⌜ chapter nine ⌟

"You know, you should really call your dad. I'm good here." Letty says as she looks at Miller, and he shakes his head. "Miller—"

"The only place that I should be is exactly where I am. Things aren't exactly over, and I'm not leaving you." He tells her. "We're working things out, but nothing's permanent. I'm staying here for awhile, and that's that. Alright?"

She hesitates as she looks up at him, but she can see that he intends to remain unmoving in his argument. "Okay." The brunette reluctantly agrees.

"Now, go talk to your boyfriend, huh?" He smirks at the annoyed look on her face, and she pushes him before leaving the trailer park so that she can go and talk to Eric.

Letty walks into the Matthews' kitchen from their living room, and she sees her best friend sitting at the table with his parents standing on either side of him. She's quiet as she watches the three of them, nervous about the conversation that she knows she has to have with them.

"I'm too cute to stay home." Eric fakes a sob as he drops his head into his hands.

"Um... Hi." Letty gets their attention, and his head snaps up; Eric and his parents immediately look at her.

"Letty." The teenage boy gets to his feet and rushes over to her. "Where have you been? Are you okay? What happened?" He asks as he brushes her hair out of her face, his eyes now on the light bruise over her cheek.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She tells him as his mom has Morgan go into the living room to play.

"I've been so worried about you. And you were avoiding me at school. And—"

"Eric, I'm okay." Letty repeats, raising her voice to talk over him, but she doesn't yell. She doesn't want to draw either of his siblings into the room.  "I promise, I'm okay. I needed some time to get some things figured out, but I... I really am okay."

"I'm sorry about how I acted when I saw the bruise. I never should've lifted your shirt." He says, and she shakes her head. "But I saw it, and it freaked me out. I wanted to hel—"

The brunette reaches up and puts her hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up as she looks into his eyes. "It's okay, Eric. I'm not mad at you for what you did, and I'm okay." She tells him, then she looks over at his parents as she drops her hand from his mouth. "Can we talk? All of us?"

"Of course." Mrs. Matthews says as she looks over at her husband briefly.

"You guys were right." The brunette tells them as they all sit at the table. "My dad... He's been hitting me since I was a little kid, ever since my mom left us. I think he blames me or something. I don't- I don't know."

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"Miller found out awhile ago, and that's why he moved here. He knew that I would kill him if he told his dad, so instead he made it so that I wasn't alone. I've felt so guilty for so long, but I was too afraid to get help. I think, after awhile, he kind of was too...

"But my dad's gone now. Being confronted really spooked him, I guess. He took off in the trailer a few days ago. I came home from work and my stuff was where my home used to be. A few of our neighbors told me that he dumped mine and Miller's things and just took off. They watched all of it while Miller was trying to find us somewhere to stay, made sure that no one stole anything." She explains, wiping a tear from her cheek. "He and I have been couch hopping, but that's not really an option anymore. So, I talked to Mr. and Mrs. Hunter — they're gonna let me stay with them for as long as I need to, and Miller's moving in with Jason as we speak.

"But, uh... Shawn doesn't know anything about what my dad's done to me, and I don't want him to ever find out. His parents know, and they agreed to tell him that my dad just left, like my mom, and that there's nothing else to it. I'd really appreciate it if you guys don't say anything either. Not to him or to Cory. I don't want how they or Morgan see me to change. I don't want to be some broken thing that they feel sorry​ for. I just want to be me, the same me that they've always seen."

"Of course." Mr. Matthews nods. "We'll do whatever you're comfortable with."

"Thank you." The brunette says as she looks over at him. "And thank you for standing up for me that night. It's something that I never could've done for myself...that I couldn't do for Miller." She takes a deep breath, and Eric reaches over and rests his hand on her arm when her eyes fill with tears again. "So thank you." She repeats, and he nods.

"I will always be here if you ever need anything." Mr. Matthews tells the teenager. "This whole family will. You are family here."

Letty tries to offer him a small smile, still struggling to regain her composure. Eric stands up then, pulling her with him, and she hugs her best friend. He wraps his arms around her, and she buries her face in his neck as she tries to choke back her tears.

» » » « « «

"This is for all my friends...who choose to remain anonymous." Frankie says from the stage as he glances over at Harley and Joey. They're at the coffee shop that Letty works at, and he's about to read a poem.

"Well, this should be interesting." Letty mumbles to herself.

"Poem of the Fierce and Bloodthirsty​ Samurai Warrior." He reads the title of his poem, and Letty sees Harley standing in the corner of the room looking down at the floor. "The cherry trees are blooming. On the third evening, the last flower dies and falls. Thank you." Frankie finishes, sounding on the verge of tears.

Letty then walks over to Harley, and he looks down at her. "Come​ to make fun of me?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"Actually, no. I came over to say that I think it's really cool that you came here to support your friend." She tells him, and he looks surprised.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." The brunette smiles. "Only a real friend, and a good person, would do something like that. Especially when they're afraid for their own reputation."

He smiles as he looks away from her and he nods once in response. She then gets back to work, smacking Cory's head as she walks past him.

"Hey!" He yells, and Eric laughs.

"Have I ever told you how much I like that you fit in so well with my family?" The brunette boy asks, and she smiles as she looks up at him.

"Hey, uh... I wanted to thank you." Letty says, and his eyebrows furrow.

"For what?" Eric asks.

"For always being the person that I can run to when things get tough. I honestly don't know what I'd ever do without you." She rests her hand on the side of his face as she leans forward and pushes herself onto her tippy-toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek. He smiles as he looks down at her, and then she turns away from him to get back to work.

The next day at school, Letty walks over to Mr. Turner and Mr. Feeny in the cafeteria. They each look up at her, and Turner asks her to sit.

"I just wanted to thank you both. I'm really not used to having people care about what happens to me. And I'm definitely not used to people noticing that something's even wrong." She tells them, shaking her head. "But the problem's taken care of, and I'm staying with the Hunters for awhile. I'm gonna be okay now."

"That's good to hear, Miss Black." Feeny says, and she smiles.

"I'm actually going to be quitting my job at the coffee shop. So, I'll just be working at the Market Giant from now on — back down to the one job." She tells them. "Thank you both for pushing me to get help." She looks back at Turner. "And thank you for seeing that I needed it, even though I didn't think that I wanted​ it, and wasn't always the nicest when you tried to talk to me."

"You ever need anything else, my door is always open." The younger of the two teachers tells her, and she nods.

Letty gets up and walks over to where the three boys are all sitting. She sits across from Cory, and Eric looks at her and smiles, earning one in return. Shawn then throws a piece of bread at her, and she shoots him a dirty look. He laughs, and she shakes her head at him.