Here's chapter two!
Disclaimer: Don't own BTR
"Do you need someone to drive you home?" Logan asked.
"No, but I don't mind if anyone walks with me." I said, hoping that Abby wouldn't come. I didn't want her to see Oliver drunk. Logan volunteered to go with me.
"I just want to make sure that you get home safe." he told me.
"I'd do the same, but I have to help my mom clean out the rabbit cage." Abby replied sadly. "Maybe next time."
"Yeah." I said, gathering my bags and heading out the door. Logan followed me. I started down the driveway towards my house.
"Thanks for volunteering to drive me." I told Logan.
"No problem. I just wanted some time where we could be together by ourselves." he replied. We continued walking in silence, but we were both okay with the quiet. When we reached my street, I stopped.
"I can go alone from here. My parents probably wouldn't like the idea of me being alone with a boy." I explained.
"All right. I love you!"
"I love you too." I said, standing on my tiptoes so that I could kiss him. He bent down and our lips met. We held the kiss longer than usual, but we finally broke away from each other. I said goodbye, then headed home. Logan watched me the entire way, just to make sure that I got home safely. I did, and Logan waved goodbye before turning and heading home. I checked the front door to see if it was unlocked. It was, so I went inside. Oliver and my mom weren't downstairs, so I checked upstairs. The bedroom door was closed, and I was just about to head back downstairs when I heard Oliver yelling at my mom. I heard a couple of loud bumps, and then I heard my mom crying out. I wanted to go in and help her, but I was afraid of what Oliver would do to me. So far, I had never been on the receiving end of his fury, and I intended to keep it that way. I went downstairs and waited for my mom to come down. She eventually did, and she was bruised and sobbing. I helped her over to the couch, handing her some icepacks. She accepted them gratefully. "What happened to you?"
"I was trying to get him to put his clothes in the hamper, but he wouldn't, and then he went off and started beating me." she cried. I could only offer her comforting words. The phone rang a few minutes later. It was Logan.
"Hey, do you want to come to the beach with us tomorrow?"
"Sure, I'd love to!" We talked for a little while longer, then said goodbye and hung up.
"Who was that?" Oliver demanded. It was a shock to me, because I hadn't heard him walk up.
"It was my friend. She wanted to make sure that I got home safely." I improvised quickly. He grunted and went to grab a beer. I sighed in relief, then went to my room to unpack. Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to pack a bag for my beach trip. When I woke up, it was already nine o'clock. I grabbed my bag, got dressed, and grabbed a quick breakfast. Since I was supposed to be at their house in five minutes, I had to run the whole way. By the time I arrived, I was sweaty and out of breath.
"Hey there Jess!" Abby called, running out to meet me.
"Hey!" I wheezed.
"Are you okay? Why are you out of breath?"
"I'm fine. I had to run the whole way to get here on time." I panted. Abby ran into the house and grabbed me a bottle of water. I took it and sipped it slowly. Soon, my breathing went back to normal.
"Do you have your bathing suit on?" Abby wondered.
"Yeah."
"I think we're ready to go!" Brenda, Abby's mom called out. "Everyone get into the cars." I piled in with Abby and her parents. The boys rode separately. The ride to the beach was a short one, since it was only about a mile from Abby's house. When we arrived, we grabbed the stuff from the trunk and hit the sand. It was so hot that it burnt right through your shoes. As soon as we reached a suitable spot to put our stuff down, I took my shirt and shorts off, so that I was in my bathing suit. This done, I ran into the water. It was cool, but it felt good after the blazing hot sand. I started wading out slowly, getting used to the water a little bit at a time. I really hoped that Logan wouldn't dunk me before I was ready to go under. Luckily, I made it out far enough to be used to the water before I got dunked. I was up to my shoulders when I was hit from behind. I fought, and managed to stay above water. When I turned to see my attacker, I received a face full of water. By the times my eyes cleared, the person who splashed me was underwater. I waited for them to surface, although I had a good idea of who it was. Sure enough, Logan surfaced about ten feet away from me. I started swimming towards him. He didn't notice me until I was right behind him, and by then, it was too late. I grabbed his shoulders and jumped, pushing all of my weight down. Since he was taken by surprise, he went under easily. I jumped off and let him come up for air.
"That wasn't very nice!" he spluttered.
"All's fair in love and war." I retorted. He smiled.
"I suppose I did deserve it."
"You did. I wanted revenge." I said, smiling sweetly. He splashed me again, and I was going to splash him back, except for the fact that Abby jumped on my back. She's really light, so it was easy to stay above water. When she realized that I wasn't going under, she hopped off.
"Darn. I thought I could take you by surprise and dunk you." I chuckled.
"Gain some weight and you might be able to."
"Yeah. Maybe next time." she sighed. We stayed at the beach for a couple more hours, but then we had to go home, because it was getting late. Once all of the stuff was gathered, we piled into the cars and drove home. When we got back to Abby's house, it was pitch black outside. Logan offered to drive me home, and I gladly accepted.
"So, did you enjoy yourself today?" he asked.
"Yeah. It was really fun!" I replied. We sat in silence for the rest of the ride. In a minute, we were at my house. I grabbed my bags and jumped out.
"I love you!" Logan called after me.
"I love you too!" I answered, blowing him a kiss. He pretended to catch it, then waved goodbye. I did the same, then walked up to the house. Oliver was waiting for me.
"Where were you?" he demanded. "Your mother was supposed to tell you to mow the lawn today!" I stared at him in shock.
"Mom never told me anything!" I yelled. Oliver came at me and hit me in the ribs. It was a hard hit, and I felt a few ribs fracture, possibly break. I screamed in agony. How did my mom take this day after day? I scrambled to my feet and ran up the stairs to my room. My hands were shaking so bad that I couldn't lock the door. Oliver burst into my room and grabbed me around my waist, causing my ribs to scream in protest. He threw me on the bed and began to repeatedly hit me, harder and harder each time. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Finally, I could take it no more, and I summoned all of my remaining strength and directed it to my legs. With a sharp upward thrust, I managed to knee him in the groin, causing him to double over in pain. He relaxed his grip just enough for me to wriggle away. I took off down the stairs and ran out into the street. I didn't know where I was going to go, but I knew that I had to get away from Oliver. I started running as hard as I could, and I didn't look back.
"Don't think that your boyfriend can protect you! I'll take him down as easily as I take you or your mother down!" he threatened. I didn't stop, just kept running. When I finally stopped, I realized that I was at the beach. How I had managed to run there without stopping, I'll never know. I sank down on the sand and started sobbing. I was sure that I had broken a couple of ribs, and there would definitely be a mark where I was hit. I dried my eyes and lifted my shirt to see if there were bruises already forming. There was what looked like one big bruise that stretched from my ribs to my hips. I poked it gently to assess the damage, but ended up almost passing out from the pain. My skin was already a dark shade of blue, and I knew the bruise would get darker as the night wore on. Suddenly, I heard a sound that sounded like footsteps, but who would be on the beach at this time of night? I looked up and saw a familiar figure jogging towards me. I ducked my head and dried my eyes.
"Who's there?" Logan called out. I didn't answer. He picked up his pace until he was right next to me. "Jess, what are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I jogged down here to try to relax." he seemed satisfied with my answer.
"I couldn't sleep either." he admitted. "I was too busy thinking about you." I laughed at how corny he sounded. He hugged me, and I had to prevent myself from crying out in pain. After he released me, we sat and watched the waves hit the shore. "Do you want to come back to my place?" he asked.
"I thought you lived with Abby."
"I go and visit them on the weekends and during the summer. I have my own house, not too far from here. You can come visit me any time, day or night."
"Thank you." I replied. He jumped up.
"Come on. I'll take you to my house." I got up slowly. Sitting down had made me feel very stiff. Logan offered a hand, and I used it to pull myself up. As soon as I was on my feet, he took off running, pulling me behind. I had no choice but to keep up. We soon reached his car. He helped me into the car, then, then got into the car and started to drive. Every time the car hit a pothole, a fresh wave of pain washed over me. Luckily, Logan was too focussed on the road to notice my grimaces. At last, we arrived. Logan's house was two stories, not including the basement. Inside, it was nice and roomy. There were four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and all of the other rooms that you would expect to find in a house. Despite the pain I was in, I had to stop and admire every room. Logan was enjoying my reaction. "So, do you like it?" he asked.
"It's so beautiful!" I breathed.
"That's what I hoped you'd say." We walked up the stairs and turned into his bedroom. "I'm going to go shower. Do you want to join me?" I almost said yes, but I remembered my bruises at the last second.
"I already showered today, but thanks anyway." I said, mentally cursing Oliver. He ruined everything!
"Suit yourself." Logan shrugged. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. A couple of seconds later, I heard the shower turn on. There was the sound of clothes hitting the floor, then I heard the shower door opening and closing. As soon as I was sure that Logan wasn't going to come out, I gently lifted up my shirt to see if my bruises had gotten any worse. They had. Now, my whole torso was pitch black. I gasped. How was I going to hide the bruises? They would eventually fade, but what would I do until then? I heard the shower turn off, so I quickly pulled down my shirt. Logan came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.
"Do you have any clothes that I could borrow to sleep in?"
"Sure. I'll get you some when I get dressed." Logan called over his shoulder, heading towards his closet. I turned away so that he could get dressed in private. When he was done, he tossed me a long shirt and a pair of shorts. The shorts were too big, but the shirt was long enough that I could use it as a nightgown. I went into the bathroom to change. I didn't feel comfortable in my underwear, so I kept my shorts on underneath.
"Where do you want me to sleep?"
"You can sleep in the guest bedroom if you want to."
"Thanks." I walked down the hall and entered the guest bedroom. The bed was huge, and it had a really comfortable mattress, but I couldn't get comfortable, thanks to my ribs. I ended up tossing and turning all night long, only getting about an hour of sleep. I ended up getting up at six in the morning. I heard movement downstairs and realized that Logan was already up. I carefully got up, then made my way down the stairs. Logan was in the kitchen, making a pot of coffee.
"Hey, what are you doing up this early?" I asked him.
"I forgot about it until I looked at the calendar, but I have band practice today."
"You're in a band?"
"Yeah. Just a small one with Kendall and a couple if other guys from school, but it is a band." he said.
"Do you need me to go home?" I asked him, hoping that be would say no.
"Of course not! I'll take you with me." I looked at what I was wearing.
"In my pajamas?"
"Sure, why not? I'll even stay in my pajamas if it makes you feel any better. Besides, it's an informal meeting. Nobody's going to be dressed up." I sighed in relief. At least I wouldn't have to go home and face Oliver.
"When do we have to leave?" "In about ten minutes. We practice in a recording studio about a half mile away from here." He grabbed a cup of coffee. "Do you want one?"
"Sure, it might wake me up a bit."
"Are you still tired?" he wondered.
"Yeah. I barely got any sleep last night."
"There's a couch in the recording studio, if you want to sleep while we practice." he offered.
"I probably will. I'm exhausted." I yawned.
"I'm sorry that you didn't get more sleep." He made it sound like it was his fault.
"It's not your fault, I just couldn't fall asleep." I soothed him. He still looked upset, but he shook it off.
"We need to leave now, if we are going to make it on time." he said, gulping down the rest of his coffee. I did the same.
"Let's go." We headed out to the car and hopped in. Logan pulled out of the driveway quickly and set off down the road. "So, who else is in your band?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"A couple of guys from school. You'll probably know them." I stopped talking and tried to figure out who could be in the band. I didn't have long to think, because we arrived quickly. Logan stopped the car and jumped out to help me. I tried to protest that I didn't need help, but he wouldn't listen. As soon as we were both out of the car, a bunch of guys ran out of the building. I recognized all of them. They came over to me and hugged me tightly. My vision started to go black, but I pulled myself together and managed to greet the rest of my friends.
"Hey James, Carlos, Kendall."
"Long time, no see." Kendall said giving me a quick hug. I laughed.
"You saw me yesterday!"
"Oh yeah." He acted put out, then smiled. "Just kidding."
"I know. Shouldn't you be practicing?"
"I suppose so." He gathered the guys and they all went inside. Logan guided me to the couch. I sat down gratefully. Logan made sure I was comfortable, then left to go practice. I tried to lay down, but as soon as I did, a shooting pain went through my whole body. I sank to the floor and started to cry. What hurt so bad? Deciding that the room I was in was too open, I left the room and tried to find a bathroom. There had been one near where we came in, so I went to that one. By the time I opened the door, I was in so much pain that I collapsed. I sobbed until I didn't have any tears left, then managed to push myself into a sitting position. I was near a sink, so I grabbed the edge and pulled myself up. Using the sink to keep my balance, I lifted up my shirt. The skin underneath had turned a deep red color. I quickly realized that the red was only up near my ribs. The rest of my torso was still black. Had my ribs been damaged even worse? Suddenly, the door creaked, and I realized that I wasn't alone. I quickly pulled my shirt down, but it was too late.
Oh no! What happens? Guess you're going to have to wait until chapter three ;) Review and chapter three will come sooner!
