Dakota winces at the pain but let's him clean up the wound. Hank puts a small thing of ice in a ziplock bag, wrapping the wet cloth around it. He applies it to her cheek, seeing how it's already bruised. She'll feel it in the morning.
...
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Sunday night, Dakota stands in the shower letting the warm water hit her bare skin. Hank hates it when she takes a shower. She stands in the hot water until it turns ice cold, just stands there. He has made several threats to make her get a job to pay for the water bill. Every time Hank asked her what she does in there, she likes to tease him that he could always take one with her and find out. The sound of the bathroom door creaking makes Dakota turn and look towards the door. She arched her brow, feeling the water go from Luke warm water to ice cold. She quickly shuts the water off, shivering. "Hank?" She peaks her head out of the shower curtain. "Baby, are you there?" Dakota sees no one in sight. She pushes the curtains back and she stands in the shower confused. The young girl then smiles at how she called Hank baby. The nickname feels weird in her mouth, but she loves it when Hank calls her that. Especially after mid to late morning sex. Suddenly, the door creaks open again. Louder. She peaks her head out again only to be shoved against the wall, a hand over her mouth. It's Johnny. He's already undoing his pants. "Now, you're not going to make one sound. You hear me?" He says nastily, leaning closer to her. "Can't let Hank know." Dakota bites down on his oily hands, making him howl in pain. "Hank!"
Dakota jolts up, letting out a scream of fear. She shakes as she's surrounded by darkness. Hank shifts beside her, turning on her lamp. He sits up and flips over, wrapping her in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck, climbing onto his lap. He hushes her, rubbing her back soothingly. "It was Johnny." She cries, "He was going to rape me in the shower." "It's okay, baby. It's okay." Hank says in her ear, kissing her hair. "Calm down, it wasn't real. He's not coming back here, I'll kill him." Tears fall down her face as she holds onto him tightly, "I got you baby, you're safe."
Monday morning was rough. After the nightmare, Dakota couldn't fall asleep. Not even after Hank wrapped his arms around her and wouldn't let her go for the rest of the night. She kept watching the window and listened for any odd sounds in the house. All she heard was the dryer go off, beeping. On the news, the weather man said that the highs were going to be in the upper 50's. Dakota slipped on a casual black dress and the autumn orange cardigan Melody had given her for her birthday the year before. Hank had walked her to the bus stop, watching her go off before he went to work. Dakota waited until Devin got on the bus to move her backpack. Once he was on, he found his seat next to her. "You look pretty today, my lady." Devin smiles "Thanks, just thought I would try and look nice today." Devin sets the bag in his lap. "Oh, why?" He says happily "Have the slightest idea." Wiley walks onto the bus, Dakota can see that his black eye isn't as dark as it was. "I can see your shiner is healing pretty good, Wiley. Maybe don't be such an asshole next time." "Shut up, Ryan." Is all Wiley has to says to her. Dakota looks at Devin, whose got his eyes on Tiffany Jamieson. "Why don't you go talk to her?" Dakota says, "I'm sure she'll give you tongue." "She's too cool to notice me." He looks down at his backpack. "Devin, I'm going to tell you something and I'm only going to say it once." Dakota sighs, "Tiffany Jamieson is a preppy whore. So is Courtney King, major slut with money." Devin nods his head, waiting for more. Dakota stares off into space. "And?" Devin says impatiently Dakota looks back at him. "Oh, that's it. I just wanted to make it clear on how I felt." Devin nods, not surprised by Dakota's humor and forward opinions. "And, if you didn't already know, you're a really sweet guy who deserves better than hand-me-arounds." Dakota says with a smile, "Your first kiss will come and so will your first time. It's nothing to rush." "So you've—" He says awkwardly, "buttered the muffin?" Dakota chokes on her own air, putting a hand to her chest. "Don't ever say that again, Mason." She says with blushing cheeks. "But have you?" He says in a whisper, "How many?" "That's none of your business." Dakota suddenly comes int realization to what Hank was saying. It really wasn't any of her business.
