*Lilia's P.O.V*

After the police handcuffed Callum they told us that we had to go down to the station as well so I could give a statement and also be looked over by a doctor for any bruises they could use as evidence. They also said they could look at my nose too, as I was fairly sure it was broken.

"Come on, Lils, they can help you." Joe told me softly when I looked unsure about going to the police station. I was still in his arms.

"Okay." I whispered and he gave me a small smile before we got up from the bed, and along with Zoe and Alfie, went downstairs. At that moment, Dad happened to be returning from our neighbour's house, just in time to see Callum being forced into the police car.

"What the bloody hell is-" He walked through the front door cut himself off when he saw me, stood with my siblings and Alfie, my hair disheveled, my face stained with tears and a bloody tissue held to my nose, "Lilia, sweetheart... Oh my god what happened, darling?"

"Daddy." I whimpered as I ran over and wrapped my arms around him, tears beginning to run again.

"What happened?" He asked me softly.

"Callum... C-Callum's been... he-he's been h-hurting me." I let out a sob as Dad pulled me back into his arms.

"It's okay, darling, shh, dad's here, you're safe." He muttered while rubbing my back. I could tell he was angry, as any father would be after finding out this information about his daughter, but he was trying hard to conceal it for my sake. One of the police officers then came back in and told us it was time to go to the police station so we did.

"Joseph Sugg, would you come with me, please." One of the police officers demanded once we arrived at the police station.

"What, why?" I was holding Joe's hand when we walked in and gripped it tighter, starting to panic a little. What if he got arrested for beating up Callum?

"It's alright, Lils, I'll be fine, okay?" Joe said but I'm pretty sure he was only saying it to keep me calm.

"Promise?" I whispered, fresh tears filling my eyes at the thought of him being in trouble with the police.

"Hey," He gently wiped away my tears, "I promise, alright?" I just nodded and he squeezed my hand affectionately, kissed my forehead and then followed the policeman to wherever he needed to go. The policewoman then led the rest of us to a room.

"There's a nurse in this room, she'll check you over and if you've got any bruises, she'll photograph them for evidence. She'll also take a look at your nose for you." The policewoman explained to me, her voice nice and soft, "You can go in by yourself or one of your family can go in with you, if that would be easier for you?"

"Zoe," I glanced at my older sister, "Can you come in with me, please?" My voice sounded so broken.

"Of course, Lils." Zoe said without a millisecond of hesitation, taking the hand that Joe was holding and giving it an encouraging squeeze before we both went into the room. It looked like a normal doctor's office. There was a bed in the corner with one of those weird paper sheet things on and there were several different medical machines hooked up, which didn't help to put me at ease.

"Hello, sweetheart," A woman wearing a doctors coat with long blonde hair in the french braid smiled at me warmly, "I'm Mel, I'm just going to be giving you a check up and taking some pictures, okay?" She told me basically the same thing as the policewoman did.

"Okay." I muttered, still holding tightly onto Zoe's hand.

"I'm going to need you to take your clothes off for me, so that I can have a proper look, is that alright?" She asked me gently. I gave a small nod, my heart hammering in my chest as I hesitantly let go of Zoe's hand and walked to the middle of the room so I stood in front of Mel. With trembling hands, I gripped the hem of my jumper and pulled it over my head before slipping my shoes off and taking my jeans off as well. I was soon left in just my underwear and I heard a small gasp from behind me. Tears threatened to spill because I knew that gasp came from Zoe and I knew it was because of the dark purple, black, blue and yellow bruises that were painted into my skin. I dared to look over at her and the expression on her face, the tears in her eyes and on her cheeks made it impossible for me to hold back a sob.

I had bruises on my hips and hidden under my bra too so I had to take my underwear off as well, but I wasn't worried about Zoe seeing me naked so I went ahead. I took my panties off first but when it came to taking off my bra, my hands were shaking so much that I couldn't unclasp it.

"Zoe, c-can you... Can you help m-me please." I asked through short breaths as I tried to hold back all the emotions that threatened to escape. Zoe simply nodded, walking over and unhooking my bra strap.

"Okay, now, if you could just-" Mel put a hand on my shoulder but I flinched and stepped back. After today, I wasn't comfortable with anyone touching me except my family and Alfie.

"It's okay, love, I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you." Mel gave me a warm, soft smile to try and reassure me.

"I-I know... I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Lils." Zoe reminded me and the softness of my big sister's voice helped calm me down a little.

"Do you think you can go and stand over there for me, honey?" Mel pointed to a white wall in front of two spotlights. That must be where I'll get the pictures taken. I nodded, my arms crossed over my bare chest as I slowly walked over and stood against the wall.

"This will be a bit bright, okay?" She warned me before turning on the spotlights. I squeezed my eyes shut as they almost blinded me and even once my eyes adjusted, I could only squint. The immense heat of the lights was also causing me to sweat quite a bit. Mel gently told me to move my arms and once I'd plucked up enough courage, I very hesitantly moved them and let them rest at my sides as she started photographing my bruises, occasionally telling me to lift my arms or turn a certain way to she could get the ones that were more hidden. Once she finished taking the pictures, I was able to put my clothes back on and then she checked my nose over. It was broken but Mel said it should fix itself over time.

"I'm so proud of you, Lilia, you did so well." Zoe told me when Mel left the room, giving us a moment alone. As a response, I burst into tears. I broke, all the emotions I'd been holding in during the examination came spilling out. Zoe immediately pulled me into her arms and let me sob into her chest while she shushed me and stroked my hair to try and sooth me. The reality and seriousness of everything that had happened today - and in the last month - just hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Lilia," Zoe pulled away once I'd calmed down a little, "How long has he been doing this to you?" She carefully took my arm and gestured to the bruise around my wrist.

"A while, over a month." I confessed, trying to keep it together long enough to at least speak. Zoe let out a small sob at this new information but bought a hand up to cover her mouth. I didn't want to upset her even more, so I focused all my energy into not breaking down in tears again. However, holding my breath and biting my trembling bottom lip as hard as I could wasn't enough as I let a small whimper escape, which Zoe heard.

"Oh god, Lilia," She pulled me in for another hug and I held onto her for dear life as my small whimpers turned into loud sobs, "Why didn't you tell us what was going on?" She asked me, resting her chin on the top of my head. I could tell she was one step away from completely losing it as well.

"I didn't want him to hurt me even more," I wept, "I'm sorry."

"Hey," Zoe began sternly, pulling away and holding me at arms length, "Don't you dare apologise, none of this is your fault, do you understand me?" I just nodded, "Good, now, come here." She pulled me back in for yet another embrace, kissing my forehead as she pulled me back into her arms. We stood there, hugging in silence for a good two or three minutes until a police officer came in and told us it was time for me to give a statement, so we left the nurse's room and followed her to another room. We met Dad and Alfie on the way but not Joe.

"Where's Joe?" I asked desperately. My was raspy and weak from all the crying.

"I don't know, sweetheart, but I'm sure he'll be back soon." Dad told me but I wasn't quite convinced.

*Zoe's P.O.V*

Lilia went in to give her statement while we were left to wait outside the room.

"How is she?" Dad asked me.

"Not good," I answered honestly, feeling that familiar lump return to my throat, "She's covered in bruises," I stated, letting a tear fall, "But they're not all from today... They look old, like, a few weeks old. That bastard has been hurting her for weeks and we didn't even notice. How did I not realise what was going on? I'm her big sister and she lives under my own roof, I should've-"

"Hey," Alfie came over and pulled me into a hug, "You can't start blaming yourself, alright? You can't do that to yourself." Alfie's voice was breathy and shaky and I knew he was on the verge of breaking down, like we all were. Except, I wasn't just on the verge anymore because at that moment, I snapped. I'd been trying to stay strong all day for Lilia's sake, but I just couldn't anymore. I gripped onto my boyfriend's hoodie as I dissolved into a mess of tears and sobs. Alfie held me tight, whispering sweet nothings of reassurance in my ear and occasionally kissing my head as he tried to console me.

"What's happened? Where's Lilia?" Joe's voice made me look up from Alfie's chest and see my brother enter the room.

"She's giving her statement," Dad said, "What happened with you?"

"They tried to do me for beating that twat up, but they let me go when I convinced them I was only protecting Lils." He explained. The sound of a door clicking was heard and we all spun round to see Lilia exiting the room with one of the police officers by her side. The current sight of my little sister truly broke my heart. She looked so small and fragile, her hair was a knotty, greasy mess from where she'd been touching it and running her hands through it so much, her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were stained with tears. However, as soon as she saw Joe, her lifeless eyes lit up a little. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"I thought they'd arrested you." She muttered into his chest. Joe let out a halfhearted chuckle, holding her close.

"I promised you I'd be fine, didn't I?"

*Lilia's P.O.V*

After the police station we went home. I sat in the back between Alfie and Joe, my head resting on Joe's shoulder and I stayed silent the whole way home. When people tried to talk to me I would just nod my head, shake my head or shrug. When we got home, I just went straight up to my room without saying a word to anyone. I went to my suitcase and grabbed some pyjamas before taking off my jumper. Before I had chance to put my pyjama top on or even remove my jeans, I caught sight of myself in the mirror, sight of the dark bruises that stood out like a sore thumb against my porcelain skin. Suddenly, I didn't care about finishing getting changed anymore and I fell onto my bed, curling up into a ball and breaking down once again.

*Joe's P.O.V*

Once we got home and Lilia went upstairs, the rest of us sat in the living room. It was painfully silent, apart from the occasional teary sniffle, but then again, what could any of us say?

After about twenty minutes, I couldn't take it anymore. The questions had start running around my head, the why's and the what if's and I was afraid I'd drive myself crazy.

"Where are you going?" Zoe asked weakly when I stood up from the sofa.

"I'll be back in a minute." I replied, not giving her a proper answer before I left the living room. I wandered upstairs and made my way towards the bathroom, but stopped dead in my tracks when I walked passed Lilia's room and heard gut-wrenching sobs coming from inside.

"Lilia?" I asked, slowly pushing the door open. The sight I was met with broke my heart to a point where I didn't know if it could ever be fixed. Lilia, my baby sister, was curled up in a ball on her bed in nothing but a bra and a pair of jeans, crying her eyes out. What really f*cked me up, though, was the large bruises that covered her pale body, some of which were hand-shaped.

"Oh my god, baby..." I whispered shakily as I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, tears threatening to spill from my eyes and never stop. I carefully grabbed her shoulders, as gently as I could, and guided her to sit up. I then wrapped my arm around her and pulled her onto my lap. Lilia didn't object or struggle or try to pull away, instead she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of my neck, the heartbreaking sobs and heaves leaving her small body once again as I felt her tears wetting my neck. I rested my chin on top of her head and rocked her back and forth, getting a sense of deja vu from when I would do this if she hurt herself when she was a little girl.

"I've got you, baby girl, shh, I've got you. You're safe now, love. I'm not going to let anything hurt you again, okay?" I promised her, kissing her forehead as my own tears began to run free.

*Lilia's P.O.V*

"You're safe now, love." Joe's words rang in my head while I was curled up on his lap, crying myself to sleep. He was right. Callum was gone and now I had my family and Alfie to protect me. I was finally safe.