"Whats that from?" Mason says lifting up my sleeve a little more to reveal the obvious bruise.

Shįt I forgot about that one, "I bumped into my counter last night. You know me, clumsy" Mason looks at me knowingly

"I have to get to class but I'll meet you at lunch. My treat" I say running off to class.

That was a close one.

Masons and Ellie have been getting suspicious. Tara comes over every now and then and brings Mason and Ellie but I don't allow them over any other times. I can't take the risk. I think they know that there is conflict between my parents and I. They just don't know the extent of it. My ribs are fully healed thankfully and I've been working a lot but making sure I'm home early.

Mason, Ellie and Christine have been amazing friends and I don't know what I would be doing without them. Ellie took me shopping and payed for a bunch of stuff because I'm low on money. My outfits are now decent and don't look the same every day. I got some colorful jeans and cardigans to spice up my outfits.

Mason has been unbelievable. I feel so safe a protected with him. He's been helping me with my stress and anxiety too. Living with two alcoholic and abusive parents can give that to you. He helps me be more relaxed and he has filled up the empty space that used to be inside me.

"Ms. Williams, do you know the answer? My math teacher, Mr. Smith says.

"I-um. No, I'm sorry" I say looking down embarrassed.

"Pay attention please" He says causing the class to erupt in laughter.

Thank gosh this is the last class today.

"Le, are you coming over today?" Mason says and I smile up at him, nodding.

"Okay, see you there love" He says and we part ways to our car.

I get into the car and throw my bag into the backseat. It's Friday so I won't have to stress about finishing my homework.

I listened to my music on the way to Mas and Ellies. It was a very short ride, I may have been going a little faster than I should have. What can I say? I miss my Belle Belle.

I walk into the house, automatically being greeted by the smell of freshly baked cookies and a little puppy jumping up at my legs.

"Leah, you're here before my kids are. Come, I just made cookies" Tara says peeking her head from around the corner.

I smile, feeling more comfortable here than anywhere else I have ever been.

"Thank you Tara" I smile at her. Tara knows about my parents being alcoholics. She also knows about them abusing me but I never physically told her. She put the pieces together.

"Honey, you are always welcomed here. I love you like my own daughter" She says hugging me. I actually believe those words.

"Mom, we are home" Mason yells coming in and grabbing a cookie.

"Leah, can I please talk to you really quickly?" Mason says and I nod following him up the stairs.

He makes his way to his room and I start to feel anxious, not knowing what this is about.

He urges me into his room and I go and sit in on the edge of his bed. He closes his door which makes me even more nervous. He never closes it.

I start getting really hot a sharp pains in my chest along with trouble breathing.

"Leah, deep breaths. Everything's okay. Don't worry. I'm here for you" Mason says squatting in front of me, nervous.

I start to calm down and Mason relaxes a bit. He sits in the middle of his bed and I join, sitting in front of him.

"M-Mason, what is this about? You closed your door and you never do that" I say playing with the charm bracelet he got me not that long ago.

"It's nothing bad, just personal, so I closed the door" Mason says scratching his arm and I nod relaxing even more. I probably shouldn't have.

"Leah, listen. I have drawn out this conversation forever. But I want you to know that I care about you so much. And so does Ellie. So this is why I wanted to bring this up. Is everything okay at home?" Mason says and the anxiety attack starts to come back.

"Mason, I can't" I say getting up about to leave.

"Leah, please" His voice cracks causing me to stop in my tracks. I look back to see his glossy eyes.

"You mean so much to me. I need to know this" He says trying to stop himself from crying.

I guess todays the day.

I slowly make my way back to my previous spot.

"Mason" I say grabbing his hands and taking a deep breathe before continuing. "My parents are alcoholics." I say and he nods.

"Yeah, that was pretty obvious" He says swallowing hard.

"And sometimes, they. Um" I say my vision being blurred. "You can tell me anything Leah" Mason says.

"Sometimes, If I don't act the way they want me to. Or if I stay out to late or get their order wrong, they h-hurt me" I say a few tears rolling down my face.

I quickly wipe them away and see Masons blank face.

"M-Mason" I say a few more tears rolling down my face. He quickly gets up and starts pacing around his room.

I start to get nervous. "It's all my fault" He mumbles out. I slowly get up and walk over to him.

"No, Mason. It's no ones fault" I say and he quickly turns to me causing me to flinch.

"Leah, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to" He says and I shake my head. "It's-It's okay" I wipe more tears.

"It all makes sense. Why you would always flinch at physical contact. Leah, why didn't you tell me" His voice breaks at the end.

"Do you not trust me? Am I not important enough? Are you scared that I would hurt you?" He says sitting down on his bed, his head in his hands.

"No, non of that Mason. You have no idea how safe I feel with you. You mean the absolute world to me" I say kneeling in front of him.

"Mason, look at me please" I say and he picks up his head, revealing his tear stained face. My heart breaks at the sight.

"So why didn't you?" He says as I change my position.

"I-I couldn't" I say and he looks at me dumbfounded.

"Yes you could of. You should have" He says.

"Mason, I couldn't. You don't understand" I say turning around. Mason puts his hand on my shoulder causing me to flinch.

"You're right. I don't understand" He says.

I walk over to his desk on the opposite side of his room. I pick up the photo of him, Ellie, Tara and Jim.

"Do you see this?" I say turning around and he nods looking at the photo.

"I use to have this. When Ellie and I stopped hanging out is when this life started. I didn't know what it was like to have a family until I bumped into you a month ago Mason. Now imagine, all of a sudden, tomorrow everything changed and you were put in my position. How would you feel?" I say placing the photo down.

"I-I don't know" He stutters out just staring at me.

"Hurt, alone, confused. Those are just some of the feelings. Now imagine this, being 10 years old and counting down the days till you turn 18 so you can get away" I say my emotions taking over again.

Realization flashes across Masons face.

"So here's why I couldn't tell you now, or anyone else when I was younger. I couldn't bare the thought of being even more alone than I used to. I couldn't bare the thought of being put in a foster home or even an orphanage" I say choking on my tears by now.

Mason gets up and embraces me in a hug. "You are so strong Leah. In fact, you are the strongest person I have ever met. I will always protect you. I promise you that, I will never let anything happen to you again. I swear it on my life" Mason says, his voice breaking.

I start sobbing even harder and Mason picks me up bridal style, sitting down on the bed and placing me on his lap, rocking me back and forth. I burry my head in his neck.

"Shhh, you're okay Leah, You are safe here" Mason coos, playing with my hair. "I love you Le" He says and soon I am embraced with darkness.

I've been dreading having this conversation. I already know the answer but just hearing it coming from Leah will make it more real.

Every word that came out of Leah's mouth broke my heart a little more. I really care for her and knowing that every day for years she would go home and be put in danger made me want to punch both of her shįtty parents in the face.

She is currently sleeping and I had moved to the back of my bed so I could lean but against the wall. I run my fingers gently through her hair.

I use my free hand to text my mom to come up here.

"Mas, what happened?" Mom whispers seeing Leah sleeping on my chest.

"Her parents abuse her mom" I say holding back the tears. She looks down.

"You knew?" I almost scream at her. "And you didn't tell me?" I say getting upset.

"Mason, she didn't tell me. I knew about her parents and I just put it together. She never told me. And I wanted her to tell you on her own" Mom says and I nod understanding.

"Okay, I'm sorry mom. Is that guest bedroom still available?" I say feeling bad.

"It's okay Mas. I see the way you look at her. You care about her more than I ever thought you would. Yes it is. And yes, she can stay here" She smiles and I thank her.

"I'll leave you two now" Mom walks out and soon after Leah wakes up.

I wake up to someone combing their fingers through my hair gently. Mason.

"Hey" Mason says and I smile at him. "Thank you, Mason" I say wrapping him in a hug which he returns.

"I swear Leah, I'm always going to be here for you and protect you always" I smile and he smiles back at me.

"Now, um I talked to my mom" Mason says and I nod sitting next to him and laying my head on his shoulder.

"And she said you can have the guest bedroom" He continues and I just look at him, shocked.

"Um what?" I say confused.

"I don't want you going back home. It's not safe Leah. Please, stay here" He says.

"Mason, I-I"

~~~~~~~~~

Heyyy, sorry for the cliffhanger. It had to happen though. What do you think id going to happen?? I know a lot happened in this chapter...sorry. I hope it was good though. Vote, comment and share! Thank you so much for reading and hopefully will be able to update again before Thanksgiving!

Word Count: 1848

~Leah