I'm really sorry it took me so long to post this, but I struggled a lot with this chapter and lost count of how many times i ended up rewriting it

Chapter 7

Sophia POV

By the time I got home I was gasping for breath, going through the back gate to try and sneak in through the back door, praying the entire time to whoever would listen that my mom would be asleep. I quietly took my key from my pocket and slowly pushed it into the keyhole, wincing at how loudly it seemed to ease in. My backpack slowly slipped from my shoulders and I carefully held it in my arms so it wouldn't make any noise or jostle around as I walked, taking my shoes off and leaving them near the door as an extra precaution. As slowly as I could, I pulled open the door and tiptoed into my house, my eyes desperately scanning the kitchen for any signs of my mom, a moving shadow or someone breathing, almost sighing in relief when I found none before I remembered the living room. The door closed quietly but the soft click of the knob, slowly settling into place, made me cringe. My teeth dug into my bottom lip as I held my breath, I'd only have to make a short trip through the living room and down the hall before I could hide in the safety of my room, for once thankful that, unlike most of the houses in South Park, this one was only one floor. Well, except for the basement, but that doesn't really count I suppose. My feet didn't make a sound as I stepped out of the kitchen and into the carpeted living room, slowly continuing my journey as my eyes adjusted to the dark.

I almost forgot how stealthy mom could be when she wasn't completely wasted.

The glass bottle breaking against the left side of my face made me scream, more in surprise than pain, shock didn't let me feel it quite just yet. My backpack fell out of my hands to the floor along with me before it was kicked away.

"You little bitch! Where have you been?!" My limbs flailed as I scrambled to get off the floor, rushing to go back the way I'd come. There was no doubt in my mind that she was furious and there was no explanation I could give that would save me from that. I pushed myself onto my knees and was about to lunge for the kitchen-

Another surprised scream left my mouth as her face was suddenly in front of mine.

"Probably out getting fucked by your emo friends aren't you! Just eager to continue this miserable life instead of actually making something out of yourself!" I fell back on my butt as she screamed at me, tensing up harder as she bent down to grab my hair, aiming for the crown of my head and dragging my head up. Her fingers tangled themselves in some of my hair and bangs, staring into my dual colored eyes with an angry expression. My eyes were wide and staring back into her's, seeing something flash in them before she suddenly slapped me hard. "Don't look at me like that!" I fell on my back and tried getting up again. "When I was your age I actually had dreams! I wanted something for myself!" She yelled almost hysterically as she grabbed my hair again and dragged me, I managed to stumble and crawl along with her so all my weight wouldn't be on my scalp. She opened a door and threw me inside, more painful groans and whimpers escaped me as I felt my body hitting stairs before finally landing on the floor. All that cushioned my fall was a few more glass bottles that broke under my weight. I'd been meaning to recycle those... "Well have fun getting pregnant then being left to die in this cruel world! You think those weirdos are your friends, but they'll drop you the second they get the chance!" She yelled before slamming the door loudly and locking it from the outside.

I don't know how much time passed as I shakily panted for air, but once I regained my bearings, I pushed myself off the floor, my breath hissing through my teeth as I felt glass cut into my palms. It's not the first time I've been thrown down in here when I've been home late or have done something to her her mad, but it's not exactly something I'm used to... My body slouched against the wall and I couldn't help but groan softly, reaching for my phone in my pocket and frowning when I saw a few cracks in it.

"Fuck." I muttered as I tried turning it on but it was dead. Already prepared, I moved to the darker corner of the room and plugged my phone into a charger I left here a while ago, bending the cable at an odd angle for it to work. The screen lit up showing me a red battery sign and I closed my eyes. It'd be a while before it was charged, not to mention there's shitty service down here... I absentmindedly ran my hand over my thigh and picked out a few pieces of glass, whimpering softly as I did. There didn't seem to be any glass on my face, but there was definitely a cut and some shards in my hair which I carefully pulled out. I curled up into a ball and picked up a dusty, old blanket, pulling the weird smelling material around myself and closing my eyes, wondering if Kenneth would ask me what all the screaming was about the next day...

My eyes slowly blinked open and the first thing I saw was my phone announcing that the battery was full. My internal clock told me it was still morning, but I had no idea what time. Sitting up more, I unplugged my phone and waited for it to fully turn on, groaning as the movement irritated my thigh. There was blood matting my hair to my face and sticking the material of my pants to my leg, that'd be fun to clean up. My body tensed up as I heard footsteps above me, quickly checking the time, I realized it would still be an hour before my mom left for work. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked down at my phone. There wasn't much service in here, but I'd be able to send a text or two. Sitting back and making myself as comfortable as I could to wait, I picked up a half empty water bottle and drank it down in one gulp. My hair stuck to my face and pulled on my skin uncomfortably when I tried to get it off. Face cuts were the worst; no matter how small they were, they still managed to bleed dramatically and always looked worse than they actually were. My toes wiggled from inside my socks and I remembered that my shoes were outside, probably wet from the snow and morning dew by now. I waited silently as I heard my mom moving around upstairs, probably already forgetting that she left me down here. My eyes stared down at the lock screen of my phone, not daring to use the Internet to pass the time incase it interfered with the service, choosing instead to open it and look through the few pictures I had saved on the device, mostly of my friends and I together in different places. Henrietta usually took her mom's car so that we could have an easier time getting around; we sat together at cemeteries, horror parks, a museum of terror, Stark's Pond, and a clearing in the woods. All these pictures were taken at night, and we weren't exactly smiling and throwing up peace signs, but I only remembered good times when I looked at them...

I checked the time as I listened for any movement and heard none, deciding now would be the best time to send those texts since she seemed to be gone already. I scrolled through my short list of contacts before pressing the desired one.

To Tall, Dark, and Depressed: She should be gone by now sent at 9:02am

To Tall, Dark, and Depressed: Come get me sent at 9:02am

I hesitated before biting my lip and typing out one last word.

To Tall, Dark, and Depressed: please sent at 9:03am

I clutched my phone to my chest as I waited, biting my lip nervously. My eyes closed so my sense of hearing could focus more clearly as I desperately waited for my friends to come. Almost half an hour later, I heard someone banging on the front door before footsteps thudded loudly around the house, suddenly thankful that I forgot to lock the back door last night. The door opened loudly and multiple sets of feet ran inside, making small bits of dust fall from the basement's cieling.

"Sophia! Where are you?" They must be looking for me in my room.

"I-I'm in the basement!" I managed to yell out but my voice cracked a few times. The footsteps came closer and the door knob jiggled wildly.

"Sophia! Are you in here?" Michael's voice was uncharacteristically urgent as the door's lock clicked right before it slammed open against the wall, making me flinch.

"I'm down here." I barely managed to whisper. The relief of hearing my friends hit me like a punch to my gut, making my eyes involuntarily water as I got up quickly, wincing as the dry blood on my pants pulled on the skin of my thigh.

"Holy fuck, Sophia." Feet ran down the stairs as I walked toward the them, cursing when I stepped on some broken glass.

"M-Michael..." My voice shook as he stood next to me and looked me over, eyes widening at all the blood.

"No way..." He swallowed thickly. I reached forward and grabbed his jacket in my fists, breathing shakily as I leaned my forehead against his shoulder. All the anxiety and fear from last night came bubbling past my lips and I could barely keep it all in. His arms pulled me tightly against his chest, surrounding me with the warmth that the basement was lacking and making me feel safe for a few long seconds.

"You came." Was all I managed to whisper, remembering when I whispered those exact words what felt like a long time ago.

"You're okay now but, fuck, we need to get you out of here." I nodded and lifted each of my feet up to brush off any glass that stuck to my socks, making an uncomfortable face that he noticed. "Here." He held his arms out and pulled me to his side, supporting most of my weight. He managed to drag me upstairs with one of my arms firmly around his shoulder, my hand balling the material of his jacket in my fist, and the other wrapped tightly around my waist.

"It's not a big deal, I can at least walk..." I muttered horsely, using my free hand to try and wipe away the few tears that managed to get past my eyes and down my cheeks.

"You're hurt." Michael said softly and a little out of breath as he basically carried me upstairs.

"Oh fuck." Firkle ran at me and I smiled softly at his worried face. Pete had a look of disgust as he kicked a stray beer bottle, the glass clinking against the kitchen tile.

"We need to get her out of here." Henrietta glared and roughly exhaled the cigarette smoke out from between her lips.

"She can't walk like this." Firkle frowned and I sighed.

"I can walk-"

"No, it'll just aggravate your wounds." Michael glared at an old stain on the carpet and Raven watched me silently, his eyes wide and upset.

"I can carry you." He finally spoke up making the rest of the people in the room simultaneously quiet down.

"Can you make it to my house?" Henrietta broke the silence and he wordlessly nodded, taking long strides toward me. Before I could object, he pulled me out of Michael's hands and picked me up in a way I'd only seen men carry women in movies.

"Ow." I winced and tried to adjust in his arms, his wrist was pushing against my hurt thigh.

"Sorry." He muttered and put his hand under my knees. I looked down at my hands as he began walking out the back, Pete closed the door behind us.

"I'll bring your shoes." He flipped his bangs out of his face as he bent down to grab the wet footwear. It was a silent and tense walk to Henrietta's house, my friends didn't have the need to break it but I could tell Raven was anxious.

"Are you sure you can carry me all the way there? I can walk." I asked softly, trying to distract both of us; him from the tense silence and myself from the pain in my leg and face.

"It's fine." He muttered not looking at me.

"Of course, you're a jock." Michael scoffed softly from behind us and Firkle snorted.

"Jock?" My eyebrows furrowed and he sighed.

"Football team." He muttered and I rolled my eyes, remembering all the hype about South Park High's star quarterback during football season. How could I forget about the famous Stanley Marsh, leading the South Park cows to endless victories. People paid less attention to us then, which was a good thing I suppose.

"Won't your parents be home?" I whispered and Henrietta rolled her eyes.

"Just my mom, but she won't do anything." She shrugged and we continued our walk to her house, a few people stared at us making my skin crawl uncomfortably. Once we reached her house she walked right in and we followed.

"Sweetie? You're supposed to be in school right now! What are you- oh my god! I'll get the first aid kit!" Mrs. Biggle practically screamed and dropped the rolling pin she was using to make something, probably a pie or something.

"Shut up mom! Just hurry up and get us towels and the first aid kit!" Henrietta yelled as she led us upstairs to the bathroom. "Sit her down here Raven." She nodded toward the toilet with the cover down and he nodded, sitting me extremely gently. Firkle came and knelt next to me, his eyes looking up at me in concern and I gently ran my fingers through his hair, silently assuring him I was okay. Raven backed away while I was sitting and Mrs. Biggle ran in with a white box that had a red cross and a stack of towels.

"I'll make you some tea dear!" She ran downstairs before Henrietta could yell at her.

"Let me see your face." She opened the box and I shifted uncomfortably, patting my bangs down out of habit, wincing when the blood on my face pulled on them. "Just do it." She held some antibacterial solution in one hand and a wet towel in the other. I sighed and closed my eyes before lifting my bangs out of my face, feeling uncomfortably exposed as I gently pulled on the matted down hair.

(A/N: theres a link to a picture of what Sophia looks like on my profile)

3rd POV

Stan swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched Sophia's hand disappear behind her bangs and lift them up. The air whooshed out of his lungs in shock. Her face was beautiful. Her forehead wasn't big like he had suspected, and her nose was thin and straight, leading up between two thin black eyebrows and big eyes. They were closed and had bags under them, but that wasn't what caught his attention. On the left side of her face, concentrated around her eye, there were multiple scars. Henrietta gently wiped the blood away and as she did, he was able to get a better look at her face. Some were older and faded to only thin silvery lines, but others were more recent and lightly bruised her face. The biggest one he saw ran from halfway up her forehead at the start of her left eyebrow, through the middle of the brow, and ended at the outer corner of her eye, leaving a small scar gap in the middle of her eyebrow. It didn't seem to run over her eyelid which was good because it probably would have damaged her sight.

He was ironically reminded of when he and his friends were the cause of a similar looking wound over Butter's left eye...

The most obvious cut must have been from last night. It ran down her temple to the top of her cheek bone and had dried blood all over it.

"Quit staring." Michael hissed angrily as he smacked Raven's shoulder, but that didn't stop him.

"It already has a scab forming, you shouldn't need stitches..." Henrietta muttered as she cleaned the wound.

"That's good at least." The hand holding her bangs was shaking so Henrietta reached over to grab a few bobby pins and clipped them up so she wouldn't have to hold them.

"Open your eye, I want to see if there's any glass in there or if it needs eye drops to clean out any blood." Sophia shifted uncomfortably, biting her lip and furrowing her eyebrows. She finally opened one eye, her right eye, it was a brown so dark it looked black, a pretty color that made Stan think of the woods at night from when his uncle Jimbo took him camping. The iris slowly moved over each one of them before the other one slowly opened.

"Holy shit dude." He softly gasped as her eye opened all the way. It was slightly red with irritation, but that wasn't what surprised him. He expected it to be the same dark color as her right eye...

Sophia's left eye was a deep, almost royal, purple with flakes of silvery grey around her pupil. The color lit up her face and contrasted with her dark hair. She looked around at her friends nervously before Michael stepped forward, grabbing her shoulder and leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"If he's bothering you, I can kick Raven out." He whispered but she shook her head, looking down at her shaking hands. Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, opening it and easing the butt of one out before offering it to Sophia who graciously took it. He put the pack back into his coat pocket and brought out a small bundle of matches, lighting one as Sophia brought the cigarette to her lips, letting her light it before shaking the match so the small fire would go out and flicking it into the trash can. After a calming breath of smoke, Sophia turned her eyes back to Henrietta who held her face and leaned in closer to examine her eye.

"Seems fine, just a little irritated. You probably got blood in it." She shrugged and eased her head back to put an eye drop in. "Now, let's look at your leg." She began pulling at the ripped cloth making Sophia softly hiss. "Ah, the glass and dried blood." She grabbed more antiseptic and Firkle flipped open his pocket knife, carefully slicing away the cloth at the seam so Henrietta could take a better look. The bigger girl sighed before opening the bathroom mirror, bringing out some tweezers and rubbing alcohol.

"I brought tea!" Mrs. Biggle practically sang as she came back in, startling everyone since the bathroom had been relatively quiet so far, and gently pushed the mug into Sophia's hands. "It's so nice to see your eyes for a change!" Everyone stiffened as she finally addressed the pink elephant in the room. "You have such a pretty face dear, I have a few cute hair clips I can give you. My little Henrietta doesn't like them, but I'm sure-"

"Get the fuck out you conformist bag of demon jizz!" Henrietta screamed making the older woman frown. She slightly pouted and turned to leave, slightly huffing as she did.

"Fatty." She muttered under her breath as she left. Sophia sipped on her tea, Pete lit a cigarette, Firkle put away his blade as Henrietta kneeled next to him, and Michael seemed to be glaring at Raven who hadn't taken his eyes off her face.

"Theres just a little bit of glass, I guess you got out all the bigger pieces already. These cuts aren't too deep, but your thigh is pretty scratched up." Henrietta commented offhandedly and Sophia nodded slowly.

"You can ask." She said softly, turning to look at Raven who was finally shaken out of his obvious staring, trying to ignore the warm towel being rubbed over her leg.

"You don't have to-" Michael began but his mouth snapped shut once Sophia's eyes flitted over to him and she smiled softly. When her full lips curved upwards, they made her eyes soften in a way that made Michael freeze where he stood, unable to look away from the rare sight. Her smiles were usually reserved for Firkle or when they were in the woods or cemetery.

"It's okay Michael, " She assured him softly. "Raven is one of us right? If he came to help, he should at least be able to ask." Her dual colored eyes stared deeply into Michael's dark ones. He sighed and nodded, stepping out of the room along with Pete who offered him a cigarette.

"So, um, you're one of my friend's neighbor." Raven said a little awkwardly and she nodded.

"Yes, I actually already know Kenneth." He nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck and the only sound for the next few minutes was Henrietta working on the injured leg.

"So, um-"

"Get out Raven, she needs to get cleaned up before I can bandage her." Henrietta stood up and washed her hands, lighting a cigarette right afterwards. Sophia stood up a bit shakily and smiled gently.

"We can talk later." She said softly as she reached up to pull the clips out of her dirty hair, hiding her eyes once more.

Pete and Michael were sitting in Henrietta's room, one sulking and the other watching quietly. Smoke slowly rose from their lips as they quietly enjoyed their nicotine. Pete was sitting on a black beanbag chair and Michael was sulking on the floor, glaring at nothing in particular.

"I didn't realize Sophia was into jocks." Pete flipped his bangs out of his face and Michael frowned, squeezing his hands into fists. "You're going to lose your chance." He added in a softer tone making the taller boy narrow his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He scoffed and took another drag. "As if I'd care about something so insignificant. No need to offer up myself on a silver platter just so I can follow in my parents' footsteps and have my own broken family in ten years." He flicked the ash off his cigarette bitterly and his red haired companion sighed.

"Whatever, you're not fooling anyone." He rolled his eyes and flipped his bangs again. "Just don't go emo on us if she suddenly gets close to Rav-"

"Just leave it alone Pete." Michael flicked his cigarette butt into one of the many ash trays around the room, quickly lighting up another one and taking a deep drag from it. Pete stared at his tall friend for a while before rolling his eyes. It was no secret that Michael and Sophia had similar issues growing up. Having a broken family was tough, something that they both related to so it wasn't surprising how they grew closer faster than the rest of their group, or how Sophia seemed to trust Michael the most. Sure, by now they were all close as can be, but instances like today showed who her mind thought of first. She had the rest of their phone numbers, her reaching out to Michael wasn't something random, and the fact that he freaked out in an almost un-goth way drove this point further home.

With this came another issue.

As an unstated rule, goths weren't lovey-dovey with each other the way conformists normies were, add that to the fact that they were both unwilling towards relationships given their family issues, and all you're left with is awkwardness that was ironically only felt by those not involved. Pete wasn't sure of Sophia's exact feelings for Michael, but there was definitely something there; Michael, on the other hand, couldn't be more obvious to everyone, except himself, with his constant denial of said feelings. Pete sighed and flipped his bangs, grinding his cigarette butt into a nearby ashtray.

"Whatever."