From Me To You

sᴇᴠᴇɴ

☟︎

Gabby remained silent the whole way back to Erin's place, she felt numb, almost as if she was vulnerable and exposed. Erin kept glancing into the back of the truck to try and check on grabby but the kid had her head down, there wasn't much to see...

"We're here babes" Erin snapped gabby out of thought. The teenager nodded and unbuckled her seat belt before slowly getting out of the car, all of this crying has made her exhausted. Erin wrapped her arm around the teenager as they followed jay up to the apartment. As the trio entered the detectives home, gabbys eyes shifted around the place, it's nice and homey unlike her own home.

Erin flicked the light on and set her keys down before turning back around to see gabby, her face instantly dropping, "how'd that happen?" She cupped gabbys face gently. Gabby looked down, "school" she shrugged. Erin shook her head, "you told me you got suspended again" she stood up suspiciously. Gabby froze, "I did, I mean..." she rubbed the back of her neck. All of the tears must've washed the concealer off. The newest black eye must be on display.  Jay furrowed his brows, "you can tell us the truth gabby, we're here to help you" he smiled encouragingly.  Gabby looked up at the pair with tears in her eyes, "Scott" she whispered, although she didn't intend for it to come out that quiet.

                  Erin's face turned to that of anger as she pulled gabby in for a hug, she looked over her shoulder to see jays confused expression, "stepdad" she mouthed over to him.  Jays eyes widened as he rubbed his chin, her face also turning to that of anger.  Gabby screwed her eyes shut as she buried her face into Erin's shoulder, "he hurts you? Does he hurt your mom too?" Erin rubbed gabbys back.  Gabby shook her head, "just me, I think" she mumbled tiredly.  Erin could feel the anger boiling in her blood, this kid really is living the same life as she did...

"It's okay, we'll deal with it..." she cupped gabbys face, "c'mon, let's get you warmed up" she changed the topic and began leading her towards the bathroom, "call voight and let him know we might not be on time tomorrow" Erin whispered to jay in the way past. He nodded and watched as his girlfriend cared for this really troubled kid, who on earth could put a child through something like this?

                "How long have you been feeling like this, gabs?" Erin sat with gabby in the bathroom as the older woman began running a bath.  Gabby kept her head down, "since uh... I don't even know. A long time I guess" she shrugged.  Erin frowned, "and how long has the beatings been happening for?" She placed a caring hand on gabbys knee.  Gabby wiped her tears away, "since my mom got with Scott, I don't know how long ago it was. It was a long time ago though. I'm sorry for not telling you..." she nodded. Erin smiled sadly, "you're scared gabby, I get it but none of this is your fault, got that?" She planted a gentle kiss onto the teenagers head.

                   "I'd feel better knowing you're safe in here, am I okay to stay? You can close the shower curtain if you'd like" Erin smiled.  Gabby nodded, "yeah, that's fine" she smiled softly. So much has happened within the past hour, that gabby had completely forgotten about the battlefield on her thighs... So when Erin reappeared in the bathroom after gabby placed her joggers on the sink, the adults eyes were immediately widened.  Gabby was sat on the edge of the bathtub with her underwear and her hoodie still on, "gabby, honey..." Erin knelt down in front of her, gabby looked up from burying her face in her hands.

Gabbys eyes shifted from Erin's worried face to her thighs, "I uh..." she shook her head, not really knowing what to say, "I didn't know what to do..." she finally broke down again. Erin's heart shattered for what seemed like the tenth time tonight, however this time Erin fully realised how bad this is, how much stress this kid has been living under... Erin pulled gabby only her lap, "you're gonna be okay..." she cooed as gabby sobbed her heart out. Erin held the teenager as she poured her emotions into her neck, "jay, can you fetch me the first aid kit?" She yelled into the hallway.

Jay stood up from his place on the arm of the couch, and quickly ran to the kitchen before grabbing the first aid box. He rapidly made his way down the hallway before coming to a halt outside of the bathroom, he slowly pushed the door open and placed the green box onto the floor, only for his eyes to meet the cuts on gabbys legs since they were right in front of him. Erin's eyes were full of tears as gabby sobbed painfully, jay backed up and ran his hand over him mouth, this poor kid...

~

                  After Erin had talked to gabby about the self harm, the trio found themselves sat on the couch watching a film, however gabby had her head rested on Erin's shoulder as the older woman had her arm over the teenagers body.  Erin had given gabby a pair of pajama bottoms to wear and an oversized t shirt so she wasn't wearing cold, wet joggers to bed, given that gabby was staying at Erin and jays place tonight.   Erin looked down to see that the teenager was already asleep, and smiled weakly to herself. 

                 "Can you carry her to the bedroom?" Erin slowly lifted her arm off of gabby and looked over at jay.  He nodded and smiled softly before standing up and picking gabby up, his face shifting to that of surprise when he realised how light she really is, "she feels like a child" he whispered to Erin.  His girlfriend nodded sadly, but she's noticed how thin gabby has become since they last saw her, and it's no doubt that it's from all this stress.  Once jay had successfully set gabby down without waking her up, gabby pulled the covers over her so the pair could backup and leave the room. 

                 "What now?" Jay wrapped his arm around Erin as the pair sat down on the couch again, "we get her to med tomorrow morning, then take it from there" Erin sighed.  Jay smiled, "you're good with her" he rubbed her arm.  Erin nodded softly, "I've been through what she's going through, she just wants someone to understand what she's feeling" she looked up at him.  Jay smiled and nodded, "she reminds me off you" he tilted his head.  Erin nodded curiously, "how so?" She tilted her head to match his eye line.  Jay smiled, "your strength, she has it too" he nodded softly.  Erin smiled, gabby does have a lot of strength...