TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES REFERENCES TO SELF HARMING
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Hours had passed since mine and Hunter's intimate kiss, and the memory was forever etched in my mind. All these years I'd been waiting, hoping for someone to save me and that very person had been right underneath my nose. My lips still felt swollen from our hungry bites, but my heart was bursting for a whole new love for Hunter that I had never felt before.
As I looked into his breathtaking eyes, nothing felt more right than to connect my lips with his. All I craved was to feel close to him, and after he had admitted his regrets a few weeks ago about not sleeping with me before Luke - I couldn't help but wonder if he had always wanted this too.
Not once whilst growing up beside him, had I ever thought about Hunter in a romantic way. Sure I knew he was attractive, any girl had to be crazy if they didn't admit that; loving Hunter would be easy. I knew everything about him, inside and out, nothing between us could go wrong. His touch, his scent and security I had been familiar with since I was a little girl and maybe that was what I needed to put all the broken pieces of me back together. Hunter had the medicine, the cure to make me the girl I once was.
"Hello! Grace!" Liam's voice appeared, along with a can of coke in front of me.
"Sorry Liam, I zoned out.." I blushed, thoughts of my hands trailing up Hunter's top making my face turn a beetroot red.
"We need to talk Grace." He sighed, grabbing my hands off the table and entwining them with his.
I inhaled a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever was coming. If Liam was angry I couldn't blame him, all these months I had lied and decited all my friends and I knew eventually it would come back to bite me in the arse.
"Why you felt like you couldn't talk to me I will never know, but just know one thing Grace; I will never let Luke or any other boy for that matter hurt you again. I know you don't consider me and you very close, but I care about you more than you will ever know." Liam smiled, his eyes layering with a glassy sheen.
"Are you crying Liam?" I pursed my lips, Liam crying was a rare occurrence. Sometimes I had wondered if Liam was a brick wall, and only had two thoughts; sex and parties.
He scoffed, "Of course not!"
Liam proceeded to blink rapidly, brushing away the tears that were present a few seconds ago.
"What did he do to you?" He whispered, "Because you can tell me, if you ever need somebody to talk too I am here."
My eyes fluttered shut, memories of Luke punching and kicking me flashed through my mind. Each bone in my body clenched in fear, reminding me of how powerless he made me feel. Even now, we were no longer together but I was still petrified of him. It made me wonder if life could ever be the same, or if my future would be based around my fears of Luke.
"I'd rather not speak about it right now Liam, but thank you for offering." I forced a smile, squeezing his hand slightly.
Liam continued to inform me about Olivia's concerns for me, and I assured him I would speak to her in time. It was one thing them knowing the secret I had kept under wraps for so long, it was another telling them the gory details of all the horrific things Luke had done to me during that time.
Lunch with Liam was quickly ruined as I heard an unwelcome voice appear next to me.
"Grace, I need to tell you something." Abby drawled, her usual floral scent filled the air as she took the seat beside me.
As I turned to face her, I couldn't help but notice how much she had changed since Liam had removed her from our friendship group. Her new group of friends were not pleasant, Abby now spent the majority of her time doing drugs and partying. It made me sad to see the generous and smart side of Abby I once knew fade away, but I couldn't help her nor did I have the time too. I could hardly fix her, when I cannot even fix myself.
"What the fuck do you want?" Liam yelled, standing up from his chair.
"Please Liam" She begged, "She needs to know the truth."
"The truth about what?" I whispered, my heart began pounding inside my chest.
It didn't take a genius to figure out whatever she was about to tell me, would not be good.
"Well. Erm. That night-"
"Just spit it out for christ sake!" Liam interrupted, clearly fed up of whatever lie was about to spill from her mouth.
"That night at Jackson's party when Luke disappeared, he was upstairs with me." She frowned, her eyes filling with swirls of guilt.
"Why-why were you upstairs together?" I choked, mentally hitting myself for asking such a stupid question.
It was obvious what they were doing upstairs together, and I felt like a fool for even still giving Luke the benefit of the doubt.
"We slept together Grace."
My heart sank deep inside me, to the deep, dark depths of the unknown. Anchoring itself at the very bottom, leaving me gasping for air. All this time I thought he loved me, turns out he never did. I was just a toy he could play with, control and ruin when life done him wrong, but Abby was his release.
Images of a jealous Luke from that very night circled my brain, he was worried I was sleeping with Leo when reality he had slept with her under the same roof I was also beneath. What made me feel even more sick, is he slept with me hours after sleeping with her.
I laughed in Abby's face, before replying, "I hope you are happy with yourself. You always wanted him, and now he is all yours. I just hope you are aware of the ride you have got yourself in for, because he will treat you just as crap as he has treated me."
Abby smirked, running her hands through her hair. "We all know you are lying. I mean as if Luke would ever hit you, you are a liar and an attention seeker. That's why you cut yourself, and all this is just another pathetic attempt at getting attention from people."
A single tear began to slide down my cold cheeks, I felt empty - disgusted that she just revealed my struggle to the whole canteen full of students. Cutting myself was my way of coping, the only way I could turn my emotional pain into physical. The only people who knew about my self harm were Luke and Leo; and out of the two it was obvious who had blurted out my deepest secret.
I turned to look at Liam, who once again stood there with tears forming in his pools of green. Running away from the situation was my first instinct, so I listened to my heart and placed one foot in front of the other and sprinted for the door. Whispers filled the air, some calling me a freak and others calling me a liar making my tears fall faster than before.
Luke had ruined my life enough with the abuse, but this was just the nail in the coffin. He'd made my life worthless with and without him, if I had of just stayed with him and worked it out my secrets would've stayed secrets. I trusted him enough to keep quiet, but instead he'd already told people about the things I had only ever told him. Luke could no longer abuse me, but even now he still had the power to humiliate me.
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A/N:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
- How do you feel about Luke's unfaithfulness?
- What do you think Grace's next move should be?
If you are going through anything similar to Grace's story do not be afraid to speak up and make yourself heard. Talk to an adult, teacher/coworker, friend, or family member.
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Saving Grace | ✓
Teen Fiction"He put me through hell, and I called it love." The devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns, he comes as everything you've ever wished for. Grace has never had an easy life, in fact it's been complicated from the moment she was bo...
