Safer This Way

Chapter 18

I was going to make you wait, but I just saw that this story hit 3k votes and got excited. But oh man, you guys are so going to hate me for this one :) I promise this story ends with an HEA...Happy reading!

*Sang*

Who would have ever thought that I would be happy to be woken up by my screaming parents? Of course it probably makes all the difference in the world that, this time, it's not me they're loud voices are directed at. No, this time they're targets are each other.

And that can only mean one thing: They're finally getting ready to leave for the weekend. It seems travelling together, or doing anything together really, is especially taxing on whatever connection has kept them together all these years.

I'm glad to hear it though, as I had begun to worry last night that I would never find out what exactly was so important that Gabriel had to talk to me about tonight. Although, if I'm being honest, the fact that he needed for us to be alone is terrifying in its own special way. What if I don't like what he has to say to me?

I hear a door slam downstairs before heavy footsteps stomp upwards and then in the direction of my room telling me that it has to be my father. He'd never slam anything in a house that he pays for, since he's too cheap to fix it he doesn't deal well when things are broken. It makes me wonder how he copes with a family that so clearly is.

The repetitive stomp of his feet end abruptly outside my doorway, the only warning I get before the door swings open, only narrowly avoiding slamming into the wall. "Sang, your stepmother has a doctor's appointment in the city this afternoon so we are leaving now. Unless something comes up, we will be gone for the weekend. Don't call me unless you absolutely have to, and stay out of trouble. Marie has money for food." With that he's gone.

The lack of emotion in his speech hardly registers with me anymore, as I can't remember the last time my father pretended to care for me. Actually, I can't even remember that last time he looked me in the eye, not since my real hair and clothes were unceremoniously taken from me all those years ago. If I were less realistic, I would hope that it was because he felt guilty about what has been done to me, that he regretted doing nothing for nearly seven years, but I'm not. I know that to feel guilt, he would first need to feel, and you need a heart to do that.

With bated breath I wait for his footsteps to disappear, listening intently for the exact moment that they're gone from the house before I allow myself to take a breath and let the sweet relief of freedom to chase away the ache in my ribs. They've healed enough by this point to not put me in constant pain, but too deep a breath and I'm reminded how broken my family is.

Now that they're gone, the house feels much less like a prison, and I decide to spend a little time trying not to look like a hobo today, for no other reason except that I can. Gabriel would be so proud of me, I laugh at the thought, glad that I can do so out loud without angering the monster. Marie won't be up for another hour to get ready for school, so it's almost like having the place to myself.

When my hair is as good as it's going to get, I leave the bathroom, tossing on my nicer clothes after wrapping my chest and checking the bruises still fading on my sides and upper thighs. Then I make a split second decision to leave the house before Marie can wake up and potentially ruin what is beginning to seem like a beautiful day. A walk through the trees before riding the bus sounds like just what the doctor recommended. More like the opposite, but what Dr. Green doesn't know won't hurt him.

Any and all remaining tension in my body relaxes instantly once I'm under the canopy of the trees, forcing me to realize that it's been far too long since I've done this. In fact, I hadn't been in the woods, or had a chance to be myself for months now, not since I ran from North's heartfelt pleas. Only when Henry had held me close had I felt like Sang in all that time, and I've been unaware of how desperately I needed that.