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Traumatic Beginnings (Hiddenartist & rskde)

She got inside, and stood there a minute, looking around. Was this really her home? With a sigh, she got to cleaning, going slower than usual. She still got dinner made and was ready before her father got home. When he entered inside, she looked to him, a small tiny part of her hoping she'd see her old father, that he'd give her a reason to stay. Instead, she only got a request for a beer. The evening was pretty uneventful. He ate dinner, got more and more drunk, his voice got louder and louder, and eventually she made it up into her room. Locking her door, she climbed out the window, listening to her father's drunken yelling as she dropped to the ground. She was halfway to Kev's car when she heard the door of her house open. She paled, turning to look.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! " her father stumbled out of the house, making his way towards her.

Oh god Oh god Oh god. In a split second decision, she ran for Kev, hearing her father's footfalls behind her.

"GET BACK HERE YOU USELESS LITTLE -"

She jumped into his car, slamming the door closed and locking it with fumbling fingers. "go go go" she cried out eyes wide as she stared at her father stumbling into the street after them.
 
Kev had been relaxing in his car, giving her a wave as he sees her making her way towards him. When the front door opens he immediately turns on his car, watching as she gets into his car. His foot slams down on the pedal, his car speeds off as her dad almost hits their car, he watches in the rear view mirror as her dad stumbles towards them.

"That was close.." He says to her while turning the corner, breathing a little heavy from almost being caught. "Are you okay?" He asks.

They pull into his driveway and he steps out, walking inside and calling out. "I'm home James!" He calls out as they walk in. "This is my friend Salene, the one I was talking to you about." He says to a taller version of himself that has a beard.

James looks over at Salene and offers his hand. "Hi, I'm James, it's nice to meet you." He says. "So you're planning on staying? Kevin told me your situation, I'm okay with you staying as long as you need to, just don't get annoying." He says with a laugh.

Kev lightly punches his shoulder. "Smooth. Asshole." He says with a laugh.
 
Still breathing hard from the panic of almost being caught by her father, she just nodded silently in response to his question. When they got to his house she felt numb. Stepping inside after Kev, she glanced over at her bookbag to make sure it was still there. She glanced over as James was introduced, numbly holding out her hand. She just nodded when he asked if she planned on staying, not even fighting it anymore. His laugh, combined with Kev's lighthearted response, broke her numbness in one fell swoop. Her heart constricted, and just as the panic began to grip her tight around her throat she excused herself to use the restroom, where she started shaking and the tears began to fall. Her chest grew tighter and tighter, her stomach twisting until she threw up its contents. She covered her mouth to muffle her crying, but she could only do so much. As the panic attack finished its course, she knelt limply on the floor, her head resting against the cold tiles on the wall.
 
Kev watches her go, nodding to James before walking upstairs to check and make sure the guest bedroom was ready to go for Salene's use, nodding after he is satisfied. He walks back downstairs and looks around for Salene, not seeing her. He checks the restroom, knocking on the door. "Salene? You okay?" He asks through the door, his eyebrows furrowing together with worry. "If you wanna talk about anything I'm here for you.. I can hear you crying through the door." He says to her quietly while stuffing his hands in his pockets.
 
Exhausted and shaking slightly from the intensity of the panic attack, she reached up and wiped at her face, wiping away the tears. She stood, the blood rushing from her head to her legs causing her to stumble as her vision grayed for a moment. Bracing herself at the sink, she looked at herself. Her face was pale, practically white, she had shadows under her eyes, her eyes were glassy, and her hands were still shaking. Great. She turned on the sink, letting her hands fill with water before splashing her face. Then she turned to face Kev. She stepped over, unlocked the door, and opened it. Not looking up at him, letting her hair fall forward to try to disguise her face, she shook her head. "I'm okay, just need some rest."
 
Kevin stares at her as she opens the door, unable to see her face behind a curtain of hair. "Okay.. I'll show you to the guest room." He says with a smile while turning and motioning for her to follow him. He walks upstairs and opens the door for her, showing her the room. It has a Queen sized bed with two night stands next to it, a small TV sits on a dresser across the room, to the right of the bed is a door that leads into a bathroom, across from that is a closet. "Do you like it?" He asks her while walking in, looking around at the neat room. "I hope you feel better." He says to her with a warm smile.
 
She was relieved when he didn't press the issue, and followed him upstairs. The room she was shown to was completely unlike what she expected. Her room was barely larger than the bed. She hesitated in the doorway, her eyes wide no longer thinking about hiding her face. "this is my room?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper as another tear fell down her cheek. She would not have another meltdown!
 
He turns around to look at her before nodding. "Yeah, do you like it?" He asks with the raise of his eyebrows. He sees a tear rolling down her cheek and he approaches her, placing a hand on her upper arm, his fingers as light as butterfly wings. "Salene, are you okay?" He asks while furrowing his eyebrows. "What's bothering you?" He asks quietly.
 
She silently nodded in response to his question, not finding words. Nervously watching him approach, she couldn't help but flinch when he touched her. She considered her answer to his next question, and decided on a simple nod. His inquiry into what was wrong caused her to step back, away from his touch. "does the door have a lock?" she asked instead.
 
Kev bites the inside of his cheek softly as she stepped away. He walks around her to the door and shows her the handle, which has an option to lock the door on it. "It does have a lock.. But I don't know why you would want to lock it, I mean, you're safe here." He says to her. "And sorry about touching your arm.. I just.. Sorry." He says while rubbing the back of his head.
 
She glanced at the handle, relieved to see the lock. "I would feel safer if I could lock it." she said simply. She spent too many years with her father not to lock the door. Not to mention what happened with Paul. When Kev apologized, she hesitated a moment, looking up at him. Then she shook her head. "it's not your fault, you don't need to apologize."
 
He nods to her. "Okay, that's fine.." He says, commenting about the lock. "No, I do need to apologize.. I just thought I was helping but I really wasn't." He says while running a hand through his hair. "Anyway.. If you just need anything, anything at all, just talk to me." He says to her. "I promise I will help you with anything with the best of my ability." He says. "Have a good night Salene." He says to her before walking out of her room into his own, his door closing with a soft click. He sits down on his bed and places his head in his hands. "What am I doing." He mutters to himself.
 
She wanted to call out after him, say "no, wait!" and tell him that he was helping, she just didn't know how to handle it. But instead, she was frozen, just staring as he left the room. She couldn't explain herself, what was going on inside her. She was alone. She was so alone. She was lost, without anything, she alone. She was scared. There, she said it. She was scared. She was going to be living in a house with strangers, she had nothing but the clothing on her back and a bookbag full of school supplies. She could not return home, and on the unlikely chance that her father called the cops to find her, she'd be beaten to death, or worse, he'd keep her alive. All she had was the hope that this stranger, this guy who decided that he was curious about her, that he'd not change his mind and throw her out on the street. That was a lot of trust for her to put into anyone. As the thoughts wound through her head, she found herself sitting on the ground, still staring out the door, with her arms wrapped around her knees.
 
Kev sighs quietly before laying back, staring at the ceiling for a few moments before sitting up again, he stands and walks out of the room he was in, looking across the hall and seeing her there on her knees. For the first time in awhile he sees some emotion on her face, he walks over and sits down in front of her, placing his hands on his knees. "Listen, Salene, there's more to why I talked to you on that first day of school." He says to her. "You're.. Beautiful, honestly.. And I figured I shouldn't get into anything by just looking at someone so I got to know you. You have a lot of personality, but you push it down, and you've been broken by your past." He says. "I kinda have a little talent of reading people like that." He explains. "But the point is that i really like you and I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell you because you've obviously had a bad experience so I was afraid of talking to you about it." He admits. "So I'm sorry." He says quietly, his eyes flicking to the floor.
 
She looked up as she saw movement in the hallway. Her eyes fell upon Kev as he entered her room, sitting down in front of her. She listened to what he had to say, and she wasn't entirely surprised by his words. Looking back down at her knees, her voice was quiet when she spoke. "you don't need to be sorry. I..." she hesitated a moment before continuing. "two years ago, I met one of the popular guys. I should have known from the beginning that it was too good to be true. Paul was his name. He was kind to me to my face, and offered to keep me at his place so I could avoid my dad. I jumped at the idea. I said yes, the next night he and a couple of hours friends were waiting. They... Did things. I went home the next day. My father was pissed, and I thought he was going to kill me. I wished for it. I could still hear the laughing from Paul and his friends... But no. He managed not to break anything, couldn't deal with the hospital bill. So I just got the beating of a lifetime. "her voice fell quiet as she finished her story. Now he knew.
 
Kev listens to her story, biting the bottom of his lip softly as she tells it. "Listen Salene, I want you to know that you're safe from everything here, and I would never do to you what Paul and those other assholes did." He says to her while taking her hands with his own, he has a worried expression glued on to his face, his eyes filled with concern. "The reason I want you here is because I don't want you to get hurt again, your dad seemed like he was gonna hurt you when we drove off and I'm so sorry you have to deal with that." He says to her quietly
 
Salena all but held her breath as he took her hands, tensing slightly from the touch, but forcing herself to relax after a moment. "I... I don't think I you would do that." she said quietly, looking up into his worried eyes. She saw the kindness there, and knew that's why she came here. No one else cared about her or her wellbeing. "thank you." she practically whispered. "for everything."
 
Kev nods to her, flashing a smile at her. "No problem Salene.. You should get some sleep, unless you want me to stay and talk some more." He says while sitting back, no longer touching her hands as he had seen that tenseness at first. "I'm up for either.. Though like I said I'm afraid of the dark." He says with a laugh, the house around them is only illuminated by the lights still on downstairs, which casts a faint glow up the stairs.
 
Salene glanced at the bed, unsure how to feel about how big it was. "I... I should get to sleep." she said, turning back to him. Her eyes were a little wide as she was almost afraid of this whole situation "I shouldn't keep you up any longer. She said, for the first time thinking about his brother and wondering what he thought of all this." I don't mean to disrupt anyone's routine. "
 
Kev nods as she turns. "Night Salene." He says before closing her door for her. He walks back to his room and closes the door behind him, though he leaves it slightly open in case she needed anything. He lays down on his bed and closes his eyes, breathing out as he falls asleep.
 
After he left, she let out a slow breath. New house, new bed, she could do this. Standing, she walked over to the bed and ran a hand over the cover. She had nothing to sleep in... Her regular clothes would have to do. At least her jeans were fairly worn. After a deep breath, she walked over, hesitated, and only closed the door most of the way. Hopefully she didn't regret trusting them. She then climbed into the big bed, crawling underneath the covers as she stared at the door. She would be okay. She would be okay. Not knowing how long it took her, eventually her eyes closed, and her father followed her into her sleep.
 
In the middle of the night Kev wakes up, curling himself into a ball as he sits up. He lets out a breathy sigh, his eyes looking around his pitch black room. He feels like he shouldn't intrude on Salene but he wants to talk to her, wants to hear her voice, it would be better than the silence of the darkness. He slips out of bed and walks to Salene's room, opening the door silently and approaching her, gently shaking her to wake her up. "I need someone to talk to." He whispers, the darkness around him sends a shiver down his spine.
 
Her father was attacking her, beating her as she tried to fight to get him off. No more! She didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve the punches, the pain as her body screamed for a break. "no! Please! Stop!" she cried out, begging for him to stop, to give her a break from it all. Instead he just shook her, telling her he needed someone to talk to..
 
"Salene, wake up!" He says to her, taking his hands off of her for a moment as she seemed like she was having a night mare. "It's Kevin, you gotta wake up." He says to her quietly, his eyebrows furrowed with concern over what was going on.
 
She heard a name and it worked to tug her out of the dream, away from the pain. A moment later and her eyes opened wide, the body sitting next to her in the dark causing her heart to stop as she scurried back on the bed, away from the threat. Breathing hard from the panic, she started to return to her senses. Kevin. That was Kevin. He was sitting there, not attacking her. She quickly scanned the room for any threat, and slowly she calmed down. Her eyes finally settled back on him, adjusting to the low level of light. Reaching up with a shaky hand, she ran it through her hair. "hi." she whispered.
 
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