we all jumped in one after one into the huge lake and started splashing around, we were all talking

but richie had only said a few words to me

'richie, can we talk for a second?'

all the boys came over to me

'alone?'

bill, stanley, and eddie all swam off while me and richie sat at the edge

'what's up, hot stuff?'

i bit the inside of my cheek, not wanting to ask him the next question

because, what are we?

he looked at me and smiled, so I took the opportunity and grabbed his neck while pulling him on top of me

he smiled through the makeout, and repositioned us so he was underneath me

this is what he wanted right?

right?

my hands were kneading through his hair while he had his warm arms around my waist

we couldn't contain our smiles, until someone, or more like some people, snuck up on us

'boo!' I heard and then felt water being poured over us

i tried taking cover, but since it was me that was on the top, there wasn't much to do

'cut it out guys; it's not funny' richie said as he got up, dried himself off, and then went over to his bike

i quickly ran up and then yelled after him,'wait richie, where are you going? I thought we were all going out to lunch after this?!'

we could barely see him, as he began disappearing through the woods,'just go without me, i'm busy'

he said that so rudely, it hurt my feelings

then, I heard eddie say,'they were sure busy two seconds ago' and laugh a little before bill told him to shut up

i turned around and looked at the three boys,'so... do you guys wanna go to the diner for lunch?'

they all nodded as we dried off and put our clothes back on

'i'm home' I sluggishly yelled as I walked through the door

'where have you been?!' steve ran in from the kitchen with a whisper-yell

'steve, why are you whispering?' I asked him

'because, victoria; dad's home' he had a worried expression as he went in to hug me

i wrapped my arms around him, and he held me tight

the last thing I needed right now was my dad

he's such a coward

but at least steve was there

'mia, is that you?' I heard him from the kitchen

he only calls me by my middle name, and I hate it

'yes it is me' I said in a low tone, walking into the kitchen with steve as I sat down and steve helped him with making the dinner

'what, no hug?'

'you don't deserve one' I whispered

he turned around, with the knife in his hand, and looked at me dead in the eye,'what the hell did you just say to me young lady? I just came home and this is how you treat me?!' his voice turned into a huge yell as I pushed myself further into the bar stool

'home? what type of home is this to you? you just came back from not being here for 6 months and expect me to treat you fairly?!'

'MIA, do not disrespect me.' he was yelling while clenching the knife in his hand

steve saw where this was going, and he tried putting a stop to it,'dad, I think we all need to calm down, and please put the knife down'

'alright, since when do you give the orders around here?!' my dad put the knife down, and then sucker punched steve in the face so he came tumbling down to the ground

'HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, HUH?!' he kept on kicking steve in the stomach

'DAD, please stop!!' I tried yelling, but then all of his anger got let out on me

he walked around the kitchen counter, leaving steve bleeding on the floor, and got over to me

i got up and out of the chair as he pushed me down to the ground

he yanked my collar back up so I was standing, and then whispered to me in a scary voice,'now, you're gonna get what you deserve and I'm going to leave again. and none of this ever happened.'

he wound up his fist and punched me right in the eye, breaking my glasses and probably also my nose

as soon as he left, steve got up and ran over to me on the ground,'oh my god, victoria are you okay?!'

blood and tears stained my hands and face as steve put a wet cloth over my nose and right eye

'he's never gonna hurt you again, vic. not as long as i'm here. trust me'

with a weak look up, I asked steve,'are you okay? you're bleeding too'

'ah i'm fine, nothing I can't handle' he said with a sad smile as he wiped the blood away from my nose and cheek

'and you know, as soon as we have the money, we're going to get you a pair of new glasses, okay' I nodded

'but for now, tape will have to do.. and until your black eye heals, you can just borrow a pair of my sunglasses, let me go get them while you get ready for bed'

i nodded, and then went into my bedroom ad changed into my pajamas.

'all set? here are the sunglasses, and i'll drive you to and from school tomorrow. I love you, goodnight v' he set the glasses down on my dresser and closed the door

'love you too'

'alright stay safe out there,okay?' steve looked at me with a concerned look

'okay, and thanks for letting me sleep in until fourth period'

'bye, have a good day!' steve yelled after at me when I left the car

i waved at him and walked into the school

we had lunch now, so I headed for the cafeteria

while I was walking, bill and eddie caught up with me

eddie asked about the bruise, and I said I didn't want to talk about it

he understood

bill already had a feeling of what he knew was going on, and later that day I would ask him to come back to my place after school so we could talk

steve would be okay with it, since he loved bill

in fact, it was only bill and eddie steve actually liked

while we were walking to the cafeteria, I heard someone call my name

it was richie,

so I ignored him

he ignored me yesterday after we made out, so now it's my turn to ignore him

'vic? come on, vic! I know you can hear me!!' he yelled out eagerly

but still, I ignored him

we were about to walk into the cafeteria when richie caught up with us and pulled my backpack so I came tumbling down to the ground

'what the hell, richie?!' I scolded him as I got up

'i'm so sorry, victori-' then he saw it

the half side of my face that was completely covered in purples and deep blues from all the bruises

his yell turned into a low whisper,'what happened?' he was concerned about me; I could see it on his face

from the frown on his cheek to the sadness in his deep brown eyes

'don't, richie. just don't' I said to him lowly as I walked back into the cafeteria, catching up with eddie and bill; while leaving richie standing there all alone with no explanation of why the love of his life, left him hanging

tick tock, tick tock

i had just come home from school,

and i was laying on my bed when I heard the doorbell go off

i thought steve was out with his friends?

sluggishly and tired, I went out of my room and went to the front door

with a slight sigh, I twisted the doorknob

'richie? what are you doing here?' I asked him

'victoria, what are you doing to me?'

'how should I know-'

'please tell me what happened to your face?'

with a roll of my eyes, I told him to come in

we went into my room and closed the door behind us

i sat down on my bed and richie sat at my desk

'why'd you ignore me?'

'because you ignored me'

'when?'

'after we made out'

'at the barrens?'

'yes'

'what do you mean I ignored you?'

'after the others poured water on us you turned stone cold and left as if you hated me'

'victoria, I could never hate you or do anything to hurt your feelings on purpose' he pushed the chair forward and placed his hand on my knee

i looked at his gentle hand and whispered,'well it felt like you did, and it hurt my feelings.'

his expression changed from worried to almost, relieved?

'whew, i'm glad it wasn't anything important that I had to fix'

i didn't say anything, or change my expression, I just looked up at him

'but, anyways, can you please tell me what happened to your face, hot stuff?'

i had had enough and pushed his hand off my knee and got up off of the bed and stood up facing him,'get out, please.'

'why, victoria?' he looked a little sad as he stood up from the chair and walked closer to me

we were only inches apart, and since I was shorter than him, I was looking up at him

he put his hand over my arm and let it stay there

'if you don't care about my feelings and only care about making out with me, then get out'

'but I don't , vic'

'but you do, richie'

he pushed his glasses up from the bottom of his nose to the top,'fine then, what can I do to make it better? a kiss? do you want me to get you something?'

oh he did not just say that,'all I want you to do is genuinely care! how hard is that?!'

he stepped back a little,'baby, I do care'

'don't call me baby! you have to accept the fact that you hurt my feelings, and you keep hurting my feelings!'

'what do you mean, I thought I made you happy.' he looked sadder than before

'you do, richie! that's one of the reasons why I liked you so damn much!'

'liked?'

'of course I still like you, richie. I just think that this isn't good enough for you'

'do you mean that you aren't good enough for me?'

i nodded and had a sad facial expression as he came closer to me

we were closer than before when he whispered,'you're more than just "good enough for me". you make me a better person. and I wouldn't be anywhere without you. I adore you with all my heart and it hurts me to know that I hurt your feelings and then I was a dumbass and didn't even notice that you were sad'

he wrapped his arms around me loosely,'richie, it was me that was being a dumbass. I shouldn't have ignored you. I should've just told you what happened'

he wrapped his arms tightly around me and rested his chin on the top of my head

it sounds weird but I loved how tall he was. when he hugged me I felt so safe

i decided that I would tell him about how my dad hit me.

in a soft whisper, I started talking,'richie, my face is like this because yesterday..'

i paused as he held me tightly and I finally wrapped my arms around him too

'yesterday my dad came back, he got mad at steve and then when I tried to stop him, he hit me too. my glasses are broken too, so that's why i'm not wearing them'

he let go of me and looked at me, we were still in each others arms when he looked at me

'richie, baby, i'm sorry'

'vic, the last thing you need to be is sorry.'

he pulled me tightly again,

and after a few minutes,

he whispered very quietly, almost as if he didn't want me to hear it,

'I love you, victoria mia harrington. I love you so much'