Author Note: So... This is mostly dialogue... But enjoy! And I'll update soon, promise!
"Rocky, Oh my god, Rocky, what happened?" Cece asked, panicked, bringing the crying Rocky to the couch.
And then it all spilled out, "Danny. Danny happened," Rocky rambled through tears, "he hit me. It started when I told him I thought another guy was cute. He got kinda pissed, and I didn't notice, so I made some smart-aleck remark, and... Well, you saw the bruises. I was so scared, but then he told me that he was sorry, and that he would never hit me again, and I believed him. And then he brought me to La Bella Luna to apologize, but instead-" She stopped abruptly as fresh wave of sobs racked her body.
"Did he - don't get mad - rape you?" Cece asked softly.
She nodded, crying.
"That's it." Ty stood up suddenly, and walked angrily to the door.
"Ty! Where are you going?" Cece exclaimed.
"I'm going to kick Danny's ass. No one hurts my baby sister." Ty replied forcefully, just as the door opened to reveal Cece's mom.
"Ty? What are you doing here? It's like, one in the morning." she asked, surprised.
"Leaving."
"Ty, don't!" Cece cut in.
"Don't what?"
"Don't leave! Your not going to fix anything by beating him up."
"Who are you beating up?" Mrs. Jones cut in, sick of not understanding what was going on.
"Rocky's boyfriend." Cece replied.
"Why?"
Cece gestured to where Rocky was sitting, battered and bruised, wiping tears off her face.
"Oh my god. Rocky, are you okay?" Cece's mom asked, concerned
She nodded yes, then shook her head no, as a fresh wave of tears hit.
"Her boyfriend did that to her?" asked quietly.
Cece and Ty nodded.
"That bastard." She muttered to herself before turning to say to Ty, "Ty, as chivalrous as your intentions of beating him up are, it won't help anything. It might just make things worse for Rocky. And I'm not sure you can take him..."
"You don't think I could take him?" He asked, feigning hurt, shocked by her declaration.
"Well..." Cece trailed off, shrugging apologetically. Rocky laughed through her tears, and Cece smiled.
"What's his name?" asked abruptly.
"Danny. Danny Gardella." Cece answered, and her mother left, muttering angrily.
"What's she going to do?"
"Probably report him. It's like, illegal."
"But-" Rocky started speaking, once again succumbing to tears.
"Rocky, I know this hurts. But it gets better, I promise."
"How do you know? You don't know what I'm going through, so stop pretending you do!" Rocky exclaimed angrily.
"I don't?" Cece said angrily. She reached up, and gently grabbed Rocky's wrists, pulling up her sleeves to reveal the handprints on Rocky's arms. She then pulled up her own sleeves, showing identical bruises on her own wrists. The room got deadly silent.
"Cece-" Rocky started apologizing before Cece cut her off.
"It doesn't matter. You didn't know."
"But... Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" She started with a question, before continuing, "I wanted to put it behind me. I wanted to forget. But I know now, just forgetting is impossible."
"Who?" Rocky asked gently.
"Flynn? You wanna do the honors?" Cece replied, gesturing for Flynn to tell the story.
"Alright. Fairytale time," Flynn began, "Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cece, who had a perfect family life. A doting father, a loving mother, and a wonderful brother-" Cece laughed, and hit Flynn playfully before letting Flynn continue, "But, then everything changed when she turned seven. Her teacher sent home a letter explaining that she was dyslexic. From that moment on, nothing was ever the same-"
"Flynn, stop being so dramatic." Cece interrupted.
"I'm trying to tell a story here! Anyway, after this, her 'doting father' started drinking his life away. And when he was drunk, he would get... Violent. He would hurt Cece and Mom... But for some reason, never me, until-" Flynn's voice cracked as he blinked back his horror at the resurfacing memory.
"I'll take it from here." Cece's mom said from the doorway, "One day, I left. I couldn't be around him anymore, and I had no idea what he was doing to Cece, so I went for a drive to clear my head. While I was gone, he went to Flynn's room, and, for the first time, ever, hit him.
"Cece," Mrs. Jones continued, "in those days, was quiet and never once tried to stop her father, because she knew he would hurt her more if she tried to stop him. But when he hit Flynn, she pushed him away. That takes a lot of courage, for an 8-year-old girl to stand up to her father after a year of abuse. He got... violent. More so then usual. And he pulled out a knife, and tried to stab Flynn. But, Cece didn't let him. She seems so selfish now, that you probably wouldn't believe it when I told you she took the knife for him."
Cece lifted up her shirt to show to everyone the scar on her stomach. Ty and Rocky both looked at her, horrified. Flynn closed his eys as he tried to level his breathing.
"That's when I realized we had to leave. So, I signed some divorce papers, and moved here, to Chicago." Mrs. Jones finished
"This is still kinda new to me." Flynn admitted.
"How can this be new to you? It was seven years ago." Ty asked.
"Selective amnesia." Cece explained, "his young, un-matured brain couldn't handle it. So, his brain erased all the memories of our dad's abuse. Remember when you guys lived with us, when your heater went out? Remember how Flynn ran outside, and talked about how he was sad about our parent's divorce? It was because he didn't remember the abuse. He thought there was no reason for the divorce, that it was sudden and unexpected."
"After we had that talk, I started remembering everything. I'm still geting used to it..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Rocky, can I talk to you? Alone?" Mrs. Jones asked gently. Rocky nodded her head, and followed her into the kitchen. Flynn looked around, and noticed that he was alone with Ty and Cece... Since he had already interrupted their date, walked out to leave them alone.
"So," Ty began, "That's why Flynn was upset when that redhead got stabbed in the stomach? He thought it was you?"
"Yeah..." Cece whispered.
"You never said anything. You've kept this secret for seven years, and you never said anything. When you moved here, and became friends with Rocky, you had just left him..."
"Of course I didn't. Talking about it hurts, Ty. Why do you think I had Flynn and my mom tell the story, though it's /my/ story more than it is theirs?" She choked out as she failed at holding back the tears that had been threatening to fall.
"Cece, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry or anything. And-" he sighed, "I should've listened to you. About Rocky. You knew what you were talking about, and if I hadn't talked you out of it... Maybe this wouldn't have happened, maybe."
"Stop. There's no use wondering about what could of been. This is what happened, and you can't change the past. And blaming yourself doesn't help anything. It only makes the situation seems worse."
"Wise words for Cece Jones." Ty said with a smile, and Cece laughed, before Ty continued, "Well, so... when are you going to tell Rocky about our date?"
"Not for a while. Rocky's got enough to deal with without her best friend dating her brother."
"Her best friend's brother? Isn't that a Victorious Justice song?"
"Yes!" She declares, laughing. Then immediately felt guilty as a tear-streaked Rocky re-entered the room.
A/N: So... I know I said I would update with all the chapters, but I've been pressed for time. Sorry it's so short, but I hope you enjoyed it. Three chapters left. Then the sequel.
Shout-outs: CRocs (for giving 'Scars' a five-star rating, and rated it as one of the top 5 stories in the ShakeItUp archive, and being a loyal reviewer.)
Litashe (for reviewing all my chapters, and advice, it meant a lot to me!)
Coydog22 (For being my first reviewer, and continuing to review every chapter.)
Those were my stand-out reviewers. Also thanks to EVERYONE who has EVER reviewed ANY of my stories.
And my anomynous reviewers. You may not have given me a name to thank you by, but it still means a lot. Keep it up!
P.S. How many of you went to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2? I waited in line for an hour (my theater doesn't pre-sell tickets, so it's a mad free-for-all on that night) and than it hold sold TEN PEOPLE IN FRONT OF ME! I was SOOOOO p*ssed! But, I've seen it THREE times since (Once with friends, once with my mom and sister, then again with my dad. When I went with my dad, we saw it 3D!)