"The baggage in my heart is still so dark,"

Lia watched as the water dripped from the ends of her long hair to the floor of the tub, eventually sinking down the drain. She'd been like this for a while, sitting in the shower with hot water running down her body. She was in immense pain, all because of the fact she'd been shoved into the counter twice.

Although the first time it happened it was technically her fault, it wouldn't have happened if Isaiah had just let go of her when she wanted him to. Then it didn't help he shoved her even harder, causing her to hit the same spot. She knew immediately it would bruise, but due to fear of how ugly it looked, she just avoided it altogether.

She avoided wearing anything showing the bottom of her back, as she didn't want anyone to see the welt. She'd almost made it obvious multiple times, but even Ethan hadn't realized how much pain she was in.

It had been half a week since the incident, and she'd stayed inside the dorm most of the time. Of course, she still saw her usual group of friends but only saw Ethan if he came to her dorm to see her.

They still texted constantly, and Ethan obviously knew that something was up with Lia, he just didn't know what. He wanted to respect her and her privacy, so if she ever wanted to be alone or just didn't want to see anyone then he left it alone. The last thing he wanted is to come across as clingy or annoying, even if that's truly what he was. Clingy to Lia.

The shower water turned ice cold, indicating it was time for Lia to get out of the shower. She also didn't want to take too much longer considering this was also Anika and Mindy's restroom. She reached up, turning the handle until the water came to a halt. She grabbed the brown towel off of the rack before beginning to dry herself, taking her time especially when it came to drying her back.

Wrapping the towel around her body, she used a different one to wrap her hair up and get it out of her face. She glanced in the mirror, seeing light circles under her eyes. She hadn't slept much, finding it hard to get a good sleeping position. She's used to sleeping on her side, but unfortunately, the counter hit the edges of her sides. It was bearable pain, but not enough for her to sleep soundly. She'd been having to find sleep on her stomach, which was just straight uncomfortable for her.

She kneeled awkwardly to grab her belongings, beginning to feel the pain now that the water was no longer running on her back. When she opened the bathroom door, she was greeted with cold air causing her skin to bump up with gooseflesh. Shivering, she began to make her way to her bedroom but stopped in her spot as she noticed Ozzie sitting on the couch.

"Where's Amanda?" She immediately asked, noticing he was in there alone.

"She let me in before she left." He avoided looking at her once he noticed what she'd been wearing. "I just wanted to come and check in on you."

"Uh, let me get dressed." She nodded once in his direction, speed-walking to her room. She shut the door quickly, sighing in relief when she realized she was finally alone.

She picked out some shorts and a T-shirt to wear, nothing too fancy considering the school day was over and she had nothing else to do. She'd just planned on lounging around her room, but now that Ozzie was in the living room this meant she had to be out there as it would be rude to ignore him.

When she was dressed, she threw the dirty towels in the laundry basket before walking back into the living room. Ozzie was still sitting on the couch, watching something random on the TV. He'd been in the dorm room enough to feel at home anytime he came in, and both girls felt comfortable enough to let him in if they weren't actively there.

"What did you need to talk about?" Lia asked, standing in the center of the room.

"I never said I wanted to talk," Ozzie denied, although Lia just sent him a look.

He sighed in defeat, "Okay, maybe I did. I just want to know what's going on with you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lia denied, walking over to the mini-fridge. She grabbed a cold water bottle out of it, popped the top off, and took a sip.

"I think you do, Li. You've been acting strange. You seem like you're always in pain and just not okay." Ozzie pointed out on his fingers, "Maybe the others haven't cared enough to say anything 'cause they don't want to upset you, but I have and I don't care if it upsets you that we're all worried about you."

"I'm just upset that I brought a lot of drama to everyone, Oz," Lia admitted, walking over to him. She sat down next to him, sitting on the edge of the couch so her back didn't touch the back cushions. "Chad, you, Ethan especially."

"We all got involved not because of you but because we care about you, Lia. Fuck that guy, thinking he can touch up some random girl at a party and that it'd be ok-"

"He wasn't a random guy!" Lia blurted, "He's my ex-boyfriend, okay? Did- did Ethan or Chad not say anything to anyone?"

"No, they didn't." Ozzie leaned forward, mirroring her position. "This guy's your ex?"

"Yes, and I've heard it all, okay?" She asked, leaning back. Despite the aching pain in her lower back, she managed to ignore it, the little pain that was showing on her face seemed as if it were because of the topic at hand.

Ozzie glanced over, his face softening at the look on her face. "I'm not going to push you about it, Li. Thank you for trusting me with this."

"It just sucks, Oz. Things have been going great since I came here, then finding out Isaiah is here- just-" She struggled to find the words, tears filling her eyes as all of the undealt feelings came flooding back.

"You still love him?" Ozzie asked.

"God, no." Lia shook her head, "I hate him, Ozzie. He hurt me really bad and I hate him." At the flood of tears flowing down Lia's face, Ozzie felt his chest tighten in pain.

He didn't hesitate to scoot closer to the girl, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "It's okay, Lia. Let it out."

"He thinks it's okay to just- do the things you do to someone to hurt them," She barely managed to say, her sobs echoing through the room. "He's a horrible person and I wish nothing but harm to come to him and I shouldn't but I do. He's horrible and sometimes I wish I could just- just- ugh!"

"He's a horrible person, Lia," Ozzie repeated, running his hand through her damp hair.

"I shouldn't be thinking about the things I do, but I do. I wish he'd get hurt, I wish he'd-he'd die!" She exclaimed, her chest hurting from the pain in her chest. "He broke me more than anyone else could ever and I hate that he's continuing to do this."

Ozzie sat in silence, letting her rant. He'd never seen her like this, but from what he'd gathered from Amanda, neither had she. Nobody had seen Lia like this, as she was usually the type to worry about anyone but herself. But something inside her broke, and it just so happened to be when Ozzie was sitting here next to her.

He could feel her tears soaking into his hoodie, although he didn't care. He just leaned the two of them back, letting her lay on his chest. She cried and cried until no more tears came out, and her head began to pound from sobbing as much as she had. It's not that she wanted to show him this side of her, but the only other person she would have cried to in this way is almost an hour away.

Of course, Lia didn't hesitate to tell Alyssa about what had happened. Alyssa knew everything going on in Lia's life. But Alyssa couldn't show up at the dorm room door each time Lia felt she was going to have a breakdown. Alyssa had been the only one to ever witness one, with the exception of now Ozzie. She'd never show her dad this side of her, due to her father going to extreme lengths to keep Lia happy.

They sat in silence, except for the quiet sound of Criminal Minds playing. It had been something Amanda had been watching before Ozzie showed up, the blonde deciding to go next door to see what Anika and Mindy had been up to. She knew if anyone could get Lia to open up it'd be Ozzie, as he was always good at getting Lia to talk to him.

Her only other option was Ethan, but she didn't think Ethan would push Lia to talk. The two were smitten with each other, and she'd seen the way Ethan did anything Lia said. Not that Lia bossed Ethan around, but she'd witnessed Lia successfully change the subject whenever Ethan brought something up. She'd heard a few of their phone calls, and so she knew that Lia had Ethan basically bowing at her feet. He'd never push her or make her uncomfortable, whereas Ozzie was good at seeing right through the girl.

After a few moments, Ozzie realized Lia had stopped crying completely. He glanced down, seeing she'd been sound asleep against him. He just let her stay like this, curled up against her side with her head on her chest. It was clear she'd been deprived of sleep, and he didn't know how much. Although for some this might seem like such a small situation, it was a lot for Lia as she wasn't used to things like this. She wasn't used to dealing with harassment or hurt from other people, and so when Isaiah hurt her, he hurt her really bad.

Ozzie pulled his phone out, sending a quick text to Amanda before pulling one of the small couch pillows onto his lap. He gently pulled Lia down to the pillow, wiping her wet hair from her face as she stayed asleep. He felt awkward, as this is the closest the two had ever been, knowing it would look wrong if anyone were to walk in. His eyes trailed to her lower back, where part of the skin had been peeking out. It was a dark purple, an obvious contrast to her usual skin color.

Knowing this would look extremely inappropriate if anyone were to walk in, he had an internal debate before deciding to just slip her shirt up a little more, revealing a long, giant, purple and black bruise on her back.

"Oh my god, Lia." He mumbled, trailing his fingers along the welt. She stirred at this, causing him to snap his hand away. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" He asked himself, his sad eyes landing on her sleeping features.

He grabbed his phone again, dialing Amanda's number. She answered within two rings, shushing whoever was with her in the background. "What's up Ozzie?"

"Did you get my text?" He softly asked.

"I barely just grabbed my phone when I saw you were calling. Everything okay?" She asked.

"Um, do you have Ethan's number perhaps?"

++

1905 words.

Short filler chapter! Just needed a bit of Lozzie in the story :) Also it's like the third chapter posted tonight lol

Also, this is taking place in August (as mentioned before in a previous chapter, so this is about 2 months before the events of  the beginning Scream 6) This is a different timeline than the movie (sort of)

* This chapter is not edited *