Sanctuary - Side 2

I woke to Abby checking herself out in her full-length mirror with a frown upon her face. There were bruises and scrapes along her arms and even her legs; it broke my heart seeing her in such disarray. I got out of bed and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Good morning.” I said.

“Good morning.” she said, placing her hands on top of mine.

“How do you feel?”

“Better, but I’m scarred emotionally and physically. Luckily, the physical scars will go away.”

“Luckily.”

I was smiling, but she wasn’t smiling at all.

“Can we go eat breakfast? I’m starving and I need to take an aspirin on a full stomach.”

I couldn’t imagine having a hangover on top of what happened last night.

“Of course. Chocolate pancakes?”

Her favorite breakfast.

“Yes.”

She turned around and kissed me, taking me by surprise, but of course I kissed her with the same amount of passion.

“So glad to see that smile of yours again. I missed it.”

“Let’s go.” she said, taking my hand.

“Just let me pee.”

“Oh! I forgot! I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

I laughed as she did. She went off to the kitchen while I took a trip to the bathroom. I saw her getting milk out of the fridge and I grabbed glasses out of the cabinet, pouring milk for the both of us.

“You’re so sweet. Thank you.”

“You are welcome. Straw?”

“Please.”

I passed one to her and she instantly took a drink.

“How about you go sit? I’ll make pancakes.” I asked.

“Ok.”

She walked into the living room and turned on the tv.

“Anything you wanna watch?”

“You pick.”

Instead of hearing something on tv, I heard music instead… very familiar music, actually. Before any lyrics started, I knew what was playing; it was a song I’ve sung countless times and is one her favorites.

Make a wish on our sorry little hearts
Have a smoke, pour a drink
Steal a kiss in the dark
Fingernails on my skin
Like the teeth of a shark
I'm intoxicated by the lie

In the chill of your stare
I am painfully lost
Like a deer in the lights
Of an oncoming bus
For the thrill of your touch
I will shamefully lust
As you tell me
We’re nothing but trouble

She sang this dramatically as she attempted to keep her eyes on me. I was amused as she paraded around the room while singing along to my vocals.

Hearts on fire tonight
Feel my bones ignite
Love feels like war

She collapsed on the ground as part of the performance. She paused the music once the song was over and saw me walking toward her. When she reached out, I pulled her up and we both laughed.

“You sound so great.” I said.

“Look who's talking. The original singer who is standing in front of me, his voice is so much better.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“You’re so humble. It's cute.” she said, pinching my cheek.

I blushed.

“Well, I’ll get back to making breakfast.”

She nodded as I walked back. Fifteen minutes later, I brought breakfast into the now silent living room.

“Thanks for the yummy breakfast.”

“You’re welcome.”

She took a bite of bacon and pressed play.

“So, what are we watching?”

“13 Going on 30.”

“Good choice.”

She smiled and shook her head.

After breakfast, she leaned into me and placed her head on my shoulder while I wrapped an arm around her waist. Halfway through the movie, her phone vibrated.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she said.

“Who is it?” I asked, pausing the movie.

“My mom.”

“Why in the world is she texting you?”

I was so irritated with her mother and I hadn’t even met her.

“Let me look.”

Her mom called her a few times shortly after she moved here and now texts her every six months. Abby refuses to ever call or text back and I honestly don't blame her; she wasn't accepting of Abby when she was diagnosed with depression and the fact her mom decides to get in contact with her after she moved away is ridiculous. Things shouldn’t be this way in the first place.

“Pretty much the text she always sends. It's not gonna happen. You didn't get why I was depressed for a year, so why are you trying to get a hold of me? It's a shame that I have a mother like that. I never answer and I wish that she would just give up. Think I should actually call her? Maybe she’ll leave me alone then.”

“I think you should.”

She grasped my hand once she told Siri to call her; I figured she would need emotional support for this.

“Oh my God! I’m so happy that you called, Abigail!” I overheard.

“Hi, Mom.”

“How are you, honey?”

“I could be better.”

“What happened?”

“It’s not exactly something you tell someone on the phone about.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mom. I’m sure.”

She was becoming irritating.

“Why are you acting like this?”

“Why do you think? You pretty much abandoned me when I told you that I had depression. Do you get it now or what?”

She let go of my hand and began pacing around the room.

“I do actually and I want to see you. Give me a chance to speak to you in person.”

“Can you afford a ticket?”

A look of confusion appeared on my face.

“Yeah. Mind if my boyfriend comes?”

“If there's any chance of reconciliation, I’d like to be only you.

More confusion.

“That’s fair. You’re right. You and me.”

“Good to hear.” she said calmly.

“Is there a time that’s better for you? I can make myself free whenever from work.”

“I don’t know. I’ll talk to my boss on Monday.”

“Sounds good. Love you.”

“Bye.”

She hung up and sat down.

“She wants to come see you?”

“Yeah and I agreed. Maybe there's a chance for us go reconcile.”

“That’d be great. There's something that irritated me though. She wanted to know if she could bring her boyfriend.”

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“Wish I was.”

“She agreed not to. She genuinely is ready to do whatever it takes to make things right between. You know, have a typical mother-daughter relationship. I miss that. We used to be so close.”

She started to tear up.

“Are you gonna want me to be there?”

“When you first meet her, absolutely. I know that we’re gonna need time just me and her, and I don't know how long she’ll be here.”

“I hope I get to meet the mother you grew up with.”

She leaned up against me.

“I hope so, too.”

We started up the movie and things went back to normal. Come two o’clock, we were hungry and I was willing to go out and get food.

“Are you gonna be okay by yourself?” I asked, touching her shoulder.

“Yeah, but fair warning, I might be asleep when you get back.”

“Ok. I love you. I’ll be back soon.”

“I love you, too.”

I was worried the entire time I was out getting food despite her reassuring me that she’d be okay. I came home to the sound of
wailing and screaming and the sight of Abby flailing her arms. I dashed over and placed my hands on her in an attempt to calm her down.

“No! Get away from me! Please! It hurts!”

Oh my God.

“Abby! What's wrong?”

“Go away! Stop!”

She managed to hit me, but luckily it didn't hurt. Would that have even mattered at this point, though? I just wanted her to be okay.

“Abby. It’s me. It's Alex.”

She woke up in a cold sweat and stared at me. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was just a nightmare. She wrapped her arms around me and cried just like last night. She buried her head in my shoulder while I rubbed her back.

“It’s okay, Abby. I’m here.”

She was silent for a couple of minutes. She let go of me and sat back down on the couch.

“I was wrong. I wasn't okay while you were gone. I hadn’t even given that a thought till you said something.” she sobbed.

Tears continued to rain down, so I grabbed tissues from the bathroom.

“Mind if I ask what the nightmare was about?”

“That same guy came up behind me and put his hands on me, even his lips were on the back of my neck when I was about to call you...

“He undid my pants and pulled them and my underwear down before he did the same to himself and uh... penetrated me; he thrust several times. Well, I... you know the rest.”

I was špeechless and at odds with myself; I felt so much guilt at that moment.

“I shouldn’t have gone. I should’ve just stayed here with you. This probably would not have happened. I’m sorry.”

“Please, Alex. You don't need to apologize. You couldn't have possibly known this would happen.”

“Still. I’m angry at him. Quite frankly, I’d like to kick his ass.”

“I appreciate that, but it wouldn’t do anything. If this goes to court, you could say something.”

“I certainly will.”

“You have any idea how much you mean to me, Alex Gaskarth?”

“Not, but you mean so much more to me than you’ll ever know, Abby Shaw.” I said, kissing her cheek.

She blushed and laid her head on my shoulder.

Notes