Thanks a bunch for the reviews...

Here's an update!!... ENJOY!! (And sorry if the story seems to be moving a bit slow)


Chapter 30 - Leave Me Alone

Abby didn't look up as Luka sat down next to her. She just continued doing the chemistry exercises they had done in school, not wanting to fall behind because of Richard.

"Abby?"

"You can leave, Luka." He took a deep breath. She'd been like that for a while now, cold and shutting him out. When he just sat there, not saying anything, Abby turned to look at him.

"I'm fine. I don't need you here." Luka sighed as she looked back at the book in front of her, feeling defeated.

"Abby..." He carefully placed his hand on top of hers, not surprised when she pulled away abruptly. Even though it was obvious that she tensed up every time he touched her, he pretended like he didn't notice, knowing that Abby was trying to hide it.

"Look at yourself," Biting her lip she looked away. "You're not fine." Putting down her pencil, she turned and looked at him like she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, before crossing her arms over her chest and staring into the air in front of her.

"If you were fine, I wouldn't have found you unconscious on the kitchen floor." He knew that he sounded somehow mad and really harsh, but he couldn't help it. He cared about her, a lot, and he couldn't stand seeing her like this. "You wouldn't be covered in cuts and bruises, your hair wouldn't be sticking together because of the blood in it, and your..."

"Well I'm used to it!" Getting pulled out of his thoughts, Luka stared at her speechless. He'd hoped to get her attention, but he'd never expected her to yell. For a while they just looked at each other, none of them knowing what to say. What she'd said had hurt Luka. Even though he knew this definitely couldn't be the first time it had happened, judging by all her scars, it hurt like hell to hear Abby confirming that it was an occasional thing. He had hoped that it wasn't very frequent and that it had never been nearly as bad as it was this time.

Wiping away some tears that weren't even there, Abby pushed herself away from the table and walked into her room before Luka could stop her.


Luka sighed as he stood up. He wasn't sure how good an idea it would be to follow her, but he had no choice. He wouldn't let her do this to him, to herself.

Taking a deep breath he walked towards her room with determined steps, knocking slightly on the door before entering the room. She was standing by her bed with her back turned towards him, taking off the shirt and exposing her skinny, bruised back.

"What are you doing?" Covering herself up with one arm, she turned around and threw Luka's shirt at him.

"I don't know, going to bed I guess." Her voice sounded so distant, and for the short second she'd looked at him, it looked more like she was starring into nothing. She quickly grabbed a shirt from under her duvet, one of her usual long-sleeved ones, and put it on along with some long pyjamas pants, which Luka figured was what she usually slept in.

"You sleep in that much clothes?" The second the words slipped he felt like hitting himself with a hammer, especially since Abby froze for a few seconds. Of course she did, why wouldn't she. "I'm... I'm sorry Abby. I wasn't thinking. I guess I would as well, as a protection, if... if someone beat me up." He wasn't sure if the words had come out the right way, if they sounded like he wanted them too, and judging by Abby's facial expression when she turned around, they most definitely didn't.

"It has nothing to do with that." She was looking at him like he came from a different planet. "If it did, I would be sleeping naked. That way I'd get it over with that much faster, without having to undress first." Seeing his shocked, but confused expression, she sighed as she sat down on the bed. "I just don't want my brother to see my body. I don't want him to know what's going on."

Luka took a deep breath and sat down at Eric's bed across from her. This was so wrong. All of it. Just the smallest things like a 15 year old girl having to lie to her 11-year old brother to protect him from their parents. It was like a nightmare.

"How long has this been going on?" He spoke very careful. Abby hadn't exactly been too open about things, and for the past couple of hours she had completely shut him out. It was like she was trying to keep up an appearance, not wanting to show Luka her feelings. Or maybe she really just wanted to show him that she was okay and didn't want him to get involved. Luka was pretty sure it was a combination of both possibilities, but having grown up with a psychiatrist as his mom, he knew that she was far from fine, even though she was in denial about that herself.

"Luka..." There was a warning in her tone, but at the same time it sounded very pleading.

"Look," Trying to find the right words, he put the shirt down on the bed next to him. "I'm not leaving you, Abby. There is no way you're getting rid of me tonight. And if you try to kick me out, it won't be long before the police, or well, an ambulance shows up here." He starred at her blank eyes for a while, until she broke their gaze and looked down. He had let out a lot of things from his little 'speech', but it didn't matter. He knew she understood the words spoken in between the lines. He was kind of threatening her with calling the police, but at the same time telling her that he was doing this because he cared about her. That he didn't want to leave her alone for her own sake. And his, but he kept that to himself.

Even though she was looking down, Luka continued starring at her for what felt like hours, although it probably wasn't more than a couple of minutes. It was Luka's cell phone that brought both of them out of their trance as it started ringing.

"Hello?" Abby looked up for a split second, but quickly looked to the side instead. "Yes, I know it's past 11, sorry." Abby closed her eyes, somewhat jealous that he had a family that cared about him, got worried if he didn't come home. "No, I won't be home tonight. I'm with Abby." This made her head snap up. "We just have some things we need to work out. Her parents are fine with me staying here. Sorry I didn't call you, I just totally forgot about it." Abby let out a small sigh, relieved that he didn't tell whoever was on the other line anything. "Yeah, love you too. See you tomorrow." Shutting the phone he looked back at Abby and saw her questioning expression.

"My dad." Her expression not really changing, she slowly nodded her head.

"Thanks. You lied for me." He wasn't sure whether it was meant as a question or a statement, so he just followed her example and nodded.

"Well, I couldn't really tell her the truth. I won't do that to you Abby. I want you to know that you can trust me."

"You know why I never wanted to go to your house?" She looked up at him, her eyes shining from the water in them, practically cutting him off. "I was scared of your mom." When Luka gave her a confused look, she looked down, biting her lip. "I was scared she'd find out." The last sentence was barely audible, but Luka still heard her.

"She did." Her head snapped up, giving Luka a surprised, but shocked look. "From the very first time she met you, she got a feeling that something was wrong." He saw the hurt in her eyes and knew that his probably looked the same way. All this time he'd denied his mom's gut feeling both to himself and to her, and then it turned out she'd been right all along. And it killed Luka. He could have stopped this, saved Abby, if he had just listened to his mom's many pleads and advices.

"Oh." Fiddling with a strand of her hair, she looked away embarrassed. Hearing that his mom had suspected something really killed her. She had deserved all those brutal beatings . It was her own fault. Richard had been right all along, she was no good. At anything. She couldn't even keep a freaking secret from the world.

"You never answered my question." Abby looked up at him, confused, for a split second before remembering what he was talking about. He eyes quickly faded into that expressionless state, staring blankly at her hands.

"Abby, please! Days? Weeks? Months?" He was speaking slowly, watching her carefully. She wasn't reacting to anything he said, just continued staring at her fingers which were playing with the sheet on the bed. "Years?" Biting her lip she looked as far away from him as possible, pain clearly showing in her eyes. It was all Luka needed. He got his answer, but he sure didn't like it.

"Luka I'm... really tired." She looked up at him for a few seconds before looking back down at her hands, but it was enough time for Luka to notice how exhausted she looked. And well, she did have a pretty good reason for it. He could only imagine how tiring it must be to be knocked around and tortured for hours, only to stay up all day after having suffered a huge blood loss, and having to go through all the emotions and pain she had.

"Yeah, of course. I'll just go sleep on the couch." He was about to get up but stopped himself and put his hand on her knee, causing her to jump slightly. "Unless of course... it would be okay with you if I... stayed in here." Abby just shrugged her shoulders, still not looking up.

"I don't care."