Hey guys. I've finally finished this chapter. It took me a while to write it out as I had writers block for a bit, but I've got it done! Oh and good news, I've finished my exams now so hopefully my updates will becomes more regular :D Yay
Some of you were wondering why you couldn't review my last chapter and that is because you have already reviewed my old chapter 22/3 and so weren't allowed to review again despite it being new chapter content, so I'm sorry if it causes any inconvenience.
Oh, and if you hadn't noticed, in my past chapters, I had to remove lyrics form the songs I used as I had one of those critique people threaten to report me to the website if I didn't remove them. So I joined the protest yesterday which was not to sign in at all to Fan Fiction, effectively making a blackout so I would've updated yesterday, but I couldn't
Anyway, on with the chapter!
*Declaimer: Don't own Skins
(Three days later)
"Ems!" I spin around, hearing the whiny voice I've oh so missed dearly. Katie stops in front of me, her hands on her zebra print covered hips as she stares at me.
"Yeah?"
"You. Didn't. Tell. Me" she says, poking just under my collar bone after each word. I rub at the sore spot and wince, Jesus Christ she pokes hard.
"Didn't tell you what?"
"That you and Naomi are back together!" she says, throwing her hands up. I nod and grab onto her arm and drag her into my office.
"Katie, I didn't tell you because we aren't officially together" I say, shutting my office door.
Katie huffs and crosses her arms over her chest "You still should've told me, I'm your fucking sister!"
I roll my eyes and sit down in my chair "Yeah well for the last five years Katie, you haven't acted like one" I know I've hit a sore spot for Katie as her stance changes from aggravated to forlorn and saddened. She sighs softly and sits down in one of the chairs opposite me.
"Emily, I'm so sorry about that. I know I should've been there for you more, especially after how much treated you after..Ben" I flinch at the sound of his name, Katie notices this and frowns "You're still frightened of him?"
I bite my lip and gently sway myself in my chair "I-I'm-Yeah. Yeah I am Katie. I know it's been a long time since the last I saw of him, but I can't help but think that he might turn up one day. I can't stop feeling like he's going to walk into my office at any minute and continue what he started. And it scares the shit out of me."
"You don't need to be. Ben's not going to get out for a very long time Emily-"
"But what if he does! What if his lawyer finds a loophole or something and get's him out early! He'll come looking for me Katie, and until the day I am sure he's secured behind bars for good, I will never stop looking over my shoulder."
"If he is Emily, he'll go on probation, he won't be allowed within thirty feet of you"
"Once he comes of probation he'll come after me, heck he might even come after Naomi and I can't have that Katie. I swore I would protect everyone I love from him, I wouldn't let anyone go through what I did. If he gets Naomi, then my life will be ruined. I would have failed and broken my promise" Tears spring to my eyes as I think about him going after Naomi and attacking her.
"Emily, if you want to, we can ask for a restraining order against you and Naomi"
I shake my head and wipe at the tears in my eyes "That won't help. I need to know that he is locked in there"
Katie bites her lip for a moment then hesitantly says "You can"
"What?"
"You can visit him and see for yourself that he's locked away for good"
Fear travels through me at the thought of seeing him again, I look at Katie who's smiling warmly at me. "I'll sit next to you if you like"
"I don't know Katie-"
"Please. Let me start being your big sister and let me be there for you" she begs.
I bite my lip and sigh "Okay" I say in a soft whisper, fear igniting itself within my stomach.
I sit down at the window and stare nervously around me, wives and girlfriends are speaking to their husbands and boyfriends through the phones, declaring their love for each other and how they'll be waiting for them when they get out. It makes me feel sick. How can you love someone who's committed a crime? Especially one that gets you put in a well guarded prison.
Katie wanted to come in with me, but the wardens wouldn't allow her, only one at a time they said. So I'm in here alone and crapping myself. My palms are sweaty, my leg is shaking violently and my head is pounding in terror.
The gate opposite beeps and opens. My heart stops beating when he sits down in front of me, his evil green eyes sparkling venomously at me. His usually short cut blonde hair is shaggy, hanging loosely around his chin where he's sporting a scruffy beard. From afar, I wouldn't have noticed him, but the same evil glint in his eye and cocky smirk stands out against everyone.
I hesitantly reach out and grasp the phone. I swallow thickly and bring it to my ear, watching as he does the same with his cocky smirk on his face.
"Well, well well" I flinch at the sound of his gruff voice "What do we have here?" he eyes me with a predatory look, making the fear in me scream at me to get out. It's the same look he had that night. The look that has haunted my dreams for so long.
"Ben" I greet, my voice weak.
"Aw, don't I get a better greeting than that? We haven't seen each other in, oh I don't know, six years to this day is it? I expect a little more from you Emily" My hand trembles in my lap as he spits out my name.
I don't say anything, I try to block out that look in his eyes. The look that says he's knows what I'm thinking, he knows what he's caused and he's proud.
"I thought about you a lot whilst in here Emily" I try to keep my breathing equal "And I see you still look the same. Same delicious red hair that I loved smelling" I tremble, practically feeling him sniff my hair "Same neck" I feel him breath down my neck, causing troubling goosebumps to run over my body "How about you strip for me? So I can see the marks I left on you"
"Stop it" I growl, shifting as his gaze burns my skin.
He licks his lips "How does it feel Emily? Knowing that I have forever marked you as mine? No matter how far you run, no matter how much you scrub at your body to try and get me off of you I'll still be on you. Even when you scrub hard enough to tear your skin, I'll still be on you. You can't escape me Emily...But I bet you already know that"
"You evil bastard" I spit, my grip on the phone tightening as I refrain from scratching at my skin, trying to get his touch off of me. I can feel his hands move over my body, touching me.
"How's your Mum Ems?" I freeze at the mention of her "Seen her recently?" when I don't answer he carries on "I guess not. I have. She visits me once a month, gives me gifts baskets, birthday and Christmas cards, she even gives me presents sometimes. What about you Emily? Has she done any of that for you?"
"No" I choke out, tears welling up in my eyes.
"I wonder why? Oh I know, because you're a filthy faggot"
"Shut up"
"No. Did you know that even after the trial and all the evidence used against me, your Mum, still doesn't believe you. She still thinks you made it all up just to get back at her. How lovely is that? She told me she doesn't love you anymore. Your own Mum doesn't love you because of your...your condition" he scrunches his nose up and looks at me with disgust.
"I hope you rot in hell" I snarl.
Ben smirks "Say hi to your girlfriend for me"
At that I drop the phone and run out of the room, not wanting to spend another second with that monster. When Katie sees me, she stands up and immediately brings me into a hug, softly stroking my hair as I cry into her shoulder.
"It's going to be okay Emily. You're safe"
"Katie promise me something"
"Yeah"
"Don't tell Cook or Naomi"
I hear the hesitance in her voice "Okay"
I wave goodbye to Katie as she drives off back to work. I decided to take the rest of the day off today as I'm not really feeling up to working. I stop when I see Cook's trunk open, boxes packed inside it.
I run into the flat and into out room, pausing when I see Cook placing a box on the floor. He glances my way and makes his way back into his room. He comes back out with another box and places it down next to the other one.
"What's going on?" I ask, looking round.
"I'm moving out" he says gruffly. He grabs an empty box and starts to pack a few of his knickknacks in there.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to live with someone who sleeps with my girlfriends" He tapes up the box and places it next to the others.
"Where are you going?"
"To JJ's" he grabs the boxes and starts to carry them out of the car. He starts packing the boxes in, fitting them into the boot like a tetris puzzle.
"Cook, please don't"
"No. I'm going. I like living with friends. Seeing as there is no one here that is my friend anymore I'm moving"
I grab onto his arm, stopping him from picking up another box "Cook, we're friends-"
"No we're not. We weren't friends from the moment you kissed my girlfriend" He snarls, ripping his arm away from me.
"We can work it out, get back to how we used to be! Please Cook, I've lost so much in my life already, I don't want to lose you too"
He slams his boot closed and walks to the driver's side of the car. I quickly follow, stopping the door from closing.
"You should've thought of that before you slept with Naomi" He roughly slams the car door closed, nearly trapping my fingers.
I look into the window, rapping my fist "Cook!" he ignores me and revs the car up. I quickly run to the front of his car, stopping him from moving.
"Move!" He shouts out his window.
"Not until you talk to me!"
"If you don't move I'll run you over" I stand still and glare at him. He moves and inch closer, glaring back at me. I still don't move. He inches closer, causing me to step back a little so I don't tumble over.
He growls and get's out of the car "MOVE OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!"
"TALK TO ME!"
"EMILY IF YOU DON'T MOVE THEN WE HAVE NO CHANCE OF BEING FIRENDS AGAIN!" He screams
I shake my head and sigh. I step to the side and watch as he drives off, a dust trail being left behind him.
My bottom lip trembles and I break down and cry for the second time today. I sit myself down on the curb and cry.
"Emily?" I lift my head up and see Luce standing next to me. She sees my tear stained face and immediately sits down next to me and pulls me into her arms, cradling me much like Naomi did when I told her about Ben. "Sshh" she says into my ear, kissing the side of my head.
I bury my face in the crook of her neck and continue to cry as the day passes. I hear people walking past us and cars drive by but I don't move. I feel safe with Luce holding me, I feel protected. She doesn't say anything, she doesn't need to. She knows I just need someone to hold. She continues to mummer in my ear, calming me down slightly.
When my eyes have run out of tears and I start to hiccup, Luce moves away from me and helps me up, guiding my disastrous state into the flat. She sits me down on the settee and walks off into the kitchen. She comes back with a glass of milk and hand it to me, watching as I chug it down.
"Cook left" I croak out after ten minutes of silence.
"I know"
I look at her in shock "How?"
She smiles softly "He put an ad in the paper a few days ago for a room. I came by today to check it out and when I saw you crying, I knew what had happened and who the room belonged to"
"He hates me Luce. I saw it in his eyes today when he said we weren't friends" I say softly, my eyes going to the empty space where Cook's DVD's were stacked.
"He doesn't hate you. He's mad at you, but it's understandable why he is, but he doesn't hate you Emily."
"I need a shower" I say getting up from the settee "You can watch some TV if you like" I mumble as I make my way to the bathroom.
As the water pours down over me, I can't help but feel Ben all over me again, his body against mine. The scars he left sting in fear as I feel him touching me. I start to scrub at my body furiously, wanting to get every little touch of him off. But it doesn't, so I continue to rub until I cut my skin.
Only then does the feeling of him go away. I slump against the tiled wall and sigh, tears breaking out of my eyes as the water continues to fall over me.
Okay, so this chapter is a little bit shorter than the rest, but in my opinion, it was the most angsty and emotionally challenging chapter I have written so far.
Tell me what you thought in a review and if you have any ideas you'd like to see happen in future chapters, don't hesitate to tell me and I might incorporate some of them into the story :D
Cheers xx