“What, Bailey? What could you possibly want from me?” I stepped back as he stalked towards me. “I’m disgusted by what just happened between us. Stay away from me from now on.” He lifted his hand to shut the door and my eyes dropped as I saw cuts on the knuckles.
As the door slammed in my face, I stood there for a moment reeling when I heard a shout, “FUUUCCCKK,” and a crash of glass. I spun around and ran back into my room with tears in my eyes, closing my door softly behind me. I leaned against it, sliding down to the floor, sitting with my hands wrapped around my knees.
After the night we’d gotten each other off, Cooper and I were cold and aloof with each other. I was hurt at how he had treated me afterward, and he was just ice-cold. I’d walk into a room, and he’d walk out. He couldn’t bear to be touched by me at all. One day I accidentally brushed his arm as I went upstairs and his whole body stiffened. His teeth clamped together with an audible snap and his brown hair, longer than he usually wore it, hit me as he whipped round to look at me.
“Don’t touch me,” he snapped as he stormed away.
“S-s-sorry,” I stuttered out, “it was an accident.”
His gaze turned back to me and I shrunk back at the look he was giving me; it was one of pure hatred and it cut me to the bone. I rushed back to my room and closed the door, leaning on it as I took my shoes off and there was a knock at the door. Zane was standing on the other side, holding his bleeding nose.
“Jeez, Zane, what happened?”
I pulled him into my room, straight into the bathroom and had him sit on the toilet with his head down and my waste bucket under his nose. I ran a cloth under some cold water, dampening it and I cleaned his face off. He had a fat lip and there were tears in his eyes.
“My dad happened; he’s been on the coke again.” His voice was low and crackled as he spoke.
I didn’t know what to say to him, but my eyes widened in surprise that Shawn took that stuff.
I wiped at the blood on his cheek, and he pressed his cheek into my palm without speaking for a moment. My room door opened and a huff of breath from behind me told me someone had entered. I glanced over my shoulder and Cooper was standing behind me. He stared at us in horror for a moment. Zane was looking down again and missed it, but as he looked up, he caught Coop’s expression.
“Dad’s on the blow again,” he muttered, and Cooper sighed and then shrugged and part of me wondered if he already knew.
“Yeah, I thought as much.” His eyes lingered on my hands as I wiped at the blood on Zane’s face and for a moment his eyes blazed but before I could read his emotions he spun on his heel and moved away from us. Zane shrugged without saying anything as I looked back at him.
“Stay here,” I muttered to Zane as I walked after Cooper. Raised voices sounded in the hall and I rushed out to see Cooper pinned to the wall by Shawn. His face was so red and there was a vein popping in his forehead.
“What. Were. You. Doing. In. Her. Room?” He pushed against Cooper’s neck and Cooper’s face turned a shade of purple. I was completely frozen to the spot and Coop’s eyes met mine. “I. Told. You. To. Stay. Away.” Coop’s eyes rolled and I ran over.
“Shawn, what’s going on? He just wanted to borrow a CD.” He spun to face me, releasing Cooper and grabbing me by the arm. His hold tightened, and he turned his body, blocking Cooper from my view as he stared down at me, rage all over his face.
“I warned him and now I’m going to warn you.” He dragged me away from Cooper and pulled me into his office. He pushed me onto the desk and grabbed my pants and underwear. He yanked them down and as he held me down, took off his belt. He pushed me further over the desk holding me down with a strong arm so I couldn’t move.
Shock coursed through me at how awful this situation was and as the first blow hit me, I screamed loudly, the room echoing my voice back at me. He hit me a further six times, the pain of each worse than the one before. When he stopped, he spun around and left me lying over the desk, my bare ass exposed.
I heard him storm upstairs and as I struggled to bend down to reach my clothing, I heard a crash. Coop’s hoarse voice, crying out, reached me. I managed to pull my pants up, ignoring the pain that lanced through me and moved towards the stairs wincing with every step. Even though walking up the stairs was complete agony, I forced my feet forwards to the top.
As I reached Cooper’s open door I looked inside, and he was lying flat on the bed, his pants around his ankles, as his dad hit him over and over again with the belt. Nausea rose inside me at the sight, but when Cooper’s eyes opened, and he saw me frozen in horror watching, he moved his eyes. I knew what he meant; I had to move, or it was going to get so much worse for both of us.
Zane was still in the bathroom when I walked into my room slowly. He was hidden in the shower stall, and I knew that he was trying to hide from his father. I locked my bathroom door behind me and sank down onto the cool tiles, letting them soothe my aching ass.
I must have nodded off because when I awoke, I had a blanket over me and a pillow behind my head. The shower stall was empty and the door to my room was open. I wanted to crawl out into my room, but my body was aching from my beating, and I couldn’t move. Giving up trying to move, I nodded off again. When I woke up again it was the early hours of the morning judging by the darkness. There was someone beside me, their body heat helping keep me warm as I still sat on the cold tiles. The familiar scent told me it was Cooper.
“Hey,” his hoarse voice whispered in my ear, “my dad took off with your mom for the weekend. He doesn’t want you to be able to tell her what he did to you.” His hands slipped around me, and he pulled me into him. His gentle breathing on my neck soothed me, and he pulled me closer.
“I’m so sorry, Bails. I didn’t know he’d be up here. I swear. I’m so sorry he hurt you. It’s all my fault and I’m really, really sorry.” His sleepy voice relaxed me, and he pressed his lips softly to my neck making me shiver all over. “Stop shivering and go back to sleep.”
I smiled and snuggled down in his arms, thinking about how safe I felt in them. After a few minutes, I drifted back off. When I woke up the next morning, he was gone. I wondered if I’d dreamed it, but his scent was in my hair. As I tried to stand, my ass stung so badly that tears nipped my eyes and I pushed myself onto my knees with difficulty.
The door to my room was closed almost all the way and I shuffled towards it, closing it completely behind me as I flipped the light on. I turned around and pulled my pants and underwear down and stared in horror at the color of my ass in the mirror. It was black and blue, with lines of black criss crossing over and there were a few cuts where the buckle had caught me. I swallowed the horror and pain and just stared at myself for a few minutes.
As I stood looking at my injuries, a soft knock sounded on my bathroom door.
“Bailey?” Cooper’s voice called through the door. “You okay in there, baby?” I snatched my pants up, wincing at the sharp pain that shot through me as I opened the door to Cooper. He took one look at my face and pulled me into his arms. As I started sobbing, he sank to the floor gingerly, pulling me into his arms. “Shh, it’s okay, it’ll be okay.”
His voice was hollow, and his words empty, but he held me until I cried myself to sleep again. I woke up as Cooper picked me and he carried me across the room. He gently placed me into my bed, he kissed my head and pressed his lips to mine before taking off. I didn’t see him for the rest of the weekend and when school started back, I had a brand-new shiny cell phone, courtesy of my guilty-as-sin stepfather, but if he thought buying me gifts would make up for the fact that he’d beaten me up, he was sorely mistaken.