August 30, 2019. Dear readers, thank you so much for your patience! It's been over nine months since I uploaded chapter 6, but I am finally going back to this story and I intend to keep it at the top of my writing list now!
I went back and changed a few minor details in the first few chapters of this story (just a rather silly error I took out and a few tiny details I changed) so we're ready to continue now. If you've forgotten where we left off, feel free to start from scratch! The chapters haven't been long so far, first 6 chapters are only 10,795 total so … easy right? ;)

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7.

It wasn't that Ms. Malloy wasn't nice but Elliot just didn't want to talk. At all. He was glad he'd gotten through all his classes of the day without any incidents and he just wanted to go home. But he'd had no choice and there was no way around Ms. Malloy's questions. How was he doing? How had he felt right after beating Nick up? And later on? Had he talked to Kathy yet?

He tried to keep his answers short, but when the social worker brought up his feelings for Kathy, he clammed up completely. It was none of her business how he felt about his ex.

"You know, it's not uncommon or wrong to still have feelings for someone who has hurt you, Elliot," Ms. Malloy said.

He avoided looking at the brunette woman, who was in her late thirties he figured. Instead, he stared out of the window behind her.

"These things take time and you can't rush them."

Elliot shrugged.

"I'll get over it."

"It's alright to admit that you're hurting," the woman tried again. "We just need to find a way for you to deal with that, that won't get you into trouble again."

"I'm not gonna beat him up again, alright," Elliot huffed. "I don't see the point in talking about this with you."

"Do you talk to anyone else about it? Like a friend, maybe?" Ms. Malloy asked him patiently.

"Yeah. No. Well … they know what's up and they support me."

"Who is they, Elliot?"

"Brian and John. My best friends."

When the social worker made a note on her notepad, Elliot quickly told her,

"You're not dragging them into this, are you? They've got nothing to do with it. They're just my pals and they support me."

Ms. Malloy assured him that she had only written down that he had two good friends and that nobody would talk to his friends without his permission. They talked some more, about school in general, and then made a new appointment. Elliot didn't really see the point of these talks but at least he wouldn't be disciplined any further if he went a few times. And he'd do anything to keep his father out of it.

When he walked out of the school at last, he saw his friends waiting for him at the fence, as he had expected. And Olivia was with them.

"Hey El," the guys greeted him, and Elliot leaned against the fence, looking at Olivia.

"You waited for me too?" he asked her.

Olivia shrugged.

"Just didn't feel like going home to the dragon lady."

The three boys chuckled and then they all headed out together. They all had homework to do and it was only Wednesday, so they parted ways at Olivia's bus stop.

"Maybe we can hang out after school on Friday," Brian offered, turning back around to face Olivia.

"That'd be great," Olivia said with a smile.

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to us," Elliot said and Olivia smirked.

"As if I'm going to listen to her."

"Alright then. Stay strong," John said, raising his fist in support of their new friend, and Olivia laughed out loud.

John definitely was the least threatening one of the group and she couldn't help wondering how he even became part of the trio. Brian and Elliot were big and keeping in shape but John was an almost geeky, skinny boy. Extremely nice, but quite different from the other two.

Her bus pulled up and when the doors opened, Olivia hopped on the bus and flashed her metro card at the driver. Once she was inside, she waved at the three boys through the window before finding a seat in the back, a small smile still playing on her lips. Another boy smiled back at her and Olivia's face fell. She turned to her right to stare out of the window, hoping the boy would read her body language and know she didn't want to chat. When she heard a click, she looked next to her from the corner of her eye and saw that the boy had pressed the play button on his walkman. She relaxed and hoped she wouldn't come home to another shitstorm today.

Things had been tense at the Benson home. Not that that was unusual, but it had been worse these past few weeks. First the whole drama with Michael and Olivia having to change schools, and now her mother kept going on about 'that Stabler kid' as she kept calling him. She was to steer clear of him because he was violent and couldn't be trusted. Serena didn't want to have to call the cops on another boy, she had stressed just this morning, continuously playing the guilt card and letting Olivia feel how much of a burden she was being on her mother.

Olivia was accepting the verbal abuse for now, resisting the urge to defend Elliot. She really liked him and the fact that he'd beaten someone up over a girl didn't make him a violent creep like her mother wanted her to believe. When she looked into his blue eyes, she could see a depth in them that was unusual for a boy his age. She chuckled inwardly. She wasn't exactly your standard sixteen-year old either. She didn't have a carefree life that revolved around hair, clothes, makeup and boys. Her life had always been different, and something told her that Elliot knew what that was like. He wasn't carefree either and she felt a connection to the boy. He was like her in a way. And somehow she knew he would stand up for her, not hurt her, if anyone ever got too close for comfort.

Olivia got off the bus at her stop and walked the last part home. Her mother had a teachers meeting after school so she'd be alone for a while, which was a relief. Now to think of a way to make sure her mother wouldn't miss her after school on Friday, so she could hang out with the guys.

...

"You're late."

Elliot's father was sitting at the dinner table, his hands folded in front of him on the table and he'd clearly been waiting for his son.

"I had stuff to do," Elliot replied neutrally, glancing at his mother, who was clearing the table nervously.

"Dinner was ready forty-five minutes ago. You can do 'stuff' on your own time. We already ate and you're not getting any leftovers. I hope that'll teach you," Joe Stabler barked at his son.

His brothers and sisters were nowhere to be seen, no doubt already expecting their father to blow up as soon as Elliot got home.

"I'll go up to my room then," Elliot said quietly, hoping his father wasn't gunning for a debate because those never ended well for him.

"You apologize to your mother first!" Joe yelled, standing up and blocking Elliot's way so he couldn't get to the stairs.

Elliot turned around and walked into the kitchen, where his mother was standing at the counter, wide-eyed and trembling.

"I'm sorry I'm late mamma," he started, but his mother shook her head.

"It's alright baby. There's plenty of food left."

"Dad won't let me have it. It's fine mom. Don't get yourself in trouble over me."

"Bernie, you're not giving him any food!" Joe's loud voice boomed behind him as his father came into the kitchen.

"She wasn't gonna," Elliot said quickly, turning around to face his father and to shield his mother from him in the process.

"Did he apologize?" Joe asked his wife, who nodded quickly.

"Yes. Yes. He did."

"Now tell me where you've been, doing 'stuff' as you put it," Joe demanded of his son.

"I was just hanging with a few friends and lost track of time. It's Friday dad. We were just tryna unwind after the week."

"What friends?"

"You know. John and Bri. We went to the bowling alley and the arcade for a while."

Elliot didn't mention Olivia, who had admitted after an hour that she was 'kinda grounded' as she had put it. She wouldn't tell them what she'd been punished for though, and he thought it best not to tell anyone else that she had been with them against her mother's instructions.

"Squandering your allowance again, were you? When will you start behaving responsibly, Elliot? When I was your age I was in school and working two jobs to save up for the academy, and what have you got to show for yourself, huh?"

Joe pushed him against the shoulder and Elliot could smell the alcohol on his father's breath. The man wasn't drunk yet, but he had a head start.

"I've got my own plans," he told his father but that wasn't good enough for Joseph Stabler.

"What plans! You dreaming of designing fancy buildings again, sissy boy?"

Elliot focused on his breathing, trying not to lose his temper. It wasn't worth it. His father would never be proud of him, no matter what he did. He couldn't wait to get out of there and never come back.

"Well? Just so you know, I'm not paying shit for that kind of school. You better man up and choose a real profession. Work with your hands and make an honest living."

"Yes sir."

Joe seemed a little stunned at Elliot's humble response and it took him a few seconds to recover. Then he said loudly,

"You got that right! Now get out of here. Go to your room and stay there!"

"Yes sir," Elliot said again before quickly slipping past his father and out of the kitchen.

At least he hadn't hit him this time. And soon, he'd never hit him again. Because he did have a plan. Right after high school, he was going to leave home and never look back.

...

To be continued.