*              *                *

Selena's POV:

WARNING:
TRIGGER TOPICS MENTIONED

"Jenna, watch your mouth, you are only thirteen. That's my friend Selena." Justin said, giving his sister a slight glare at her curse word.

Jenna leaned onto one hip, crossing her arms in front of her. A scowl spread across her face. "You don't need to bring girls home." She spat.

"You act like I do this all the time!" Justin hissed, glaring at her. "I get what you went through, but don't you think I should be happy?" He asked, I could see the desperation in his eyes.

What the hell is going on? I'm so lost.

"You should be happy, but not with bitches like her!" She shrieked, pointing at me. "Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Justin spat. I've never seen him angry before, his face was going red, a vein in his neck was starting appear, his fists were clenched at his sides. Honestly it scared me a little.

"Whatever Justin, its clear you are trying to ruin our bond by bringing some bitch into this house." Jenna stomped up the stairs. Leaving Justin, heaving as his anger was boiling over. His body hard and rigid. He took a minute before turning to me.

I looked at Justin, eyes wide, mouth gaped open. His eyes softened when they landed on my terrified ones.  "Listen Sel, she's just been through a lo-" "I get it, I should go home." I held my hand up stopping him from talking.

"No Selena, stay please. Just let me explain." He begged, his eyes becoming sad. "No it's okay, I don't want to come in between you and your sister." I started for the door but he stepped in front of me.  "Please just let me explain, and then if you want to leave, you can." He placed his hand on my cheek, rubbing his thumb along the apples of my cheeks.
I sighed and nodded, the least I could do was let him explain.

Justin walked us up to his room, it wasn't what I expected from a teenaged boy. The walls were light gray with black curtains draping around his window, he had a dark espresso coloured desk, stacked neatly with notebooks.  His dresser and closet door had the same dark espresso colour on them. His bed was huge, with black bed spread, And gray pillows.

"You're room is much nicer than I expected."

"What did you expect?" He furrowed his brows.

"A room that looked like a tornado went through it, if I'm being honest. But I'm pleasantly surprised."

Justin chuckled at my astonishment. "You can sit on my bed or in the chair at my desk, your choice." I took a seat on the end of his bed, having to slide onto it more because my feet couldn't touch the ground. Justin noticed my dangling legs and chuckled, "You're so damn small." I smiled at him.

He took his chair from his desk and brought it in front of me so he could sit right in front of my legs. Him sitting lower in the chair still made him a decent height, his head up to about my shoulders. He sighed, placing his hands on my knees.

"You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to." I reassured, he smiled small and nodded his head. I watched as he fluttered his eyes closed, gathering his thoughts in his head.

"This isn't a good memory, or a good story, so bear with me. Jenna isn't like that all the time. She only ever gets like that when I bring a girl home, friend or more. She throws fits. She thinks the girl is going to take me away from her. I don't blame her for the way she is, hell I don't know how I would be if I went through what she did." He shook his head.

"She was eight years old. I had come home from school, it was my job to walk her home from school and babysit her until our parents got home. One day my dad told me not to worry about picking up Jenna from school because he was going to get her." He sighed, rubbing his thumbs along my knees.

"I had come home early that day because the school had some power shortage and we lost power and couldn't do anything. I remember walking into the house, hearing blood curdling  screams coming from upstairs." He huffed out a breath, blinking back tears.

"I was so terrified, I had no idea what was going on. I ran upstairs as fast as I could, I busted through my sisters door and I saw the most horrific thing." A tear sliding down his cheek, he squeezed his eyes shut.

I took a breath, the backs of my eyes getting the all too familiar pinching feeling behind them. I placed my hands over his and rubbed them gently.

"I saw a man, naked, hovering over my little sister. My fucking eight year old sister! I screamed so loud when I saw that. I ran over to the man, and had completely blacked out for a minute, I shoved him off and threatened him with the police, I never even got to see his face or what he looked like, he ran out of the house so quick, it all happened so fast." He shook his head, wiping the tears pouring down his face.

"The look on her face, the fear, the heartbreak, that will forever be burned into my mind. That's all I see when I go to bed at night. But I just remember her whimpering cries, she had been screaming so much her voice failed on her and the only thing she could do was quietly sob. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped her frail body in the blanket and I held her, that's all I knew how to do. I held her." He was now sobbing, he laid his face on my thighs, breathing heavy. I watched him through clouded vision. My tears pouring out my eyelids. My heart shattered for that little girl. That innocent little girl.

"She shook so bad, her whole body trembling, I remember we just sat there until my mom got home. We never moved, I held her so tight to me, crying into her hair, telling her she was going to be okay, the only thing she could do was stare at the wall while tears poured down her cheeks, the visuals of it haunting her has her eyes closed, so she fought to keep them open. She slept in my bed with me for a couple years after that happened. She just recently was comfortable to have her own room. We had to change one of the guest bedrooms into her new room because walking into that room would give her flashbacks and she would go into an instant panic attack."  He looked up at me, my pants soaked from his tears, his eyes were bloodshot and puffy from the crying. And his hands gripped my knees like if he were to let go, I would disappear.

I had no idea what to say, all I could was be there for him and listen.

"The sad thing is, none of us could even describe what the man looked like, I can't even begin to explain how fast it all happened, and Jenna, she said she kept her eyes shut the entire time, she didn't want to see the scary monster doing this to her. So when we tried building a case with the police, we ended up dropping it because it was no use if we couldn't identify anyone. My dad was enraged when he found out, but I was more pissed at him for leaving her alone in the house, he went to the store, he left my eight year old sister alone to go to the store. All hell broke loose in that short period of time.  My little sister having something so important stripped from her at such a young age, without her consent. My poor mother, she was in hysterics for months and months. They all went into counseling, except for me. I couldn't do it. I couldn't relive the situation especially for a stranger." He rubbed his hands over his face, cleaning the tears off.

I grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled his head into my chest, I held him so tight. Not only was this little girl struggling every day, but so was her hero, her brother.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and held me close to him. I couldn't get over how broken him and his sister are over this. This will be a struggle forever, and I never want her to feel like I'm taking her brother away from her.

"I'm the only thing she has, after that all happened, she was attached to my hip, always needed me, always wanted me to protect her. I never could have anyone over because she would go into hysterics about being alone. But now she just gets mad and thinks the whole world is against her, I don't blame her. But she has to realize my friends aren't here to cause any pain towards her or take me away, they are here to support me, as much as she needs my support, I need someone here for me, for me to lean on when this gets too much for me. " he explained, pulling away.

"I want to talk to your sister." I sighed. Justin's eyes shot to mine, "I don't think that's a good idea, especially if she finds out I told you, she'll hate you and me." He worried. "I won't mention anything, but I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, I just want her to know that she isn't losing you, I actually lost my best friend and I'll never get him back."  Justin nodded. "Her room is across the hall." I nodded, getting off his bed and making my way to her room.

I knocked on her door a couple times, "Come in." She said. I opened the door slowly, peaking my head in, she saw me and instantly rolled her eyes, "I thought you were Justin."  I smiled small, shaking my head, "No, but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute." I shut the door behind me. "I guess so." She sighed, motioning for me to sit on her bed, I quickly sat beside her.

"Listen Jenna, I know it's hard to see someone you love feel happy without you, but in all honesty here, I'm not trying to take him from you, those were never my intentions. I would never do that to you. I'm just here to support your brother, and he supports me. I just want you to know that, I know what it's like to actually lose someone and never be able to see them again. I lost my best friend to a brain tumor, and everyday I think about him. I think about how people are so lucky to be able to live their lives and have the people they love be in them forever. I can promise you, that you will have Justin forever, he the most amazing friend and most amazing big brother, I haven't known him long but I already know how incredible he is. I never want to hurt you and I don't want you to look at me that way. I want to be able to be close with you too, not just Justin, but you as well Jenna. I want us to be friends.  I want to be here if you ever need anything or ever have a girl problem. I'm not the enemy here. I'm here just simply because I care about your brother and I care about you too." I smiled, patting her thigh, she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you" she smiled, tears staining her cheeks. My eyes bulged open, "Why on earth are you thanking me?" "Because every girl I treated poorly that Justin brought home, always bitched back at me. But you care, and you came to me. Those girls would never have the guts to come to me and tell me what you just did. I'm sorry for calling you names, I assumed you were like the rest, and that wasn't fair for me to judge."  She pulled me in for a hug, I wrapped her tightly in my arms.

"You don't have to be sorry. We can start fresh." I smiled.  "You're the best girlfriend Justin's had." She smiled at me. My heart pounds at the word girlfriend.  "Thanks, but I'm not his girlfriend, we are just friends." I giggled, tucking a hair behind her ear.

"By the way he looks at you from what I saw and how he defended you, I know he likes you, you guys won't be friends for long." She smirked.  I looked at my hand in my lap, why does everyone keep saying that?

I took a deep breath, "Is it okay if I go back to Justin? Or do you want me to stay with you?" I asked.  She tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling, "No, I'm okay, go back to Justin, I'm sure he is missing you." I nodded and stood up from her bed.

"If you ever need me, text or call me, I'll tell Justin to give you my number." I smiled at her before walking out. Closing the door behind me I pressed my back against it, letting my head lean against the wood.  I let out a big puff of air, trying to clear my head of today's events.

I was trying so hard to keep myself distant from Justin, but I just can't, I think about doing it, and then he comes around and I look at him and I just can't bother to try and push that beautiful boy away. Especially now, knowing a secret as dark as that, I don't think I could ever push or walk away from him.  But I worry, not about myself, but what I will do to him if I continue to keep myself so closed off. I'm a great friend, but just the thought of there possibly being something more between us, sets off all sorts of alarms in my head. I don't know how to love anyone. I want to be loved, but I don't know how to give it.

"Hey, are you okay?" A voice startled me, I opened my eyes to see Justin standing in his doorway, watching me lean up against his sisters. "Was she nice? Probably not, but are you okay?" He worried. I walked towards him and the only thing I could think to do, was hug him. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, and he slowly wrapped his around me, enveloping me in his calming presence.

"Jenna and I had this talk, and she actually thanked me." Justin pulled away, leaving his hands on my shoulders, he looked at me with furrowed brows and a gaped open mouth. "I'm sorry, what?" He puffed out a breath. I looked up to his caramel irises, "She thanked me." I repeated. "For what?" "For not being like the others, for showing her I cared about her and that I wasn't taking you away from her. I told her I would get you to give her my cell number, so she could talk to me whenever she needed to."

Justin looked at me in amazement, "Oh wow, I don't know how you got through to her, you must be something special Sel. You're truly amazing." He bent down, placing a soft kiss on my cheek. My cheeks instantly going crimson at the feeling of his soft perfectly heart shaped lips making contact with my burning skin.  I smiled up at him, "You're the amazing one."

"Come on, lets go." He smiled, grabbing my hand, interlacing our fingers. I smiled down at our hands, "Where are we going?"  "I want to take you somewhere I haven't been in a while, I think you'll love it."  He began descending down the stairs, with me slightly behind him, watching our hands.

As much as I wanted to pull my hand away, scared of the affectionate gesture, I just couldn't, something about him was making me keep him close. He was so captivating, I feel myself being drawn in closer to him, every day.  I hope I don't ruin this.

*              *                *

Please vote❤
If anyone has ever gone through what Jenna has, please know I am in no way, shape or form mocking or taking this topic lightly. I am here for anyone that needs someone.