As usual, THANKS for the reviews... Glad you still like it...
Sorry it took a while. but I've been out shopping all day... GOSH I HATE shopping!!
ENJOY!!
Chapter 31 - Letting It All Out
When Luka woke up the next morning he was surprised to find Abby's bed empty, especially since it was just after 5 A.M. Rubbing his eyes he quickly sat up. He was still pretty tired and really wanted to just go back to sleep, but he was too worried about Abby to even let the thought cross his mind.
Leaving the room he found her in front of the mirror in the bathroom, brushing her long hair into a high ponytail.
"What are you doing?" She grabbed the purple hair tie from the sink and wrapped it around her hair. She was already dressed and looked like she'd been up for hours.
"Going to work." Putting her brush back in the cabinet, she walked past Luka without looking at him.
"What?" He followed her into the living room, leaning up against the door way as she picked up her keys. "You can't go to work Abby."
"I have to." Her voice was so much more powerful and determined than the day before. She had to stop as she got to the door since Luka was blocking her way. Crossing her arms across her chest she looked up at him annoyed, but the only thing Luka noticed was that you couldn't see one single one of her bruises. Knowing that they couldn't have disappeared by now, he figured she'd covered them up with make-up. But if she was able to cover these up completely without the make-up even showing, then he didn't even dare think about how many times she'd come to school with the same amount, or maybe even worse bruises that no one had been able to see.
"Abby..."
"Luka, just let me through!" Getting impatient she let her arms drop to her sides. "I can't be late." Luka sighed but didn't move.
"Call in sick." Looking at him like he'd lost his mind, she shook her head, trying to push past him. Forgetting about the cuts on her arm, he grabbed it, only to let go the second he saw the pain in Abby's eyes as she winced.
"I can't Luka. It's not like I'm just going to work at McDonalds." Looking confused at her, he grabbed both of her arms, but this time further up so he wouldn't hurt her.
"Then where are you going?" He continued staring into her eyes as she didn't respond. It looked like they were working really hard to come up with a good excuse, but in the end gave up.
"Richard's factory." He started slightly loosening his grip, but quickly tightened it again as he felt Abby trying to pull her arms away.
"Well I'm not letting you go!"
"Excuse me?" Even though she sounded mad, Luka could see the fear in her eyes. She was probably used to being told what to do, and Luka didn't like following that example, but felt he had to.
"If you're going, I'm coming with you!" Her jaw fell to the ground, and for a few seconds she stood completely still before struggling more than she had in years. But Luka didn't move one bit, and it started to scare Abby. Somewhere in her subconsciousness she forgot that it was Luka, and in stead thought it was Richard.
"Let go of me, Luka! You're not the boss of me!" Even though her voice sounded really panicked, like it would break any second, and her eyes looked more scared than anything Luka had ever seen, he didn't let go. He needed to get through to her.
"I know that. But I also know that you're gonna get yourself killed if this doesn't stop!" He wasn't sure if it was his harsh tone or what he'd said that made her stop struggle and look at him like he'd just slapped her, but he didn't care. He was just happy that he could loosen his grip a little and that it actually looked like he had her attention. "And I don't want that." This time he spoke barely above a whisper. He carefully let go of Abby's arms as her look softened up, looking away embarrassed before sliding down the door way.
"Just leave me alone, Luka." He voice had cracked, and Luka hated it. He'd hoped to get through to her, but he hadn't wanted to break her.
Sighing he sat down next to her, kind of surprised when she didn't budge. "I'm serious, Abby." Continuing to look away she wiped away the tears from her eyes before they fell, staying quiet. "You need to get help!" Abby just shook her head, refusing to look at him. She didn't need help. She was fine! Wasn't she? She was alive, went to school, got good grades. No one had noticed anything, yeah she was pregnant, but she tried to forget about that. But most importantly, Eric was safe. She was keeping him safe.
"I don't need help, Luka. I can take care of myself." Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, feeling Luka's stare at the back of her head. "I always have."
"So you don't want help? You just wanna continue living like this!" Abby bit her lip. Luka sounded almost like he was blaming her for something, something she wasn't sure what was, but that he was against. "Do you like it, Abby? Do you seriously like being beaten half to death? Getting... You know." He couldn't get himself to actually say it. It was one subject both of them had avoided. He didn't know whether it was something that happened 'often', or if it was just a two-time thing. When he got her pregnant and this time. It was the only way her thighs would be as bruised as they were. But he wasn't going to ask. He wasn't sure if he wanted the answer or if she'd be willing to tell him.
"Of course not!" She'd turned to look at him, tears streaming down her face and her voice cracking more with each word. "How can you even ask that?"
"Then let me help you! Come to the hospital with me! The police station! I don't care, just let me do something to help you get out of this."
"I can't, Luka! I can't!" She wasn't just crying, she was practically screaming as well. "I have to protect Eric."
"Well that's not the way to do it!" Still crying, Abby looked shocked at him. "Don't you get it? You're not protecting him! You're subjecting him to danger by not getting help! The best way to protect him is to get him out of here, get him away from your step dad!" Deep down she knew he was right, but she didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to admit, to believe that she had been wrong. But he didn't know Richard, he couldn't know what the right thing to do was.
"I'm... I'm scared, Luka." Sniffling, her tears started flowing much quicker. She had no idea where it had come from. Being scared was one thing she'd never imagine having admitted. She tensed up as Luka put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him, trying to resist but gave up her struggle after a few seconds and leaned into him defeated.
It felt like they were sitting like that for ages, Luka carefully stroking Abby as she was laying across his lap, crying her eyes out. She was letting out all those tears and cries and sniffles she'd been holding back for the past many years, and even though she absolutely hated breaking down like this, and especially in front of Luka, it somehow felt really, really good.
"I hate him." She could barely talk, but even though her voice was so unclear, Luka could still understand her.
"I know, Abby." He rocked her slightly, stroking the side of he very wet face. "So do I." They stayed like that for a really long time, Luka stroking her hair as her sobs slowly subsided. Or well, they disappeared as the emotions and the exhaustion slowly took it's toll on her until she was out like a light.
Not wanting to wake her up, but really having to go to the bathroom, he carefully got up and picked Abby up at the same time. Walking into her room, he gently put her down on the bed, placing the thin blanket on top of her.
Luka looked up from his crossword puzzle as Abby walked into the living room with the blanket wrapped tightly around her, looking down and her previous perfect ponytail messed up from sleeping on it.
"Well hey there Sleeping Beauty." Without looking up she sat down on the chair across from him at the table.
"How long was I out for?" She spoke so quiet and her voice still had traces of sleeping and crying.
"Oh, only about..." Putting down his pencil he looked at his watch. "Eight, maybe nine hours."
"What?" It surprised Luka to see that the tears still showed on her cheeks and her eyes still seemed a bit red, but he guessed it was pretty normal considering she'd cried herself to sleep.
"I guess you needed it. And besides, it's not even 3 yet, so we've still got most of the day." She looked at him for a little while, like she was trying to think of something to say, before leaning back in the chair and just looking around the room.
"What did you do? Didn't you get really bored?" Luka shrugged his shoulders even though she probably couldn't see it.
"I killed time. Did some homework and sudoku, stuff like that." Abby just nodded, feeling awkward because of earlier.
"I'm sorry." She slowly lifted her head so she could look at him, noticing his confused look. "For ruining your weekend. You weren't supposed to know." Taking a deep breath he got up and walked around the table, sitting down on it so he could face Abby.
"Don't be sorry." He took a strand of loose hair and placed it behind her ear. "Now, I could really use some fresh air. What do you say? Wanna take a walk or something?" Staring intensely at him for a few seconds, she carefully nodded.
"Sure." She actually really wanted to get out of the apartment, so she was somehow very thankful to Luka for having asked her. She just didn't want to show him how 'eager' she was.
"Okay, let's go." Holding out his hand for her, Abby hesitatingly grabbed it and let him help her up. Not that she 'needed' it, but it was still nice.
