"Clara haven't you had enough to drink?" Amy asked as Clara poured another strong vodka and coke.

"I haven't had enough to drink" Clara slurred.

"Look sweetheart you know I don't have a problem with how much you drink, you have to go home and I don't want you to get in trouble"

Clara laughed "I don't give a shit"

"Yes you do, Clara is there a reason you don't want to go home?"

Clara shook her head, she was lucky in the sense that Amy lived alone otherwise she had no idea what state her life would be in. Clara lived with her Dad whilst Amy's parents had died when she was young meaning she had been left a lot of money , Amy didn't get along well with her Aunt Sharon and so had taken the opportunity to move out at the earlier opportunity and thus Clara was there all the time .

Amy reached for Clara's hand "You know you can tell me if there's something going on"

Clara nodded and closed her eyes as she failed to prevent tears rolling down her face, Amy immediately stood up and wrapped her arms around her "Hey what's all this for?"

Clara shook her head and buried her head in Amy's chest " Come on" Amy patted the bed and lay back down against the pillows and Clara rested her head on Amy's chest .

Amy stroked her fingers through Clara's hair "Why don't you just live here?"

"You only have one bed"

"We can share, we have before. You don't have to tell me what's going on but I just don't want you to be miserable and I'm thinking that you're not when you're here"

Clara smiled slightly "I'll have to ask my Dad, I could call him now and stay here tonight if that's ok?"

"Of course it is"

"Hi Dad" Clara said tentatively.

"Clara, where the fuck are you?" Her Dad scorned.

"I'm with Amy, Dad I have a little proposition for you which I think you might like"

"Go on"

"Amy has asked me to live with her"

"Has she now and how exactly are you going to pay for that?"

"I don't need to; Amy's got everything paid off"

"So your mother leaves me and now you"

Clara excused herself into Amy's living room "Come on Dad what are you getting out of me being at home right now other than a punching bag? You don't like me and I'm not the biggest fan of you right now either, it's for the best don't you think?"

"Fine Clara but don't pretend you don't know the real reason you're doing this, you're a dyke and you're in love with Amy. Your mother always thought it"

"Please don't use the word dyke Dad" Clara scorned.

"I will call you whatever I want you piece of shit" He shouted "When are you coming back for your crap then?"

Clara sighed "Tomorrow sometime"

"Right I'll see you then. By the way Clara, you'll never get her" He promptly hung up; Clara sank down on the sofa and put her head in her hands. After her mother died, her Dad had become increasingly violent and hostile towards Clara, Clara knew that her Dad had never wanted her and now he had the chance to express how he truly felt about her.

Clara felt the sit dip slightly as Amy sat next to her and put her arm around Clara's shoulders "It's alright Clara"

Clara sniffed "I'm allowed to stay here"

Amy smiled "Good, shall we go to bed? Have some cuddles?"

Clara nodded "That sounds perfect right now"

Amy put her arm around Clara's waist and Clara lay her head by Amy's neck and stroked the tips of her hair "Thank you for this"

Amy lifted Clara's chin towards her and placed a light kiss on her lips "It's ok Clara, do you want to tell me what's going on?"

Clara sighed and lifted her shirt up to reveal bruises around her hips "Cracked ribs, that's why I drink so much, to numb the pain"

Amy gasped "Did he do this to you?"

Clara nodded "Mum's gone; he can do what he likes"

"Jesus Clara I'm so sorry, he won't hurt you anymore"

"He will tomorrow when I go to pick up my stuff and then I'm free"

"You deserve better Clara"

Clara put her hand on Amy's stomach "I've got you don't I?"

"You always have me" Clara pushed herself off Amy's chest and gently kissed Amy's lips.

"Was that alright?" Clara asked.

Amy nodded and licked Clara's lips before wrapping her arm around Clara's neck and kissing her more powerfully.

Clara sighed contently as she returned her head to Amy's neck "That was nice"

"It was yeah"

"I think I like you, romantically"

Amy giggled "Me too, do you want to get some sleep?" Clara nodded and closed her eyes "I'll look after you Clara, I promise"

For the first time in a long time Clara felt safe when she woke up, she wasn't in a lot of pain and didn't have any new injuries. Best of all she woke up cuddled into a beautiful girl; Amy was still fast asleep above her. She wrote a quick note and headed to her Dad's house, she just wanted to get back to Amy as soon as possible.

Clara tentatively opened the front door and attempted to run upstairs before he noticed her "Not even going to say hello Clara?"

"I thought you might still be asleep" Clara lied in an attempt to save her fate.

Her dad laughed and pushed her roughly back against the steps "You're such a bad liar Clara" He slapped her across the face.

"Why do you need to do this? I'm getting out of here aren't I?"

"Because I hate you Clara, I wish you were never born. You and I both know I never wanted you so now I will resent your existence everytime I see you, scuttle off upstairs now Clara"

Clara quickly ran upstairs and clutched her face as she packed her stuff into her suitcase, she could feel a bruise forming on her back as well but she was used to it by now.

"So I'll be going then"

Her Dad smiled and held her roughly by the jaw "You are scum Clara"

"Amy doesn't think so, she likes me"

"Does she? So you're a full on dyke then? She deserves better than you"

Clara nodded; she knew that he right about that one. She may disagree about being hit but Amy was incredibly special and did deserve much more than her.

"Clara are you alright?" Amy asked frantically as she returned.

"I'm fine" Clara reassured her.

"No you're not; look at your neck and your face. Are there any others?"

"My back probably, it wasn't too bad today"

"What the hell are you doing going there by yourself? I would have come with you"

Clara scoffed "What so he can hurt you too? No thank you. Look it's over now anyway so don't worry about it"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah it's just you deserve better than me Amy"

"Oh don't be stupid enough to believe whatever crap he tells you"

"I don't, I just think you deserve better. You're incredibly special"

Amy smiled warmly at her and pulled her in for a hug "So are you Clara, so are you"

"I feel weird" Clara commented in bed that night "I'm safe aren't I?"

"Yes, yes you are Clara. You're free"

Clara smiled as a tear ran down her face "I can't thank you enough for this, I thought I'd have to put up with this for years"

"You are free Clara, completely and utterly free"

The next night Amy woke up to hear Clara whimpering in her arms , Amy stroked her fingers down Clara's face in an attempt to calm her down when that didn't work she kissed her lips and lightly shook her shoulder to wake her up " You were having a nightmare sweetie"

Clara sighed "Sorry, I know I'm safe but I don't think my brain has worked that out yet"

Amy rocked Clara gently back and forth in her arms which soothed her towards sleep "Thank you for waking me up from it" She said before she began to snore softly. Amy smiled and kissed the top of Clara's head, it was still a feeling that Amy hadn't really gotten used to either, the feeling of having someone else asleep with you, the sounds of their breathing or in this case Clara's snoring was relaxing. Amy felt incredibly content; she had had feelings for Clara for a while now. She'd wanted to ask Clara to live with her but was sure that she would get rejected and after Clara's mother died , Amy had assumed that the best place for Clara to be was with her father but now she knew that the best place for Clara was right here in her arms .

Amy wiped the sweat off her forehead as she collapsed back down onto the bed "That was amazing" She said breathlessly.

Clara winked and quickly wrapped the blanket back around herself "Why did you do that?" Amy asked.

"Hmm?" Clara asked in confusion.

"You wrapped the blankets back around yourself"

"Oh I'm cold" Clara lied.

Amy frowned "What's going on Clara?"

"I feel ugly"

"How can you feel ugly? Clara you're so beautiful"

Clara shook her head "I've got so many bruises; you deserve somebody who's less broken. Someone who will fight"

"Shh now Clara, you're not broken and it is not your fault you have bruises on you. You know if you fought back he probably would have hit you harder"

Clara sighed and rested her head on Amy's shoulder "Sorry"

"It's alright Clara; it's understandable to have a couple of issues because of it. Anyway you've definitely done that before"

Clara smirked "You are not my first girlfriend; I had a very brief relationship with Nina in our year. Mainly sex orientated"

"I can tell" Amy laughed "Why did you not tell me about that?"

"I wasn't sure how you'd take the news that I was bisexual, I was building myself up for it and then we broke up so it didn't seem worth it"

"Puts the pressure on me now doesn't it?" Amy laughed nervously.

"You can just do whatever feels natural to you when the time is right" Clara smiled "But for now we should get some sleep"

"Are we not changing the sheets?" Amy asked.

"I really can't be bothered, I know it's disgusting but I just can't be bothered"

Amy giggled "I love you"

"Really?"

"Really" Amy confirmed.

"I love you too"