I do not own the rights to any of these characters. All right belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.
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In a single minutes everything could change. Jo and Alex knew this from personal experience. Fighting was something Jo Wilson was use to doing. She had to fight her entire life. Alex was no stranger to bad situations. Bad situations seem to find him where every he went. Will the two of them let love happen or will they fight a good thing.
A warning that this story will touch on some tough subject like self-harm, rape, verbal and physical abuse. Some strong language is used as well.
Chapter 1 Why Me?
"JO. JO. Girl I know you hear me calling you. Jo. JOOOOOO, get you ass down here now," she heard him scream. There was no way in hell that she was going down the stairs. It wasn't happening to her again. She would die before she let it happen again.
"LEXIEEEEE." Dammit he knew how to push her buttons. Lexie was her little sister and she had never had anything bad happen to her, other than their parents dying and them being thrown into foster care. She would be damn if he would start messing with her too. As the older of the two she fought hard to protect her sister, even if it meant letting herself be abused on a daily basis.
Jo made her way down the stairs, to be greeted by a fat greasy looking man in his late fifties. He was pissed, even worst he was drunk and pissed. Jo knew that look in his eye. It was going to be a long night. She noticed her sister sitting on the couch scared out of her mind. He had never used that tone with Lexie because Jo treated to expose him if he even so much as lifted a finger to harm her sister. Now some would think if she could scare into not hurting her sister way couldn't she do it for herself. Well, David knew that Jo was about to turn eighteen and would soon be leaving the foster care system. The problem with that is that she would be leaving behind her sister. He treated that the same thing that was happening with her would happen to her sister if ever utter a word. With the both of them making threats they found themselves at a stand still. So, in Jo's mind she would take the abuse so her sister never had to. She would take it until she could get custody of Lexie or Lexie turned eighteen and decided to come live with her on her own.
"Lex, do me a favor and go next to to Mrs. Reeds'. Let me handle this." She winked at her sister and gave her a smile. Lexie returned it with a weak smile of her own before nodding and going next door like she was asked.
Lexie was a lot smarter that people thought. She didn't know what was going on, but she had her suspicions and she didn't like it. She tried to voice her opinion once only to have Jo brush it off like it wasn't true. She simply asked her sister to 'trust her' and that's chose to do.
With Lexie out of the house Jo lost all of her confidence she had to ' Handle it', she knew what was coming and she just prayed that it would be quick, but one look in his eyes she knew it was wishful thinking. He grabbed her by her arm and throw her into the wall. The picture of his former wife fell causing the glass to shatter on the floor. That only seemed to piss him off more. She didn't know what she did to piss him off, if she did anything at all, but she could feel the bunch before it even reached her stomach. He never hit her in the face, because that would leave a mark and a mark would lead to questions, and he didn't want questions. After a few bunches to the mid section he throw her to the ground and kicked her. After the first strike he seemed to build momentum, so instead of fighting it Jo curled into a ball waiting for it to be over. When there was a short pause after the last kick she hope he had gotten it out of his system and she could go get her sister from next door. Then she heard it, the sound that seemed to make her whole body shake. The sound of his belt buckle clinking against his pant leg cause the tears she had been holding in to fall from her eyes.
She could feel his weight against her, it was suffocating. She refused to look at him, instead she stared at the ceiling thinking, daydreaming of her parents and the last day she spent with them. When she thought of them she didn't feel pain, grief, sadness, she only felt peace. She remembered her mother laughing at a terrible joke her father made up. She remembered the look of pure love her father had for her mother. She loved watching them. She loved knowing that the look they gave to each other they also gave to their daughters. It was such a contrast to what she had in her life now. There was no love, compassion, or peace. There was only anger, fear and pain. She brushed the thought aside and chose to think of the time she and Lexie walked into the house a muddy and covered in grass stains. Her mother was complaining about them getting mud all over the foyer rug while her father looked on with this tight lipped smile trying to hold in the laugh that was slipping out. She hear her mother saying to her father, "Oh, you think this is funny. Well, then you can clean the rug and Your daughters." Her father just nodded and waited for her mother to walk away before bursting in to a fit of laughter. Soon the three of them were in the back yard holding there stomach from laughing so hard. Her father told them to stand in the middle of the backyard and before they could protest the sprinkler system was turned on and both girl wet soaked. They tried to escape to the house only to have their mother on the other side of the sliding glass door laughing while she locked it, while their father came from behind them, scooping both girls up and running back to the middle of the backyard again. She could remember Lexie laughing at the fact that their father was now soaked and her father giving her sister a tickle attack for laughing at him, cause her to laugh even harder. She loved her sisters' laugh because it reminded her of their mothers'.
Then she heard it, the venom that seeped into her dream, "You hear me, you little whore. You ain't shit. All you can do is lay on your back and take it. You like it don't you. I said, you like it don't you. You better answer me you little whore. Answer me bitch." Jo continued to look at the ceiling, 'I bet this idiot doesn't realize I can't answer him with his hand over me mouth. Fucking loser. Four more months and I'm outta hear. Four more months and I can use my trust fund to get my sister out of this fucked up system. Four more months Jo. The pressure on her body lifted and she was pulled from her thoughts. She didn't stay to watch him stubble up the stairs to his room, instead she went to the full bathroom in the basement to take a quick shower so she could run next door to get her sister.
After her shower Jo quickly put on the clothes she stored in the basement because of this, throwing on a long sleeve t-shirt and some sweatpants, and left out the basement door in the back of the house. She made the short walk over to Mrs. Reeds' house and knocked on the door. She noticed a black BMW in the driveway and assumed had company. She needed to apologize and get her sister out of the older woman's hair. Jo knocked on the door and was greeted by a smiling Mrs. Reed. "Hello dear, how are you? Would you like to come in and have some cookies? You sister is just finishing up watering my plants. I told her I would pay her five dollars a plant." Jo smile at this, her sister would do odd jobs for Mrs. Reed when ever she come over and would pay her small amounts of money here and there.
"No, thank you . I'm just here for Lex. Oh, I sorry if it was an inconvenient time, I noticed you have company," Jo stated with an apologetic smile.
"Oh, please it was no trouble at all. You know I love you and your sister like you were my own. Anytime you girls need me I'm here, but there is someone I want to meet," she stated smiling up at Jo.
Jo eyed her curiously, but followed the older woman into her home anyway. As she walked further into the house she could hear her sister talking with someone.
"Mrs. Sue, wha... what are you doing here?," Jo said nervously.
"Mrs. Reed called me after she spoke with your sister. I was concerned so I came as fast as I could." Jo throw a glare at her sister that didn't go unnoticed my Mrs. Reed, who put and reassuring hand on Lexies' knee. just continued on ignore the look the teenage girl was given her,"Is there something you would like to talk to me about?"
"No, I don't know why you would think I need to speak with you, but I'm fine, everything is fine." Her voice getting louder and she grew angrier at the situation.
"Jo, look I know you want to be strong and you think you have everything under control, but it is clear that you don't. I know what's been going on. Your sister just told me. The cops are on the way as we speak to question and arrest . So, I will ask you again it there something you need to tell me."
Jo looked at her sister, who had tears in her eyes, and that was all it took for Jo's walls to crumble. She completely broke down sobbing and apologizing to her sister for not being a better sister and apologizing to her parents for not doing a better job.
OK. As I warned in the beginning of this chapter this story would touch on some very touchy subject. If this is triggering anything for anyone I strong suggest you stop reading. Subject such as self-harm, rape, physical and verbal abuse will be touch on in the story, as well strong language.
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