× Mercury

I would be lying if I said it wasn't awkward. Jamie tried lightening up the mood, but it only went so far. I mean, what was there to say to the girl who your "boyfriend" at the time impregnated.

Lucy was sixteen weeks - four months along. It was hard to tell when she was sitting, but the bump through her stripped dress was getting rather obvious. I sat on the couch in the living room of Grandma's house; staring at the clock and watching the minutes tick away. Niall and Jace went out exploring Hollywood, leaving the three us here to chat. Grandma was out with her poker buddies, saying she wouldn't be home until late.

"Lucy picked out some names for the baby," Jamie said, trying her best to save the conversation before we rolled into silence again. "If it's a girl you said you were debating between-"

"Isabella and Elizabeth," Lucy interrupted with a whimsical smile. "And if it's a boy, I was thinking Edward or Benjamin. I'm going for a historical theme."

I smiled at her. "I like those names."

It went silent again and I found myself staring at the clock once more. He should be here any minute, what was taking him so long?

"Bradley's still not interested," Lucy said, sadness in her voice.

She was bright and well-groomed with her perfectly straight dark hair and lively brown eyes. She put on a good show, but I could see that she was in dire need of support. I was told that her parents were very religious and that they practically disowned her once they found out about the baby news. As far as I was aware, the only support she had was her soccer teammates. But that could only go so far.

"I text him all the time, keeping him updated on the progression, but I never get a response," she continued. "I even let him know when I go to the clinic in hopes he might show up. But he never does, and I'm always disappointed."

Bradley was a piece of shit, there wasn't any denying that. He was verbally abusive and even physically when it came to the bedroom. He uses words to draw you in and words to kick you down. His hands do nothing but help him get what he wants, and it was never in the target's favor. But getting someone pregnant only to leave them on the curb to fend for herself was his lowest blow yet. And I wasn't going to stand around and watch it happen.

Right then, the doorbell rang.

I shot up from the couch and went to the front door, swinging it open.

From the sight of the tall brunette, Jamie stood up in surprise. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"I called him," I clarified.

Bradley looked confused as he stood in the doorway. There was stubble along his strong jaw and his brown hair was longer. He had on dark jeans and a denim jacket that didn't match the warm weather outside, and his hands were dirty like he had been working on a car.

He looked at me. "I came here to see you," he said. "No one else."

Bradley stepped back to leave, but I quickly grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him back, slamming the front door closed. "You're not leaving until I understand why in the hell you're ignoring Lucy."

Jamie came up beside me. "This was a bad idea, Lynn."

"Why are you abandoning her?" I asked him, ignoring Jamie. I looked him dead in the eye. "This is as much your responsibility as it is hers. You created something that took two people, Bradley."

He just shook his head. "This is ridiculous. Can we just-"

I grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. "Do you have any idea what Lucy is going through? Do you know all the shit she has to put up with? Not only do her parents not want anything to do with her, but she has to deal with the child - your child - that is growing inside her every fucking day. It's a terrifying experience to go through, so imagine going through it alone. Man up, Bradley. Take responsibly."

His dark eyes grew intense. "I don't want anything to do with her because she won't take my opinions into consideration."

"Yes I did!" Lucy shouted, coming up to stand beside me. "You demanded I get an abortion and got pissed when I said no! You practically threw me into the abortion clinic. Goddamn it, Bradley. I may be young and stupid and incapable to even raise a baby, but I want this child to have a life."

"But I don't! I should have a say in it, too!"

"It's my body! You have absolutely no say in this!"

"Bullshit! If you were on the pill, none of this would have even happened!"

There was a sickening slap that followed and I had to force myself not to grin. Bradley stood there in surprise, a hand over his cheek, while Lucy stood her ground in front of him, nothing but pure hatred in her eyes.

"I told you," Lucy started. "I told you to use a condom. I even told you where I kept my stash, but you didn't fucking use them. You can't blame this on me when we are both at fault, Bradley."

Bradley lifted his shoulders in a careless shrug. "I pulled out," he explained.

Lucy laughed bitterly. "Pulling out doesn't do shit! There's a thing called pre-cum and sometimes that's all it takes." She then took a step toward him until she was right in his face. "I thought trying to get you to take responsibility would be worth it, but I changed my mind. Once again you got what you wanted."

I probably should have stopped her, but Jamie and I only watched as Lucy grabbed her bag from the living room floor, gave one last glare at Bradley, and left through the door without another word.

There was a strange silence that followed; the only sound coming from the soft hum of the refrigerator and the heavy breathing of Bradley. I never intended for things to go the way they did, but I think this was good for everyone. I had hopped for Bradley to see how difficult it was for Lucy, but I should have known that that wasn't ever going to happen. Lucy was right. He had gotten his way. Again.

"Do you have an ice pack or something?" he asked, his hand still pressed to his cheek.

I debated if he was even worth it, but I ended up grabbing a bag of peas from the freezer anyways.

It was nearing eight in the evening and the last rays of the sun were shining through the windows, making everything glow in burning gold. Bradley had taken a seat at the dining room table, and I sat down across from him.

There was a lot I wanted to say, but nothing seemed to come out. People have very clear ideas on what abuse is. Abuse is physical, or abuse is between man and woman, or abuse is between parent and child. Abuse is verbal, mental, and physical; abuse happens in romantic relationships and marriages and in between the walls of a house where no one can see in. But abuse is more than that.

When I was with Bradley, I knew it wasn't right. But I always thought of a silver lining. How much longer could it go on? Not forever, right? The truth was that it could. The truth was that it would. He would never change. He was broken and he was not mine to fix.

"Lynn, I'm sorry," he said, looking at me with his gloomy, brown eyes.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," I snapped.

Bradley closed his eyes, like the sting in my voice actually cut through him. "Not about that," he clarified. "About the way I treated you, especially when I was in London. It just hurt to know that you were there without even telling me. I knew you were pissed, but damn, Lynn. You moved across the world without even a simple text telling me so. I had to find out by your grandmother."

"You didn't need to know where I was. We weren't dating."

"I know, but I'd like to think that we were."

"Really?" I asked with a sarcastic smile. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned into the table. "If you really thought that then you wouldn't have had sex with Lucy."

"I'm really sorry about-"

"No you're not. You're sorry because you got caught. You're sorry because you got her pregnant. You're not really sorry about any of this, are you, Bradley?"

That was when the door opened and the one thing that could possible make this day worse walked through the threshold. He looked miserable with his flushed cheeks and unruly blonde hair and I wondered what the hell he and Jace did out in the city all day.

Bradley saw him the same time I did and stood up abruptly, nearly knocking the chair backwards in his wake. "What the fuck is he doing here?" he spat.

Niall looked at me. "What's he doing here?"

"I called him."

"You what?"

Niall stepped into the room toward me, and that must have been a bad idea because suddenly Bradley threw the bag of peas on the table and was in front him, staring Niall down like his prey.

"You stay away from her," he glared.

"I'm not the one fucking with her head," Niall retorted.

And then Jamie was between them, shoving Bradley off with everything she had. She may be my smallest friend, but her strength was unbelievable.

"You need to leave," Jamie ordered. "Now."

"I'm not fucking going anywhere," Bradley sneered. "This doesn't concern you."

Jamie had been pushed around by Bradley just as much as I had, always telling her to get lost and to not bother him. And I saw it in her eyes then that she was through with Bradley just as much as I was.

"Anything that concerns Lynn concerns me," Jamie said, her voice hard and low and nothing like the soft spoken girl I knew. "You have pushed and abused and used her for your own advantage for far too long and I think it's well over due that you leave her alone. Forever."

A crafty grin played on the corners of Bradley's lips. "You honestly believe this prick is better for Lynn than I am?"

"I believe that Lynn has the right to be with whoever she wants to be with. And that isn't you."

I blinked and the next thing I knew, Bradley was dragging me down the hall, fingers like searing, metal handcuffs against my skin. Shouts of protest went off behind me as Niall and Jamie ran after us, but they were too late. Bradley already had us inside the guest bedroom with the door locked.

He made to throw me into the chair in the corner of the room but I leveraged myself against him, elbowing his chest hard and yanking myself free.

"Don't you ever put your hands on me again," I hissed.

He suddenly had me around the waist and trapped his body against mine to the wall. But when our eyes met, all of the anger had disintegrated. It was him, the Bradley I had first met in the library staring back at me, fractured and bleeding over a struggling spark of determination.

The banging on the door grew more intense and was followed by threats if Bradley didn't open the door, but that all seemed far away as his forehead fell against mine.

"Why him?" he breathed, crowding me further.

My palm pushed gently against his chest but he held firm, stare glued to my face. "He doesn't force anything," I answered honestly. "He doesn't use words to get what he wants."

Abruptly, Bradley was lunging forward, latching his mouth against mine. A cry ripped from my throat. I raked my nails down his back in a nonverbal passivity. Bradley moved to my jaw, teeth tugged at the sensitive skin, another heavy gasp escaped me.

"Bradley!" I heard Jamie's voice shout through the door. Then Bradley's fingernails dug into my sides and I couldn't help but yelp loudly. "If you're hurting her I swear to God I'll break down this door singlehandedly-"

"I'm fine!" I interjected, surprised by the clarity of my own voice. "Go away, I'm fine."

The noise on the other side of the door surprisingly went still.

Pulling away, Bradley's glassy stare dragged up from my swollen lips to my eyes questioningly. Then he was looking around the room, scanning the walls and the unmade bed until he finally spotted the open suitcase on the floor, clothes hanging out.

"He's staying in the same house as you?" he questioned, low and gruff, hot breath fanning over my face. "Are you fucking him?"

"Bradley..."

He just shook his head. "You're never supposed to do that to me. You're the one thing that was mine."

My patience hit a wall and before I knew it, I was shoving him away. "How many times do I have to say it? When will you learn?" I half screeched. "I'm not a fucking piece of property, Bradley!"

Wordlessly, Bradley was right in front of me again and dropped his lips to trail down the side of my face, just barely grazing my own lips before his mouth opened against my shoulder. I struggled, but his hold on me was too much and I could barely move my arms. When he finally pulled away, he left a mark.

"You're mine, you hear me?" he murmured.

The chill in the room rose goosebumps on my skin when Bradley slowly lifted my shirt over my head. I wasn't sure what I was more surprised about: that I let him do it or that he was being so gentle with me. Bradley turned me around to brace my chest against the wall. My hands open against the flat surface as his mouth swept from shoulder blade to shoulder blade and then down my spine, undoubtedly leaving a mark on every vertebra.

I didn't exactly understand where this was going, but I was lost in a nostalgia dream of what could have been. This was all I wanted from Bradley, some love and affection. And the reason he was only doing it now never dawned on me. At that point, I felt too intoxicated to care.

"Mine."

Falling to his knees in front of me, his mouth ghosted over my hips, my stomach, before he pulled away and grinned up at me wolfishly. He was treating me, for once in his life. Everything about this - the tenderness, the possession - was backwards from how we were together, but just this once it felt right.

"Mine," he muttered again into my skin.

The uneasiness hit me like a wave, though a second too late. It was like a dam burst and Bradley devoured me, enveloping my collarbones and burrowing into any inch of me that would give to him. But once his hand slipped past the waistband of my underwear, I knew it wasn't right.

"Bradley!" I gasped, clamping my thighs together.

"You're so gorgeous." Breath heavy in my ear, his voice picked up almost manically. "And all fucking mine."

The meaning behind his words dropped an anchor in my chest. Knowing him, it was all to get what he wanted, like it always had been. But I wouldn't fall back into that. I wouldn't put myself in that line of fire again.

"Stop," I demanded and pulled away. Jumping out of bed, I tried to get as far away from him as possible, tugging my jeans back on and pressing into the far wall. "Stay the fuck away from me. You've treated me like a cigarette for far too long," I said, biting back the tremble in my voice. "You only use me when you're bored and step on me when you're done."

"That's not true and you know it."

Something inside of me snapped. "You piece of shit!" I wailed. "You turned every moment we spent together into painful memories! Even the sweet, good moments we had are now turned into a knife that kills my already broken heart. I can't fucking go into a library anymore without thinking of you."

Bradley inhaled deeply as if it would keep him afloat. "I never meant to hurt you," he finally said. Longing threaded through his words and the source of it unsettled me.

I struggled to hold myself upright, the steel in my bones crumbling. "No, you don't get to say that. You don't have the right," I forced out. "You made me doubtful about love and I hate you for that. I fucking hate you. You turned me into this damaged mess, and even if I don't see you again, your touch will be with me for the rest of my life. You fucked up my confidence. I remember every single word you ever said to me, I remember how you made me feel like a waste of space. Now the voice inside my head isn't mine anymore, but your voice telling me how I will never be enough for anyone but you. You hurt me, Bradley. You hurt me in ways you couldn't even imagine."

"Baby, no I didn't. You're just-"

"Shut up," I snapped. "When a person says that you hurt them, you don't get to decide you didn't."

Bradley opened his mouth to say something, but he was only gasping at air. Whatever it was he was going to say, he thought better of it because he turned around and unlocked the door, stepping out.

Niall and Jamie were sitting in the hall, but Bradley didn't even give them a glance as he walked passed. A moment later I heard the front door open and close. That was when I fell to the floor and hugged my knees to my chest.

Jamie came and wrapped her arms around me reassuringly. I instantly responded to her touch and folded mine around her neck, smelling her strawberry shampoo.

Niall didn't make a move from the hallway, instead watched the two of us mold into each other. He stayed silent and observing, probably too scared to utter a single word. I was a little surprised he didn't run after Bradley, and was thankful for that. The last thing I needed was another fight breaking out between them.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw myself in the wall length mirror across from me.

I wasn't just wrecked - I was shattered, destroyed. My hair was matted with sweat, my skin was flushed, and my blue eyes were wide and wild with a manic exhaustion. But what I couldn't cure were the dark purple splotches, deep scarlet bite marks, and pink streaks from needy nails all over my body.

The three of us were left in silence as I cried for the second time since coming home.

× × ×

A note on this chapter, the reason Lynn allowed Bradley to do what he did was because she needed to tell him off once and for all. It took a lot to build up the courage, but she did it. Niall and Jamie didn't interfere because they knew she needed to do this on her own.

I felt obligated to note this because I'm seeing a lot of Lynn slander for no reason and the thought behind it obviously fell flat.

-Jess