(Author's Note: Trigger warning. Self Harm(cutting)/SexualAbuse)
Days went by. Sometimes faster than the ones before, sometimes slower. It all depended on the day. Lily was on her way to her locker on Friday morning. Last night at home had been one of the worst nights since Simone left. She pondered for a bit, and messed with her lock. She sighed and struggled with it, on the verge of tears. She fumbled with it again, and soon she had hit her locker in frustration. Ray walked up behind her. "Hey pretty lady.. need some help?" he asked. Lily nodded, not saying a word. Ray got her locker open and she grabbed out her books. "Hey Ray. Thanks..." she smiled. He grinned. "Anytime for my number one girl..." he purred. Lily shifted her eyes. "I got to get to class. I'll see you at lunch okay?" she asked. He nodded. "Of course," he smiled and watched her walk away.
It was lunch time and the guys were seated around their table. Robbie looked at Ray and then Travis. "Where is Lily?" he asked. Ray shrugged and Travis looked around the cafeteria. He was a little worried. "I uh. I don't know.." he said quietly and got out his phone and checked for a text from Lily. Nothing. He glanced around again and got nervous. "Guys. I'll be back in a bit. I need to run to the library to get some books for history.." he said and quickly grabbed his bag and got up. As soon as he was out of the cafeteria, he shifted his eyes and then bolted to the front doors and exited. He took off towards the underground and hoped Lily would be there.
Ten minutes later, out of breath, he reached the underground. He tried the door. Locked. Then he got out his key and opened it and what he saw made his stomach drop. Lily was knelt on the floor, sobbing and holding a razor blade. Crimson was pouring from her left wrist. She shuddered in a breath and dropped the razor in shock when she heard someone. She looked up with wide eyes and saw Travis at the door. "It isn't what it looks like." she whispered in a cracked voice. Travis watched her and dropped his bag and rushed over and fell to his knees in front of her. "Lily.." he whispered tears in his eyes. "Oh Lily," he whispered again and scrambled around him for a towel and found a washcloth. He grabbed it and then took Lily's left hand in his and quickly put pressure onto the cuts Lily had given herself. He swallowed hard as he held it and looked at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She tried again and instead began to sob. Travis looked at her, his heart breaking for her. "Lily.." he whispered and pulled her to him and he held her. "I didn't think I would ever do this.." she sobbed into his neck as he rocked her back and forth. "Shhhh.." he whispered and looked into the distance. He swallowed hard. "LIly.." he whispered and had her look at him. He wiped some tears from her eyes. "Why?" he asked softly and peered into her green eyes. "Because. It takes away the pain.." she whispered and he looked at her again and swallowed hard. "What happened?" he asked softly. Lily shook her head and looked off into the distance.
Minutes passed by. Painfully slow. Then Lily began to speak. "Last night. I got him. Dad was drinking. Mom was at work. Dad invited some friends over. They all were drinking. I decided I wanted to go to bed. But one of his friends, he followed me upstairs. He uh. Came into my bedroom.." she whispered and blinked back tears, a vacant expression on her face. "And he wouldn't let me get to bed. He wanted to talk. I don't know why. But he was making comments about how much I've grown...and he came over to me and he stroked my face. And then," she whispered and broke down again. "He reached his hand up my shirt and groped me.." she whispered. "And then he tried to kiss me. I tried to shove him off, but he held me down and kissed me. I hit him. I tried to fight him off, I got off the bed from under him and he came after me, and he threw me against the wall. He groped me again and squeezed my neck and told me to shut up. That I wanted it.." she continued as the tears fell. "He heard someone coming up the stairs and he quickly left. When he did. I rushed to my door and I locked it..and yeah.." she whispered and swallowed hard and looked away. She was so ashamed. She lifted up her shirt and revealed a large bruise on her side, she moved her hair from her neck and showed a bruise of fingertips against her neck. Travis looked at everything. "Lily.." he whispered and pulled her close. "I wish I could have protected you.." he whispered softly as she sobbed again. He rocked them back and forth again. "Call up your parents. Tell them you're staying the night with my sister tonight. Babysitting. Yes. I know.." he murmured when she stared at him with wide eyes. "It's a lie. But you aren't going back there tonight. You're staying with me..." he murmured.
About 30 minutes later, Travis looked at Lily. She had stopped crying, he wrist wasn't bleeding anymore. He stroked some hair behind her ear. "Want to go back to school?" he asked softly. She nodded. "Sure. Then I will call my parents before the show today, and tell them that you have to go with your parents to a function, and your grandma can't watch Rachel, and they asked if I could.." she rehearsed. He nodded. "Yes.." he whispered and they walked back to school. "See you in a few hours.." she whispered and adjusted the wrist band he had made for her out of one of her bandanas. He nodded and rested against his locker as she walked away.
A few hours later, they were at the underground again. This time with Ray and Robbie. They were going to do the show. Skip out on the hang out after, and head to Travis' house. Her parents again, agreed to let her out of the house for the evening. She looked over at Travis, knowing she had to go home to grab an overnight bag. He was going to walk her to her place. Hide on the side and wait, then walk back to his house. The show began and an hour later, it had ended. Robbie and Ray left to go to Mickey's and Travis grabbed his bag. "Ready?" he asked. Lily nodded and they began to walk to her house. "Yes.." she whispered.
