Chapter 36

Sophie's POV

From my room, I could hear my parents arguing in the den down the hall. Each thought they knew how to fix me and thought taking me back with them would take care of everything. Dad wanted to push the law end of things while Mom was more set on treatment centers focused on methods of self-healing through hypnosis, breathing exercises and yoga. Personally, I had no desire to go with either of them at this point, but I doubted they would hear me out. It had been like this for days.

I mostly tried to stay out of sight, but Mom was pretty adamant that I be involved in her outings. She'd never been to Boston after all and she wanted to experience the city with her daughters and granddaughter.

There was a knock and I looked up to see Damon wearing a half smile, "Hey," he greeted coming to sit on my bed. "Sounds intense," he commented, dryly.

I rolled my eyes, "They've never been able to get along for long. I should have known they'd come, but I kind of hoped maybe no one would tell them."

"You can't be serious," he brushed a piece of hair off my forehead, "They're your parents; they just want what's best for you. Be glad they care."

"Ugh!" I groaned out of frustration, "If that's what caring sounds like, I don't want it. They're in there making decisions that affect me without even asking what I want."

"So tell them," he stated, plainly as though it were the most matter of fact thing.

"Like they're going to care," I sighed.

"You never know," he tipped my chin up so my lips met his.

I responded, hungry for an escape and that I knew he would provide, well, that is, if I could talk him into going further than we'd been so far. My hands explored his face, chest, torso and lower. His response was greater than I'd expected. Without a word, I slipped my shirt up over my head, placing his hand on my breast for encouragement.

"Sophie," I could tell he was fighting his urges and only hoped he might give in. "Sophie," he groaned again.

I groaned as I pressed up against him longing for his touch in just the right place. "Please," I begged. "I need you."

"Soph," his tone was sad as he redirected my hand. I fought against him and he adjusted his hold to prevent me from getting my way. "Enough...You know I want you more than anything, but right now, I can't in clear conscious...Soph, you need so much healing first and I don't want to do something that's going to trigger your trauma. I stand by what I said before...we need to wait."

"Screw you!" I screamed at him, angrily. In my heart, I knew he wasn't rejecting me only looking out for my heart, but I had enough people "looking out for me" right now. "You're NOT my father. You don't have to worry about watching out for poor little Sophie! Poor Sophie who lost her virginity to a guy at knife point while she screamed and begged for her freedom. Poor Sophie can't manage her own life. Poor Sophie is just going to fall apart if we don't fix her. I am NOT your project! I get a say and I WANT you!"

"Sophia Rose, you need to listen to me..." he began patiently.

"NO!" I responded, coldly. "GET OUT!"

"What? You can't be serious?!" he narrowed his eyes at me. "I'm not leaving."

"Yes, you are NOW GET OUT!" she demanded once more.

"Sophia Rose, you need to lose the attitude. I have done nothing to hurt you, but your words right now are hurting me."

"Good!" I laughed. It was out of character and truth be told, I didn't want to hurt anyone, but at the same time, I didn't want to feel so out of control.

The door opened and I looked up to see Alice standing there wearing a concerned look, "Damon, let me," she looked tired still in clothes from working out with the cheerleaders at school.

With a sigh, he nodded, threw me a sad smile and walked out closing the door behind himself.

Alice came to sit beside me wearing a concerned look, "Why are you throwing up?" she asked with a cross of her arms.

"What?" I blinked rapidly surprised by her question.

"I saw it," she explained still waiting for my response. "Want to explain what was just going on? I could hear you from down the hall."

"Nope," I shook my head.

"No?" she asked. "Soph, come on. I'm worried about you."

"Don't worry about it," I responded in a rebellious tone.

"I do," she smiled, sadly. "Because I worry about you. Do you want to get out of here?"

I shrugged as my phone text alert went off. Quickly, I reached for the phone that had fallen on the floor in front of where Alice stood. At the same time, her hand closed around the phone and a ripple of panic flowed through me. I could tell the message had pulled up on the screen by the expression on her face.

"What's this?" she asked, holding the phone up so I could view the screen.

"Nothing.."I shrugged, "Just a prank." I lied and not very effectively.

"Sophie," she knelt before me with a concerned expression. "This is NOT nothing."

"Just give me my phone," I demanded, reaching out for it. Her hand maintained the device just outside of my reach.

"Not until you tell me what's going on. Who's bothering you?"

"It's a friend. It's just a sick joke. He's kind of twisted. Whatever," I tried to work my way out of this. I could see she wasn't buying it.

"This doesn't look like a joke," she sighed before handing my phone back to me. I knew she must have seen the palor set into my face when I saw the new text, but I put on a fake smile of amusement and forced a laugh.

"Sophie, you're like my sister and it hurts me when you put up these walls and close everyone out. I get that you experienced a huge trauma and I know you've been forced to relive it over and over again. But it's obvious you're hurting and you need us. Don't close us out."