Forgive Me

Brian’s car parked in front of the guy’s house.

“Here we are.”, he smiled.

Ollie smiled lightly, but regained her serious face a few seconds later.

Brian took her hand in his, and placed a soft kiss on it. “It’ll be okay…”, he whispered.

“You don’t understand, Brian! Joan will ask my mother where I am, and he’ll beat her! I don’t want that to happen!”, she busted into tears.

Brian placed an arm under her knee, and the other came around her shoulder. He placed her on his lap, and hugged her tight.

“I’ll make sure your mother is safe. I’ll call her later to check on her. I’ll call her every day. I promise.”, he said calmly.

Ollie looked into Brian’s eyes. “You don’t have to do all of this. I have to do this. Not you. You’re doing enough by accepting to bring me to your home…”

Brian silenced her by putting a finger on her lips. “I brought you here because I wanted to. Because I’m worried about you, and about what Joan could do to you. And…because I care about you… I want to be here for you, to protect you. And I’ll make your mother come here too if she isn’t safe at your house.”

More tears came rolling on Ollie’s cheeks.

“What?”, Brian asked panicked. “Did I say something wrong or..?”

Ollie shook her head. “No…no, of course. It’s just that…. You’re so sweet and caring… Nobody has ever acted this way toward me… You’re doing way too much thing for me, and I have no clue how I could repay you back.”

Brian shook his head. “Ollie… You don’t have to repay me. I’m also doing all of this for me. I mean… I can’t live with the idea that you’re in danger, or that you’re unhappy. I was miserable and worried the past few weeks because you didn’t answer any of my calls…”.

Ollie could see the hurt in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have answered but I was afraid. Because when you brought me home the other day, Joan asked me who you were and didn’t believe me when I said you were a friend. He went mad. And the next days he kept asking me about you, and I would him to see that I had talked to you,…so I ignored you… It wasn’t smart of me, but I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry.”

Brian couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “You mean that Joan started to beat you again…because of me?...Oh my God, I’m sorry Ollie. I shouldn’t have come so close to your house, I’m so…”

It was Ollie’s turn to silence him. “Brian, you don’t have to feel guilty about that. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault that Joan is a psycho. Plus… I liked the fact you walked me home…”, she blushed.

Brian grinned. “That’s music to my ears.”

She smiled at him, and then looked at her hands.

“What’s wrong?”, Brian whispered.

“…Every time I see you, I remember all those things I’ve said to you. I’ve been harsh with you, while all you were trying to do is to help me, or to make me happy. I feel so guilty now…”, she admitted.

Brian sighed. “I don’t want us to talk about it again and again. That’s the past Ollie and we can’t erase it. But we’re over it now, aren’t we? We’re great…friends, and …well…you see…”

Ollie nodded. She bit her lip and looked at Brian. She wanted to show him how thankful she was, and how much she cared about him.
She rested a hand on his shoulder and kissed him softly on the cheek. She pulled away and blushed.

Brian looked at her amused. He patted her back and spoke. “Maybe we should exit the car now and join the others inside?”, he chuckled.

Ollie nodded happily. Brian took Ollie’s bags and they headed to the front door. They entered the house.

“Hey, Haner! Uh….hi Ollie…”, Matt greeted, his face showing incomprehension.

Johnny and Zacky looked surprised as well.

But then Maddy came in front of them, facing Ollie.

“Sis? What are you doing here, and why is Brian….holding your bags? What’s in the bags?”

Ollie bit her lip and looked away. She forgot that her sister was here too. And now she’ll have to explain her why she was moving in. She really didn’t want to.

She saw Brian gave her a supportive look.

“Is…is there somewhere we can talk in private?”, she asked Maddy.
The brown haired girl nodded and told Ollie to follow her.

“Here we are.”, Maddy said, once they were upstairs. “Let’s go in Zack’s room.”

“So, tell me, what’s going on?”, Maddy tapped her feet on the ground.

“It’s…because of Joan…”, Ollie started.

And then she told her all the things Joan had said or done to her. She didn’t felt at ease when she came to the rapes part, but she continued nonetheless. She explained that Valerie was worried about her, that she asked her what was going on as well, and that finally she was ‘forced’ by her mother to move in with Brian.

“That’s…it.”, she finished.

“…Mom really saw all those things, because what you’re saying me doesn’t match Joan’s, well…my dad’s personality at all…”, Maddy said.

Ollie couldn’t believe what her sister had just told her.

“You…you’re saying that you don’t believe me?”, she asked in disbelief.

Maddy bit her lip. “No…I didn’t mean that…uh…that’s just… I can’t imagine Dad doing this to you….”

“You say that because he has always been nice to you, but when you weren’t here he always says mean things to put me down, and then I already told you everything he did to me. You don’t believe me because he’s your dad and you’re his beloved daughter. You’re not objective.”, Ollie said harshly.

“Yeah, I’m his daughter, and what? You’re jealous? Your dad was an asshole to your mother. Maybe you say all those things about Joan because you’re jealous that I still have my dad at home…”

Ollie’s heart broke. She couldn’t believe that Maddy was defending Joan. Her and her sister had always been really close. She didn’t think Maddy would react like this at all.

“How can you say that? Do you realize you you’re hurting me by saying this?! Why can’t you believe me when I say your asshole of a father raped me? You don’t want your perfect to break, that’s it. Your life has always been happy and easy for you. You can’t understand the other people’s misery because you never experienced it. I thought you were by my side, sis… Not against me.”

“I’m not against you. I just can’t let you talking shit about my father. Maybe you managed to manipulate Mom, but it won’t work with me. And I’m not you’re sister, I’m your HALF-sister.”

And with that, Maddy exited the room, leaving Ollie wide eyed, sad, broken and crying.

Her world was falling apart. She had just lost her only rock. Her sister. Her best-friend. Her…almost confident.
What will she do without her?
And why can’t her believe her?

She cried hard, but she heard heavy footsteps coming in the room. She quickly dried her tears and looked at the door. She saw Brain standing there, panicked.

“What happened, Ollie? Why did Maddy just left the house angry? Why are you crying?”, he asked quickly, almost running at her side.

“She doesn’t believe me.”, she sobbed. “About what Joan did to me.”

Brian’s eyes went wide. “Oh my God… Ollie… Let her some time, she’ll finally understand that you were saying the truth okay?”. He hugged her tight, placing quick soft kisses on her cheek.
She nodded.
“I don’t know what I would do without you, Brian.”, she confessed.

“Me neither, Ollie. Me neither. Come on, you can’t sit here the whole afternoon and cry. Come watch a movie with us.”

They came downstairs, and Zacky looked at Ollie curiously.

“Ollie, Maddy just send me a text saying that you were bullshitting about her father? What’s going on?”, he asked.

“Leave her alone.”, Brian said.

“Gates, she’s living with us now, we’ve got the right to know what’s going on..”, Matt pointed.

Brian looked at Ollie. “Tell them….”, she almost begged. “I can’t say it once again.”

Brian explained what Ollie had said to him a few weeks ago and the guys looked more than shocked. Plus they were speechless.

“And Maddy doesn’t believe that?”, Zacky snapped. “What the fuck is wrong with her?”

Ollie’s eyes went wide. “Please, Zacky, don’t be mad at her. She loves you, she really does…”, Ollie panicked.

“Calm down, Ollie. As much as I love her too, it’s a bit too much to yell at you like she did. We didn’t heard what you were saying, but we heard some yells. And now that I know what…she could have say to you… I don’t understand her, that’s all.”

“You’re safe here, Ollie.”, Matt assured her. “We won’t let him hurt you again.”

Johnny, Arin and Zacky nodded.

Small tears came rolling on Ollie’s cheeks as she couldn’t find anything to say. These guys were so caring and sweet.

“Thank you.”, was all she managed to say.

“Come on, I don’t want you to cry. Let’s put that movie on.”, Brian smiled, causing Ollie to smile back.

They spent the afternoon watching random movies, and they ordered pizza for dinner.

Brian showed Ollie her room, and everyone came to bed.
None of them had heard about Maddy.

*******later in the night***********

Ollie woke up suddenly. Maybe she just had a nightmare. She tried to go back to sleep, but she had too much on her mind.
Even if all the guys were supporting her, she couldn’t help but feel alone without her sister by her side.
Maddy was the only person she could really trust, well…now there was Brian too, but you know.
What if Maddy turned definitely her back on her?
As much as Ollie was hurt by her sister’s word, she still loved her. She was her little sister.
Ollie was now sobbing hard again. She wanted to stop crying all the time but she couldn’t help it. It was too hard and too much as the same time.
She wanted to see her mother, to know if she was okay. But it was 3 in the morning, she couldn’t call her.

She heard her door open and she froze. She felt someone sit on the bed.

She turned the lights on, and realized it was Brian.

“What…what are you doing here? Did I wake you up?”

“I heard someone sob and I know it was you. I came to check on you. What’s going on, Princess?”, he asked softly, caressing her cheek with his hand.

“..It…It’s just my sister. I…miss her…”, she cried.

Brian climbed on the bed and put his arms around her small frame. “I understand…”, he said. “But you need to sleep, okay? Tomorrow will be a better day…”, he assured, kissing her temple.

“Brian.”, she said, burying her face in his chest. “Sorry about all of this. You didn’t have to come here. I’m sorry I woke you up….”

“You didn’t wake me up. I…couldn’t sleep because I have stuff on my mind and…”

“Want to talk about it?”, she instantly proposed.

“No…Let’s forget about it. We both have to sleep, okay?”, he said, rubbing her back.

“Okay.”, she whispered.
“Want me to stay here for the night?”, he asked.

Ollie bit her lip. She felt like she was asking too much from Brian.
Brain lifted her chin with one finger. “Don’t say that you’ll say no to a gorgeous man like me?”, he said cockily.

Ollie giggled, and nodded. “Come here!”

Brain got under the sheets with Ollie and wrapped an arm around her. She rested her head on his chest, causing Brian to smile.

Ollie felt safe, and she was happy that Brian cared so much about her, because she liked him as much as he did.

Maybe she had to…let him a chance…