starlight, luke hemmings

concealer and jaw pain.

"Mom?"

Cassandra Goldstein looked up with a stern look on her face as she met her daughter's nervous eyes.

Through the next 3 days, after the incident where Benjamin choked Vivian—Vivian had become less vocal. More conserved toward herself. Not speaking, not even eating.

Cassandra had become a bit colder than before.

"What?" She exhaled, setting down her phone.

"I need to pick up some concealer." Vivian mumbled. "I have bruises on my neck."

"From?" Cassandra narrowed her eyes.

"The um," Vivian inhaled, trying to get her words out. "The other night."

Cassandra's eyes laced with realization and she nodded. "Alright." She spoke. "I'll put 15 dollars on your bank card and you can go buy some before school tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay." Vivian nodded. "Thank you."

Benjamin had become a bit more comfortable with just hitting Vivian whenever he was angry. 3 days is a short time, but it gave him a lot of windows just to punch her whenever he felt like it.

Vivian planned to tell her dad. She had gone over the conversation she'd have with her father many, many times—but she just never found the right time.

And the fact her phone was taken away right now gave her a low ultimatum.

Vivian went to bed that night with pain shooting through her jaw, a blow she'd just gotten from Benjamin when he got home, bitching that someone from his job wasn't doing it right.

The next morning, the cold air was getting inside which had caused her to become a bit stuffy. Vivian trudged out of bed with no ambition, and went to her bathroom. She brushed her hair and teeth and changed into a hoodie and leggings to keep her warm.

Vivian collected her backpack and wallet before walking downstairs and not bothering with breakfast. She saw her mom standing in the kitchen with a coffee mug to her lips.

"Goodmorning," Vivian said.

"Morning." Cassandra said without looking at her daughter. "Your father was texting you last night so here's your phone."

Vivian's eyes lit up instantly as she moved to collect her phone. When she went to grab it from Cassandra's hands, she grabbed her daughter's wrists tightly and stared directly into her eyes.

"If you tell Luke, Calum, Ashton or Michael anything," She hissed. "I will make your life a lot worse than it is now. Do you understand me, Vivian?"

"Yes," Vivian quickly said as the grip of her mom tightened on her wrist.

"I will be checking your phone when you get home." She yanked her hand away from Vivian's wrist. "Be smart."

Vivian nodded and stuffed her phone in her hoodie pocket before leaving the house and entering the cold, bitter air.

Snow fell down as she walked to the Target near her school. The pain from Benjamin hitting her jaw only made it worse when speaking.

She felt herself becoming a bit emotional as she walked through the store toward the cosemics section. She picked up her usual concealer in her usual shade and then made her way to the food section.

She picked up a deli sandwich and a free starbucks water before heading to school.

When Vivian arrived at school— her best friend, Olive, met her eyes and smiled brightly as she approached her. But her smile dropped when she saw the state of her best friend.

"Holy fuck, Viv," Olive cupped Vivian's jaw, which only made the pain hurt worse. "Your jaw is the size of fucking Mount Everest, and you look awful! You've got under eyes as bad as my dad. What happened? Have you been sleeping— hell, have you been eating?"

Vivian yanked her face away from Olive and grumbled. "I'm fine, Olive."

She was most certainly not fine.