I heard the door shut and I flinched, shutting my eyes and trying to steady my breathing that was now erratic. Trent was unsure of what to do but he just squeezed my hand reassuringly and told me he was here, and it would be okay. It wasn't okay though, the man who abused me for years was back in my house. I felt powerless, like a prisoner in my own home. The weight that had been on my chest since Mom told me he was coming was now completely crushing me. My worst nightmare was actually happening, I didn't know how to make it okay.

"Grayson, we're back!" Dad called up the stairs. I could hear the muffled sounds of voices from downstairs, and the panic grew as I picked out Adam's voice among the noise. I began to shake uncontrollably as I stood up from my bed, Trent following, still holding tight to my hand.

"It's okay, Gray. Deep breaths. He can't hurt you now. I'm here." I tried to do as Trent said. I just kept telling myself that he couldn't hurt me. I repeated those words in my head as we walked down the stairs and to the living room. Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch with Adam, chatting over cups of coffee. I saw the back of his head, that shaggy blonde hair that haunted my dreams, and I froze. Trent stopped next to me and squeezed my hand reassuringly. "I'm right here," he whispered, propelling me to move forward again. When we arrived in the living room my parents smiled, and Adam turned around to face me for the first time. His bright blue eyes pierced through my soul, and I had to lean on Trent to keep from collapsing.

This is what happens to boys who don't listen. Began playing in my head over and over again as he smirked mischievously at me. "Grayson, I didn't realize that Trent would be here," Mom said flatly. "Adam, obviously you remember Grayson, and this is his... um..."

"Boyfriend." Trent said in the same monotone as my mom. He stared Adam down as he spoke, his emerald eyes meeting Adam's baby blue ones, jaw hardening. Adam's eyes widened at the word and then his expression became one of fear. He knew that Trent knew, and he was afraid of him.

"Right, this is Grayson's boyfriend, Trent." Adam got up from his spot on the couch and walked over to Trent and me. Without making it obvious I tried to move a little behind Trent, and Trent had instinctively started stepping in front of me as well. Adam held his right hand out as he approached us.

"It's very nice to meet you," he smiled as he waited for Trent to shake his hand. Trent plastered on his best fake smile and shook Adam's hand, gripping as tight as he could causing Adam to wince in pain.

"You as well." Then Adam turned to me.

"Grayson, it's so good to see you again! How about a hug for Uncle Adam?" He asked as he held his arms out and got closer to me. I felt like I had been punched in the gut as he wrapped his arms around me. "Oh how I've missed you," he whispered in my ear as he gave me one last squeeze. I was trying to breathe but I couldn't do anything but stand there and shake, I was beginning to feel lightheaded and I turned to Trent, silently begging for help.

"Hey Grayson, can you help me get something from my truck?" He asked and I nodded quickly following him out of the house as fast as I could. As soon as the door shut safely behind me, I let out a choked sob. Trent just led me to his truck and opened the passenger door so I could get in. I sat with my back against the door, facing away from my house, and Trent climbed into the driver's seat. He sat patiently while I sobbed and hyperventilated, making no move to say anything or touch me. To most that would be the opposite of how a boyfriend should react, but for me this was exactly what I needed. It was amazing how he knew that, knew when it was okay to reach out and when I just needed to be left one.

"H-he whispered that he m-missed me," I choked out eventually. Trent's eyes glazed over with anger and his jaw hardened.

"I'm going to go in there, and fucking kill him," he spat, hitting the steering wheel in frustration. I whimpered with each blow to the wheel and recoiled further from him.

"S-stop!" I whimpered.

"I'm sorry. I just feel so helpless. What can I do to help you?" He asked me.

"I-I don't think there's a-anything," I cried.

"Pack a bag, I'll take you to Brayden's," he said.

"N-no, I can't l-leave without my p-parents questioning me."

"Grayson, you can barely look at him without having a breakdown. You need to get out of that house."

"I need to t-try to make it." I sighed and took in a few deep breaths as I calmed down. I really wanted to take Trent up on his offer, but unless Adam touched me, I wasn't going to run.

"So, where do we go from here?" He asked.

"We g-go back inside, I t-try to keep my shit together. C-can you stay?"

"Of course, anything for you, babe," he smiled as he got out of the truck, reaching into the back before he did and grabbing his backpack. My brow furrowed. "I had asked you to help me with something, if I walked in empty handed it would look suspicious." My mouth made an o shape as I realized what he was doing. We slowly made our way back to the house, and when I opened the door Mom rushed into the hallway.

"Are you okay, honey?" Panic was evident in her face. I swallowed a lump in my throat before I spoke.

"Yeah, totally fine," I lied. "We're going to go up to my room to do homework," I grabbed Trent's hand and tried to run upstairs.

"Wait, Gray, Adam just got here! We were going to go to Topgolf. We'll probably have to work most of the week, so we wanted to spend some time with him as a family." My stomach turned.

"Can Trent come?" I asked, eyes wide with panic. I was terrified she would say no. They already didn't like Trent much, and she was talking about spending time as a family. Mom smiled, but that kind of angry smile that moms do when they aren't happy with you but can't scream at you for it.

"Of course," she said through barred teeth. Better her be unhappy than not have him there at all. I breathed a sigh of relief and dragged Trent upstairs, telling Mom we'd be right down.

"Are you going to be okay?" Trent asked as I shut the door behind us, worry evident in his eyes.

"I think so, just, please don't leave me alone with him?" I begged as my eyes met his.

"Never, I promise." I smiled nervously at him, grabbed my wallet and a jacket and we headed downstairs. My parents and Adam were waiting by the door when we got downstairs. We agreed that Trent and I would drive separately since three men squeezing into the back seat of Dad's Mercedes Benz sedan would be a tight fit. Even though I was short and pretty slim at only 5'5" and 145 pounds. I wasn't about to argue. I was thankful to not be squished in a car between my boyfriend and the man who abused me.

The ride to Topgolf felt like an eternity. Trent put on the alternative radio station and I sing along, shakily, with whatever All Time Low, Jimmy Eat World, or The Killers song that came on. Trent held my hand tightly the whole ride, I think he mostly just liked being able to touch me in some way. It was nice, I had to admit, to be comforted by someone's touch rather than panicked. Trent didn't try to make conversation on the drive, which I appreciated. There was no way I'd be able to hold a conversation right now. We parked next to my parents and I took a deep breath before getting out of the truck. Trent was quickly by my side, grabbing my hand tightly as Adam attempted to approach us. I turned away from him without a word and let Trent lead me inside.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Topgolf, it's basically a sports bar where you shoot golf balls off a bay onto a giant field. Think bowling, but with golf. Given that my dad and Adam are both middle aged white men, Topgolf was the obvious choice for places to go on his visit. It was exactly the kind of place I hated, crowded, noisy, drunk people everywhere. Not to mention I suck at golf and most sports related things. Luckily it wasn't very crowded this morning and shortly after arriving we were able to get a bay. Trent held my hand the whole walk, gripping it tighter every time Adam turned around to look at us. I didn't dare look at Trent's face, but I could tell by Adam's frightened expressions that he was staring him down, ready to attack.

"Oh my god, Trent!" A perky blonde squealed from the behind the bar, running over to us and tackling Trent in a hug. "What have you been up to?" She twirled her hair and blew bubbles with the gum she was chewing.

"Um, I'm actually here with someone," he pointed to me, our hands still interlaced. The girl, whose nametag read Kylie, looked down at me, and then our hands. She scoffed.

"I guess I should cancel the gin and tonic then?"

"Obviously," he said, his annoyance exaggerated. We began walking again toward where my parents and Adam had been seated at a bay.

"F-friend of yours?" I asked.

"An old fling, she means nothing. I used to come here when we were together, she'd sneak me drinks and in exchange we would fool around."

"Oh," I dropped his hand and kept walking, but he grabbed it and spun me around.

"Look, Grayson, I have a past, and a lot of problems, a lot of things that I'm not proud of. I've been with more people than I'd care to admit, I've done enough drugs to kill me, I drink myself into oblivion most weekends. But that's not really me, the real me is who I am with you, and I promise you any people from my past, they mean nothing. You are all I care about, and I am not going to let you down."

"I-I trust you," I whispered, though something warned me I shouldn't. We met up with my family and I could feel Adam's eyes following me with every move I made. As long as I avoided looking at him, I was okay, but the minute we made eye contact my fight or flight instinct kicked in. I just got up and walked away multiple times, which obviously had my parents very concerned. Dad and Adam ordered multiple rounds of beers, and the smell of alcohol soon filled the bay. I became more and more nauseous as they became more intoxicated. I had to excuse myself to the bathroom just to get away from the smell and their drunken antics. Most nights when Adam came over, he would be drunk, so the smell of alcohol never sat well with me.

After spending longer than necessary in the bathroom, I decided I should rejoin my family. As I made my way through the facility, I spotted Trent, over by the bar talking with Adam. They both had their backs to me, and I carefully approached them. I could hear Trent speaking angrily with Adam.

"You better stay the fuck away from Grayson this week. You may be staying in his house, but you're not going to be in the same room as him ever do you understand?"

"I'm sure I don't know where this is coming from Tyler," Adam feigned confusion.

"It's Trent. And you know damn well where it's coming from. I know what you did. And if I so much as hear about you touching one hair on Gray's head, I will hurt you."

"Is that a promise, or a threat?" Adam stood up straight, puffing his chest out and stepping closer to Trent. Trent mirrored his stance in response.

"You don't want to find out," he spat.

"Trent!" I hollered, walking over to him and grabbing his arm, pulling him away from Adam.

"You know, Gray, I don't know what you've been telling your friend here about when you were little, but he seems to be under the impression you weren't totally begging for it," he laughed as he taunted. I saw Trent's arm wind up and quickly grabbed his elbow before he could swing at Adam's face.

"I swear I'll kill you," he tried to fight his way out of my grip, but I held on tighter.

"Trent, please!" I begged as I tried to drag him farther away, back toward where my parents were. I dared to glance at Adam as we walked away, our eyes locked and before I could turn away, he winked at me with a smug grin on his face.