Page 85 of Falling With a Spin

Looking towards Hunter, “What happened here?” I wave my arms around at the mess that's scattered across the kitchen.

Before he could answer, a ding went off from the oven.

“The cookies are done!” Cole runs to the oven, takes them out, and sets the pan on the stove.

Looking back at Hunter, he has a wide grin, and the whole stern stance that's threatening crumbles. A loud burst of laughter comes from me, and I double over. Hunter wraps his arms around me, coating me in flour and I wiggle against him in my attempt to get free.

“Oh, love, if you keep doing that, then this is going to get awkward really fast.”

I freeze in his arms, and a deep chuckle rumbles through him. Then, something cold and wet hits the side of my face. Looking down at my black sweatshirt, I see remnants of an egg, then a puff of cloud surrounds us, and all I can do is stare daggers at Cole.

“Oh, you’re going to wish you didn’t do that.”

Two showers later, in an attempt to get the flour out of my hair, I’m lying on Hunter's bed with a book on my lap, and he’s sitting at his desk working on some music. I chew the corner of my bottom lip, trying to figure out how I’m going to tell him.

“What’s wrong.” He keeps his head down, pen still scraping across the paper.

What the fuck? How did he know?

“Because I know you well enough that when you chew your bottom lip and wring your fingers, it means you’re anxious about something.” He sets his pen down and looks over to me.

I opened my mouth and closed it again, unsure of where to go with this.

Taking a deep breath in, “Your mom talked to me when you were outside with your dad and brothers.” There’s a little bit of color that drains from his face. “She offered to represent me in court if I choose to press charges on Chad.” I hurriedly say.

For a few minutes, he doesn’t say anything, just stares at me, and then lets out a breath that I’m pretty sure he didn’t know he was holding.

“I was afraid she was going to do that, but also, I’m happy she did, so you know that you have someone.” He gives me a small smile

“I wanted to tell you this first, but I will be taking her up on the offer.”

I look down, playing with my fingers when I feel the bed dip, and then Hunter's arms are around me. Letting him know what I’ve decided to do has brought a huge weight off of my shoulders. It makes it all feel real and raw.

“What made you decide what you wanted to do?”

“Well, besides the fact that it’s what is best. I talked with Taylor, and she helped me realize a few things.” I owe her a lot of credit for this because she didn’t have to stay by my side. She could have told me good luck figure it out on your own, but she didn’t. I cherish our friendship and her even more for that.

“I'm so happy you have her.” He whispers, and all I can do is smile.

Untangling myself from his embrace and taking a deep breath in, pushing my emotions to the side right now.

“I will need to call your mom and get this moving. The sooner it's over, the sooner I will have some peace.” That's what I keep telling myself, at least.

“Yeah, of course, let's call her.”

We are off the phone with his mom an hour later, and I’m completely drained, wanting to crawl into a hole. She says that I will need to go down to the police station to fill out a statement form and file a restraining order with reasoning of physical abuse that Hunter has witnessed, threatening tactics from what had happened at the bar, along with other incidents I mentioned to her and previous sexual abuse.

I stay on Hunter's bed, staring down at the floor as he says goodbye to his mom.

“Do you want me to go down to the police station with you?” The bed dips beside me, and Hunter's hand goes to my chin, turning my face towards him.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” It comes out as a whisper and my voice cracks a little, realizing that I will have to tell everything to the cops, relive it all.

“Not at all, Emma.” He wraps his arms around me and holds me as I attempt not to let the pieces I finally put back together fall to the ground.

When you are broken - or feel broken - everyone around you starts to treat you like broken glass or talk about the incidents like a broken record. You start to feel like the broken glass, the broken down car on the side of the road, or the old blanket that gets tossed out after so many years. I can count, on one hand the amount of people who are currently not treating me like that, three people. Hunter, Taylor, and Hunter's mom.

Hunter is sitting here beside me, holding me but not holding me together. He is holding me up and supporting me through this, taking my hand and showing me who I have on my side. Loving me even when I don’t find myself lovable. He shows me what it is to smile and hold onto what makes me happy.

---