Battle Scars - USWNT

Chapter 26 - He's untouchable

Christen's POV

It's been 20 minutes since I called Luke and he still hasn't arrived.

"Do you think he's okay?" I asked Ashlyn and Ali.

Tobin and I arrived at their house a while ago, since Ash called me yesterday telling me that Luke wasn't doing too well.

"I hope so" Ash answered worried.

Suddenly the door opened and we all looked at it.

"Oh my god" Ali said concerned.

In front of us was a hurt Luke. He had a black eye and there was a lot of blood running down his right arm.

Fuck.

"Mm could I get a ride to the hospital?" he said, not even realizing that Tobin and I were there.

"Shit, Luke. What happened?" Ash said quickly taking the car keys and going towards Luke.

"I just... fell" he said, obviously lying.

"Let's go" Ash said, not believing his lie but not wanting to push it further, and they made their way out of the house and to the hospital.

"Well... shit" Tobin said looking at me.

Luke's POV

We had just left the hospital. I had to get stitches in my arm and I got prescribed another cream, this time for my black eye.

"So, are you going to really tell me what happened?" Ash said now that we were driving back home.

"I don't want you to kill us so no, not right now" I said, knowing she would probably get upset if I told her and I don't want her to drive recklessly.

No one said a word during the rest of the car ride.

Right when I stepped inside the house I was met with a pair of very familiar eyes.

"Christen? What are you doing here?" I said, shocked. "Don't you have a match today? Oh my god did you get injured or somethi-

"Hey hey, calm down" she said, chuckling. "I'm not injured but I wanted to come see you and you are way more important than my job. In fact, you are the one who seems to have gotten injured"

I walked to her and pulled her on a hug, my eyes getting a bit teary.

"Thank you" I whispered.

She kissed my forehead and hugged my tighter.

"It's okay" she said softly and we finally pulled away.

I realized that Tobin was also there and gave her a small smile, which she returned.

"This is cute and all but are you going to tell us what happened?" Ali said crossing her arms, obviously not happy that I showed up the way I did.

I nodded and let out a sigh.

"It was Matt" I simply said.

"That dude again?!" Ash said mad.

"What is he doing here and what the hell does he want from you?"

"I- I don't know"

"Is there something you are not telling us, Luke?" Tobin asked softly, putting her arm around me and patting my shoulder, encouraging me.

"I knew he was around here"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked confused.

"He came here one day to 'visit' me"

"What?! Here as in inside the house? When?" Ash said, looking even more mad than before.

"A while ago... he mm" I shut up not wanting to say it. I don't think Ash is going to be very happy about it.

"He what?" Ash insisted.

"He kind of threatened me? I don't know, he said he was 'watching me' or something like that" I said, looking at the floor nervously. Has he been watching me this whole time?

Ash didn't say a word after that, she just turned around and got out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

I flinched.

"I'll go talk to her" Tobin said, letting out a sigh and patting my shoulder again just before leaving to go talk to my sister.

"Let's sit down and calm down a bit, okay?" Christen said, taking my hand on hers and smiling at me softly.

We made our way to the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Can I get a glass of water? I ran a lot I'm a bit thirsty"

"You ran...?" Ali said, confused.

"I'll explain everything in a minute" I said and she nodded

"I'll bring you a glass of water"

Ali went to the kitchen while Christen and I stayed on the couch.

"Are you okay?" Christen asked me worriedly.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt too much" I said, talking about my arm.

"No. I mean, are you okay?" she asked again, emphasizing the word you.

"Oh" it's all I said.

She looked at me, waiting for an answer.

"I've been better, I guess"

Still holding my hand she caressed it softly with her thumb.

"It'll be okay. Just know that I'm here for you. Always" she said honestly and I smiled softly, my eyes getting a bit teary.

"Thank you, Chris" I said and she smiled back at me.

Ali came back and gave me the glass of water before taking a seat beside me.

I took a sip and let out a sigh.

"Whenever you're ready" Ali said.

Just as I was about to speak we heard the main door opening and a few seconds later Tobin and Ash were in the living room, sitting down on the other couch.

"Sorry about that Luke" Ash said smiling at me apologetically.

"It's okay" I said. I can't blame her, I get very upset as well when someone hurts her or threatens to hurt her. Prove of that was my recent encounter with Matt.

Okay, I guess I have to tell them about everything. Here I go.

A while later

"We have to go to the police. That dude is insane" Tobin said shocked, just like everyone in the room.

"He's still 17, the police are just going to dismiss it saying it's just a teen being a teen. Not to mention he's a rich, white, cis and straight male. He's like untouchable" I answered.

"Fuck" Ash said.

"Okay, let's all calm down. We are going to go to the police and report it, even if they don't do anything about it, we have to do it. This is not a one-time thing" Ali said.

"I guess..." I said, unsure.

I'm just worried he's going to do something to Ash, he said he was joking about wanting to have sex with me, but he never said he wasn't serious about hurting my sister. Of course, I didn't tell them about this part because I knew Ash was totally going to freak out. I also didn't tell them about my father not really being my father... I don't know how to process that. Does Ash know about it? Is he really not my dad? I mean, we've never been too close but then again the only person that I was close with within my family was Ash.

"Hey, it'll be okay" Christen said, noticing my worried face. "I promise"

I hope she's right.