~Dani~

I heard the front door of my apartment opening and closing, letting me know that Rebecca had gone to work. I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad for making her walk; I was much too bent out of shape about Gavin showing up. I'd explained to him on more than one occasion that what we had would never be more than a little bit of fun, and that if he couldn't handle that, then we would have to stay friends- friends that weren't sexually involved in any way, shape, or form.

I wasn't exactly proud of myself for preferring sex over romance, but I'd known Gavin for a while and even if I did somehow manage to move past the fact that I couldn't open up to people anymore, I probably wouldn't have started with him. He provided me with a release, and as much as I hated myself for thinking it, he wasn't all that great for much else. He could be sweet, sure, but he would never be able to make me genuinely laugh and he would never be a shoulder to cry on. Not that I cried anymore; I hadn't allowed myself to cry in two years, and I highly doubted anything could change that.

He had been over after I dropped Rebecca off at the grocery store yesterday, and in a not-very-surprising turn of events, we fought. We weren't together, which was my doing, because if Gavin had his way, we would be more than just occasional sex and brief conversation. He seemed to think that we already were more than that, which is why he became pissed every time he found out I slept with someone else. He yelled and I yelled back, and I'm assuming he decided to bring over flowers and apologize because he knew I wasn't going to be the one to do it. It's not like I wanted Gavin out of my life, but I knew that continuing to sleep with him would only hurt him, and I didn't want to do that.

I wasn't an idiot with my body, and I might have been very... sexually active, but it wasn't with random strangers that I met off the street.

Well, with the exception of Rebecca.

Most times were men because it was easier for me to develop an emotional attachment to women and I wouldn't allow myself to do so, so sleeping with guys to relieve my frustration tended to work out better. Unfortunately, for a reason that seemed to escape me now, I decided that I wanted to switch things up on that night in the hotel. As much as I hated to admit it now, Rebecca was sexy and her personality intrigued me even more that night, and I didn't want to say no. I thought, one night with a woman couldn't hurt, right?

I couldn't have been more wrong. Maybe if she had actually been a woman and not a seventeen year old, things might have worked out differently. But now I had broken the law, and on top of that, I was providing a home to the person who prodded me to do so. I was still pissed at her for lying to me, but for the time being I was pushing that out of my head. I was trying to push it all out of my head because I needed to focus on ensuring her safety, but she made it ridiculously hard. It seemed as though every minute she got the chance, she was mentioning the night we'd spent together. I didn't want to hear about it anymore because I couldn't take it back and now I would always have this weighing on my shoulders, as if I didn't already have enough to deal with.

My mind was fucked up as it was, I didn't need Rebecca coming in and making it worse.

I didn't know how long I lied in bed for, nothing but a towel covering my nude body. I was too distraught to actually get up and put clothes on, but when the light outside of my bedroom window started to fade, I finally decided to pull myself together. I texted Gavin and told him that I was sorry, which was mostly a lie because I didn't think I had anything to be sorry for. Before he'd even laid a finger on me, I told him I didn't, and never would, want a real relationship. But regardless, I couldn't have him coming over tomorrow and acting like he had today in front of Rebecca, so I told him what he wanted to hear.

I threw athletic shorts on again and a tank top, grabbing my jacket because I knew I couldn't let Rebecca walk home in the dark. Her situation was fucked up, and I didn't know how I got to be involved but I couldn't just let her go home to more abuse. It didn't matter how mentally unstable I was, I still knew that I had to get Rebecca out of that house. I'd heard the sharpness in her voice as she spoke about her past, and somehow I knew that sharing the information I'd learned about her adoptive father wouldn't help anyone. I wanted to, but I believed her when she said that she would only face worse conditions if she was taken out of his house.

And even though I was dreading seeing her again, solely because of the fact that Gavin had referred to her as my play toy while she was in the room, I ate dinner and patiently waited until it was time to pick her up. I knew Gavin had seen her and assumed that she was just another girl that I'd invited over and slept with for one night, only to toss aside the next morning. He had no idea why she was really in my apartment.

I grabbed my keys and left my apartment, starting towards the grocery store. I didn't know how to feel towards Rebecca; I wanted to stay mad at her, but it was ridiculously hard. I knew about her home life now and a little bit about her past, and how could I blame her for wanting to escape it for one night? I would be lying if I said I hadn't done it before.

I pulled into park outside of the store and waited until nine, unable to think about anything else. I hadn't ever seen anything like Rebecca's stomach before, at least not in person, and I doubted the image would ever leave my mind. I found myself desperate to know everything about her, which was shocking because I never wanted to know anything about anyone anymore. It seemed inevitable that if someone were to tell you something about them self, they would expect you to share information too. I didn't want to share anything about myself with anyone, so I mostly stayed quiet. But Rebecca fueled the curiosity inside of me, the worry, and the emotion that I'd been trying to push away in the last two years.

I noticed her walking out of the store then, her hands shoved far into her pockets with her light brown hair resting over her chest. I pulled my car door open and ran over to her, but I was behind her and she didn't notice me coming. My sudden grip on her upper arm caused her to whirl around and her eyes held a considerable amount of fear, real fear, until she saw that it was me.

She released a shaky breath and her voice was tense, "Don't fucking do that."

I realized that she must have been dealing with so many different things in her head, and one of them was probably her fear of Brian. I silently reminded myself not to approach her from behind again. "I didn't mean to scare you. Come on, let me drive you back."

"Why, because you miss your play toy?"

"Don't," I said sharply, "Let it go Rebecca, what Gavin said honestly has nothing to do with you. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

She turned on her heel and started walking away from me. "Yeah, story of my fucking life."

I sighed and hurried after her, this time lightly reaching for her arm instead of forcefully. I didn't know if she had triggers or panic attacks, but I didn't want to take any risks. I honestly didn't know how abuse actually affected the victim. "Come on Beca," I said, my voice softening. "You're not walking to my apartment in the dark."

She nodded, "Okay." Then she turned and started walking in a different direction, only to have me chase after her.

"Where are you going now?"

"Home."

"No you're not." We stood there staring at each other, both of our eyes challenging the other. She knew I wasn't going to let her go back to Brian's house, but she was just as stubborn as I was and getting her to do something she didn't necessarily want to do proved to be a challenge, even for me.

I stepped forward, my height providing me with an obvious intimidation factor. She tilted her head to look up at me and crossed her arms, clearly refusing to back down as she waited for me to speak. "Get in the car Beca."

"Do you have candy?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Why are you so damn stubborn?"

"I don't know, I'm a lot of things. Cute, smart, funny, mind-blowing in bed-"

"Stop," I groaned, "Please do not continue. I don't doubt that you are a lot of things Beca, though I'm not sure that mind-blowing is one I'd use to describe you.."

She smirked, "Are you sure about that? Because just about the only thing I remember from that night is that you got loud, so either I'm really good in the sack or you're just a screamer-"

I groaned again, briefly turning away from her. I'd never in my life met someone so.... How could I even describe her? She was just so.... different. I would have been lying if I said she didn't intrigue me, but I had at least a little bit of sense and I couldn't push the fact that she was my seventeen year old student out of my mind. I was very aware of the fact that I'd almost kissed her last night, and honestly, I fucking surprised myself. I was never one to have a lack of control over myself, as much as Gavin liked to think otherwise. If I wanted something, I went for it, but that doesn't mean I went for things I knew were out of my reach. I wasn't stupid, and I knew that getting involved with Rebecca was illegal, so I should never have had a problem distancing myself from her like I distanced myself from everyone else.

But I obviously did, and it was a problem that I needed to get rid of as fast as possible. She was not only driving me to lose control in such little time, but she was also making me want something I hadn't had in more than two years.

A connection with someone.

I sighed, redirecting my train of thought. "What is it going to take to get you in the car?"

She looked down for a while, before looking back up at me and smirking. "Nothing, I'll get in, I just wanted to screw with you for a bit."

The brunette tossed me a sly smile and walked over to my car, taking no time before sliding into the passenger seat. "Coming?" she asked, teasing as she turned back to look at me.

I stood there for a while, before finally facing reality and slipping into the drivers seat. I refused to speak during the car ride and Rebecca seemed content staring out the window, so we sat in relative silence. Eventually, I unlocked the front door to my apartment and threw the keys on the counter, immediately heading to the couch.

"Help yourself to whatever is in my kitchen, I don't know what you eat but you really need to stop skipping meals."

She shrugged. "I eat when I'm hungry."

"So you're never hungry?"

She stared at me for a while, before sliding onto the stool by the counter and resting her head on her hand. "My body is kind of accustomed to a low-calorie diet."

"Are you trying to lose weight or something?"

Her eyes never left mine, and I saw some sort of emotion pass but then she shook her head. "Sure, let's go with that."

It was obvious that she wanted to avoid the subject, and I had a good idea of what she really meant. I thought back to Thursday when I chased her into the bathroom, and she had angrily asked me if I'd ever been starved. Did Brian neglect to give her food? She wasn't short but her body was extremely thin and I wouldn't have been surprised if she was underweight. I wasn't sure which I would've rather been true; the fact that she had been starved or the fact that she could, forever whatever reason, believe she needed to lose weight. I truly hoped she didn't have body image issues though, because she honestly had nothing to be worried about. Eventually her bruises would fade and her body would return to the near-flawless state it'd been in that night... though it probably wouldn't have hurt her to put on a few pounds.

I closed my eyes, shaking the image out of my head. Looking at her in the moment didn't help me to do so, so I turned my attention to the television. I heard her shuffling around in my kitchen but I couldn't force myself to look over at her. I knew if I did so, I would only see her body underneath mine, squirming in pleasure. I never got hung up on people after I had sex with them, so for me to still be thinking about Rebecca was bad. I couldn't allow myself to think about her in that way, not only because she was my teenage student but because even if she wasn't, I still was not stable enough to be in a relationship.

"You look like you're thinking about something really serious," Rebecca said, lightly sitting down on the couch next to me. She was way too close for my liking.

"I am."

"What are you thinking about?"

I shook my head, sinking into the couch and folding my arms over my chest. "Nothing that concerns you."

She ran a hand through her silky brown hair, smirking slightly. "I doubt that."

"Did you forget conceited when you were spouting off your character traits earlier?"

"I'm not conceited, believe me Dani. I'm quite the opposite, actually." Her tone was dejected as she looked away, and I frowned slightly.

"Rebecca."

She looked back at me, waiting for me to speak. I bit my cheek and stayed silent for a while, before asking her, "Are you depressed?"

She raised her eyebrow at me. "Um, no, I don't think so?"

I sat up and looked over at her. "You just look so sad all the time..."

She lowered her eyes. "Yeah well, I don't have a whole lot to be happy about. But I'm not depressed anymore."

"Anymore?"

"I'm tired," she said, standing up abruptly. "I need to go back home tomorrow to get a few things. I'm going no matter what you say, but if you really want to come with me, then you need to promise me that you'll stay in the car until I come back out of the house. You are not coming in with me, got it?"

"No, you're not going in by yourself-"

"Stop. You can't tell me what to do in this situation Dani. I'm going into the house alone and that's the end of it. If you really want to drive me, fine, but you're staying in the car."

I didn't want to agree but I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with her by saying no again. When I stayed silent, she simply nodded and started toward the bedroom without saying another word. I decided that I was going to sleep on the couch tonight because I couldn't let what happened last night happen again. I knew I moved a lot in my sleep but I figured I would at least stay on my side of the bed. I was wrong, and instead of putting myself in a situation where she could put her hand on my ass again, I decided to stay in the living room.

I needed to clear my mind of any thoughts regarding Rebecca, and I wasn't going to be able to do that while sleeping next to her.

And especially not if I was watching her get changed.

***

I woke up in the morning to see Rebecca sitting in my kitchen, her hair falling around her as she sipped something out of a mug. I usually woke up really early on Sundays but for some reason I slept in today, and I saw that the clock read ten am. I wondered why she had slept until afternoon the first night, which I half expected because she was a teenager and teenagers slept late, but now she was waking up before me.

I sat up on the couch and rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the light seeping in through the window. Her eyes switched to mine and she honestly looked exhausted, but I didn't comment on it. "Sure Beca, you can have coffee."

She narrowed her eyes at me, speaking softly. "You literally told me to help myself to anything in your kitchen. Was I supposed to take that some other way?"

"No."

"Well," she said, standing up from the stool. "I made you some too."

I silently stood up and ran a hand through my hair, finding half of my coffee pot full. I poured myself a cup and fixed it the way I liked, before sitting down in the stool she'd been in before. She turned and leaned on the counter across from me, gazing out the window. Her profile was undeniably beautiful, and I hated the fact that that was the first thought to come to mind. She wasn't wearing any makeup, presumably because she didn't have any with her, but I couldn't find a flaw. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion, I could tell, but somehow there were no bags under her eyes and her skin was clean.

Suddenly she turned to me, catching my eye. I tried to pretend like I wasn't looking at her, and if she noticed, she didn't mention it. "I need to leave in the next five minutes. Brian should be out on his Sunday morning run right now and I want to get in and out before he comes back."

I ran a hand over my face, mumbling, "Alright... are you sure he's out right now?"

"Yes I'm positive." She set her mug down by the sink and picked up her bag off of the floor by the front door. "Is there anything I can possibly say to get you to stay here?"

"No," I answered. I didn't know what to expect, but I did know that if Brian came home and put his hands on her, there was nothing she would have been able to do to keep me in the car. And I certainly wasn't going to let her leave my apartment alone. "Is Sara going to be home?"

"Probably, but she's not a threat to me."

"She sounds like an enabler."

She shook her head, lingering by the door. "She's doing everything that she can do. She stops him when she can, which is impossible for her to do because she probably weighs less than a feather, and she knows better than you do that reporting this to anyone would only be worse for me in the long run. So please, don't view her as the bad guy because she's trying her best." She paused, before glancing at her phone. "We need to go."

I stared at her for a moment, trying to comprehend how she could be so understanding towards a woman who seemingly introduced her to such hell. I didn't know what she'd been through before she was adopted, and I wasn't sure if I was even ready to hear about it, but still, how could she defend a woman protecting the man who abused her?

I finally nodded, grabbing my keys off the counter. She pointed me in the direction of her house but stayed silent for the rest of the car ride. I pulled up outside of a rather large house, taking notice to the black mustang in the driveway. "He's not doing so bad money-wise, is he?"

She frowned, "No, he's fucking loaded. It makes me so fucking mad to know that someone as shitty as Brian is living with good money, while good people who age out of the system resort to fucking selling their bodies and stealing to make enough money to buy food."

It was strange for me to see her in such an angry state. I'd only ever seen her being flirtatious, bored, or ridiculously stern. She didn't let off much emotion when it came to Brian or her past, aside from the fear I'd seen in her eyes last night. "The world is.. screwed up like that."

"Yeah," she said, tightening her jaw and turning to me. "Look, I'm not fucking joking when I tell you to stay in the car. Brian isn't home right now, hopefully, but he could come back and he cannot see you."

"My car is not exactly in the best hiding place."

"I don't care if he knows someone is here with me, I care if he actually sees you. He's never going to forget what you look like and he'll always be able to use you against me if