Crys' POV

All I can hear is his constant banging on my bedroom door. The entire thing is shaking violently with the force his fist pounds on it, with him yelling at me through it.

"Open the fucking door Crystal!"

"You should know better than to lock me out!"

As the banging and yelling continues, all I can do is shrink into the wall, covering my ears and think, why?

Why does he do this?

Why would he want to?

Why can't he just leave me alone?

Suddenly the banging stops and I get high hopes that my plan to hide in my room today actually worked.

I just want to be left alone. Is that too much to ask?

That's all quickly shattered when the handle jiggles with a click of the lock and then the door swings opens to reveal Michael.

Shit.

"You should have let me in." He says slowly walking towards me. "Now it's going to be worse for you."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I'm scared but I hold strong. I'm older now. I have to stand up to him, he needs to know I'm not a pushover anymore.

"I'm not afraid of you!" I tell him, hoping I portray confidence.

"You say that but yet you're trembling, my dear Crystal." He grins at me before he grabs my arm harshly and drags me out of what I thought was my sanctuary.

"Stop! Michael, enough! You can't do this anymore!" I shout hoping he'd listen to my pleas for once.

"I've told you before! It's Uncle Mike! Whether you like it or not, I am your damn uncle!" He yells in my face and tears slowly stream down my face in fear. He look practically crazy right now.

"Why do you do this to me? I've never did anything to you." I ask, praying to get any reason. I've never known why he hates me so much. And he's never given me a full answer.

James and Jeremy never get this side of him. It's only when he looks after me and they're at basketball practice. This is a side of him, that only I see and it terrifies me to my core.

"You were born! You're a splitting fucking image of that father of yours! So thank him!" He yells inches from my face before the air is knocked out of my body.

I want to curl into a ball to ease the pain that his fist just caused, from its impact into my stomach. Sadly I'm not so lucky as he hold me up by my arm still and goes to do it again.

"Please... don't!" I wheeze out while trying to pull away from the incoming pain.

I have to get away!

Suddenly his grip is gone and he was becoming further away from me. In that split second, I realise I was falling. We had been standing at my doorway, at the top of the staircase, which I was now falling down.

Panic floods my system as I let out a fearful scream.

"Ahhhh!" I scream, as I sit up straight in my bed panting heavily and covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Tears stream down my face as I sob, remembering my dream. Or should I say, my memory. Burying my face in my hands, I remember the fear I felt, the hate in his eyes, and the hospital I ended up in afterwards.

Suddenly, I feel warm arms wrap around me. Flinching from the unexpected contact, I look up to see Harv with a small smile on his lips.

"I was grabbing a drink and heard you scream. Are you okay?" He asks in a low voice, while still having his arm around me, rubbing my back slowly.

I simply nod my head 'yes.'

I don't think I can talk to him without becoming hysterical.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks again.

I shake my head 'no.'

The last thing I want is to remember more of that man.

We stay like that, silent as tears still flow from my eyes. I had never told the twins the truth of that day, even after he was arrested and taken to prison later on. They still believe the lie that was said to cover up the fall.

"Would you like me to stay until you fall back to sleep?" He offers quietly.

I nod, just needing a distraction from my thoughts. I feel stupid wanting Harv to stay since we haven't really known each other for long, but he's easy to just be around and he's offering me much needed comfort.

"Alright. You go back to sleep Crys. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise." He says before leaning back on the headboard, pulling me to him so my legs are over his lap and my head is on his shoulder

He holds my hand in one of his as he slowly rubs my arm. I feel my fears slowly slip out of my mind and just enjoy the comfort that I miss having from another person.

Before too long, I feel myself slipping back into darkness.

○●○●○●○●○●

Waking up to the bright light of the day, I realise I'm in a weird position for sleeping. That is, of course, until I look up to see Harv still resting on my head board.

We're in the same spot we were when I fell back to sleep and I can't help feeling grateful that he slept like that to help me.

Though I'm sure we're going to suffer today from sleeping funny. My neck is already stiff.

Sitting more upright, I look at his face properly. He really is very good looking, his face looks so at peace while asleep. His chocolate brown hair falling over his forehead and his mouth slightly open.

I can't help feel grateful he doesn't snore.

"Harv? Wake up." I say quietly while nudging his shoulder.

"Mmm." He mumbles before attempting to roll over, only to work out he can't.

"Shit. Sorry Crys. I couldn't really move without waking you." He says while wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"It's okay. I only just woke up too." I say before quickly removing myself from his lap to sit on the bed.

"I actually wanted to thank you for staying. I'm sure you'd rather be in your own bed, so I really appreciate what you did." I say while stretching my sore back.

"It was nothing. Really. My dad used to have nightmares and mom's comfort would help him through it." He explains before stretching too.

We both walk out to get coffee and breakfast, which sadly gets delayed by the twins.

"Why were you in her room?" Jeremy asks with a stupid grin.

"No reason." He shrugs before slipping passed their curious eyes.

"Crys?" James asks in his usual 'don't-try-to-lie' tone.

"I had a nightmare. He offered to stick around until I was asleep but I'd trapped him there. Nothing happened, you weirdos!" I scoff before slipping by to the coffee Harv has made me.

I was still pretty quiet through breakfast, all I could think was of Michael wanting me to visit and how that nightmare would of ended.

I didn't realise I had zoned out until James nudges me.

"Which one was it?" He asks with a knowing look. I can see the concern on his face and I hate it.

I swallow the lump in my throat, wishing he'd drop it.

"It was just a bad dream. Just leave it." I tell him pleadingly.

"Crys. It's bad that a phone call is triggering them. Talking used to help." He pleads.

I don't want to air this in front of Harv though. I don't need the world to know my history. I understand he's worried but I want to move forward from it all.

"Non voglio parlare di questo." I tell him sternly. Hoping he gets the hint, though being the most mature of us, I doubt it. (I don't want to talk about it.)

"Fine." He says looking a bit hurt before he walks off to his room. I let out a sigh of relief for how easy he let up.

Jeremy comes up behind me and hugs me. Enjoying his comfort, I lean back on his shoulder.

"You know we're always here, right? We love you, Crys." He whispers before kissing my head, I just nod before he walks away too.

I enjoy the silence again before I decide to do some of my school work. Harv yells out at some point he's off to work but I'm in a zone with this for once and I barely take it in.

○●○●○●○●○●○●

After a couple of hours, I'm really happy with how much I get done! But I need to use my stiff muscles, I think I might to go to the gym and see Lee.

After changing into shorts and a sports bra, I slip a tank top on before grabbing my iPod and heading over there.

○●○●○●○●○●

Walking in, I head over to the lockers to put my things away and take my shirt off.

Sitting on the bench while searching for the right playlist for my mood, I sadly realise I don't really have one. Huffing, I go to walk out, only to see Lee at the doorway.

"Oh! Hi. I didn't see you there." I brush off my surprise with a smile.

"I imagine not, with you being busy grumbling at your poor iPod." He chuckles.

Crap...

"Sit Crys." He says before sitting near me. I do so, but feel a bit uneasy with his oddly serious face.

Don't get me wrong, Lee is practically always serious looking. But this was different to his usual self.

"What's happened?" He suddenly asks.

"What do you mean?" Playing dumb in hopes to dodge another round of questions from him.

"Don't bother. What happened?" He says again. "Is it that fella from before?" He asks.

I shake my head 'no'. "He hasn't found me Lee, it's okay." I croak out.

"Something else?" He asks quietly. I simply nod.

Next thing I know, Lee has his arm around me in a sideways hug. I oddly find comfort in his actions, even though he has to be 15 years older than me. He's not an affectionate person, so you learn to appreciate when it shows.

We sit like that for a few minutes before we hear footsteps approaching the locker room.

"Lee, did you need any other help?" A familiar voice questions.

Looking over I spot Harv, with equal confusion and shock on his face as me.

"Actually yes. This is Crystal. I'd like you to show her some kickboxing." Lee answers before turning to me.

"He's a good kid, you can trust him. Plus I'm here." Lee explains before I can tell him we know each other.

"Lee, she's my roommate." Harv cuts in first.

"Oh. Well that works out perfectly. Harv's very patient and a good teacher. I want you to be able to fight without your arms today." He explains to us.

We simply nod before we head over to the boxing area. He's like this with me, trying to help me defend myself under any circumstance.

"So, you sleep with me once and you're stalking me now?" Harv taunts with fake horror.

I can't help the chuckle I let out. "No! You're at my gym!" I reply with matching shock.

We both end up just laughing before he starts to show me the basics. After being shown how to stand and hold balance, we spend an hour more practising. He was definitely patient with me and a good teacher.

"So are you working tonight again?" He asks after we finish.

"Yeah. You guys coming?"

"I don't know. I'll just have to see if the boys want to get laid I guess." He says while shaking his head.

"Eww! I don't want to know!" I chuckle.

"Oh right. Sorry. Forgot they're your brothers." He laughs at my repulsion.

"Thanks for the image!" I laugh before saying goodbye to Harv.

I go to say my goodbyes to Lee before he pulls me aside to talk privately first.

"Remember if you need anything, you have my number, okay?" He says with his hands on my shoulders. "I don't care what it's about either."

I smile and feel a small weight lifted at his statement.

"Thanks Lee. You're the best." I reply with a nod, before heading home to shower and get ready for another night of work.

The bad memory finally moves back to the forgotten part of my mind.

Again.

♡♡♡♡♡
Not entirely happy with this one but I wanted to give a small bit of insight about history with Michael and the lasting impact he still has. May tweek it.

Google translate used.

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Edited 20/06/2018  

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