I woke up to soft brown curls tickling my nose. I couldn't help but smile. I loved waking up next to her. I quietly got out of bed, not wanting to wake her as she looked so peaceful sleeping.

I kept the dim light on her nightstand on. She never said it out loud but I noticed she couldn't sleep without it. The light softly hit her face, showing off her beautiful, lightly tanned skin.

My heart ached for the girl now laying alone in the big bed. She had been through so much and no matter how hard she tried, life seemed to keep knocking her down.

I promised her I would keep her safe, but I miserably failed, again. I wanted to, so bad, but I couldn't seem to figure out how to. She was a vulnerable young girl, reckless even. It was hard to keep up with her pace, but that wasn't the worst part. I could keep up with her reckless behavior, I could still be there for her, but there we're always other people trying so hard to bring her down and they almost succeeded last night. It almost ended her life.

I wanted to do something, anything to help her, but most importantly I wanted to protect her.

I placed a kiss on her temple and walked up to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. It was already 8am, so I only had about an hour left before school started and I hadn't even had a lesson for today prepared. I was so caught up with Rachel, it totally slipped my mind.

Rachel needed to go to the police office today and I needed to be there with her. There was no way she could do this alone.

My mind drifted off to James. The thought of him maddened me incredibly much. I thought back to Rachels body covered in bruises and cuts. The hairs on my body stood up. It was a truly heartbreaking sight to see. I couldn't believe someone was capable of doing such thing to her.

"Hi." A soft voice spoke. I looked over my shoulder. "Hi beautiful." My heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. She looked sleepy. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing one of my t-shirts. You could tell she lost a lot of weight and that made me sad knowing she probably lost it all due to stress.

"Do you want some coffee?" I asked her.

"Please, I could really use it."

I chuckled. "Anything for you."

I walked up to the kitchen and made her a cup of coffee. I looked over at her sitting on the sofa. She looked so small and distracted. She was playing with her bracelet, looking down, not saying a word. I didn't know what to do to make her feel better.

"Here you go, lady." I said.

She smiled. "Thank you."

"So, do you wanna go to school today?" I hesitantly asked her, not wanting to put pressure on her.

"I would love to actually." She replied, her smile growing even bigger.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Good, I think that will be really good for you."

"I'm nervous to see David and Sam again." She said, now making eye contact with me. Her light brown eyes sparkling in the sun.

"I get that, but don't worry too much. They are worried about you, that's all."

"Okay." She said.

"I'm gonna get ready, i'll be ready to leave in 30 minutes." I walked up to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Okay." She replied as I walked away to the bathroom.

"Wait." She said. I turned around and she quickly got up from the sofa.

"You forgot this." She gave me a kiss on my lips.

I grinned. "Great way to start the day."

About 45 minutes later we arrived at the school. "You go in first, I'll wait here for a second, I don't want anyone getting suspicious." I said.

"Okay, I see you later." She squeezed my hand and got out of the car. I watched as she made her way inside.

I let out a big sigh. Today was going to be rough. I had nothing prepared and I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Rachel. It consumed my mind.

"Okay class, today we're doing something a little different. Since exams are getting close, I want to see how far you are with your Spanish. I want everyone to write a letter to someone, it can be anyone, and tell them something, anything. It can be about something you're passionate about, something fun that has happened, your favorite holiday, anything. You can work on the letter today and I expect everyone to hand it in before tomorrow's lesson. Any questions?"

"Miss?" A guy named Levi asked.

"Yes, Levi?"

"Is this for a grade?"

I chuckled. "No, it's not, don't worry."

He smiled and turned his focus back to the paper on his table.

I watched as my students started writing their letters. I was pleased to see everyone doing their work instead of complaining. I honestly couldn't care less about the letters, but I had to do something to fill up the lesson.

My eyes drifted to Rachel. She and David were whispering and even though I should've told them to keep quiet, I didn't. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was just happy to see her talking to David.

Minutes had passed and what once was whispering was now very loud. "Rachel, David." I raised my voice a little. Both their heads turned to face me. I put my finger against my lips. "Shhh." I ordered.

David nodded and immediately looked away, but Rachel kept her eyes on me. I gave her soft smile. She smiled back and got back to her letter.

The ball rang and the students immediately got up. The classroom slowly got emptier.

"Rachel." I softly grabbed her arm. "Stay back for a second."

We waited until every had left the room. I closed the door and turned my attention back to her.

"How did it go today?" I asked.

Her whole face lit up. "It was good! I explained everything to David and Sam and they were super supportive. I had really missed them and I'm glad to be back."

"I'm so happy for you Rach." I smiled. I grabbed her hands. "I know you don't want this and I don't want to ruin your day, but we have to go to the police today."

I was afraid of what she was gonna say. I didn't want to pressure her, especially not now but this had to be done. It was too important to let slide.

"Okay." She said.

"Okay?" I was surprised at her answer.

"I trust you, so I'll go today."

I felt my insides get warm. "Okay, then we'll go after school."

I quickly gave her a kiss on her cheek before she left to go to her last class.

The day dragged on slowly. I had given all my classes the same assignment and luckily everyone did their work without talking back. I couldn't be bothered to be a teacher today. I had been a teacher for 7 years now and today was by far the most boring day.

The end of the day was finally in sight and I waited in my classroom for Rachel. I was nervous for her, I knew how hard it was going to be to go to the police, but it had to be done.

"I'm ready." I looked over to the door to see Rachel waiting for me in the doorway.

I smiled. "Let's go."

We walked to my car together. The school was fairly empty so I wasn't scared of being seen by anyone, and besides that we weren't doing anything wrong.

We got in the car and drove off to the police station quietly. It was about a 20 minute drive before we got there.

"Are you ready to go in?" I asked Rachel as we parked in front of the police station.

She played with her fingers. "I don't think I can do this."

I put my hand over hers, I could feel how nervous she was by her sweaty and shaky hands.

"Look at me." I said.

Her eyes locked with mine. "Take a few deep breaths. You're going to be okay, they can help you. We can't let James get away with this. I'll be here with you through the whole thing okay? I'm here and I'm incredibly proud of you."

She took a few deep breaths. "Okay, I can do this."

"Okay." I smiled. We stepped out of the car and made our way to the entrance. I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I wasn't even sure why I was so nervous.

"Wait." Rachel said. She held out her hand, waiting for me to hold it. "Please?"

I grabbed her hand. "It's going to be okay."

We walked up to the desk and waited for someone to come up and help us. It didn't take long before someone came in.

"Hi ladies, how can we help you." A gentle looking guy asked us.

"I-i would like to report someone." Rachel said.

"Alright, what is the reason?"

"Domestic abuse."

"Alright, I'd have to take a statement so if you can wait here, I'll be back in a second."

"Sure." Rachel replied.

"What's your name?"

"Rachel. Rachel Young."

"Okay Rachel, I'll call you over in a minute."

Rachel and I sat down in the waiting room. "Do you want some water?" I asked her, pointing to the water tap next to me.

"No thank you." She replied.

We waited in silence for a few minutes before the officer came back. "Okay Rachel Young, follow me please."

"Can she come?" Rachel asked, hinting to me still sat on one of the chairs.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid not." The police officer answered.

I rubbed her hand. "It's okay baby, I'll wait here for you, you're going to be fine."

She nodded and disappeared around the corner with the police officer.

I waited for what felt like hours for her to return. I couldn't stop thinking about her in that room. I wish I could've been there.

After about 45 minutes they came back to the waiting room. The police officer gave me a nod and walked away. I looked up to meet Rachel. Her eyes were swollen and red. It was obvious she had been crying. I immediately stood up and walked up to her. She didn't make eye contact with me, but instead walked past me, making her way outside.

"Hey, hey, hey, Rachel." I called after her. "What happened?"

She turned around and looked at me, tears now falling down her face. My heart broke at the sight of her. "They didn't take me seriously at all." She yelled. I knew it wasn't personal, but I felt like I had let her down.

I walked up to her and put both my hands around her. "Shh baby, calm down." I rubbed her arms with my hands, but I knew my comfort wasn't enough right now. "What did they say?"

"They said I don't have any proof to back up my statement, and some shit about me choosing to be with him." She said, gasping for air trying to get the words out.

I pulled her in closer to me. "I am so sorry, this is awful. God this is awful."

I didn't know what to say to make her feel better. Anger had taken over my emotions. God I was so mad. Mad at James, the police and everyone who didn't try to help her.

I looked down at her. Tears still streaming down her face, her body shaking and her arms wrapped tightly around me.

He couldn't get away with this, I thought to myself. I had to do something. No one was going to get away with hurting my Rachel. I wasn't going to let it happen.

"Let's go home, I'll make you some food okay? We can watch a funny movie and we'll deal with this tomorrow."

She nodded. "Okay."

We sat down in the car and before driving away I grabbed my phone. I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

I searched through my contacts for the right name.

A: Samuel, I need a favor. Please meet me tomorrow morning, 6am.

I sighed and put my phone away. I put my hand on her thigh. "He's not getting away with this."