Protecting Her

Chapter Two

You

"You shouldn't have said anything," Leigh mumbles to me once we left the room hours later. I shrug, feeling her grab my hand and get closer to my side.

I furrow my eyebrows in her direction, "You okay?" She looks at me and before she could say anything, I hear a familiar, annoying voice.

"Hey, Pincocks!" I growl under my breath, slowly turning around to the taller boy. "It's 'Pinnock', firstly. Secondly, what the hell do you want, Blake?"

Irritation obvious in my tone. Leigh cowers behind me, clutching onto my hoodie.

I glance at her then looked back up at the boy who's a few steps closer now. My sister shrinks some more and my protective instincts kick in. "Back the fuck off, mate," I warn him, earning me a chuckle.

He looks pass me at my sister.

"Hey, Leigh," he waves and I hear her whimper. "I'm serious. Get the fuck away from her," I block her from his line of sight.

"Relax, mate," he mocks my accent. "You act as if I'd-," I interrupt him angrily.

"I mean it. Leave her alone!" His smirk turns into an angry glare and he steps closer, towering over us. I shield Leigh some more, looking up at the massive boy.

"I advise you to watch yourself, mate. You have no idea who you're messing with," he lowers his voice so that only her and I could hear. I let off a quiet growl, "I've scrapped guys bigger than you, including my own dad. So, you better watch yourself... mate."

I take Leigh's hand again and continued towards our room.

"He scares me," she says in a whimper like voice when we turn the corner onto our hall. I look at her, "He ever touched you or anything?" She shakes her head wordlessly.

"H-He reminds me of-," her bottom lip begins to tremble and I immediately wrap an arm around her. "Shh, I know," I say, kissing her temple.

"You should've ignored him, Y/N," she says when we get to our room. "What good would that do? I've known guys like Blake. Ignoring him wouldn't help," I say, unlocking the door and stepping inside.

"You're gonna end up getting hurt," she says quietly as if talking to herself. I scoff, stripping my hoodie off, "Anything he ends up doing to me pales in comparison to what we went through, Leigh-Leigh."

She chews on her bottom lip and rubs the top of her arm. I sigh, tossing my hoodie onto my bed. I then run a hand through my curly hair before looking over at the nervous looking girl.

"That dick's not coming near you in any way. Not as long as I'm around," I promise her. She nods, tugging on one of her braided pigtails gently. We stand in silence for a little bit and I took a seat on my bed.

"Our birthday's soon," she mumbles sadly. I nod, biting dry skin from my lip. A bad habit of mine.

"But we're spending it here," she says, sounding less sad now. "Not with...," she pauses and I shake my head. "Don't think about it, baba," I tell her. She sighs and sits next to me.

"I can't help it. It's all still fresh to me," she stared into space, an unreadable expression on her face. I subconsciously reach up and touch the still somewhat sore spots on my face and then the healing stitches on my eyebrow.

I wince, glancing down at my hand. I half-expected to see blood, but I didn't.

"I know. Me, too," I sigh, feeling her set her head on my shoulder. "Thank you," she suddenly says, making me furrow my brows. "Huh?"

She lifts her head, looking at me now with tears welling in her eyes. "For protecting me. You took a beating for me. You always took beatings for me," she looks downcast.

"Because you're my sister. You've always been the most sensitive of us and I'll continue to protect you for as long as we both live," I promise her, using my knuckle to wipe a stray tear.

"But... you shouldn't have to," she says while shaking her head. "Leigh-Anne, we've talked about this," I say gently and she slumps her shoulders, tugging her hair again.

There was a deep silence in the room; you could practically hear us thinking. All that was on my mind was that day I came home from football practice. The beating I was given was nothing compared to the one I give myself each passing day.

Every time I look at that broken, distant look on her face, I send myself a punch to the chest. Because it clenches my heart painfully.

I can never forgive myself for ignoring her discomfort of being alone with him.

"Stop punishing yourself," she says, now looking at me. I shrug, running a hand through my messy, wild curls. "I can't help it," I unintentionally repeat her words.

She smiles at me sadly, placing a comforting hand on mine. I could see the pain, sadness, fear, and everything else that comes with trauma.

Leigh's the most innocent and the sweetest person I know. She'd hug her bully; which she did back in year 2. But that bastard stripped that innocence away from her.

She used to wave at strangers with a big smile. Now, she clutches to my side no matter where we go. Scared of her own shadow, having nightmares that mimic that day. She's not the same Leigh-Anne from when we were ten.

It's absolutely heartbreaking.

I move my jaw a bit, flashes of that afternoon entering my head. Anger started to build in my chest and I notice the worried look on her face. "Y/N?" Her small, high voice had traces of concern and fear in it.

I huff out a breath, biting on my lip again. She pats my cheek, "Stop that. You're turning red." I was unsure if she meant my rage or my habit. Regardless, I release my lip and took a deep, slow breath.

"I have to go to Baby Doll in a few minutes," she says regrettably. Baby Doll is her assigned counselor. Her real name is Kehlani Parrish, but due to her really young face and friendliness, everyone calls her Baby Doll.

I've only met her a handful of times since Leigh wouldn't go into her office without me. The whole time, her clammy hand would be holding mine tightly and tensely.

"Do you wanna go in today?" I ask her carefully and she shakes her head. "I mean, I like Baby Doll, but I don't wanna talk today," she admits, looking away.

"Me, too. Endez told me to meet tomorrow since I hadn't said anything really." 

"Do you think we should start talking to them?" She asks, finally meeting my eyes. "Baby Doll said that it may help me feel better to tell someone. But I just can't. I don't wanna talk about it at all. I want to forget, but... there are these scars that I feel will never heal."

There was so much pain in her eyes that it nearly made me wanna go back and kill the bastard.

"Not to mention the literal scars you have. That, and the fact that you were in a coma for weeks from that hit on your head," she motions to my stitches.

"Baba, I was unconscious for three days." She makes a face, "Well, it felt like weeks to me." I instantly frowned, but let her continue.

"You're the only person I ever wanna talk to and I trust you."

I give her a sad half-smile, "I trust you, too."

She resumes herself back on my shoulder and I kiss the top of her head.

"We're gonna get through this, Leigh-Leigh. I know we are."

———
*Hey, y'all