Locked Doors

Explaining the story to Alex and Rory was relatively hard, because I wasn’t used to opening up about my abuse. They all, Rian included, asked how long it had been going on and were shocked when I told them three plus years.

“What made it all start?” Rory asked as we sat in Rian’s living room.

“I think my mom leaving,” I said toying with the blanket on my lap, “He blamed me, saying it was my fault she was cheating on him. I always tried to explain I didn’t know, but he would just hit me harder.”

I could feel tears coming, and hastily wiped my eyes hoping they wouldn’t notice. Sadly, Rian noticed, and put his arm around my shoulders to pull me into a hug. I buried my face in his chest, and let the tears seep out, unable to control myself.

Rian sat there rubbing my back, and telling me it would be okay, causing more tears to come due to his comfort. I heard Rory and Alex stand up and say they had to get going, before their footsteps faded off towards the front door.

I finally composed myself a few minutes later, but kept hugging Rian as he stroked my hair and rubbed my back.

“Thank you for being here for me,” I said as I finally pulled away from him.

“I’ll always be here for you Gabby,” he said looking me in the eyes, “I just want to know one thing though. Why did you have Matt call me? He told me he offered to call Rory first, but you said me.”

“You were the only person I had ever told,” I said before casting my eyes down, “And you make me feel safe.”

As soon as I let the last sentence slip from my lips, I could feel a blush creep up my neck and onto my cheeks. He lifted my chin up with his finger, but I avoided his eyes by looking at everything but them. While I was staring at the big clock on the wall, I heard him mutter something that sounded like ‘please don’t hate me’, before I felt his lips press against mine.

At first, I was shocked, but I felt the fireworks exploding in my stomach. I didn’t realized I hadn’t responded and felt Rian start to pull away. I quickly grabbed his neck and placed my lips back on his. I felt him smile into the kiss, and couldn’t contain myself from letting a smile break onto my face.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Rian said as we pulled apart.

“If it’s as long as me, it’s been since that first party I went to here,” I said resting our foreheads together.

“Same with me,” he said flashing his teeth, “So Gabby, will you go on a date with me and consider being my girlfriend?”

“Yes, to both,” I said leaning in to peck his lips again, “I guess that EMT was right about the best friends thing huh?”

“She sure was,” he said laughing, “Hence why I was blushing as she said it.”

“I thought I saw that, but I didn’t say anything because I’m pretty sure I was blushing too,” I said laughing, “How about we watch a movie, and try to get some sleep? You have practice tomorrow.”

“Alright, let’s go get some pajamas,” he said standing up and helping me up.

We made our way up to his room, and he handed me the sweatpants I had worn the last night I was there. I went to the bathroom and changed, before going back into his room and plopping on the bed while he picked a movie to put in. he came and slid in next to me, and the menu for Pineapple Express popped up.

We spent the next hour or so laughing, before I fell asleep, and was probably followed quickly by Rian.

~*~*~*~

The next morning, Rian’s mom came in to wake him up and was surprised to see me in his room. She looked agitated at first, but calmed down once she realized we were fully clothed.

“Well, breakfast is on the table when you two come down,” she said walking towards the door, “And I expect a complete explanation for this Robert.”

“Alright mom, we’ll explain,” Rian said groaning at his real name.

I held back a laugh, only earning a glare from Rian, before his mom left the room. As soon as his door was closed, he started tickling me, causing me to laugh incredibly hard. I finally got him to stop when I said I was going to wet myself, and got up so I could run to the bathroom.

I did my business quickly, before walking downstairs where I could hear Rian and his mom talking. I walked into the kitchen, with my head down, knowing my face was bruised from the night before. I slid into one of the empty chairs, and finally looked up.

“Oh my gosh Gabby, what happened,” Rian’s mom said as her eyes opened in fear.

“I, uhm, got into a fight of sorts last night,” I said scratching my arm as a distraction, “Except I didn’t have a chance to fight back.”

She looked confused, which I fully expected, so I nodded for Rian to fill her in on the story. He took a breath, before starting on the story we had both been repeating for the last 24 hours.

As the story got more and more in depth, I could see her eyes clouding over with tears and her face contorting into shock.

“And that’s how she ended up here,” Rian said finishing up the story and looking at me, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you last night, I just wanted to be there for her.”

“Gabby, I’m just, I’m so sorry,” she said standing up and coming to hug me, “I know that doesn’t do much, but you are welcome here anytime.”

“Thank you Mrs. Dawson,” I said gratefully returning her hug, “That means a lot to me.”

The rest of breakfast was filled with chatter of more happy subjects, and compliments to her cooking. Once we had all ate, Rian went upstairs to shower, while I stayed downstairs and helped Mrs. Dawson clean up the kitchen, before we sat and talked in the living room.

Rian came down shortly after, his hair wet, and his face clean shaven. He had my jeans in his hand, and passed them to me as he took a spot next to me. He told me he was going to take me back to my house to shower and change before practice, so we better leave soon. I bid goodbye to Mrs. Dawson, not before a giant hug of course, before slipping my shoes back on, and walking out to Rian’s house.

The ride was short, and when we got there I felt a relief run through me that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting hurt when I went in. I quickly made my way up to my bathroom to take a bath, since I couldn’t get my arm wet. I washed my body and face, before realizing I wouldn’t be able to wash my own hair.

I groaned in frustration, before getting out and getting dressed. I walked downstairs and found Rian watching cartoons, before asking him what I was dreading.

“Uhm, Rian?” I said getting his attention, “Would you mind helping me wash my hair? I can’t really do it by myself.”

“Uh, sure, no problem,” he said flicking the TV off and standing up, “Where should we wash it?”

“I could just lean over the tub and you could wash it,” I suggested as we walked upstairs.

“Alright, that should work.”

The hair washing went fairly smooth, and Rian only got a few spots of water on his shirt. I thanked him with a quick smile, and proceeded to brush it quickly. I grabbed Rian’s white hoody, that I never had returned, and slipped it on before walking downstairs to rejoin him.

“Nice hoody,” he said jokingly as I tied my shoes.

“Thanks, some guy gave it to me,” I said winking and laughing.

He laughed too, and stood up once he realized I was done. We walked out to his car, and were on our way to band practice where our intertwined fingers would definitely be the hot topic.