A/N: Greetings, friends. I come in fanfiction peace. So, I managed to get a hold of some cyberlovin' and my first thought goes out to you, of course. Thank you everyone for the reviews so far, I love them, I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Don't stop? Pretty please with a cherry on top? They're like falling in love. When I see that I've gotten a review it reminds me of the feeling when you get a text or a mail from that person you really like. Haha. They really encourages me to write. Seriously. I'm sorry I never got back to who it was that was climbing out of Emily's bedroom (Thank you for reminding me) but it's going to come out in the open soon enough. It's not really that important for the story though, I think. I have no idea, really. Heheh. Anyway anyway anyway. Have to run, don't want to miss the sun. (What's up with the rhymes today?) Read and review! Let me know what you think about this shit so far. And if you have any other questions or whatever, just holla! But for now, enjoy.

Disclamer: This chapter does involve dark stuff such as physical abuse and violence.

"Eggs and bacon, Naoms?" Freddie asks absentmindedly, standing by the stove wearing this awful snot green apron, preoccupied with preparing our very late breakfast. It's almost three when I glance at the clock hanging from the wall.

"Mmhmm." I answer, too focused on today's crossword in the paper to answer properly.

"Coming right up, then!" So cheerful it would probably disgust most people, but knowing Freddie, these days are very rare. It really makes my heart melt seeing him smile like this. For once. The sound of frying bacon is mixed with a muffled sound coming from the radio.

"For me too?" Katie enters the kitchen, still wearing her sleeping attire. It's a huge oversized Rolling Stones tour t-shirt. Nothing else. Or well, probably some underwear. I hope. She pours up some orange juice and sits down next to me.

"Sure thing, sis." Freddie calls over his shoulder, flashing that infamous lazy smile of his.

"You too, Ems?" She nods. We lock eyes and I force myself to avert mine because there's just too much enticing going on around that girl that I can't stand it. Especially when she, like Katie, wanders around with too little clothing. With just a pair of minimal shorts and a tank top, without a bra, mind you, she sits down next to Katie.

I didn't even see her enter the kitchen at first. That's how concentrated I am. I'm stuck with three words left, and it's the hardest crossword of the week too. I sigh in frustration, throwing down my pen.

"There's something wrong with this shit." I mutter.

"Or.. you're just not that good." Katie smirks, knowing exactly how to press my buttons. I do NOT suck at crosswords. I fucking rule when it comes to crosswords.

"Really? Then you try it." I throw the paper in front of her. "Bitch." She rolls her eyes at me.

"I didn't say I was good at it, you cow. Here, Ems, you do it. Since you're half me, I still get credit for it. So pull it off now, would you? There's nothing more pleasing to the eye than owning Naomi." Katie passes the paper on to Emily.

"First of all, that does not count and second of all, how would you know? You've never owned me! Oh wait! Yeah. You do win in being a bitch. Sorry, forgot. My bad."

Katie opens her mouth to probably throw some lame comment about me being a twat or something similar but Freddie gets his say in and stops her.

"Eyeyey, no fighting before breakfast. This is a holy zone." Freddie says, serving us our plates.

Emily puts the crossword away for the moment, and we all start to dig in. It tastes heavenly. I look at Emily sheepishly as she devours her bacon, like I said before, she loves meat. Suddenly my phone starts going off next to my plate on the table, disturbing my meal and my staring at Emily. I glance at the screen. Seeing it is my mom, I pick up the phone to answer.

"Hello?" I say between bites.

"What? I thought you were coming today." A frown.

"No! I mean, isn't it a bit late for that?"

"But.."

"Yeah. Bye."

As we hang up, Freddie looks questioning at me. He can read me so easily, knowing that something isn't right. Gina said she had to stay a couple of days extra at this conference she's attending. Which means I'm left with Tom. Who suddenly wants to "bond" with me. Fucker. Bet he does. Emilys words from earlier about doing something about the beatings rings in my head.

"Who was it?" He asks.

"Mum. She has to stay for a while at this greenpeace conference."

This makes him break out into a grin.

"Party at yours, then?"

"I wish. Tom is still there. Mum's forcing me to bond with him. Said he rented a movie for us watch. Something about a quiet night in?" My voice diminishing for every word.

This causes Emily to suddenly drop her fork. The sudden sound startling all of us.

"Bit late for that, yeah?" Katie says with a mouth full.

"That's what I said." Nodding.

"You can always stay here, you know." Freddie says while slicing his bacon.

Emily nodded frantically at this, pleading me with her eyes.

"You should, I mean you could." She quickly corrected herself.

"Yeah, I know, but my mom's been on me for ages about this. And I don't think it's a good idea if I stayed here too long. I have to go home sometime, might as well face the fucking music now." I say, a hint of pure fright hidden in my voice, but noticed by Emily.

We all continue to eat, the dull sound coming from the radio filling replacing the silence in the room.

"Fuck. Well, better get going soon. Where did I leave my bag, F? You seen it?" I ask I as I stand up to leave.

"It's in my room." He says.

Emily suddenly gets up from her seat and goes to leaves her plate at the sink and suddenly seems to be in a hurry.

"What's up with you?" Katie asks, frowning at her twin.

"N-nothing. I remember I have to call Luke about something." And with that she hurriedly walks out of the room.

"Why such a hurry?" She raises her voice to be heard as Emily moves in the speed of light.

"I'll be right back!" she calls from the stairs.

"Weirdo." Katie mutters.

I finish my juice and leave my plate at the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes and head up to Freddies room to get my bag. After fishing it up from the floor next to the door, I head back, passing Emily's room on the way. But Emily is nowhere to be seen.

I head back downstairs, yelling out a farewell before heading back to my house. A dreadful feeling settles inside, robbing me from whatever happiness I felt during the day. I know what awaits me when I get home, and this bonding time with Tom will not be particularly pleasant. I just don't know exactly how unpleasant it might be this time.

He was awfully quiet when I came inside. Greeted me with a distant hello from the kitchen. I vaguely answered him, dropped my bag on the floor in the living room, and went in to see what he was doing.

"You hungry?" He asks while shoving some beans and tomato sauce into his mouth, washing it down with a beer. A beer. Alcohol. I was right. I know what to expect from this night. And for the first time in a really long time, I'm actually scared.

"No, I just ate actually, sorry. But thanks." I answer, nervously.

"You talked to your mum?"

"Yes."

"I rented a movie for us."

"She told me. Which one is it?" I try to act as innocent as possible, not wanting to rile him up more than he probably already is.

He stands up, leaving his plate on the table and downing what's left of his beer. He then heads for the refrigerator and grabbing another one. Taking a swig, he walks closer to me. Closer. And closer.

"I think it was something in the line of..." He looks up, a distant look in his eyes as if he was trying to remember the name. "Time for some shut eye."

The last thing I feel is knuckles hitting me straight in the face.

I try to grasp where I am, observing my surroundings. After a minute or so I understand that I'm located in the living room. It's dark, both outside and inside, but I can't really tell what time it is. The blinds are down and there actually is a film playing on the television screen. Unlike the other times Tom has beaten me, this time I really cannot move at all. My first thought is that he finally managed to paralyze me with his awful blows, but as I once again try to move my feet I feel something holding them together.

Shit. He has really tied me up to this chair.

A sharp pain spreads throughout my whole body. Ribs must be broken, I probably suffer from some kind of concussion and I feel a warm liquid running down my leg. Everything hurts so bad. Especially my head. The more I try to concentrate on what's happening, the more exhausted I get. I just want to sleep.

"Well, well, see who's woken up from her little rest." He's spluttering now. He's really drunk. I think he's drunker than he's ever been. Which makes me think I might not get out of this alive this time. I suddenly wish I told Freddie about this. I wish Emily told somebody. I wish anyone would come and save me from this mess because I really don't want to die right now.

"Why are you doing this? Why am I tied up?" I quietly ask, my voice so hoarse from not being used in hours.

"Why, why, why... Does it always have to be a reason?" He spits back.

"Mum would kill you if she found out. You're not going to be able to cover this shit up now, are you?" Confidence rising within me. I have nothing left to lose anymore. It doesn't matter. He might as well kill me, but I'm not going down without a fight.

"But you're not going to tell her, are you?" He mimics me. Slaps my face.

"Even if I wouldn't, she'd still see the cuts this time, you fucking low life. And you've probably broken my whole fucking body this time." I squint my eyes at him. God. This pain is overwhelming. Every kind of exertion right now is making everything hurt even more.

"What did you just call me?" His face inches from mine. His drunken voice and vodka breath suffocating me.

"A fucking low life bastard, 'cause that's what you are. You get off hitting younger girls, you disgusting fucking cunt. You'll rot in hell." I spit, right at him. The strength it took to raise my voice makes me feel like my whole body is shattering. I'm now sure that he's broken a couple of ribs, and I'm assuming I have some internal bleeding. He can't get away with this, this time, and he knows it.

"You never understand, do you? I'm not the one who's a sinner, Naomi. My brother got killed because.. because he's just like you. A filthy sinner. It goes against God. It goes against everything. He deserved it, and so do you."

His raises his hand, ready to beat the living shit out of me and I brace myself for the final blow. He doesn't care about the consequences. And I finally understand why he's been doing this all these years. Punishing me. For being fucking in love with someone. This only aggravates me more.

"I thought that you'd eventually understand. That you'd learn. I fucking tried to set you straight! But no, no. Just kept drawing those awful drawings, didn't you?" He looks at me in disgust.

Fucking bastard.

"It's the fucking twentieth century, get over yourself! Go on, then! Just do it! It's not going to change anything! You can't beat me straight!" And even though I tried my very best not to cry in front of him, the pain blazing through my body causes everything inside me to wince and I can't help myself or the tears that are starting to fall.

Just as his hand, now holding on to a candlestick, is going to end a life, the sound of the door bell echoes through the house. He looks startled, his eyes widening.

I breathe heavily, trying to regain some form of consciousness. I feel myself being lightheaded by the second, the sounds getting blurred and my vision close to non-existent.

"They know I'm here. They know we're home, you have to op-" He silences me with a cloth drained in something, putting it over my face and the last thing I remember is being told to shut the fuck up.

I don't think many people have experienced relief like this. Like what I'm feeling right now. Even if I would have died, it wouldn't have mattered. This feeling would still belong to me. Even death would be a relief. A release. I have spent every waking day the last ten years probably fearing this feeling. This revelation. This day. Fear of hurting my mother, fear of hurting myself. But now I feel nothing but free. My heart, so light for the first time ever. It's ironic though, since my body has never been heavier than it is at the moment.

"She'll be fine, but we have to keep her in the ICU for a while. It's pure luck that she's even breathing on her own. Four of her broken ribs went straight into her right lung. It probably collapsed right away." I don't recognize the voice, so I'm assuming it's the doctor. Which means I'm at the hospital. Which means somebody must have beaten Tom down to find me. I can only assume that it was Freddie.

"Oh god.." A female voice. It's broken and sad. It's my mum. Mum's here. She must know by know. It breaks my heart that I never told her. That she has to see me like this. That after May's death, we died too. But still, the sense of relief, filling me. Making me actually breathe on my own.

"Luckily they found her in time. Now, she'll wake up on her own when she's ready. We're keeping our eyes open for any changes or seizures. There's nothing more to do right now than to wait."

They? Who's they?

A door opens. Footsteps.

I could tell those feathery footsteps apart from anyone elses. Even if it was a fucking riot going on around me. Emily's here.

I don't know what happened when she stepped in but my mum is now sobbing loudly into the open air in this probably sterile white room. I hear her chair scrape against the floor and her muffled voice.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Emily. God. Thank you."

Emily. Emily? She couldn't have punched him down by herself. Fuck. I don't want her to see me like this. I don't want her to worry. Why can't she ever fucking understand? I'll only bring her trouble. I'll end up hurting her. It seems like that's all I do anyway. I don't want her to pity me.

Sometimes I wish I never knew her like I do. That we never met before. And that when we did meet, I would be this cool and fierce Naomi that she'd instantly fall for. My calm exterior, my opinionated personality, my beautiful drawings, my sense of humour and good looks. Not this fucking pity fest every time I'm near her.

"It's dad who did the hard work, really.."

My mum continues to sob. It seems like she can't even muster up a single response. After a minute or so, the crying subsides and her broken voice comes to life again.

"I'll go talk to him. Let me now if something changes, would you? I'll be in the corridor."

"And Emily, really. Thank you." She leaves the room.

New sobs are coming to life, but these ones are quiet and small. They're Emily's. And if my heart could break more than it already has it would have. It would have shattered into the smallest of pieces, almost turning into liquid. Drowning me in sorrow. I wish I could talk. I wish I could wake up and just comfort her. Tell her to stop this. Tell her that she's the most beautiful creature that lives upon this earth and that I don't deserve those tears. My grandmothers words echoes in my head. Emily's way too big heart versus the rest of the world. Warm against cold. She's the fucking sun and I'm burning. The rest, just ice.

"I'm sorry I told him. But I couldn't let it happen. I just couldn't. I hope you forgive me." Her sobs increases now. "You can hate me forever. It's okay. I can live with that. But I just.. I couldn't, Naomi. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry." No more sobs. She's openly crying now. And just like that, she's gone. I hear the door close and her muffled footsteps walking away.

All I want to do is wake up and run after Emily, chase her down the corridor and grab her arm before she gets away. Turn her face back to mine and kiss her with all that is me and tell her I'll always forgive her. I'll always forgive her. I'll always forgive her. I already did the minute she walked into my life.

But now, just the silence and me. It's quiet. Dead. Only thing left in here is relief. And for now, that's all I could ask for.

Oh, and btw. There's a reason Emily hurried off at the breakfast table. So don't worry. Thank you for reading! R&R. And have an awesome weekend.