𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, Robby Keene

S05:E03

⚠︎︎WARNING:THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DOMESTIC ABUSE⚠︎︎
•~3rd person P.O.V~•
Ellie didn't understand, she couldn't understand. How had she gotten herself into this? Her whole life, she aimed to never be like her mom or her dad and now she had seemed to become both. When her father left the day he had randomly shown up on their doorstep, her mom had said that Ellie's fighting reminded her of him. She hated it. Her mother had practically ruined karate for her. But then she became her mother.

She wasn't sure why it had started, but at first, she thought it had been an accident. Until it happened again, and again. The first time Aidan said it was an accident that he'd gotten rough with her, he was just mad that she'd been in a room with Robby by themselves and he let it get the better of him. Ellie gave him
The benefit of the doubt, as she did for most people, but the more it happened the less it seemed like accidents.

But the more it happened, the more Aidan said it was her fault. It was her fault because of the way she dressed, and the way she acted because she was always putting herself in a situation to deserve his treatment. And Ellie believed it. She really believed it. He told her, daily, that no one would love her the way he did and that he was only hitting her out of love and care. Ellie wasn't sure how true that was, but the longer she stayed with him, the more she believed it.

Ellie looked at her phone's camera, seeing the large, dark purple bruise on her lip. Makeup could cover it, but it'd surely come off during practice with all of the sweat and heat. She could come up with some excuse that it was a training injury and hope that they believed her, but if they noticed other bruises on her arms or legs then she'd be exposed.

"We're just sparring today? I love sparring!" Ellie smiled. Again, Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang were practicing together again. Ellie hoped she could go up against Miguel, she'd never practiced with him before. Well, she'd practiced with him she just never sparred against him.

"Just do a couple of warm-ups and stretches while me and Johnny figure out who will go up against who," Daniel announced. Ellie almost immediately ran to Tory, so the two could warm up with each other.

"Did you guys see the bruise too?" Robby asked the group, containing Demetri, Hawk, Miguel, and Kenny. Hawk and Miguel looked at each other, confused.

"What bruise?" Miguel asked.

"On who?" Hawk asked quickly after.

"There's a bruise on Ellie's lip." They were quick to look at her and sure enough, there was a large purple bruise there.

"Well, we didn't notice because most of us aren't staring at her lips," Kenny smirked, stretching his arms as he spoke. Robby glared at him as if he was wrong.

"I didn't notice," Hawk admitted, his eyebrows pulling together as he tried figuring out how she had gotten it. "Did someone punch her in the mouth during practice?" Hawk asked, looking at each and every one of them.

"I don't think so." Robby had a terrible thought that popped into his head, and it wasn't exactly an irrational thought. Had it been Aidan? Robby had noticed that she dreaded leaving with him, and her smile always seemed fake when around him. Sometimes she would say things that were sort of odd, like "Aidan wouldn't want me to" or something to that effect.

"Could it have been...what's his name?" Robby always pretended not to remember his name, and he wasn't exactly respectful when Aidan came around. It was very obvious that he was jealous, to everyone, including Aidan.

"His name is Aidan." Hawk "reminded" him again. "And I doubt it. I mean, Ellie knows tons of karate. She won a fight with a grown man, I don't think she'd take any shit like that from her partner." Robby sighed, racking his brain for a static Ellie had told him. Ellie told him how she was afraid of becoming her mom and being in a situation like her mom.

"Kids that are exposed to domestic abuse are likely to experience or participate in domestic abuse when they get older or get in relationships." They all stared at Robby, who stared intensely at Ellie as he spoke, but then he realized they were looking at him. "That was a study that Ellie told me she'd read." He admitted, not even embarrassed that he'd remembered it.

"I mean...it's likely," Miguel admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Abuse isn't just hitting, it's about manipulation. Like when we were being bullied, we always had the ability to fight but our bullies made us feel weak. It's the same thing for abuse." Hawk pursed his lips tightly together.

"If he was hurting her, she would've told me." Hawk sounded slightly angry, but everyone knew he was simply angry because of the possibility. But that was the thing, she wouldn't have told him. Robby knew she wouldn't want anyone to worry about her, and just as Miguel had said, it was all about manipulation. If she was being abused, Aidan probably made her believe that no one would believe her or care.

"Aidan seems alright, though," Demetri confessed. Miguel shrugged, he had an off feeling about Aidan. An uncomfortable feeling, which was why he never went around Aidan when Ellie brought him around.

"That's how most of them seem," Hawk muttered, remembering his dad. Remembering how some of their family members told them that they were lying because he was a good guy. As if seeming to be a good guy really meant you were a good guy.

~

"Ellie." Robby ran after her. She quickly turned around, holding her backpack strap in her hand. Practice had finally ended, and unfortunately, Ellie didn't get to go up against Miguel.

"Hey, Robby!" She glanced away from him, gulping hard. If Aidan saw them talking, he'd get angry, but if Ellie ignored him then Aidan would be angry because she'd been rude. "What's up?" Ellie asked, shifting slightly.

"I just wanted to ask what happened to your lip." Ellie's hand quickly flew to the bruise, but then Ellie realized that made her look suspicious since she knew exactly where it was and what Robby was talking about.

"Practice, I got kicked in the mouth." Robby nodded slowly, Ellie sucked at lying. Not to mention that Robby was literally at practice with her every day, and he knew no such thing happened.

"Are you sure?" He saw her gulp and look away from him, a look of worry appearing on her face. "If something's happening, you can-" He stopped, seeing Aidan stroll up to them with a fake smile creasing his face.

"Hey, what're we talking about?" Robby could tell he had heard them. His teeth were pressed together in a tight, angry, smile, and his eyes swirled with obvious anger.

"Nothing im-" Ellie started to speak, but Robby interrupted her.

"Nothing that involves your input." He spat, looking him up and down in disgust. How could only Robby see how much of an asshole Aidan was?

"Excuse me?" Aidan started to step forward, but Ellie stopped him.

"C'mon, Aidan, let's go home." Ellie pushed him towards her car, Aidan glared at Robby as he looked over his shoulder. Robby almost wished that Aidan had tried to hit him, just so he could beat the shit out of him, but with Ellie there there was no chance of it.

Robby would bring this up to Hawk, and try to make him see that Aidan wasn't perfect. That Aidan wasn't who he thought he was. Robby could tell something was going on, he just needed to talk to Ellie alone.
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A/n: I hate Aidans😘
Word Count:1,331