Glass Hearts

"Well it all started in freshman year, of high school, when I was forced to move to Michigan with my mother. My father and her divorced, so she won custody of me because my father didn't give a shit. My mother didn't really care about me either but that's besides the point." I glanced up at Austin and he nodded, showing me he was listening. "When I started the new school year, I just went wild. I was doing cocaine, drinking a lot, and partying every weekend. I, surprisingly, kept my grades up in school." I took a sip of my drink, letting Austin say something.

"You were a freshman and you were doing cocaine?" He was shocked. I nodded, biting my lip.

"I hung out with the upper classman and they knew how to get it, easily." This time he nodded and let me continue. "Well, one night I was at a party and was all kinds of fucked up. Some guy dragged me to his car and tried to take advantage of me but Ian, my now ex boyfriend, pulled him off of me and beat the shit out of him. After that night, Ian and I started dating."

Austin was completely quiet and was listening to every word. I waited for him to say something.

"If you don't want to tell me the rest, you don't have to." I shook my head.

"I have to get this out." He took a hold of my hand and gently squeezed it. "Everything was going great until I hit senior year. That's when things got worse." I blinked back tears and kept talking. "It was the first party of the year and I decided to go. I had two very close friends at that time. My best friend, Maddie wanted to go but didn't want to go alone, so I agreed to go. Ian was irrate and said if I went, I would be in trouble. I yelled at him and told him he wasn't my father and couldn't tell me what to do. That's when he smacked me for the first time." Austin squeezed my hand and I looked up at him.

"He hit you?"

"It gets way worse." My voice cracked a little but I cleared my throat and went on to tell him everything. "I went to the party anyways and got shit faced. I didn't do any kind of drugs because I kicked that shit when I got with Ian. I totally forgot about Ian and had fun. It was around three o'clock in the morning when I stumbled into the house. He was standing there with a knife in his hand." My chest started to hurt thinking about that night. I rubbed my chest, right above my heart. "He grabbed me by my throat and lifted me up, just to slam me against the wall. Umm..." A lump formed in my throat and tears stung my eyes.

"You can tell me, sweetie." His voice was calming. I took a quick drink of my frap to get the lump to go away.

"By that time, I was completely sobered up. I was trying to get away from him but he kept calling me a stupid bitch, worthless, all kinds of names. I finally got the courage up to kick him. He dropped me to the floor but climbed on top of me. That's when he punched me in the face multiple times, then he..." I paused and looked up into Austin's eyes. "Then he stabbed me." I pulled my shirt down a little to show him my scar right above my heart. "Right here." Tears spilled from my eyes as Austin ran his fingers over the scar. "He left me there to die but Maddie came through the door and found me bleeding out. She called the police and I spent two months in a coma because of the blood loss."

"Oh my god." He had tears in his eyes as he spoke. "Please tell me he was arrested." I nodded.

"He was arrested the day after it happened. The sentenced him to ten years in prison but I guess he got out earlier. So now he's after me again." Austin pulled me up from my seat and into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his waist and felt protected.

"He's not going to hurt you. I won't let it happen." He stated as he held me.

"I've never told anybody about that. It felt good getting it out." I mumbled into his chest.

I just told a man, who I just met, everything that has been fucked up in my life. Well not completely everything.

Austin hugged me tighter before pulling back.

"Come on. We are going to go back to my place tonight. I don't want you alone." I smiled and nodded. He led me back out to his car and opened my door for me.

"Such a gentleman." I giggled.

"Always." He smirked and ran to his door. My phone buzzed in my pocket, once we started driving. I reached for it to see that I had a text message.

From: UNKNOWN

Looks like I'm going to have to take down you're new boy toy to get to you. It shouldn't be that hard, he looks like a pussy.

My breathing hitched in my throat and I looked out the windows, looking for his car anywhere.

"Faith? Is everything okay?" Before I could answer him, my phone started ringing.

"H-hello?" I instantly regretted answering it.

"Well, looks like you have a new boy toy wrapped around your finger." Venom dripped from his words and I gripped the phone tighter.

"Look mother fucker, if you don't leave me the fuck alone, I will call the cops again." Rage boiled in my blood and I glanced around again.

"Faith, we both know that won't happen. My phone can't be traced and you have no evidence." Ian was pushing my buttons hard. My phone was taken from my hands before I could speak.

"You won't get near her, Ian. You will have to go through me first and you won't be able to. If I were you, I wouldn't even try it." Austin's voice was stern and protective. I could hear Ian say something on the other end but couldn't fully make out what he was actually saying. Austin chuckled. "We'll see about that mother fucker." He hung up the phone and handed it to me.

"I'm so sorry for dragging you into my fucked up life." Fresh tears threatened to fall from my eyes. He shook his head and grabbed my hand.

"Don't be sorry. I am going to be here for you." His voice was calm. I looked down at our hands intertwined and couldn't help but to be scared of what was to come.

Notes