I stirred the next morning, pulling the sheets on the bed farther over top of my body. I couldn't help but notice that they smelled vaguely like the woman in the next room- fresh, although the scent itself was unplaceable. I didn't want to get up, but I found myself groaning as the sunlight leaking in through the windows begged me to open my eyes.

And then I realized something.

I was waking up to sunlight.

My eyes shot open, and I glanced out the window to see the intensity of the light shining back at me. Not only was it day, but the sun had traveled much farther past the horizon, leading me to wonder just how long I had slept for. I couldn't understand my mind or my body, and I honestly thought that one day I would need to hire a professional to help me figure them out. Why was it that I was able to fall asleep and stay asleep in someone else's apartment or during school, but it was rare in my own bed?

It couldn't be simply because of the fact that Brian wasn't present here, because another huge reason that I never slept the night away was because of the nightmares. When I finally did manage to fall asleep, I never failed to wake up sweating, screaming, or crying with the thought of my past in my mind. I only ever woke up crying if the nightmare was from the fire, because it was my only mentally scarring memory that my parents were present in.

But I couldn't remember waking at all throughout the night, and I had a high suspicion that I had slept through the morning too.

I finally decided to get up, pushing the bed sheets off of me and swinging my legs to the side. The sudden movement caused my head to spin and I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to block out the dizziness. When the room stopped spinning, I stood on the hard wood floor of Ms. Parker's apartment. Unsure of what to find when I exited the bedroom, I combed through my hair with my fingers and tugged on the shorts I was wearing. They rode up my ass and I struggled to picture how they would fit her in any situation, considering the fact that her legs were much longer than mine.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the room and into living room. I half-expected her to be sleeping on the couch, her pillows thrown on the floor and the blanket scrunched into a ball at the end of the couch, but I probably should have known better. She wasn't on the furniture and the pillows were all in their respective places, the blanket that I assumed she had used the night before folded neatly on the edge of the couch.

Much like her physical appearance, nothing seemed to be out of place in her apartment, and I shouldn't have expected there to be.

I re-directed my gaze toward the kitchen, where I noticed her sitting at the kitchen counter. She was facing me but her eyes were entranced by the laptop in front of her, clearly paying no attention to the fact that I was awake. She wore a plain white tank top and her long, toned legs were exposed by a small pair of black shorts resembling the ones I was wearing. I wondered when and how she had the time to change, taking it upon myself to assume that she had slipped into her bedroom while I was sleeping.

She separated herself from her laptop and walked around the counter to pick up her phone, her expression shifting into obvious frustration at whatever was on the screen. Her eyes lifted and she saw me loitering in the living room, immediately putting her phone away. Maybe a little too fast.

"Uh.. morning," I said, scratching the back of my head. I had absolutely no fucking clue how to go about this situation and I couldn't pretend that I was comfortable. It wasn't anything about her specifically that was putting me off, but thinking about the reality of my situation, I had actually just slept in my teacher's bed, who I had known for maybe a total of two and a half, three weeks tops.

She pulled her lips into a tight line, clearly not very happy this morning. Not that she ever was, but she had at least given me a brief smile yesterday night. Or maybe it was more of a smirk, but nevertheless, it was something.
"Afternoon, Rebecca. How are you feeling?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, moving forward to glance at the digital clock on her stove. Seeing that the time read two thirty-one pm, I realized that I'd slept longer than I had in maybe.... years. I was having trouble thinking this morning though and for some reason I found her question to be odd. "Um. Fine, I think?"

She raised her eyebrows, moving back to her laptop. "Do you not remember blacking out or whatever the hell happened yesterday to make you fall off of the ladder?"

I let my mouth form an 'o' and started to recall the events yesterday. I still assumed that I had a concussion, if not a major one then definitely a minor, but thankfully it wasn't too bad this morning. "Oh, yeah I'm fine now, I was just a little dizzy getting out of bed."

"Something wrong with your head?"

"No, I mean I think I have a concussion but it's not that a big deal-"

"You think you have a concussion? Beca, why do you push everything to the side like that? A concussion is a big deal, especially if it's major."

I refrained from answering, unsure how to do so, and she sighed and gestured to the stool in front of her. As I reluctantly sat down across from where she stood, she spoke up. "You know, if I had known that you were going to sleep until two-thirty in the afternoon, I could've gone to work and been back before you woke up."

"Sorry.. I haven't been getting very much sleep lately."

She looked up from her laptop, tilting her head. "Why not?"

"Just have trouble keeping my eyes closed, I guess."

Her eyes scanned my face knowingly, as if she could guess why I had trouble keeping my eyes closed. "Well then it's good you were able to get some rest."

We fell silent and I rested my elbows on the counter, burying my face in my hands. I had a bit of a headache and I could only imagine how terrible I looked. She didn't exactly look like she usually did, but there wasn't a strand of hair on her head that was out of place and and as much as I didn't like to admit it, she had a naturally beautiful face. I tried not to look at her because I knew I shouldn't, but it was rather hard to keep my eyes trained on the counter.

"You should eat something."

I looked up to see her separated from her laptop with her hand in her hair, looking down at me. "I'm not hungry."

"Here," she said, ignoring me. She turned to the cabinet behind her to pull a bowl and a box of cereal out and then she placed them in front of me. "Eat and then we'll talk."

"I'll be honest with you, neither of those things sound appealing to me. Seriously though Ms. Park-"

"Dani."

I sighed. "Seriously though, Dani, I'm not hungry. And no offense to you, but I have a headache and I'm not in the mood to talk."

"I took off today solely for that reason Beca, and I only get so many personal days. You don't have to tell me your life story if you really don't want to, but I do need you to tell me a few things before I let us sit in silence."

"Well can it wait? I have to go to work in an hour and I really need a shower."

She sighed, "Call out sick."

"No."

"Would it really hurt you that much to skip one day?"

I pushed the bowl away, standing up. "Yeah, it it would," I said, growing frustrated. "I need money to be able to move out and I can only get it by working. I'm sorry I actually need money and can't just skip like some people-"

"Beca, look around you, my apartment doesn't exactly scream 'wealthy'. I need money just as much as you do."

"Yeah well, you're lucky enough to get payed for sick days."

She ran a hand through her wavy blonde hair, narrowing her eyes and walking around the counter towards me. "Yes, you're completely right, being a teacher is an absolute privilege."

"I think I sense sarcasm."

"You think? Beca, the job you have right now probably has more perks than mine, and I went through four years of college."

"I doubt that's true. You get the entire summer off."

She shook her head, "That's what I thought. Take into account the curriculum meetings I'm required to attend, the fact that I have to be at the school two weeks before you do, and the fact that three months worth of my paycheck is taken out of my normal pay to account for summer, and you realize it isn't all that great."

"You really dislike being a teacher, don't you?"

She frowned slightly, walking past me so that her backside came into view and I couldn't help but to let my eyes wander over her legs. She turned her head briefly and snapped to get my attention, "And I'm supposed to believe that you don't stare at my ass when I'm not looking."

"Well, it's there."

"Well, it's not there for you, Beca."

"You weren't saying that three weeks ago when you were moaning my name."

"Holy shit," she said, turning around to face me and it seemed as though the blood had drained from her face. "Why does it seem impossible for you to just fucking drop that?"

I had to admit, I did feel a little bad for bringing it up and drawing this sort of reaction out of her. "Sorry I guess, but in my defense, you bring it up just as much as I do."

"Sure but I do it subtly. When you do it, you blatantly remind me that I broke the law."

"It wasn't your fault Ms. Par- Dani," I corrected myself, "I wasn't your student then... and I was the one who lied to you."

She sighed, "Yet I'm the one who's in danger of being sent to jail."

I shifted my stance, looking down uncomfortably and staying silent. That was true; I was in no danger of getting in trouble, yet I was the one who should be at fault. "I'm sorr-"

She cut me off, "Don't apologize again, what's done is done. Come on, you need a shower, right?"

I reached up to scratch my head, "Uh, yeah."

She nodded, turning back around as she began walking towards her bedroom. I trailed after her, passing the bed and eventually finding myself in her bathroom.

"Here's a towel," she said, pulling one out of the cabinet under the sink and handing it to me. She pulled a drawer open and grabbed a toothbrush, and I raised my eyebrows at the amount she owned.

"That's a lot of toothbrushes."

She turned to me rather quickly, her eyes darkening when she picked up on what I was implying. She tightened her jaw, handing the one in her hand to me. "Yeah."

"Why do you have that many?"

"Why not?"

I stayed silent, but her mood seemed to have shifted. She blankly walked over to the shower and gestured with her hands to the knobs. "Cold, hot. I'll be in the kitchen. Tell me when you're ready to go, I'm driving you and I'm picking you up. What time does your shift end?"

I wanted to protest, but with the way she was looking at me and because of the fact that her arms were crossed, I decided against doing so. "Nine every day except for Thursdays."

She nodded, and then briefly turned back to me. "I take it that's my fault?"

"What?"

"You have to work later on Thursdays because I gave you detention."

"Oh," I said, leaning against the wall. "Well yeah, but it's not that big a deal. It's just another hour."

She sighed and turned to walk out the door, leaving me standing in the bathroom alone.

"Nothing ever seems to be that big of a deal to you."

****

We stayed silent in the car ride to the grocery store, and the only words spoken were hers, telling me that she'd be back at nine. I had changed into my jeans and a red shirt, and I knew that even if she was going to force me to stay with her, I would still need to go back to Brian's house at some point to grab a few things. I hated thinking about the possibility of Brian finding me in her apartment, because even though I didn't know his philosophy on hurting people other than me, I knew what he was capable of. The thought alone of him hurting anyone else made me sick to my stomach.

But what could I do? Dani wasn't taking no for an answer, and I could either stay in her apartment or let her call CPS. I assumed that even if she did so, it would take a little bit for my case to go through and for me to actually be taken from Brian's home, but it would undoubtedly happen eventually. That's not to say that Brian would go to prison, because let's be honest, nothing ever worked out in my favor. Somehow I would be put back into the system and Brian would probably get off scot-free.

As I re-stocked the shelves, I tried to clear my mind but it was near impossible when I had so much weight on my shoulders. I was stuck, and in a situation that I had no idea how to get out of. I could only hope that Dani would eventually get tired of me or something along those lines, and send me on my way with a warning to stay safe.

But what were the chances of that happening?

Eventually, nine o clock rolled around and I knew she would be parked out front. When I stepped out of the grocery store, I half expected Brian to be on my right, ready to put his mustang into drive and block me from leaving with Dani.

But he wasn't there.

I tugged my bag over my shoulder, sighing and walking over to where I noticed her silver car in park. I knew she was going to want to talk about Brian, but I honestly wasn't in the mood. I doubted that I would ever be in the mood to discuss my current predicament or my past with her, but I knew that I'd have to eventually. I would at least have to talk to her about Brian, but I heavily doubted that there was anything she could say to get me to open up about what I'd been through. I had already said enough yesterday when she threatened to call CPS, and I didn't want to go any more into depth.

Pulling the passenger door open, I silently got into her car and sunk into the seat. She spoke, "You didn't see Brian, did you?"

I looked over at her, "No, I didn't."

She seemingly sighed in relief and started driving, and much like the drive to the grocery store, the drive back to her apartment was completely silent. She eventually pulled into her parking spot and got out of the car wordlessly, leading me into her apartment once again.

"What do you want to eat?"

I shook my head. "I'm really not hungry."

She narrowed her eyes at me, and started walking toward me so that I was forced to back up into the stool. "You haven't eaten anything all day Beca, that's not healthy."

I hadn't had an appetite since before I stood up for Sara, and I had been forcing food down my throat for the past couple of days. But I sighed, once again finding it impossible to say no to her while she was staring at me like that. "Alright. I'll eat whatever you have."

She turned and walked around the counter into her kitchen, pulling a container out of the fridge. I took notice to the fact that she hadn't changed, her tight white tank top still clinging to her torso and her shorts revealing enough skin that I had trouble keeping my eyes off of her. She caught my eye but didn't say anything this time, putting the container in the microwave and turning back to me.

"I know you don't want to talk, and I can see how whatever I'm about to ask you might be a touchy subject, but I really need you to just answer a few things."

I sighed. "I suppose I'll do my best."

She nodded, retrieving the container of food from the microwave and placing it in front of me. "Eat. You can talk to me when you're finished."

With that, she left me alone at the kitchen counter and strutted over to the couch in the living room, sighing and sitting down. She propped her legs up on the coffee table and started fussing with the remote, leaving me to pick through the chicken and pasta she'd placed in front of me and discreetly steal glances at her. She seemed frustrated for whatever reason and tired, and I watched her as she started to doze off. I quickly forced the food down my throat and started toward the bedroom, hoping I could slip past her and we could delay this conversation until tomorrow.

"Rebecca."

No such luck.

I sighed, turning back to her to see her hand in her hair and her eyes re-opened. The room was dark except for the light of the TV, so I could only see the outlines of her face instead of the finer details. "Come on, have a seat."

I stayed put for a few moments, before walking around the coffee table and sitting on the opposite side of the couch. When I stayed silent, she sat up and turned towards me, eliminating a bit of the distance between us.

"Who is Brian to you?"

I looked anywhere but into her eyes. "My adoptive father."

"And you were adopted last year? Or he just started becoming abusive then?"

"I was adopted last year."

She sighed, leaning back into the couch. "By all means, be as vague as you possibly could be, Rebecca."

"I told you I would answer your questions Dani, that's it. I really don't have any interest in giving you my life story, and that really has nothing to do with you specifically, I just don't like sharing that kind of information with people in general."

She shook her head, "Why?"

"For more reasons than I can count. To be honest, most people can't handle the sheer truth anyway."

"I'm not most people you know."

I pulled my knees into my chest and settled against the arm of the couch, facing her and sighing. "Believe me, I can tell. But it's not just about that, it's about letting people in. There are two things that can happen when a person finds out what I've been through, and I hate them both. They either realize they can't handle it and distance themselves, which sucks because I already have a shitty sense of security to begin with, or they start to get closer. And I can't let that happen, because the truth is I do have Brian in my life, and I'm sure that even when I move out, he'll still be there. Anyone that gets close to me puts themself in a situation where Brian could hurt them, and that's not okay."

She released a shaky breath, and whether it was intentional or not, she seemed to move closer to me. "Alright, now we're getting somewhere. Look, I understand everything you just told me, but I'm pretty sure our situation is different. Now you're living with me and I've apparently already put myself in a situation where Brian could come after me, if what you've been saying is true. I just want to help you Beca. You shouldn't have to deal with this alone."

"I shouldn't, you're right. I shouldn't have to deal with a lot of things Dani, that doesn't mean they don't happen. Look, this conversation is pointless. Ask me what you want to now because I doubt you'll be able to get anything out of me after tonight."

She sighed heavily, putting her head in her hands. "I... I don't understand why you won't just tell someone that can actually do something to put this piece of shit away..."

"Because it's not as simple as that. For starters, even if I told my social worker, she would still have to go through what could be a year or more of investigation and court cases to reverse my adoption and get me out of Brian's house. By then, I'll have hopefully already moved out. And even if they did try to pull me out of his house immediately, I wouldn't want them to."

She moved closer to me so that she was sitting on the cushion right next to me, turning to make eye contact.