Think of me

the end

Billie

'Billie, get behind me.' Grayson said with a calm voice. But I knew him and I could hear the hint of fear in his voice that he was masking so well.

He didn't move his eyes from the silhouette of the man standing in the doorway. I didn't need to see a face to know it was, just the thought was sending shock waves of shivers down my spine.

I did as I was told, slowly sliding my feet along the floor until I was stood behind the only person I really trusted in this whole world, the person who I always felt safe around, even in this moment.

I watched his broad, muscly shoulders move slowly up and down as he breathed. I tried to slow my breathing to match his but I couldn't seem to calm down. As if he read my mind, he moved his hand behind his back and I grabbed it. He squeezed it and I squeezed back, my breathing finally started to slow down.

The two men began to talk but my mind was whizzing so much that I couldn't work out what was being said. All I knew was that both of the voices were filled with hatred and anger.

I had been staring at our entwined hands because I was too scared to look anywhere else. But when I heard movement and fast footsteps, my head snapped up to see what was happening.

My hand was suddenly on its own again and all I heard was:

'Billie, RUN!'

I snapped back to reality and looked up to see Grayson struggling against his father. Grayson managed to just about push his dad against the wardrobe, leaving a gap between them and the door for me to run through.

My head was telling me to run, but my heart said to stay. I couldn't leave and let Grayson's dad get away with this abuse again.

'No, Gray, I can't.' I tried to make my voice sound brave, but it only came out as a whimper. 

'I said run Billie!' Grayson shouted. I should have run, Grayson was focused on me, not his father. It gave his dad the perfect opportunity to whack Gray round the head, knocking him off balance.

I screamed, covering my mouth. I prepared myself to run towards them and help in anyway that I could. But before I could do anything, I felt myself being pulled out of the room. I looked down to see Grayson's mother's skinny fingers digging into my arm, pulling me away from the fight.

'You have to leave.' The woman said.

'What?' I stuttered. She was telling me to let this happen? I realised that Grayson's mum was part of the reason why Grayson was always getting hurt. She did nothing. Absolutely nothing. She just let it happen.

'It'll be over in a minute, but you have to get out before you get hurt too.' She explained, as if there was nothing wrong with what she was saying. I snatched my arm away from her.

'Are you serious?' I snapped. 'You'd rather let your son be beaten than get hurt trying to stop it?' I could not believe what she was saying. My blood boiled. I was so angry, at Grayson's mother, at his father, and at myself for allowing this woman to distract me for so long.

'You're supposed to do anything for the people you love.' I snapped before running back into Grayson's bedroom. I almost fell at the sight. Grayson was crouched over as his dad rammed his knee into his son's chest. He was yelling at Grayson about bringing a girl home. I felt guilty that I was the cause, but deep down I knew that Gray's dad would have found any excuse, even if I wasn't there.

'Leave him alone!' I yelled. I didn't know what else to do. If I tried to get involved, I would have just been shoved away. There was no way I could pull Grayson's dad away. After I shouted, the monster of a father's head snapped up at me. He grinned at me hungrily and the look that he gave me disgusted me.