Chapter 5! Wow, this is the second story this week!

Tally's PoV

I sat there crying, I'd finished telling Ian about last night and I was still scared of everything that was going on. I had no idea what I'd do or how he'd react to all this that I'd told him, all I could hope for, was that everything would go on and I'd forget everything that ever happened to me.

Ian came over to my side and wrapped his arms tightly around my body; I buried my head in the crook of his neck and wept. They were loud sobs that echoed throughout the quiet, empty house. The only other sound you could hear was the soft murmuring of Ian whispering in my ear, "It's going to be fine baby, and I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you no matter what the problem."

I cried harder, not because on the abuse I'd suffered, but because Ian was there and the relief he gave me was immense. He would always be by my side no matter what; even when we were fighting when we were little, he was there. Some other kids were pushing me around and even though Ian and I had gotten into a huge argument, he came to my rescue and suffered getting beat up to save me. He was my main pillar of support; I relied on him so much for everything in my life.

Ian's PoV

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I knew her father was bad, but to rape his own child! I want to beat that mother fuckers face in so bad! I had to grip the table with my hands, my knuckles turning white, so I wouldn't get up, try and find him and strangle him with them!

I stood up and walked over to her side, wrapping my arms around her and whispering softly into her ear in an attempt to comfort her, "It's going to be fine baby, and I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you no matter what the problem."

Those words were truth; I would always be there for her no matter what. I felt powerless though, I couldn't protect her from this and I was mentally tearing myself apart because of it. I don't want anything bad to happen to Tally.

She cried on my shoulder for a while before her loud sobbing turned into soft whimpers and sniffles. I didn't know what to say, I didn't want to rub salt on fresh wounds by making her relive the story for a second time today, so I said the first thing that popped into mind.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to go to the movies, or maybe go and grab some hotdogs? It's my day off ya know! We could stay here and break out the old board games!"

I kinda just rambled a little more, pulling a Mike and saying some lame joke or telling her a funny story from work at the office. I thought that keeping her mind off the problem would help a little.

She was silent for a while then suddenly stirred, "Thanks Ian, I don't know what I'd do without you," she leaned up and planted a kiss on my cheek and weakly smiled.

"I just wanna sleep for a little while, I'm more tired than I was before," she said to me in a raspy voice.

"Well then!" I said lifting her up and cradling her in my arms, "Your knight in shining armour shall deliver you to the bedroom for a little R&R then!" I spun on my heel to face the stairs when suddenly. BAM! I had smacked Tally's head on the side of her chair and dropped her.

"OW!" she cried, grabbing the side of her head.

Her shoulders started shaking a little and I quickly bent down to apologize to her. She looked at me and I realized that she was laughing!

"You're my retard in tinfoil!" she laughed. I helped her up to her feet and made sure I didn't hit her with anything else.

"Oh, I forgot to mention! Some guy named Josh called, he was looking for you and I think he said his number, but I can't remember it. Maybe later I'll take you up on the offer to go to the movies later, but for now, I'm tired and am going to sleep for a while!" She turned around and made her way up the stairs, "Thanks again Ian," she said before disappearing out of sight.

She was a talkative girl once you got to know her; around strangers she'd get shy, but the moment she became comfortable around them, you couldn't pay her enough to shut up for even one goddamn minute!

I turned to my answering machine and pressed the playback message button. Some weird language started spilling out of the machine and I realized what Tally and Mike were snickering about earlier. I would get them back, Mike especially!

"Uuuummm... Hi! Ian? Ian Casselman? I read in an ad in the paper that you were interested in drumming in a band! Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm Josh! If this is Ian, please call me back at 555-5830. So, uuuuuh... I guess I'll be hearing from you then, Bye!"

It sounded like some teenager trying to make it big, that kid probably couldn't play an instrument to save his life. But, it had to be better than that hair band that didn't care if you could play, just as long as you had nice hair, so I decided to go and check this guy out.

I picked up the cordless phone and plopped down on the ugly, yet comfy, puke green couch and dialled the number. After 6 rings, I was contemplating about hanging up, when a voice sounded on the other end.

"Hello, Gregory's pizza, how may I take your order?" this male voice answered my call.

I was about to hit the end call button when I heard some shouting on the other end of the phone, "MATT! Give me the fucking phone!" it sounded like Josh, so I stayed patient and hoped that these guys weren't total retards.

After a few seconds, Josh was on the phone, "Yeah? Who is this?"

"It's Ian; you called me earlier about needing a drummer for your band." I replied, adding a bit of an impatient tone to my voice. This guy didn't really catch on though, so you could tell how pleased I was by this kid.

"Hey! Sorry about my friend Matt here, he's more than a bit of a douche bag."

"Hello Ian, I love you!" a falsetto voice came from the background.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm really sorry; everyone thinks that Matt was thrown out a window as a baby resulting in his pure idioticness now. My name is Josh Ramsay and you're Ian I'm guessing?"

He seemed okay, I wasn't too thrilled about his friend though, "Yeah, I'm assuming you want to meet with me and check out my skills as a drummer," I cut right to the chase, I was already losing my patience with these people, so I really didn't want to beat around the bush.

"Would tomorrow work?" Josh asked me.

"Uuuummm..." I thought about Tally and how she would react if I left her for a while tomorrow, she would probably be okay though, "Yeah, I get off work early on Sundays, would 5 work for you guys?"

"Sure, that's perfect, do you mind coming here? I live on 1712 Acadia road, I have a drum kit here so you don't need to bring anything but yourself." He sounded excited that I was going to come, gotta give him points for that at least!

"Okay, I think I know where that is, I'll come and we'll see how things progress from there." I kept it short, I kinda wanted t relax for a little while today.

"Alright man! We'll see you tomorrow then," Josh hung up the phone but not fast enough to cut off Matt's goodbye, "BYE I-MAN!"

I have to admit, I was getting a little excited, and I hoped that these people were a little smarter than they sounded.

I lay down on the couch; the clock hanging on the wall read 3:34. I closed my eyes and lay there for a little while before nodding off to sleep.

Tally's PoV

I hated being left alone to my own thoughts, they drove me mad most of the time, and I didn't like the pressure it built inside of me.

I sat there, leaning my hot cheek against the cold surface of the tub in Ian and Mike's bathroom. All that crying made my stomach hurt and as soon as I was out of Ian's sight, I had raced to the bathroom and vomited out my late lunch.

I stood up and splashed water on my face, looking at myself in the mirror. I looked worse than yesterday when I first got here, dark bags had formed under my eyes, but at least the acne was going away. My hair had been dark brown before I'd dyed it red, so all that you could see was a red tinge when I'd originally wanted bright red hair. Most of the red had bled off the night before so my hair was starting to look brown again.

I closed my eyes and pressed my palms against my temples; since last night, I'd been getting terrible headaches on and off all day. I dug through the counters drawers and took some pain pills before going over and snuggling in Ian's bed. I don't want to go to a movie; I just want to sleep until tomorrow.

I closed my eyes and exhaustion took over, pulling me into a dreamless slumber.