Francesca’s P.O.V
I spent that night locking myself in my room, refusing to talk to anyone.
Joe knows about everything that I’ve been through. He knows that my dad abused me and tried to kill me. Regardless, he’s turned into a complete psycho.
He put me through so much pain today, physically and mentally.
I could easily report him to the police station for raping me and abusing me.
But if I reported him, he could tell the whole world about Harry and I.
Every time I heard a knock on the door, I used the excuse that I was feeling a bit sick, so I wanted to rest the whole day.
I couldn’t tell this incident to anyone, for the safety of Harry and I’s relationship and the fact that just thinking about it brought back those terrible memories.
Buzz. Buzz.
From Harry:
Hey babe, haven’t heard from you today. Hope you’re doing good, I’ll call you when I get out of rehearsal. Love you xx
My cut from Joe’s pocketknife stung and ached.
My eyes were red from crying so much.
I was a complete, utter mess.
As I went to respond to Harry, I got another text.
From Joe:
Get dressed and come with me, I’m walking to the store to get a couple things.
He was the last person I wanted to see at this time. He was just as bad of a person as my father at this point.
To Joe:
I don’t feel good, can I please stay here? Please.
It was worth a shot.
From Joe:
No, come now. Or else.
I threw on sweatpants and a tank-top, with my hair up in a bun.
Joe met me downstairs, and we left to walk to a 7-11 down the block.
“Sick, huh?” He broke the silence while we walked through the foggy night.
“What?”
“That’s your excuse?”
“What else am I supposed to say?”
He shrugged, “As long as no one finds out, I guess it’s acceptable.”
I felt a tear drop from my eyes, “Joe, why’d you have to come back?”
“You don’t like my presence?”
“You hurt me. You raped me and cut me with a pocketknife. You abused me physically and mentally. And now you act like nothing ever happened. I’m a person, someone you’ve known most of your life, someone you dated since 5th grade. Stop treating me like a dog.”
“You’re the one who agreed to the deal.”
“I didn’t know it would be like this.”
“Do you still want me to hide this from your mom?”
“Yes, but…”
“No but’s. You either agree to the plan and it stays our secret; or you can disagree and everyone will find out.”
“Joe….”
“Shut up, there are people around; I don’t want them to hear.”
“You’re a rapist Joe,” I whispered.
“I said shut up Francesca, or next time we’re alone I’m beating you just as bad as your father did. Now that I think about it, you deserved that beating. I just wish he would’ve finished you.”
Ouch. Those words hurt me more than the pocketknife did.
“What happened to you? What happened to the boy I used to be in love with? I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
He laughed, “I don’t care if you know who I am.”
I was done arguing. I wanted to let my true feelings out, but it would be resulted with him beating me. And I had enough pain for the day.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was probably Harry, so I ignored it. If Joe knew that Harry was calling me, he would probably come up with another horrible plan of his.
When I got home and I knew for a fact that Joe was out of sight, I called Harry back.
“Hey,” His accent echoed through the phone when I answered.
“Hi,” The sound of his voice made me cry. I knew I would miss him, but I didn’t know I would this much. So much had happened in the 24 hours that I haven’t seen him. I needed Harry the most right now.
“Are you okay?”
“Perfect,” I lied. Harry didn’t need to worry.
“I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me neither.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Positive, I just miss you.”
“I miss you too Francesca, just 12 more days.”
45 minutes later, we were still talking on the phone; I was starting to feel a lot better.
Talking to Harry took my mind off things.
I heard Niall screaming in the back in the middle of our phone call, begging Harry to let him talk to me.
They bickered, but Harry eventually agreed.
“Hi beautiful…..ow Harry, there’s no need to punch me, I just called your girlfriend beautiful. Damn Francesca, you have to control him.”
I laughed, “How’s my favorite Irish boy doing?”
“Well, he’s in his room right now, but I’ll tell Paul that you asked about him!” He joked. “I’m joking, I’m great, how about you?”
“Good, I’ve been really tired lately, and not feeling well.”
“Ok well feel better, I gotta go though, your boyfriend is annoying me for the phone. If you need anything, you can text me, okay?”
“Okay, thanks Niall. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“FRANCESCAAAAA.” Harry screamed when he was put back on the phone.
“Long time no talk.”
“I know! Too long, too long,” he joked.
“It’s getting late, I’m going to go to sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, kay?”
“Okay, I love you JessBess,” he laughed. We came up with ‘pet names’ for each other, not to be cute but to mock other relationships.
“I love you too HarBear. Goodnight.”
