Disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis, the characters in it, and the locations used.
A/N: *blush* So, um, as I'm sure you're aware, I'm late for the update. I know! I'm sorry! But I'm at Gulf Shores on vacation and it's been a busy week and I really tried to get the chapter ready in time, I really did, but then I ended up adding a whole 1,000 words to this chapter, making this the longest chapter yet. Forgive me? *puppy dog eyes*
Forgive me or forgive me not. Either way, here we go!
Nina POV
Amber's alarm clock jerked me into consciousness with a gasp. My eyes searched the room - it was still dark. Dawn hadn't even broken across the sky yet. Amber's clock read 4:00 a.m.
While I tried to calm my breathing down again, she moaned and groaned and slapped the top of her alarm clock, effectively shutting it up for another five minutes. Then all of a sudden she sat up, her hair a mess and her eyes clouded with sleep as she looked around the room. When they landed on me, they narrowed in confusion.
"It's Friday, isn't it?" she asked, yawning. I nodded. It had been five days since my midnight picnic with Fabian. Five blissfully peaceful days. "Then why is my alarm clock on?"
That was a good question.
Suddenly understanding flashed across her face, and she was awake and blazing angry. I flinched back, actually a little fearful of her, but she didn't even notice. She was too busy getting out of bed and walking out the door - in her pajamas.
"JEROME? ALFIE?" she yelled so loudly I cringed. I quickly got up, changed into my clothes I'd set out the night before, and followed after her. She stomped down the stairs, each step echoing loudly across the old house. Mara peeked her head out of her room she shared with the other two girls, quirking an eyebrow in question, and I just shook my head.
I was just as confused as her.
I trailed Amber down the stairs and followed her all the way to Jerome and Alfie's room. She opened the door without knocking, revealing two snoring men tucked under covers. Before I could stop her - though I don't know how I would've - she was stalking over to their beds and pulling their covers off of the both of them.
Boxers. Jerome and Alfie were just in boxers.
Both boys startled awake to see a furious Amber standing over them. They shared a look, then burst into laughter, apparently not fazed by the fact that they were practically naked. Amber didn't even look like she noticed.
I, meanwhile, was regretting ever following Amber. The only man I'd seen naked was him, and each time hadn't ended well. Logic told me there was no danger here, but logic was a very fickle thing when it came to me. Surely with Amber present…
Still.
Time to back away.
"If you could see your face right now!" Alfie crowed, seeming to not even notice me in the room.
"I need a camera. Someone wake Joy, I need her camera!" Jerome joined in.
"It's so-"
"Purple-"
"Goodness Amber, it's a really good color for you!"
Back away slowly, just back-
Amber smacked Jerome so hard on the arm that even I could hear it from across the room. She walked over to Alfie's bed and did the same. Both boys rubbed the spots but couldn't seem to stop laughing.
I paused my slow backwards movements. Now Amber was threatened. She'd slapped them both, surely they would retaliate. If I'd hit them, it would've been justified if they hit me back. But that didn't mean it was right to stand there and watch Amber get hurt. I could jump in front of her, try to take their hits-
They were still simply laughing. They didn't even seem angry. Maybe they weren't going to hit her back. But why wouldn't they? If I'd dared to hit him, I would've been locked in the closet for a week-
"What's going on in here?" asked a familiar sleepy voice from behind me. I flipped around quickly, startled, only to smack into a chest.
A bare chest.
Fabian's bare chest.
He had on pajama pants, thank the heavens. Had he been in his boxers, I knew I would've shut down immediately. But for some reason, this had me a gazillion times more overwhelmed than seeing Alfie and Jerome in their boxers.
Fabian was shirtless. Amber was screaming. Jerome and Alfie were in boxers, laughing their heads off.
And I was in the center of it all, practically cornered.
"Nina," he said, as startled as I was. "Oh- I, um-" He looked down at himself and blushed. "I'm sort of shirtless."
Yes, I was aware. Very, very aware.
Worry swept over his face as his eyes narrowed. "Are you okay? You look a little unsteady."
Oh, so that explained why the room was starting to sway.
A faint moan could barely be heard under the chaos around me, and I realized belatedly that it came from me. His hand was suddenly looming before my face and I jerked away, a whimper escaping me. His eyes softened, even as hurt bloomed across his face.
"Nina, what's-" he started, but another smack bounced off the walls. I quickly looked over at Amber - it was her hitting them again, not the other way around as I'd feared - only to realize that my back was now to Fabian and he was shirtless and he was in front of my only way of escape and fear overwhelmed logic once more.
I sunk to my knees, then crawled backwards until my head hit a wardrobe, making me even dizzier than before. I curled up into a ball, trying to shut down before the panic attack hit. Block it out, just block it out-
But wait. Amber. Amber. I had to stay awake, I had to protect Amber if the boys hit back…
"Nina," came a voice, quiet and calm. "Calm down. No one's going to get hurt here, especially not you. Don't shut down yet. Breathe. I'll calm them down, okay?"
I cringed away from the voice. That voice was male, but it wasn't him. If he touched me, he would find out, and he'd punish me. And I didn't want him to touch me anyway. I had to get away, and I had to get away now.
I scooted back, but my head rammed into something. I was in the corner, I couldn't go any farther. I had to shut down. But there was someone… someone I had to protect…
It was only then that I realized that everything had gone dead silent, save for my sobs that I hadn't realized had started. Nothing. Nothing. Still nothing.
Silence.
My sobs dissolved as I waited for some sort of sound. And finally, one came.
"Nina?" came a quiet, distressed voice. High. Female. Not an immediate threat. "Nina, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. We didn't mean to scare you. And I'm okay, it's all okay. No one is going to hurt anyone."
Why would someone get hurt someone besides me? Wait. There had been someone I had been trying to protect, right? From what? Who? Who was I even protecting?
Oh.
Amber.
Right.
And like that, logic flooded back into my senses. I looked up sharply, fearing what I would find.
Jerome and Alfie were no longer in just boxers. They were out of bed, they had pants on, and they were halfway through pulling out shirts as they looked at me. Amber was unharmed and staring down at me. Fabian was still shirtless, but now he was on the floor, his hand extended towards mine.
"No one is going to hurt anyone," Fabian repeated. "Not you, not Amber, not any of us. Jerome and Alfie aren't going to hurt her, are they, boys?"
At this obvious nudge, both guys nodded, looking guilty. "No, we aren't. Sorry Nina," Alfie said, his voice a lot softer and a lot more serious than normal. Beside him, Jerome nodded as well.
Embarrassment filled me. What had I just done? What sort of reaction had that been? Now I just wanted to get up and escape, but I was still cornered, and two of the three men in the room were towering above me. I glanced at Fabian, panic starting to poke at me again, but it was Amber who realized what was needed.
"All three of you, back as far away from the door as possible. And sit down on the beds, if that's okay," she ordered, sending me an approval seeking glance. I nodded, grateful for the help.
Within a few seconds, the way to the door was clear.
So I got out after a thankful look to both Fabian and Amber, but I couldn't help my stray thought as I headed to my bedroom - sleep was impossible, but I could get some homework done - one that I shut down immediately.
Huh. Who knew Fabian would look that good shirtless?
X
Fabian POV
I watched her go, breathing hard. That had escalated a lot quicker than I'd expected.
I'd probably never go without a shirt again, first of all, because it was obvious that had overwhelmed her and, if anything, scared the crap out of her. With good reason. I had to wonder how many times her stepfather had come into her room at night, drunk and half asleep with only sleep pants on.
God, I was an idiot. I'd have to apologize later, when I wasn't shirtless.
Nina hadn't asked about Amber's knowledge of the situation between her and her stepfather, and I hadn't offered - but the moment I'd told Amber was one moment I would never forget.
"How's the song coming?" Amber asked, sending me a smirk as she put away her newly dried clothes.
"It's… coming. I think I finally worked out the verse I was having problems with." Nina's song, which I had stupidly performed for her when it was only half-written, was finally nearing its end of its writing process. I wasn't sure what to call it yet, but my best guess was You I See. It fit, at least. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." I'd come here for a much more serious, much more mellow reason.
"Oh really? What, then?"
"I know who's been abusing Nina, and she's given me permission to tell you as well."
The clothes in Amber's hands dropped to the floor as she froze. Slowly she turned to face me, wide-eyed. "You know who's been abusing her? Who is it? Is it Mark? I swear, if that piece of crap has laid one hand on-"
"It's not Mark," I cut in. "And you may want to sit down for this." She eyed me worriedly but complied, sitting down on the bed. "I… I'm not sure how to say it."
"Just force it out, Fabian. I can take it."
"It's Nina's stepfather."
She stared at me blankly for at least a full minute. Then she started laughing weakly. "Her stepfather. You almost had me going there for a minute. I really don't appreciate the joke, Fabian, that's a disgusting thought…" She studied my face, waiting for a crack of a smile. When there was none, her jaw dropped. "Oh my god," she whispered.
"I know."
"He… I shook hands with that man. I made conversation with him and thought he was nice. I smiled at that guy, and you're saying he… oh my god."
"I know."
"He's been the one this whole time, in America and here. That's why she was so screwed up after her walk. Those bruises… he gave her those bruises."
"I know."
"But he's her stepfather. That's not right. It's not right in the first place, but that man is supposed to care for her and love her." Her eyes were beginning to shine with tears. I wondered how long it would take for her to break into sobs. "He's supposed to be there for her, not abuse her and rape her. Oh… he raped her. Her own stepfather has raped her."
"I know." Each time I said it, I said it as calmly as possible, when all I wanted to do was scream. 'I know' was the only thing I could force out that wouldn't cause me to burst into flames.
Amber's hands started shaking. I sat down beside her, trying to decide whether hugging her would help or hinder her slow descent into tears.
"What else did she tell you? What else have you found out?" she whispered, obviously trying to distract herself from the threat of tears. I knew my answers wouldn't help that attempt, but I answered anyway.
"She told me a number of things. She said the beatings started when she was four, the day after her mother died. And he first raped her when she was… when she was ten," I pushed out.
Amber's gasp twisted into her first sob.
"She told me about some of her beatings and what she does to get them, but trust me, you don't want to hear the specifics. But… she… she thinks that she deserves everything that's been done to her," I said slowly.
She looked at me with watery eyes.
"She thinks she deserves it? How could she think that?" she demanded.
"Her stepfather," I responded with a thick voice. "I can tell just by what she's said that he's completely brainwashed her. He's taught her that she's inferior even to the gum on the underside of people's shoes. She thinks she's worth nothing. I told her she was pretty and she told me that I didn't have to lie about that sort of thing. He's screwed her up so much and it's killing me."
"And we don't even know a thousandth of what she's been through," Amber whispered.
That was when she burst into tears.
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me, rocking her slowly like I wished I could do to Nina. Hugging Nina… I'd dreamed about that moment. And I knew it'd probably take months for her to let herself see it as a hug and not as a trap, but I would wait. For now, I would hold Amber instead, because that was what she needed.
"I d-don't understand h-how she's not c-catatonic," Amber choked out through her sobs. "She d-deserves s-so much m-more."
"Shhh, Amber, calm down," I soothed, running a hand through her hair. "I know. Believe me, I know. But she has us now. Everyone here, but us especially. And we are going to help her in every way we can. That's all we can do."
When her sobs died down, I explained to her the agreement we'd set up - for now, no one else could know. Then I'd brought her some snacks, and we'd run through some theories of how to help her.
I had to hope that one of them would work.
School that day was bland. We got a new art assignment, I polished off the lyrics for You I See in between classes, and that was that. Amber was in a foul mood due to her 4:00 am wakeup call as well as quiet after Nina's breakdown, and everyone was a little tired due to the lost sleep from her fight with Jerome and Alfie, but the mood picked up considerably when someone brought up Halloween on the way home.
Nina - who was trailing along beside us silently - shot me a questioning look. It was the first time she'd looked at me since this morning.
"We don't do trick-or-treating at the Academy. Too many houses have been egged and typically each house hogs most of their own candy anyway, so there was no point," I explained. "So we - as in Anubis House's inhabitants - buy bags of our favorite candy and watch horror movies until the late hours of the night. What movies have we decided on this year?"
"Cabin in the Woods and Signs are the ones we've chosen so far - Signs is courtesy of Alfie, obviously," Patricia said, rolling her eyes. "Luckily it's good. We've yet to decide on the third movie. Do have any favorites, Nina?"
No. I've never watched any scary movies.
"Does gore make you squeamish at all? Blood or anything?" Mara asked. "Amber has to leave sometimes, so don't feel embarrassed if you are."
No. Blood used to freak me out, but being who I am, I had to get used to it. It's hard to be squeamish from artificial gore when you see the real thing on yourself whenever you look in the mirror.
The silence that followed wasn't the prettiest of pauses. Nina cringed when she realized what she'd just written.
"What about Prank Day?" I asked, trying to push past the awkwardness.
It worked.
"Aw man, I thought you forgot!" Alfie complained. "I was so ready to pull the best prank ever and catch you totally unaware. Now I'm gonna have to watch my back."
"I've been cooking up a spectacular prank," I said with a grin. "You all better be on the lookout, because one of you are in for a world of trouble." Once again, Nina looked confused. I smirked. "We have this Prank Day on November 3rd. Everyone tries to pull pranks on other members of the house. Last year I managed to surprise Alfie and Jerome - I put itching powder on the insides of all their shirts, pants, and shoes. I was reigned king of the Prank Day. I got a crown and everything."
"And now we're going to take your crown, oh mighty king. That took forever to get out of our stuff," Jerome said, rolling his eyes. "We have things planned."
More taunts were thrown back and forth, and Nina watched on with a smile. When we got home, we all sat down and tried to decide on which movie to watch.
"Have you finished Harry Potter, Nina?" Mara asked with a smile. She nodded, a grin spreading across her face.
"Then it's decided! We're having our Harry Potter Movie Marathon this weekend!" Alfie crowed. "Alright, where's the hat? Jerome, do we have the hat?"
A wizard's hat was promptly put on Nina head, courtesy of Jerome. I laughed at her wide-eyed expression. Amber brought out the set of Harry Potter movies and stuck the first one in as everyone got settled. I sat down in my usual spot on one end of the couch.
And for the first time, instead of sitting in the single seat chair, Nina sat down next to me.
The two of us struggled over placing the blanket so it covered both of us. In the end Nina huddled in a little closer - not close enough that our sides were touching, but close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off of her. I tossed the blanket over the both of us, and she snuggled into it happily.
This whole thing, which was leaving me slightly stunned, went unnoticed by everyone but Amber, who bit down on the grin that automatically popped onto her face. Nina noticed her stare and frowned, causing Amber to look away.
But when the lights went out and the previews started rolling, Nina scooted even closer to me. I didn't think she'd even realized what she done, but our arms brushed whenever we breathed in at the same moment.
This time, Amber could hold back her smile.
And I couldn't either.
X
Nina POV
I was not ashamed to admit that I cried a little when the final shot of Harry, Ron, and Hermione faded away on screen. Especially since Mara had tears dripping from her chin and Fabian had a slight sheen of tears in his eyes. This I could see because we were so close. My side was pressed up against his, and as I looked up at him, my chin brushed his shoulder-
Wait.
I jerked away quickly, putting at least three inches of space between us. How long had we been like that? How had we gotten to that point? More importantly, how did I not notice?
By the way Fabian tried to hide a slight frown, I realized that he had noticed long before I had. And he hadn't minded, nor had he mentioned it.
I took the last wand cookie - baked for us by Trudy, who had joined us for the last movie - and bit into it before I even realized what I was doing. I froze mid-chew.
I'd taken the last one.
Fabian noticed the way I'd tensed and sent a worried look my way. I took out my notepad.
I took the last cookie. I don't want anyone to be mad.
He relaxed and chuckled. "Nina, no one is going to be mad at you. This is supposed to be pretty much your movie marathon, so you get first rights to the cookies anyway. You worry too much."
I wanted to say that I had full right to worry - I'd done this once at home. He had made me bake more cookies, but didn't allow me to put on oven mitts when I took the tray out of the oven. If someone were to pay close attention to my hands, they'd be able to notice a difference in texture and a very slight rise to the skin on certain parts of my palms and fingers, thanks to the 2nd degree burns I'd gotten that night.
Not to mention the beating I'd gotten afterward when I screamed from the blistering heat.
Yeah, I had full right to worry. But I wasn't going to ruin his night by sharing this memory, so I simply sighed and looked away.
We'd already had dinner, so once the credits ended, Jerome snatched the hat off my head and everyone headed for bed - after the round of questions on what did I think of this character and that change and a lot of others.
By the time I had gotten upstairs, I was on sensory overload. Amber followed a few minutes after, just as I had finished changing into pajamas and started brushing out my hair.
"Nina, you are in serious need of a haircut."
I looked up at her, blinking blearily. She was sitting on her bed in her pajamas, watching me with calm and curious eyes. I squinted, unsure as to whether I should be hurt or annoyed or agreeing. Apparently she understood.
"Sorry, I know that came out of nowhere, but I can see the frizziness from lack of care from over here and your split end are insane and I think I'm going to explode just looking at it for another few months," she ranted. I groaned a little, sat the brush down, and shoved my face into my pillow.
I put the blanket over my head as an afterthought.
"Promise you'll think about it?" Amber asked, pulling another moan from me. "Come on Nina, this isn't even entirely about looking pretty - though it is a part of it. This is about health. And you hair… well it's not healthy, like, at all."
I peeked my head out from under the covers and clearly mouthed the words we'll see to her. She seemed startled by the movement of my lips, like she was expecting a voice to come with them.
Hah. As if. Just because I was uttering noises like a giggle or a grunt occasionally did not mean I was going to speak. Hell to the no, thank you very much.
"Fine," she said after a second. "We'll see is good enough for now, I suppose. Good night, Nina."
I rolled my eyes and rolled over, closing my eyes and falling asleep easily.
"Nina?" Alfie called out, stopping me in my tracks in the middle of the school hallway. Classes had just ended for the day, and I was eager to head home and curl up on the couch to do my newest art project.
Apparently, that was going to be postponed for a moment.
Alfie and Jerome came to a stop in front of me. Their easy, open expressions set me at ease before I could start to worry.
"I was wondering if we could ask you to do something with us, but… not in the middle of the hallway where Fabian can hear." I narrowed my eyes in confusion but nodded, and he grinned.
Then he put a hand on my arm.
It was pure shock that made me startle and take a step back, not fear, which shocked me even more. Alfie's jaw dropped and he quickly snatched back his hand.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," he said quickly. It took me a second, but I nodded slowly, trying to put a smile on my face as I wondered why I wasn't shutting down. A boy, quite a bit taller and fitter than me, grabbing my upper arm? Had this happened during my first month or two of school, I would've collapsed almost instantly.
I came back to the present and realized they were trying to guide me to the edge of the hallway. I followed warily, wondering what this was all about.
"You remember Prank Day?" I nodded. "We want you to help us prank Fabian."
Oh.
Oh.
Well… that sounded sort of fun. As long as the prank was harmless; I didn't want him to be mad at me. So I smiled and nodded, an expression they mirrored.
"Sweet. We've got an idea of what we want to do - you'll find the prank ironic, I think. We'll tell you about the details later, but we wanted to make sure you wanted to first. Don't mention it to Fabian, and turn down all other offers of pranking people, okay?"
Then they were walking off, a new spring in both their steps.
I sighed, shaking my head and chuckling as I headed outside. The double door slammed shut behind me just before a hand grabbed the tip of sleeve and yanked it - bringing me with it.
"Hello, Nina. Can we chat?" My stomach dropped when I looked up into the face of the speaker.
Mark.
A/N: Ha, and you all thought the old face was her stepfather. Hehehehehehe- WRONG! Let's see if you can guess better this time around: what do you think Mark's intentions are with her?
Next chapter update is June 5th, next Wednesday. Face off with Mark, Anubis House gets a peek at Nina's scars without clothes as a barrier (got any guesses there?), Nina gets red eyes for Halloween and a lot of candy is eaten. Woot!
Reviews are love, dear readers. It helps that you get a preview of the next chapter for reviewing. And the person who reviews first gets two. Tempting enough?
See ya next Wednesday!