Nicky leaned against the steering wheel, almost trying to catch a glimpse of Laura through the window of her house. Something was definitely wrong, he could feel it in his gut. He couldn't just go check on her, already, though, could he?
Laura whimpered and scrambled away from him. "P-Please, Dad, I-I was just with s-some friends."
"Bullshit, girl! Stand up!"
She got to her feet, trembling. As soon as she had her balance, he shoved her against the wall. "This is what happens when you lie to your father!" he growled.
Laura gasped for breath.
"Fuck it." Nicky climbed out of his truck, leaving the keys in the ignition as he made his way towards Laura's house. He just hoped she'd be alright when she opened the door.
Laura's eyes caught Nicky heading towards the front door. A new flame of worry burst inside of her.
"Dad–!" she gasped.
"Don't you 'Dad' me! This is what little sluts like you deserve!"
Nicky's hand paused, just before he could knock. That was yelling. And it wasn't the kind of yelling that came along with a board game, it was angry.
She met his eyes. "Please…" she whispered hoarsely.
His eyes narrowed, but he let her go.
Laura collapsed to the floor, panting for breath. Nicky… go…
Definitely yelling. Which begged the question, would he only make things worse? Nicky almost turned around, almost left, and yet again paused. What if she's in trouble and I can help?
Laura's head was pounding. She hardly heard her father snap at her to get up. Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet and leaned against the wall to subdue the lightheaded feeling that had settled now that she was upright. She glanced over at the door again.
Her father looked over as well and saw Nicky standing outside. He quickly paced over.
"Dad, don't!" Laura cried suddenly, grabbing his arm. He turned roughly and smacked her. Once she was stunned, he shoved her aggressively to the floor.
With his daughter out of the way, he opened the door sharply, his body blocking any view of the house that Nicky might have had. "Whatta you want?" His breath clearly reeked of the alcohol he drank.
Lie. Nicky put on his token brilliant, the one that could get any person to warm up to him. It was his best manipulation tactic when he needed one. "Hi! So sorry to bother you, sir, but I saw a girl, about my age come in here? She dropped this out on the sidewalk, and I wanted to return it." He pulled a cheap beaded bracelet from his jacket pocket, holding it up.
Laura's father narrowed his eyes, studying Nicky. Finally, he turned and called into the house, "Laura!"
Laura pushed herself up and timidly came to the door. Her cheek was red from where he'd smacked her, and there were red marks on her throat as well that she'd covered up with her hair.
"This boy has something he wants to give you," he growled.
She slowly raised her gaze, and her eyes met Nicky's. "Oh."
"Once again, so sorry to bother you." Nicky said, his smile never wavering as he held out the bracelet to her. "It's pretty lucky I caught you walking in here. Might have gone to the police, they do missing object stuff, I think. But that'd be unnecessarily bugging them, when they've got more important things to do." His tone sounded like he was making friendly conversation, but something shifted slightly in his eyes on the word police, like he was letting Laura know about something.
Laura's eyes flickered down to her shoes.
Her father scowled at her. "What do you tell him, Laura?"
"Thank you," she whispered, right before her father slammed the door. Without waiting for Nicky to leave, he grabbed Laura's arms and shoved her to the floor harder than ever.
"Stupid girl! Can't you keep a damn bracelet on your [freaking] wrist?!"
Nicky pulled out his phone, stepping towards the sidewalk and smiling like he was talking to a friend. Hang on, Laura. I'm sorry.
Laura whimpered and crawled away from him. "Pl-Please," she stammered, "I-I didn't–"
"DON'T BULLSHIT ME, GIRL!"
Pain shot through her chest.
Under ten minutes. That was the dispatcher's estimate for response time. Nicky tugged a hand through his hair, looking back at the house.
She gasped for air. He'd kicked her. Right between her ribs. Her heart struggled against the sudden, shocking pressure. Of all the things her father ever did to her, he'd never kicked her. Laura tried to get up again. Over the ringing in her ears, she could hear her father say, "Stay down, slut."
She simply did as told. Sometimes it was easier to just surrender and let him have his way.
((Do I send him in, or have him wait for the cops?))
(Whatever you want. If you want to do a little timeskip to when the cops arrive, then you can do that.)
((Aaaa, this got lost in my notifs. Hmmm, him going in would definitely lead to him beating the shit out of her dad, but if you want to skip that, we can. I can't make up my mind on anything))
(I want to see the shit beating.)
((You want him to go in?))
(If you're cool with that, then yes.)
((I'm down w whatever man. Gimme a sec))
Fuck. Nicky stepped back up to the door, trying the nob carefully to make no noise.
(Okay!)