Stitched up Heart

Actions have Consequences

Ok, I'll admit, hanging out with Lewis was quite... fun. It was nice to have someone to talk to after so many months of shutting myself away. It was funny to listen to him rambling on about past stories; sometimes I struggled to hold back smiles. Genuine smiles. Not forced one, like the ones I out of for the girls. I was happy an di had no clue why. It was him.

After the last lesson had finished I walked with him to our buses. "Y-you've done some much for me, standing up to Matthew and everything."

"Oh, don't worry about that."

"If you ever need anything, then I-I'll be here for you. Like you were for me."

"Thanks, Lewis. See you tomorrow." I said as we reached my bus.

"Yeah, see you!" He said, beaming.

I slumped down in my usual seat, about half way down the bus. I leaned against the window with my bag on the isle seat, signaling that no one was to sit there. I got my head phones out and put on my favourite rock band. The bus started moving; I leaned my head against the window, allowing the vibrations to jolt it every so often. For once, I wasn't angry. I didn't feel like I had any reason to be. It had been so long since I was truly happy, since I had a real smile on my face.

But then things kind of hit me.

I'd still have to put up with everything when I got home. Dad would probably be down the pub when I got back, so I wouldn't have to deal with him for a while. Mum would be smoking something on the balcony, getting high again. So the only person I'd have to worry about was my sister, Annie. At some point I'd have to go down the shop as I knew there was no food in the house. But that was alright. I was used to doing most of the chores.

About thirty minutes later, the bus pulled up at my stop. I grabbed my stuff, got off the bus, and walked down the street. I cut through some alley ways to get back early, if I had to go to the shop I wanted to get it out of the way while I was still in a good mood. I pushed the door open at the bottom of the apartment block and climbed the stairs up to our flat. With a sigh, I opened the door and closed it gently behind me. To my suprise, there was no "hi Rhys!" From my sisters bedroom. Normally, when I got home she'd coming ropes he no over to see me blurting out all these things she did at school. Normally, I'd out on a smile and pretend I'd had a great day too.

"Anybody about?" I called out, hanging my bag on a peg by the door.

"On he balcony, love." Mum called back. I walked over and out on to the balcony. Mum was sat at the small table, rolling something into a cigarette. She smiled at me as I walked over, looking tired as always.

"Where's Annie, Ma?" I asked, resting against the railings.

"At your Grandmas, Rhys."

"Does dad know?" She hesitated. "Well," I persisted, "does he?"

"No. Look Rhys, you do a lot for her and you mean the world to her. But you're still a child. Its not fair that neither of you had proper parents." She sighed.

"Don't kick yourself about it, Ma. Honestly, it's fine. I understand."

"Thank you, sweetie. Go put your TV on or something. Let me finish this up." I nodded at her and went back to my room. The door slammed shut behind me. Sure, I had told he really it was fine, but of course it wasn't. So my sister could get the easy route out while I had to stay and take the beatings? Yes, I was happy for Annie, she was safe now. I may be older than her but I've put up with it my whole life. Do I not deserve a break from it as well? I didn't even get to say goodbye to her. I could feel the anger boiling up inside me as I flicked through seemingly endless film reruns. It really dicked know that I wasn't going to she her for a while. We made each other's home lives bearable.

At some point, I must have fell asleep on my bed, because I woke up a few hours later to my dad drunkly screaming and mum. I rubbed my eyes. I always got a headache if I fell asleep in the afternoon.

"What the hell have you done with her?" He was shouting. Mum was high, barely bake to function.

"She's safe now, it's alright now." She said tears streaming from her blood shot eyes.

"That's not what I asked!" I heard something smash, probably an empty beer bottle.

"Leave her alone," I said storming out if my room and into the kitchen where the fight was taking place, "she ain't done anything wrong."

"Oh, and who asked you?" He said laughing. He got like this, when he was drinking. Shouting or sarcastic, his main two moods.

"I'm just trying to protect my mum and Annie from you, don't you see that!" I shouted back. I instantly regretted this when I felt pain shoot across my face and something drip from my nose. Blood. He took his beer and went on to the balcony with it.

"Oh Rhys!" Mum said, " Just go, I don think care where but you can't stay here." I looked st her worriedly. "I'll be fine, love. Just go." I hated leaving her alone with him, but I couldn't stand being there any longer. I nodded and grabbed my bags the way out. One of which was in my room, I kept it packed with clothes for emergencies like this. I ran down the stairs, well aware that my nose was still streaming blood. Maintaining my pace, I carried on down the street. I decided to catch a bus. At that moment, I had no clue where I'd go, as long as it was in the other side of town I would be ok with it.

I was so caught up in my own thought that I managed to walk into someone leaving the shop. "Sorry, sorry." I muttered.

"Rhys?" I stopped for a moment and turned around. It was Lewis. Then I remembered the blood on my face and tried to cover it with my hand. But this was pointless as he had already seen it.

"What happened, Rhys?"

"It was my dad... I..." I didn't know how to explain it. He wasn't meant to find out about it. Not like this. If we got closer I would have told him about my dad, but I didn't want him to know just yet. It was too late for that now.

"Where are you going to go now?" He asked.

"Honestly, Lewis, I don't know."

"Come back to my house, we have a spare room. My parents are away, they wouldn't mind anyway." I nodded at him. As we walke to the bus stop he handed me a tissue so I could clean my face up. While we waited for the bus to come, I eased my mind slightly by telling myself that I had made the right decision to keep Lewis around. If it weren't for him, I'd probably be spending the night on the streets. He could see I looked worried, stressed. I told he that when we were at his house, and nobody could listen in on our conversation, I would explain everything to him - no more secrets.