Chapter 7: Homecoming
Spencer's POV
Around Ten That Night
"Who the fuck is Jack?" Drew shouts, swinging the bedroom door open so hard the doorknob broke a hole in the wall.
I jump, then look at him. "W-what?"
"Who. The fuck. Is. Jack?" he asks, more slowly, then throws my cell phone at me, hitting my arm.
"A friend from home, why?" I say, my voice small.
"Why the hell is he saying he loves you?" His voice is rising as he walks over to stand in front of me. I'm sitting on the bed.
"Because he's my friend. He cares about me," I defended, standing up in front of him.
Drew is taken aback at first. This is really the first time I've stood up for myself to him. Drew shakes his head and says, "Wrong answer."
"How the fuck is there even a right answer to that?" I yelled at him.
He grabs my shoulders tightly and I know I've crossed the line with him. I'm shoved down and to the side, landing on the floor and almost hitting my head on the wall.
I'm so fucking tired of this.
I stand up because, honestly, compared to other stuff he's done to me, that really didn't hurt. I get in his face the best I can since he's six foot three and more muscular than Zack. "That's the best you got?" I spit at him.
At this point, I've pretty much signed up for my own death.
I'm not going down without a fight.
I keep my gaze with his, but I see his fists clench at his sides. His hands go on my shoulders and I'm shoved against the wall, hard. I yelp as I feel pain in my back and put my hands on his wrists.
Drew throws me to the ground and kicks my side, making me yelp again. He tries to kick me again, but I move out of the way quickly and stand. He stares at me like I'm crazy and like he doesn't understand what's going on.
"Come on! You've done way worse than that!" I yelled. He's taken aback and I take that opportunity to swing at his eye, hitting him.
Yup. Now I've definitely signed up for my own death.
Drew clutches his eye after I hit him and I take this chance to try to make a run for it. He catches my arm just before I walk out of the room. His grip is tight and he throws me down on the ground again, kicking me in the side once...twice...three times.
He pulls me up and shoves me into the wall. I wince and my legs buckle under me. As I start to fall his hands go to my throat, keeping me up. I scratch and claw at his wrists and hands, trying to get them away from my neck. I gasped for air that won't come as Drew shouts, "You don't fucking hit me!"
My lungs are aching for air as he finally let's go. I gasp, taking in a deep breath and cough. I fall to my knees and I'm kicked in the side once again.
Drew grabs my forearm tightly and pulls me up, letting his fist connect with my nose once I'm standing. "What now, bitch?" he yells, punching my stomach.
I cry out in pain, but that only makes him punch my stomach again. He back hands my tear drenched face and I wince. His left hand goes to my neck again, not choking me, but slamming me into the wall. My head hits the wall and I instantly feel a headache start to form. "Drew, please-" I start, but it's cut off by being back handed again.
His fist connects with my chin and I nearly bite my tongue. He slams me into the wall again before throwing me down on the floor once more. I close my eyes brace myself for another kick, but I feel his breath on my face.
I open my eyes to see him kneeled down next to me. "Never hit me again," he says sternly and stands up walking out the bedroom door. I curl up on the floor and just cry because of all the pain I'm in.
This is one of the worse fights.
The Next Morning
I have so many bruises, I can't even cover them with make-up. Almost all of my stomach is purple, my nose is swollen and has a black tint to it, my other cheek has a huge red mark on it that I couldn't cover up with make-up, my chin has a black bruise, the bruises on my neck are worse, my back has a few bruises on it, and I can barely talk.
I have a turtle neck on, my nose and cheek is the only part of my face not covered with make-up, and I feel like I got hit by a bus. But I'm on a plane that will really only take an hour to get me home.
If it wasn't for Jack coming to my house last week, I wouldn't even be here.
He saved my life.
I leaned back in my seat, wincing slightly and thanking God that no one had a seat next to me. Just as I started to fall asleep, (I didn't get any last night. Too much pain) we land and I then find myself with two bags full of my stuff in my hands and walking out of the airport to Jack's car.
I see him leaning against his car, but he's facing away from me. So I walk over to stand in front of him, but don't say anything because my voice is too scratchy.
Since he was looking down, he slowly looks up at me, eyes trailing from my feet to my face. He smiles at me and says, "Hey, Spencer."
Tears well up in my eyes and all I do is drop my bags at my feet and wrap my arms around him and cry into his chest. Jack's arms wrap around me and he just lets me cry for a few minutes. I pull away first and wipe the rest of the make-up away, knowing I cried some of it off. I look up at Jack.
He gasps and take my face in his hands. "Two black eyes and...is your nose broken?"
I shake my head. "This isn't all of it," I said and frowned at how scratchy my voice was, but was surprised that it kind of sounded like I was sick and was losing my voice.
Ha. It's far from that simple.
"Well, what else is there?" Jack asked, dropping his hands. I pulled down the collar of my turtle neck to reveal the black and purple fingerprint bruises. Jack's jaw drops and he touches them lightly.
"That's not all," I whispered. His eyes widened slightly and I slid off my jacket, tossing it on one of my bags, then pull up my shirt to show him my stomach. "I also have one on my chin, one on my leg, and some on my back."
I shivered as Jack's fingers touch my stomach. He pulls back slightly for a second, but starts to trace some again. "I can't believe he did this to you."
I shrug and pull my shirt down as Jack shoves his hands into his jacket pockets. I pick up my jacket and said, "He's done worse."
"How can it get worse than that?"
"Broken bones," I said, bluntly as I slid my jacket back on.
"Spencer..." He hugs me and I can tell he's trying to be gentle. I let more tears fall out of my eyes as I hug him back. I start sobbing and he rubs my back. "It's okay. He can't hurt you anymore."
I nod. "I know. I'm just glad to be home," I said, then step back from him. "Does anyone else know I'm here?"
He shakes his head. "You never said you wanted someone else to know, so I didn't tell anyone."
I nod. "Thank you."
Jack nods and then hesitates before asking, "When did he do this to you?" He lifts his hand so his thumb is tracing the bottom of my eye a little.
"My left eye and some bruises on my back was after I met with you, my right eye, some of the bruises on my neck, the one on my leg, and the bruises on my waist was yesterday morning. And my stomach, my nose, my chin, and the rest of my neck and back was last night," I explained.
"You didn't fight when you tried to leave?"
"He was at work."
"Does he know you're gone?"
I checked my watch. "He will when he reads the note in about an hour."
Jack nods and he wraps his arms around me protectively. "Welcome home, Spence," he says softly.
I wrap my arms around him again and say, "You have no idea how it feels to hear that."
"So you're not going back?" he asks, pulling back to look at me, but he keeps his arms around my waist.
I shake my head. "Not to him, no."
Jack sighs and smiles wide at me. "Thank you."
I cock my head to the side, but smile. "For what?"
He shakes his head and pulls open the door to the back seat. "Never mind," he says as he picks up both my bags and puts them in the car. I shrug and stop Jack, kissing his cheek, then climb into the passenger seat of the car.
Yeah. Much better.
XXXX
"Jack, are you sure this is a good idea?" I look over at him with nerves in my stomach and worried eyes.
"If you want them to know, then yes," he says, grabbing my hand and leading me up the sidewalk to Alex and Rian's house. "It'll be fine."
"Is Zack here?" I asked.
He nods. "For about another week. Then, he's going home."
I've covered my chin with make-up and tried to cover my eyes, but one was harder to cover up and you can see it easily. The make-up will probably come off with tears and I'll wipe it off to show them. It's the same day, only four hours later.
I see the dogs run up to the door and start barking, getting Alex's attention, as we walk up the steps. I hold onto Jack's hand like my life depended on it out of nerves. Alex slowly stands up and walks to the door, the beer he was holding in his hand drops to the floor and he stops on the other side of the door.
I wave slightly, and smile a little at him. He looks gorgeous, I thought. He was dressed in loose jeans and a flannel red and black plaid shirt.
"Alex, open the door!" Jack yelled, but I see he's smiling. I giggled and with that Alex opens the door and steps over the threshold, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I wince, but relax and wrap my arms around him.
"You're here," he says into my hair, but pulls back slightly to meet my eyes. "Why?" Thankfully, it was dark so it hid my bruise you could see. Alex looks at Jack, who just shrugs and walks into the house. "Come in and we can talk."
Alex starts to pick up pieces of the bottle that he dropped as Rian walks in. "What happened?" he asks, looking over at Jack. I walk in and his jaw drops. "Oh, my God! Spencer." He walks towards me, and then furrows his eyebrows together. "What happened to you?" He caresses his thumb under my eye, just once.
I look down and Alex lifts my chin up with his hand as he stands up. He gasped. "Who did this to you?"
Shaking my head, I slide my jacket off as gently as I could. I sigh and look at both Rian and Alex. "The truth or a lie?"
They both hesitate, but Rian says, "What's the lie?"
"I fell and hit my face on my front steps slipping on ice."
Alex cocks his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "No, really, what happened?"
I pause and look between Alex and Rian. "It's a long story and I would much rather tell you with everyone here."
"Oh...Kay," Rian starts, "but I want a hug first." Rian and I both smile and he wraps his arms around me. I wince slightly, but relax as I hug him back.
"Ah, man. I missed you guys," I said as Rian pulls back. "Where's Zack?"
"Bathroom," Rian says.
I nodded and hopped onto the counter behind me, causing Alex to jerk his head towards a hallway. "What is it?"
I hear a groan, then his girlfriend, Ashley, steps around the corner. "I knew it was you."
Ashley's a little shorter than me, skinny as fuck, but has the right curves. She's got brown hair, brown eyes, and an eyebrow piercing.
She doesn't like me because I dated Alex, and I don't like her because of all the crap she gives me.
Simple.
I roll my eyes, but hide it with a blink. "I'm not allowed to see my friends?"
"Not in my house. She crosses her arms.
Alex holds up his hand, pointing at the ceiling. "Correction, it's my house. And Spencer can come over when ever she wants." He glares at her.
She sighs and rolls her eyes, snatching up a black jacket from a chair to my right. "I'll be back when she's gone."
Alex sighs and leans against the counter, letting his head hang. I slide off the counter and go to put my jacket back on, but someone grabs my arm. I wince out of habit and tense up a little, but relax when I turn to see Alex looking at me with pleading eyes.
I jump as I hear the door slam, and then the dogs start barking. I hear footsteps and Zack walks down the hallway, glancing at us, but does a double take when he sees me. "Spencer!"
He walks over to me and I smile and wrap my arms around him. "Hey, Zack."
His arms go around me, and he steps back after a second. His eyes widened a little as he sees my face. "What happened?"
I take a deep a breath and look over at Jack. "Let's go into your living room so she can explain," he says, walking over to me and taking my hand.
I nod and look at Alex, holding my hand out to him. He half smiles, takes my hand and we all walk into the living room. Alex, Jack, and I sat on the floor in front of the couch, while Zack and Rian sat in front of us.
I dropped Alex and Jack hands and wiped the make-up on my face off with the sleeves to my shirt. I look up, kind of surprised tears weren't burning in my eyes.
"Whoa."
"What the-"
"Who the fuck did this to you?" Alex held my chin up with his index finger and traced the bruise on my chin.
"Want me to tell you, or show you the rest of the bruises first?" I asked, turning away from Alex, but I looked down at the floor.
"There's more?" Rian said.
I nod and Jack says, "A lot more."
I start to pull off my turtle neck, but they all turn away saying, "Whoa!"
"Guys, I'm trying to show you bruises," I said, laughing a little.
They turn back and I pull my turtle neck off, but I still have a tank top on. I pull up the tank top to show the purple and blue marks on my stomach.
"Fuck," Rian says.
"Holy shit," Alex mumbles and lightly touches my stomach, but flinched back and looks up at me.
"It's fine. That didn't hurt," I said. Alex starts tracing the bruises again and I added, "I have some on my back and one on my leg, and-" I pull my shirt back down and move my hair out of the way to show the bruises on my neck.
They all gasped and Rian said, "Spencer, what the fuck happened to you?"
So I went into the stories about the last three fights I was in, but only got through the first and halfway through the second one before Alex wrapped his hand around my arm and laid his head on my shoulder. "I don't want to hear anymore," he says, his eyes closed tightly.
"There is more you need to know, though, Alex," Jack says and grabs my hand, lacing our fingers.
"He beat the shit out of her for talking to you. That's all I need to know," Alex looks up at Jack a little and his voice is raising.
"Just shut up and listen to her," Zack said.
Drew's hands went to my throat and he screamed, "I hate you!" I clawed and pulled at his wrists, just trying to get his hands away so I could breathe. I was starting to black out when he finally let go. My legs gave out and I dropped to the floor, gasping for air.
Oddly enough, Drew waited until I was breathing normal again before pulling me back up, slamming me into the dresser behind me, and punching my eye. I don't know exactly what happened, but he threw me down and somehow my leg hit the bed hard.
He dropped to his knees next to me and said softly, "Spencer! Oh my, God! Are you okay?" I winced and sat up, rubbing my leg. I blinked and winced again at the pain in my eye.
"The stupid part is, I don't even know what the hell we were fighting about in the first place," I said.
Alex wrapped his arms around my arm and was still laying his head on my shoulder. Zack and Rian looked at me with sad eyes, and Jack was laying down with his head in my lap. I was running my fingers through his hair.
I kept telling stories about the last fight and then what happened when Jack picked me up earlier that day. "It was like I felt a weight lift off your shoulders," Jack said, smiling up at me.
I giggle and rest my head on top of Alex's. "You don't know what it felt like to come home after all of that."
"Well, can I just say," Zack starts, "if this asshole comes here, I'm kicking his ass."
We all laughed and I said, "Thanks, Zack."
"Does he know you're here?" Rian said.
I shook my head. "I left him a note saying I was leaving and that I wasn't coming back." He nodded.
It was quiet for a minute, but Jack said, "You're blonde hair is growing back."
Alex lifts his head, causing me to move mine. "Don't dye it brown again," he says, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I wince, but relax and say, "I wasn't planning on it," and he smiles.
I had got up to go to the bathroom, but when I came out, everyone was in the kitchen, fucking around. Jack and Alex looked like they were about to make out by the sink and Zack and Rian were play fighting.
I walk over to a cabinet and grab a cup, then turn to look at Alex and Jack. "Want some alone time, you two?" Jack stuck his tongue out at me and Alex laughed and shook his head. I stood in between them to fill my glass up full of water from the sink, but stop when I feel a finger caressing my cheek.
"I can't believe he did this to you," Alex says. I shrug and take a drink of water.
"Guys, let's go play Call Of Duty, or something," Rian starts walking back to his room.
"HALO!" Jack yells and runs after Rian, Zack following behind, laughing.
Alex and I chuckle as their voices disappear down the hallway and then cut off once the door is shut. That leaves us in a silence I would love to fill, but I don't know what to say. Alex cups my cheek in his hand, his thumb tracing over the bruises on chin and eye.
"I missed you," he confessed.
"I missed you, too," I admit and lean into his palm.
He wraps his arms around my waist and I can tell he's trying to be gentle. I wrap my arms around his neck to hug him back, but he pulls back slightly, keeping his arms around me. "Please don't ever do that again. Leave me, I mean."
I shake my head, looking up into his eyes that have so much emotion in them, I can't tell what he's feeling. "I won't."
He gives a small smile and starts to lean in, but it's cut off by a door opening and closing, followed by dogs barking.
Alex sighs and lets me go as Ashley walks into the kitchen, setting her keys down on the counter. She grabs an apple out of the bowl on the counter and looks up. Her eyes widen for a second once she sees me. "What happened to you?" she asked, seeming only half interested as she bit into her apple.
"One long ass story," I said, walking out of the kitchen and into Rian's room.
So close.
