Monday morning dawned and it became clear that the day was going to be bleary. Rain clouds darkened the sky and they looked about ready to break into a downpour at any moment. Em walked- No, scratch that, she limped to school, pushing the events of that weekend out of her mind. She lit up a cigarette on the way taking deep drags from it and letting the nicotine settle in her system.

Taking one look at the looming school building, she felt her heart stop. She couldn't do this. Not today. After freezing up for a moment she made a mad dash towards the bleachers. She needed some time to herself. Some time to sort through everything that had happened, to get everything properly dealt with in her mind. Properly locked up.

Em ducked behind the bleachers and pulled her knees up to her chest, breathing deeply. Rain had started to pour and muddy the grass but she found shelter under the looming metal structures. She stilll ahced terribly, but... The injuries weren't the worst of it. The bruising, the physical hurt was nothing. It was how utterly disgusting, how worthless she felt.

"...Em?"

Her head shot up. Peircing eyes focused on the figure in front of her. Ben Braeden.

"What do you want?" she snapped defensively, fighting back the tears that were about to pour down her cheeks.

"I saw you running," Ben said, sitting cross-legged across from her. "You okay?"

"I'm fucking fantastic," Em spat, eyes fixed on him. His brown curls were plastered to his face thanks to the downpour that had begun to water Battle Creek.

Ben frowned and quirked an eyebrow at him. "You don't look fucking fantastic," he muttered, shrugging. "Want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Slender fingers plucked at the overgrown strands of grass that hadn't been mowed. The rain beat a steady pattern on the bleachers, echoing in both of their ears.

"...Are you sure?"

Em hesiatated. Those big brown eyes of his, they practically screamed trust me. He was smiling, but it wasn't fake. It was the smile of someone who genuinely wanted to help and she just didn't understand. She didn't understand why he was being so kind to her. It was weird, and she didn't trust it. She didn't like it.

"Positive," she said, a little less hostile than she had been. She watched with a trace of amusement as Ben's eyes lit up. This boy was different. Oddly enough. It just then occured to her that she hadn't worn a coat and was shivering against the icy Michigan winds.

Ben took note of this and furrowed his brow. "You're shivering," he concluded, already shrugging off his jacket for her. Em watched him carefully as he draped the coat around her shoulders. It was warm and smelled like cologne and dog slobber.

"Sorry, it's kind of smelly, my dog likes to curl up in it," he said with a sheepish grin.

"You have a dog?" Em asked in her soft rasp,

"Yeah, his name is Elvis. He likes to chew things. And slobber all over everything. Yesterday he got at my mom's shoes and she was pretty mad at him. But his puppy dog eyes are pretty damn good, so she forgave the poor pup."

Em's lips curved up into the faintest trace of a smile. "Sounds like the dog I had when I was little, Jake."

Ben's grin got even wider when he saw Em was smiling... Well, sort of, anyways. "You had a dog? What kind was he?"

"Basset Hound," she murmured. She'd almost forgotten about Jake. "He had the biggest floppy ears. When I was really little I'd wear them as hats. He was the most mellow dog, y'know? I used to try to ride him like a pony and he'd just sit there until I finished. He used to curl up with me too when I slept and-"

Ben had been watching her with a soft smile, thinking how adorable she looked when she was rambling. Em's cheeks flushed faintly, tinting her face a soft pink. She bit her bottom lip and ran her tongue over her lip peircing. "Sorry," she muttered, fingers tangling into the grass again.

"No, it's fine, it's... Kind of cute, actually." The glare he recieved after that comment wasn't quite a death glare, but more like a 'I'm going to punch you in the face' glare. Ben smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"...Don't call me cute. Please." For once, it wasn't a demand. The please wasn't cold. It was... Sort of like she was begging him, pleading him not to without really pleading. Ben lowered his eyes and nodded.

"Sorry. But... I mean, your dog seemed pretty cool. What happened to it?"

"Our neighbor shot it."

Ben's mouth fell open and he had to resist the urge to laugh at loud at Em's sudden frankness. Her tone of voice was so flat when she told him that, it seemed something like a joke. She glanced up at him and quirked an eyebrow.

"What? It's true!"

He just rolled her eyes at her and grinned.

They spent a few minutes just sitting there in silence with Em lost in her thoughts abd Ben watching her think. Inside Em's mind was a dark place. She tried to sort through the events of her weekend. Tried to discern what had really happened and what had been an element of stress nightmares. What he had really done to her and what she was terrified he was really doing.

It wasn't until Ben's hand was placed on her shoulder that she realized she was crying.

"Em? Em, what's wrong?" he said worriedly, eyes full of concern.

Em froze up. Flinched away from his touch. And then she did something she never thought she'd do.

"Hug me," she croaked out.

"...What?" Ben said incredilously, not expecting to ever hear those words from her.

"I said just hug me!" Em snapped, tears hot against her cheeks. Ben's strong arms wrapped around her small, shaking, bruised, battered frame and pulled her close to him. She squirmed in his grasp and fought for a few breif minutes, not used to the situatino. And then she calmed. Her eyes fluttered closed and she took a few deep breaths, her own arms snaking around him.

"I've got you," Ben murmured.

"I know."