all just a horrible dream.
But I knew it wasn’t.
Reality was way worse than nightmares.
Leslie’s POV
Slamming through his door I had one thing on my mind: I had to get help for Christy.
I saw what was happening with Scott, but knew that I wouldn’t be able to take him on by myself. And Christy obviously was in no condition to take him on or he wouldn’t have gotten to her to begin with.
Wheezing slightly from my full out run to get here, it took me a moment to get my breathing under control so I could speak.
“Professor Garrett,” I paused, dragging in some much needed oxygen, “Christy…in trouble…come now,” I panted, cursing myself for being so out of shape. I guess sexercise isn’t a real form of exercise after all…
I watched as panic entered his eyes and he jumped up from the chair he had been occupying behind his desk.
“Where is she? What’s wrong?” he shouted in my face, making me pause for a moment to try to process how he was standing in front of me when he had been several feet away just seconds before.
“Just follow me,” I managed to get out before fear for her safety took over and had me dashing back towards her with Professor Garrett hot on my heels.
I realized I had never fully answered him, and was grateful that he was not only willing, but almost desperate to come to Christy’s aid without even knowing why she needed him.
As we made our way into the empty dorm hall I had spotted her in, I stopped abruptly causing him to slam into my back. The only thing that stopped me from eating the floor were his arms wrapping around my waist.
The force was still enough to make us bend slightly at the waist, putting his face in the crook of my shoulder.
Between that and the panting we were doing from running to get here, it wasn’t hard to see what put the cold look in Christy’s eyes as she stared at us.
Her lips were swollen and smeared with blood, making her already too pale face stand out even more against her red hair.
I watched as my best friend stared me dead in the eye, blanked her expression and started to walk away.
“Christy! Wait! It’s not what it looks like!” I screamed, feeling hysteria building inside of me. I couldn’t lose Christy. She was the one person besides Ryan who bothered to look beyond the way I presented myself.
Ripping Professor Garrett’s arms off of me, since he seemed to be frozen in place, I took off after my best friend reaching her just as she started down the stairs.
Planting myself in front of her, I gripped her shoulders and felt her recoil away from me, my heart to clenching at the fear and hurt that laced her expression.
“I promise on all that’s holy, that is not what it looked like,” I pleaded with my eyes for her to believe me and almost cried out in relief when I felt her arms wrap around me. I felt the sobs rack through her body as she leaned against me, making me worry that I wouldn’t be able to support her by myself and picturing us tumbling to our ultimate demise.
Just as I was pretty sure my worries were about to become a reality, I felt fingers prying her arms from around me and another body slipping in between us.
Taking another step down the stairs, I looked up to see Christy desperately clinging to Professor Garrett as he wrapped her up in his arms and rocked her gently. All the while crooning what sounded like nonsense into her ear and running his fingers through her hair soothingly.
Smiling at how right they looked together, I positioned myself so that I could keep watch for them, and give them the privacy they both needed and deserved.
Alright guys, there it is. And as I explained in a couple of messages to fans, I've had writers block which is why this took so long.
Please remember to vote and comment on chapters. Considering how many reads this story has, the amount of votes isn’t all that great. =/
Anywho, this is not edited so hope there aren't too many mistakes.
Aaaaand HOLY CRAP! "Persuade Me" has over 10 million reads!!! =O You guys are seriously awesome! =D
<3 Erin