Say you love me

Nineteen

POV KAIDEN

Chapter name: the next step

"Why would you do these things to me, Kaid?" Alessia sobs, clawing at my leg. "W- what are you doing to me?" Blood falls out of her mouth, drenching her legs.

I can't breathe. I can't speak. I can only watch.

"You did it to her too, Kaiden." With a shaky finger, she points behind me, letting go of my leg.

I quickly spin around on my heel, only to be greeted by Tivelly. She stands in front of me with only a bra and underwear on. Her body is covered in dark bruises, accompanied by deep slices. My heart races in my chest as I gently grab her frail arms.

"What happened to you?" I tremble, pulling her into my arms. Her skin is freezing.

"You happened." As she accuses me, blood falls out of her mouth, drenching her white dress.

My eyes flick open, revealing the bright sun shining through the rip of the curtain. I pull the covers down to let my arms free.

"These fucking nightmares," I whisper to myself, stretching lightly so Tivelly won't wake up.

My attention turns towards the door as Leo lightly opens it, peeking his head in. He eyes me and motions me out. I nod, gently standing up and walking over to him.

I make sure to close the door behind me gently. "I don't know how long you can stay here, but Monty lives here. Will you be able to handle that?" He questions, knowing I don't get along with Monty.

"Fuck I don't know." I respond, my mind fighting itself on what I should do. There's no getting Tivelly to go to my house. Meaning she will stay here. But there are only guys here. She can't go home either, at least not for right now.

"Will you protect her if she stays here?" I ask Leo, hoping he wouldn't hurt her since he has already shown care for her. "Yeah, of course." He responds. His words are genuine.

Leaving Tivelly here sounds like the worst idea ever, but it's not like I can force her to come to my house. This place is by far better than the home she is already in. At least her father isn't here to hurt her.

Leo looks at me with slight confusion lacing his facial features, "Is something wrong?" He questions.

"If anyone from the gang comes, you make sure to call me over," I tell him, grabbing his phone and putting my number into his contacts. "Is there something I need to know?" He asks.

I question what he means as I wait for an answer, my poker face making sure to shine brightly. "I saw... those bruises and cuts... her scars. All over her yesterday." He whispers, his mind probably flashing back to the image he viewed yesterday.

"There's nothing you need to know." I respond, my brows furrowing as I motion him off. I go back into the room and eye the sleeping girl, spread out on the bed, a bruise on her face.

I carefully pull the covers off her stomach and lift her shirt, laying it on her chest.

I examine her wounds. Her soft skin is covered in a disarray of purples and blacks, new bruises. There's some old, taking the color of yellow and green. She has scars on her body from past events and new cuts.

Anger fuels my body, my palms turning into fists, my knuckles white. I want to hurt who did this to her. I want to beat them until they can barely breathe. Why would someone ever do this to her?

I look at her eyes, seeing that they are open and looking at me. Her eyes are squinting, showing she isn't fully awake. "W- what a-are yo- you doing Able?" She stumbles over her own words, tears glistening in her eyes.

Before I can say anything, she shoves her shirt back down, making sure she's completely covered. "Why did you say Able?" I ask. She looks at me a second time, her eyes widening as she realizes who I am.

"B-better question is why you w-were l-lifting my shirt?" Her chest rises and falls quickly, showing she's scared.

"To look at your bruises. You have a lot of them. Are they from your father?" I ask, already knowing the answer. "I fell." She rolls over, facing away from me.

The bruises she had are from kicks and punches, not from any fall she could've been through. "He hurts you so much." My voice is gentle as I speak to her. My mind still wonders about why she said her brother's name earlier. "Does Able hurt you," I question, my curiosity taking over?

"No. He doesn't." Her voice is strict, telling me not to worry about it any longer.

"Why did you leave home?" I can't help but be extremely irritated with her. "GET OUT, KAIDEN!" She suddenly yells at me, causing me to jump, not realizing she would yell at me.

Anger radiates off of her as she sits up, glaring at me like I've done something wrong. "Why are you kicking me out?" Yet another question is thrown at her.

"Get out right now. I don't want to see you." She stands, pushing me backward towards the door. I stumble as I walk backward.

"I'm done with all of your questions!" She opens the door and shoves me out, slamming it in my face with a gust of wind hitting me.

I place my hand on the knob, trying to turn it to get in, but it doesn't budge. She fucking locked it. Of course. Why did I have to go asking questions like an idiot?

"Please open the door," I say; the guys in the house look down the hall at me. Humiliation.

I give up when I don't hear any more sound coming through the door. "Why are you all staring?" I ask, shoving past them. "Trouble in paradise?" Carson smirks, taking a sip of his beer.

"Leave me alone," I reply. I can hear them giggling behind me as Leo tries to shut them up. I turn around, watch as Leo gently takes the drunk dude's beer out of his hand, careful not to anger him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Carson asks, glaring at Leo as his hand is now empty. He takes his empty hand, still curled as if he's holding the beer, and outs it up to his mouth, trying to take a sip of his nonexistent drink.

Leo looks at the bottle, swirling it as it's half full, taking it to the sink and dumping it out. "I think you've had enough, Carson. I don't know why they let you drink." Leo pats Carson on the shoulder.

"I want the pretty girl." Carson longingly looks down the hall at Tivellys door. I suddenly question my decision to let her stay here, wanting to punch Carson in the face.

Suddenly the drunk guy looks at me, giving me a smirk before shaking his head, "I'm kidding. You can wipe that look off your face of wanting to kill me." He pats my shoulder.

"The only one you have to worry about is Monty," Leo states. I know I have to worry about Monty; she's literally living under the same roof as him.

I grab Leo by the shirt, leaning my face to his ear, "If anything happens to her, I'll kill you. Oh, and she loves raspberries. You better keep raspberries for her, or I'll kill you." I whisper so Carson won't hear.