AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello friends! I love Austin and Ally to death, but if there's one couple on the show I hate, it's Chuck and Trish. Chuck always gave off red flags and acted more like a creepy sexual predator than a romantic predator. Trish is one of the best characters on A&A because of how complex she is. She's confident, sassy, has no filter, and a badass, and sometimes comes off as mean, but amid that, she's really gentle, protective, and caring.
Also, I must give a TW- Domestic violence, sexual abuse, and discussions of those. Only read if you feel comfortable doing so.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Onto Safeguard!
Trish De La Rosa looks at herself in the mirror. She is clothed in a royal blue floral spaghetti-strap dress that reaches her knees, hugs her curves, and shows a bit of her cleavage. She loves the dress, but unfortunately, her wearing clothes that show a certain amount of skin pisses off her boyfriend, Chuck McCoy. Chuck hates it when Trish wears tops that show her cleavage or her shoulders, he hates when she wears crop tops, sports bras, short shorts, short dresses, or short skirts. If she does not comply with what he allows her to wear, she is called a "slut", "skank," or a "whore," and she will be told to dress like, what her boyfriend considers, a "decent woman."
She enters the den, and Chuck's MacBook Pro is on his lap. She can hear the sounds of women orgasming from the pornography Chuck is watching from his AirPods, and he is lying in his easy chair. Bottles of whiskey and beer also surround him and she can smell it on his breath.
Chuck makes eye contact with her from a distance and she can see the anger rising in him. He stalks over to her with an incensed, intoxicated demeanor and he yells at her,
"TRISH! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT DRESSING LIKE A PROSTITUTE?"
He grabs her backside and hips, tightly gripping her.
"Chuck! I like what I wear, and you have no right to judge me for my outfits!"
He jostles her aggressively and says,
"You either dress like a decent woman or you can go run with all the whores and get STDs, YOU LITTLE PUTA."
He jostles her rapidly, causing her to fall.
"Go get an STD. Go get your little fat slutty Latina ass raped. IT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR SHOWING TOO MUCH TITS."
He props her up by her hands and socks her in the face, hitting her nose and one of her eyes very hard. She looks back in the mirror, not sure what hurts more. What Chuck just said to her, or the fact that he shook her aggressively and shoved her. As much as it cuts deep, she is used to it. Chuck regularly shames Trish for her clothes and is not shy about castigating her for wearing lingerie, sweatpants, or other intimate garments or what she looks like. He calls her every name in the book- from "slut," "skank," "ho," "thot," "bitch," "fat," "fatass," "cunt," "whore," and even racial and ethnic slurs such as "pendeja," "spic," "puta," and even "beaner." He pushes harmful gender stereotypes onto her and tells her that all she's good for is cooking, cleaning, sex, and birthing. He dictates where she goes and who she spends her time with, makes her account for her whereabouts, demeans her, insults her, calls her names, gaslights her when she confronts him about his behavior, lies to her, and even occasionally hits her and punches her.
A couple of times, Trish has had to go to a hospital due to her injuries. Chuck has sprained her body parts and even given her a concussion during an argument. It's a never-ending cycle- Chuck verbally or physically abuses her, she threatens to leave, he apologizes and tries to make things better with chocolate, jewelry, or flowers, he puts her through a honeymoon stage, and then she is waiting for something to go, for him to get angry and then to abuse her physically, verbally or emotionally. She has been contemplating leaving more than ever, as of lately. She lies to friends and family about being happy and where her black eyes, fat lips, or even her concussion come from. She is frequently getting headaches, migraines, stomachaches, and vomits once in a while, even if her stomach is empty.
She looks at her scars and bruises from Chuck and starts crying profusely.
What did I do that was so wrong that I deserved this?
Ally is my best friend and she's newly engaged to her longtime boyfriend Austin, why can't I have a boyfriend who treats me well too?
I don't know why he does this to me.
Is this what love is?
Do I have to accept this shit?
Trish's eyes are red and puffy from crying and she buries her face with her hand. She dares not to cry in front of him, because Chuck will call her "weak," or "pathetic," or tell her she's being a baby.
Later, she's in the Emergency room with Ally Dawson, her childhood best friend. Her nose hurts from Chuck punching her in the face and she thought she should get an x-ray. Ally stretches a scrunchie from her wrist, tying her hair in a tousled sock bun, and whispers to Trish,
"Trish, how did this happen?"
She feels the tears welling in her eyes again, but tries to suppress them.
"I got dizzy and I fell and hit it on something."
Her best friend gives her an incredulous, confused glance.
"Trish, it seems to me that you get a lot of bruises, scratches, or even that concussion you got a while ago. It's a pattern. Tell me what's happening."
Trish softly wipes a tear from her eyes while staring at Ally's engagement ring out of the corner of her leaking eyes, decorated with a white two-karat cushion cut diamond that sparkles even under the lights.
"Ally, you wouldn't understand. You're engaged to Austin."
Ally replies,
"Whether or not I understand doesn't matter. Trish, we're best friends. If something's happening, particularly if you're going through something that puts you in the hospital, I want to help you."
Trish says,
"You know Chuck, right?"
Ally's face cringes like she just came in contact with an unpleasant stench in the air.
"Yes, I do. Unfortunately, I do know Chuck."
She lets those tears loose and they stream down her face and sobs, and Ally is looking at her best friend with a fracture in her heart, wanting to cry with her friend.
"Chuck calls me offensive names, humiliates me for my clothes, hits me, shoves me, punches me, he gave me that concussion, and I feel sick with headaches and I get stomachaches and I vomit."
Ally puts her arm around her best friend, trapping her in an embrace.
"Trish, I'm so sorry. You don't deserve to be treated like that at all."
Trish sobs, sniffles, and buries her face with her hands for a few seconds before momentarily looking back up at Ally.
"I don't know why he's treating me like that. I don't know what I did to make him hurt me like that."
Ally gasps.
"Trish, if Chuck treats you like garbage, then that's his fault. Not yours. You're beautiful, you know yourself well, you're a great person, you're authentic, and you deserve someone who appreciates you and treats you well."
"Thank you, Ally."
"I think you should break it off in a public place. I'll go with you."
Trish softly giggles through her tears.
"Y-you'd do that?"
Ally says,
"You know I would."
Trish embraces her and a female doctor, who looks to be in her fifties, who has blonde hair tied in a tousled ponytail with a claw clip and glasses, comes out of the x-ray room.
"Ms. De La Rosa, your x-ray results are in. Your nose is not broken or even sprained."
Trish says,
"Thank you."
The doctor says,
"However, I'm looking at your records and you were here a few months ago with a concussion. Have your symptoms been acting up?"
Trish says,
"Something like that. I'm being abused at home by my boyfriend. He only occasionally puts his hands on me, but I get stomachaches and headaches a lot and sometimes I throw up. I had to go to the Emergency room because he shoved me, which gave me that concussion."
The doctor says,
"If you plan to break up with him, let me know when you do, and I'm going to reach out to the Miami Police Department to see if they can get your boyfriend a restraining order. He shouldn't be allowed near you if he's violent with you."
She's right,
Trish thinks to herself. Ally looks at Trish sympathetically.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
If you like this story, remember to favorite, follow, and review! Happy Holidays/Happy Chanukkah my readers!