Thank you all so much for those comments; I really appreciate you taking the time to send them. Really glad you enjoyed the first part of this story, in case it wasn't clear in the first chapter Carla is married to Frank. Hope you enjoy this one.

Part Two.

Maria had only taken around 15 minutes to get to Carla's in the car and as she pulled up on the front she couldn't help but wonder what was the matter. The light was on downstairs and it didn't seem as though anything was different to what it usually would have been. Why would Carla have called her? She knew she couldn't stand the man she was married to and if he was there Maria had no intention of staying at the house, regardless of what Carla wanted. Frank Foster. He had tried to force himself on her just over two years ago and she had warned Carla off. However, Carla had married him anyway and since then Maria hadn't had much to do with either of them. As she made her way through the gates at the front of the house she couldn't help but scoff at how over the top it was, there was only the three of them and she was sure the majority of people on the Street could have stayed in it comfortably. On reaching the door she raised her hand and pressed the bell while she waited for Carla to answer, she wrapped her coat around her more tightly to try and block out the chill of the cold wind.

As the sound of the bell rang throughout the house, Carla jumped and dropped the glass that she'd had hold of which caused quiet cries to come from the sofa. Carla stepped a little closer to the door and called out "Who is it?" While she waited for the answer she shushed her son quietly but it seemed the more to try and get him to be quiet and go back over to sleep, the more distressed he became and the louder his cries got. Carla was at a loss as for what to do when she heard Maria's voice answer her from the other side of the door and after letting a quiet sigh of relief escape her lips she opened it.

When Carla opened the door Maria gasped in shock at her appearance, her clothes were ripped, she had been crying a lot and in a heartbeat she knew what had happened. Maria stepped into the house and closed the door behind her being sure to put the lock back on. "He did this, didn't he?" she whispered, though didn't wait for an answer before she pulled Carla gently into a cuddle, she knew the answer to the question before she'd even asked it.

Carla welcomed the cuddle, at first the contact shocked her and she thought about pushing her away but she soon changed her mind. She needed someone there and without saying anything, Maria had let her know that she was going to be. Carla left a pause before she answered what Maria had said; she nodded and then spoke in a voice that was so quiet she doubted whether the words had even left her lips. When Maria squeezed her closer however, she knew they had. "He raped me…"

Maria loosened her grip on Carla and stood back a little as she spoke, taking out her phone. "You know what we have to do, don't you?"

Carla shook her head, "Maria there's no point, I didn't believe you when you told me…"

"Do you want him to do this to another woman? You know he will Carla, once you go he'll do it to someone else."

Carla didn't answer as Maria dialled the number on her phone and then stepped aside to speak to the person who answered. Carla jumped and almost stumbled sideways when she felt arms wrapped around her leg, her heart racing. Turning to the side she found her son, Harvey, stood by her side with both arms wrapped around her right leg and she sighed. She hated how what he had done had made her so edgy, it was almost as though she was terrified of her own son coming anywhere near her, but of course she wasn't, it was the initial contact that made her react badly. The one person in the whole world that she wanted with her at that moment in time was Harvey. Swallowing hard, she tried to block out what Maria was saying to the person down the other end of the phone and lifted Harvey up, carrying him on her hip, trying to ignore the pains and aches that seemed to be all over. She walked slowly into the kitchen with him and picked up his dummy, giving him it just before he moved his head to rest it against her shoulder. His whimpers broke her heart and she knew that he knew something was wrong. Carla turned around quickly as Maria walked into the kitchen.

"They're on their way."

"They can't come here... What if he comes back…?"

"Carla, I don't think he'll come back tonight."

"You don't know that."

"No I don't, but I know the doors locked and the police are on their way."

Carla paused, she knew Maria was right. "He knows…"

Maria frowned unsure as to what Carla meant by her comment. "Who knows? What do they know?"

"Harvey… he knows something's wrong…"

"What makes you say that?"

"He keeps crying and whimpering, he knows something's happened."

"He'll just be tired…" Maria tried to reassure her, though she knew as well as Carla did that children picked up on more than they liked to think. "Listen, why don't you go sit down with him while we wait and I'll make him something to drink."

Carla managed a nod at Maria's offer "he likes warm milk…" were her last words before she left the kitchen and walked through into the living area of the house, sitting down on the sofa with Harvey on her lap as she waited for the door to go once more.

As they sat there, Carla ran her hand over his hair gently, the constant feeling of sickness never leaving her, at that moment in time she was unsure whether it ever truly would. Harvey moved a little, frowning and reached over for his favourite teddy before settling back in his mother's lap, taking his dummy from his mouth to speak.

"Dimples cuddle too?"

Carla nodded at what he had said, forcing the faintest of smiles "yeah…"

"You cry mama?"

Carla shook her head at his question "no baby I'm just tired."

Harvey frowned and placed his hand on Carla's cheek, nodding. "Wet. You cry." His face fell as realisation hit him, it was almost as though Carla had witnessed him process the thought and put two and two together, and he frowned upon doing so. "Why you cry?"

"Sad film…" Carla lied and he seemed to accept it before returning to lying against her, she sighed and held her arms around him just a fraction tighter.