Meet My Dedication

"Who the fuck is...." I was in tears, and Austin just held me, rocking me back and forth. His yelling wasn't helping, and he realized it before he got too angry. He let out a deep sigh,"who's Daniel?"
Milly was grabbing Gavin's hand for dear life.
"Daniel was my..." I was trying to catch my breath, "he;s my ex-fiancee..."
"What?" Austin looked down at me, but i hid behind my hair. "You were engaged before?"
I shifted myself to where I got out of Austin's grasp, and moved over to the couch, everyone following behind me. Milly sat down next to me, her hand in mine, while the boys sat on the couch next to us.
"I was eighteen, and just out of high school. I met him at a bar, during a Set It Off show. He was three years older than me, and acted like Mr Perfect, and I totally fell for it. In public he was fun, easy going, and one of the nicest guys on the planet..."
Milly squeezed my hand to reassure me that I could go on, I was fighting back more tears and swallowed the lump in my throat. I hated talking about him...
"When we were alone, he would drink all the time, and he got angry at the littlest thing. Soon enough, he'd take his anger out on me and I would just accept it. He'd twist my words around making it seem like everything was my fault. He'd keep me in his apartment for days on end, and he monitored my every move, telling me when and where I could go, and who I could see. They only time I'd be able to go off by myself was to go to work, and even then someone he knew would be there.
He'd hit me and occasionally he'd force me to have sex with him. When he asked me to marry him, he promised he'd change and only wanted to make me happy... I wanted to believe him, and I honestly thought I loved him.."
Austin hadn't said anything, or even moved. His eyes were glued to mine and all I could see was anger, and a slight glimmer of shock in his eyes, and a lot of pain.
"He wouldn't allow me to see Issy or Geremy, and always had one of his friends watching me. If I left, they'd have to go with me. Gavin and one of his other friends, Jeff, would take me to see Issy. He'd felt bad and saw how different I had changed. We'd gotten really close, and I enjoyed his company. Eventually, Daniel thought Jeff and I were seeing each other behind his back, so I wasn't allowed to see him anymore.
On the last day he did watch me, we went over to Geremy's apartment. That's when he and Issy told me they were getting married, and were going to take me somewhere safe, where Daniel couldn't find me."
Gavin looked down at the floor, he hated what had happened. Daniel and him used to be really close, almost like brothers. He had always felt guilty that he allowed Daniel to do what he'd done, no matter how many times I'd told him it wasn't his fault.
"They got me out eventually, and Daniel threatened to kill them if I didn't come back. I thought I'd be safe, but he almost caught us a couple of times. Milly and Gavin helped out as well. I stayed with Issy at her parents house until she and Geremy got married..." My voice trailed off into a whisper, "I thought he'd leave me alone by now..."
Austin came over to me and enveloped me into a tight hug, I could tell he was on the verge of tears because his breathing was staggered and my shirt was wet.
"I'm so sorry, Mikey. No one should ever have to go through any of that..." He let me go and went with Gavin into the kitchen. "If I ever see that mother fucker, I'll kill him." I was sure I wasn't supposed to hear him, but I couldn't help it.

"This is all my fault," I whispered. Milly rested her head on my shoulder.
"It isn't you fault Daniel is an idiot, none of this is your fault. Austin actually loves you, and he makes you happy. Usually I'd say it's too good to be true, but this guy is... damn near perfect for you, Mike. We all see how happy you are with him, and how happy you make him." She hugged me and turned on the TV to watch Power Puff Girls on Cartoon Network.
I leaned back on the couch, I was already exhausted and it wasn't even noon yet. My big breakfast surprise for everyone was ruined and I was scared to death to ever leave the apartment ever again...

What was I going to do?

Notes

So I totally wrote out this chapter a week ago, went to submit it and my computer took a shit and I lost it. I had no idea what to do, but I finally got around to rewriting it!
Hope you guys like it!