I loved staying at Laura's house. Not only because it was a way for me to escape the torment at home, but also because of Mr. Hollis' rants about bears and safety, and of course I love spending time with Laura. Even after four years, I still feel like I can never get enough of that girl. We don't even need to do things together, we're just content to be near each other. I can't tell you how many days were spent with me either reading or drawing, while Laura watched Doctor Who or wrote random stories. I loved every second of it. It's like Laura lights up my life. No, not lights up; more like she brings out the light in me. The light that is usually buried deep within me for the sake of my sanity. It's almost like she can just smile at me and I glow; I find my passion, my sincerity, my vulnerability. It's because of all the feelings she inspired in me that led me to tell Laura about my mother.

I know if I were to say anything to anybody, mother would make my life ten times worse; she would make death seem like a kind friend compared to what she would do to me. I know all of this, and yet, I don't think I can keep this from Laura anymore. That's how I ended up sitting on her Tardis-covered bedsheets trying to work up the courage to tell Laura about the secret I have been keeping from her for four years.

"Carm, if you're not ready to talk about it, you don't have to." She said lowly to me.

I shake my head, grasping for the right words; "No, I want to, I'm ready. I just don't know where to start."

Laura nodded her head solemnly, "Start with what you want to say the most."

That actually kind of made sense. Taking a deep breath, I began; "I hate going home." I looked away from Laura's concerned eyes; I couldn't look at her right then, not when I was that weak. "Mother is cruel." I shifted uncomfortably then continued; "It started with her demeaning William and me. Harsh words that would send you spiraling into the darkest depths of your mind. It didn't stop there though. From there, she began to hit; with her fists, with her feet, with that vase, anything she could get her hands on, though she was careful about where she hit. She would make sure not to leave marks where anybody could see." My voice broke as I tried to continue, "She put bruises it where nobody would notice. She told us that even if people knew, they wouldn't care. She broke us over and over again. She twisted William into the monster he is now, but I won't, I can't let her do the same to me." A hand slid across the bed and attached itself to my own. I finally looked up, into Laura's eyes. I was both shocked and relieved to see there was not a trace of pity. "What are you thinking?" I whispered.

She whispered back, "I noticed Carm." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "I see how you flinch away from anyone's touch when you aren't paying attention. I see the bruises when you stretch and your shirt rides up. I see how you won't let anybody through the impenetrable walls you built to protect yourself. I see how you visibly shrink around your mother. I see the sorrow and rage in your eyes when Will is cruel to others. I see it, and I can tell you one thing," she looked deeply into my eyes and I shrunk back slightly at her gaze, "that you mother is wrong, there are people who care, I care. And I think that when she breaks you down, you come back stronger than before, because that is who you are."

Tears gathered in my eyes as I heard what she said to me. I had been holding this in so long, carrying this burden alone, convinced that there was nothing I could do to make the pain go away. But here Laura was, brown eyes fixed on my own, her dirty blonde hair faintly reflecting the lamp-light, telling me I wasn't weak, that I mattered. The walls keeping me safe crumbled as I regarded the girl before me, and suddenly I was sobbing. Strong arms wrapped themselves around me and held me close. We sat there for hours, Laura keeping my shattered pieces together, until I drifted off into the soundest sleep I have ever experienced.