Long day

Willow

The bath/shower combination was definitely a good move. Although it did nothing for my mood, it did help my sore muscles. I spent the majority of it under water up to my chin. I took a shower to wash off the layer of dirt I could still feel on my skin and to deal with my hair. I scrubbed my skin enough times that it was pink and irritated in places. I probably used up all the hot water by the time I was done, but I finally felt clean. Brushing my teeth until my gums bled helped with that. It was therapeutic. Once I was sure there was no trace of Will's mouth I put the brush down. I rooted around in the drawers until I found a comb. This time when I looked in the mirror I wasn't as surprised or horrified. The marks still made me sad, but they weren't as horrible at the second glance.

Besides, it wasn't the first time he left them there. The handprint was new compared to the last time but it was mostly faded down to an angry red mark on the highest part of my cheek bone. However, it was the firsttime he did anything like this in public, let alone outside of his own home. As much as I hated to admit this to myself, I knew he was going to get away with this. One of the main reasons he chose this school was because his brother was a cop here, had been for a few years. And his brother had alot of friends from what I heard. Will could lie about where he got the bruises, or lie and say He stopped Chase from hurting me and started a fight.

I sighed in frustration. How could I be so naïve, so stupid. He was doing a lot of eratic things. Why wouldn't he show up there under a fake name? Not telling Chase sooner was a mistake. He only thing keeping ot from him accomplished was hurting his feelings and putting myself in that situation alone. It was so stupid. He wasn't even mad at me, he was angry with Will. I never had someone be so understanding about my feeling before. It was always an argument, gaslighting, and screaming. Chase was different, I was finally starting to see that. It just happened to take being strangled to figure it out. I snorted at the thought that was entirely not funny.

I threw on the clothes Chase picked out for me, tying the pants as tight as they could go. They were several inches too long, but they were clean. Without even thinking twice about it I balled up the clothes I was wearing and threw them in the garbage before leaving the room and walking into Chase's. When I found him sittong on the edge of the bed with his hands in his lap, I knew something was wrong.

"Chase?"

He startled. "Hey, " He smiled at me gently and patted the bed beside him.

I hesitantly sat down beside him and grabbed his hand, leaning on his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, I could see my purple phone case peeking out from under his other hand. He handed it over to me silently.

" I know you were worried about starting things between the team, but this is too far to not say anything,".

I froze. Was I coming between him and his friends? Because I didn't want to see them when I got here? "Chase if this is because I didn't want to see the guys-"

"I called Wyatt,".

I was silent for a beat.

"I used your phone. I know you didn't want to start shit, but this is far enough. He needs to know,".

I couldn't tell if I was surprised or angry. "He's been nothing but an asshole this whole time, why would you call him? You know I don't want to see him,"

"Because your ex put his hands on you. He's Wyatt's bestfriend and pulled this. I know they play for the same team, but I'm not going to sit back and let him stand up for Saunders any more. He needs to know what happened, if only so he doesn't try to murder me for what happens to fuckface. You deserve better than the lies he's going to spread about this,"

I wanted to be angry, to yell at him, but I was exhausted. Maybe telling Wyatt wasn't a bad idea. I calmed down since it happened. Although I still didn't want to be seen like this, I couldn't hide from them forever.

"Did you tell him everything? And them?"

He knew I was referring to everyone downstairs, and he nodded. "Yes. Are you angry?"

"I knew I would have to tell them eventually. It's easier to not look at them and say it I guess. Are they mad at me?"

"Absolutely not. I talked to Cass first. She understood and helped me explain it to them. All Wyatt knows is that he did something to you. I told him I would text him if you wanted to see him tonight or tomorrow,".

I was relieved they weren't angry. I wasn't thinking when we got home. All I wanted at that point was to be left alone and not be seen. Now I was angry. How dare he do this to me? He thought he still held power over me? That he could do this to me? Fuck him. I swallowed, my throat constricting painfully with the movement.

"Well then, I'll text him now,".

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting on the couch between Chase and Reid. After a round of hugs and reassurances, and a lot more tears, we were all piled into the living room, waiting for Wyatt. I was a little surprised he agreed to meet here since he hates Chase, and doesn't seem too fond of anyone else on the team. I was nervous; The first time I see him in weeks and it's because I was sexually assaulted by his best friend. Would he believe me this time? Or was he about to go off on me again for lying? He may be my brother, but Chase wouldn't let him disrespect me like that and with the guys home it would be a four on one.

Finally, there was a knock at the door. I sucked in a breath and squeezed Chase's hand before we went to answer the door. I let Chase open the door first.

"Wyatt," Chase reached a hand out to shake

"Andrews," Wyatt returned the gesture stiffly before stepping inside, catching sight of me behind him. His expression was skeptical until He caught sight of my face. I felt my face heat up, tears stinging my eyes.

"Jesus Christ," He stepped towards me, muscling his way past Chase and turning my head so he could get a good look at my face. "Will did this?"

"There's more,". Chase stated, trying to control his anger. I met his eyes and he nodded so I reached up and tugged the sweater I stole from him off, exposing my neck to his gaze. I pulled in a breath, looking at the wall above his head and fighting the tears trying to spill over. Every time I thought I ran out of tears, my body found more to give.

I fought the urge to look at the ground, focusing instead on Chase. He was looking at me sympathetically and rubbed my back.

"Willow," Wyatt breathed. "Are you- what the fuck?" Suddenly he yanked me forward, hugging me tightly. The weeks of hurt I felt over him treating me like a liar, of ignoring me then screaming at me came flooding out. I was aware there was a room full of people who could hear me but I didn't even care anymore.

When I was done, Wyatt let me go. "Did he really do this? I am so sorry I didn't believe you,". He was still having problems grasping the situation, but not for long.

Chase clapped him on the back, gesturing towards the livingroom. On the way through he grabbed me a water from the fridge and tossed one to Wyatt. He introduced him to everyone, and he shook hands with all of them. The mood was somber all the way around. They all spoke quietly, Miles offering to stand so Wyatt could sit down. He sat in Miles's spot and Miles leaned on the armrest beside him. You would almost think they were friends. Chase and I resumed our seats. Although Wyatt was the only one who hadn't heard yet, everyone sat silently and listened. The support was nice, but nervewracking.

By the time I was done explaining everything to him with Cass, Olivia, and Chase filling in their parts Wyatt was bent over, staring at the ground, hands clasped in front of him. We all sat silently.

"Dead. He's fucking dead.". Wyatt stood and started walking towards the door.

"Wyatt, you can't-"

Miles jumped up, grabbing him behind in a bear hug. "Wyatt. You're pissed I know but you can't do anything about it" He tried reasoning

"Let me go, he's a fucking dead man!" His golden curls bounced wildly as he tried to yank himself out of Mile's grip, but he didn't stand a chance. Miles may be easy going but he was huge.

"You can't. Do that," He was struggling now and Chase got up in front of him to talk to him. He put both hands on his restrained shoulders, looking him in the eye.

"Why not!?"

"Because he's banking on you not knowing, and we already stand a slim chance of getting him charged. Cop for a brother, no witnesses besides me, only photo evidence. If you start shit right now, you'll blow it,"

At this Wyatt calmed down some. "Fuck,"

"Trust me, I want to kill him just as much as you do. We all do. But the only evidence there is, is what he did to your sister, and what I did to him. We are going to the station tomorrow to see what we can do. My parent are lawyers, I'll be talking to them next,".

Chase nodded at Miles, who let Wyatt go.

"So what now? I just wait? And not say anything? Jesus fucking christ Willow! He's done this before? Why wouldn't you say anything? And now, I find out from Chase? You couldn't even call me!"

He thought he could redirect his anger towards me? "You didn't want to hear it! You hated me for dating him, and you've treated me like shit for the past two months because of it! You don't get to yell at me!"

He sighed in frustration, quitting his pacing. "I'm not yelling at you! I have to see him minimum four times a week and act like I don't want to murder him? Do you have any idea how hard that's going to be?"

Excuse me? Is he really going to act like a victim after all that? "Oh, I'm sorry was me getting attacked inconvenient for you? I'm sorry,". I spat, getting to my feet. Reid got up with me, guiding me to the stairs to deescalate the situation. Or to stop me from attacking him. Maybe both  "Go back to telling me I deserve to be treated like shit."

I let Reid push me towards the stairs. After barely sleeping before the events of today I was feeling the affects. I went through all of that and he is seriously trying to stand here and tell me this is so hard for him? He thinks he's going to yell at me for not calling him, after he told me I was worthless and that he didn't want to see or hear from me anymore? As if this was all somehow my fault.

"Willow, wait," He reached to grab my arm but I yanked myself away from him. "I'm sorry, I know you've been through a lot,"

"Yeah, and I'm fucking done. I've had enough and I'm going to bed,". Without another word I gave Reid's arm a squeeze and went up the stairs.

"Sorry dude. She may be your sister, but she's my girlfriend and she says she's done talking," I heard Chase telling him. "I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow, but you need to leave,".  I heard Chase taking the stairs two at a time to catch up to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off marching into his room.

"Willow,"

"I don't want to talk about iy,".

"I know it's been a long day, but-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" I cried "All we've talked about all night is "it" and I'm done! He gets to yell at me like that after the way he treated me? I'm sick of this shit. I don't want to talk about it anymore, I don't want to cry about it, I want it fucking over,".

I was aware that I was over reacting and taking things the wreong way, but I couldn't stop myself. I cried more tears today than ever in my life. I was hurting physically, mentally and emotionally. There were too many emotions running all at once and I ddn't know what to do about it.

"Baby, I know. I'm sorry I called him. I thought it would be a good idea,".

"It should have been!" I cried. "But he doesn't care about me! It's always about him and its always my fault," my vision blurred with tears.

"Willow,". He sighed, wrapping his arms around me. I tried to push him away but he wouldn't move. "None of this is your fault. He does care about you, that's why he almost cried when he saw you tonight. He just sucks at showing it,".

"He hates me,"

"He doesn't hate you, he loves you," He pressed his lipsb to my temple. " You know what? I think you've had enough for one day. I think you're hurting and you're tired, so you're lashing out. And that's okay." He swayed us back and forth while he spoke, trying to soothe me. "You are just fine Willow, there is nothing wrong with you. It's been a hard day for you. How about you get some rest?"

I nodded my head, pulling away from him so I could strip my sweater off and crawl under the blankets. I was so tired of crying, of explaining what happened, thinking about it, hurting over it. My brain felt like it was short circuiting and firing all the wrong signals to all the wrong places. I pulled my hair away from my face in frustration, snuggling further down into the bed. The weight of the day was finally hitting me, sitting on top of me like a concrete filled weighted blanket. When Chase stood staring at me questioningly, I returned to look.

"Are you coming or not?" I snapped

"I didn't know if you wanted me to. You know after-"

" Chase get in this bed right now so I can sleep,".

Lash-out stage Willow would never tell him that I wanted him in bed with me because he made me feel safe and made everything going on in my head a little quieter. But Lash out Willow was childish and mean, and he seemed to realize it. Without another word, he removed his own sweater and crawled in beside me, pulling me into him. He lifted the back of my shirt and traced gentle circles with his finger tips.

"I'm sorry," I said in a small voice.

"Me too, Baby".