As I got in my car, I turned my phone off. I knew William would be looking for me, but I didn't want to be found, not by him.

After a couple minutes of composing myself, I set out of my way. The more I drove, the more I thanked God that this coffee shop was about 40 minutes away from school, William had no idea this place existed either. There's no way he'd find me, I'd be safe.

I got so caught up in the music I was blasting, I didn't realize I was about 5 minutes away.

Soon enough I had arrived, I parked my black Jeep Commander and set out on foot for the shop.

Within minutes, it came into view. Nostalgia hit me like a tons of bricks, all of the little coffee dates that Ulrich and I had shared here came flooding back into my memory, and to think I was about to meet Ulrich here again, three years later.

I opened the door and the same little doorbell chime went off, and as I looked around I saw a familiar pair of brown eyes, staring at me.

It was Ulrich. He was really here. It felt so comforting to see a pair of eyes that I knew and loved. A pair of eyes that would never look at me the way William did. A pair of eyes that were part of a person who would never hurt me like that.

Part of me got so overwhelmed, that I wanted to turn around and run for the hills. The other part of me had dearly missed Ulrich and was so glad to see him without having to worry about if William were to show up.

I made my way over to the table he was sitting at, and slowly sat down across from him.

"Yumi.." he began, it seemed as if he couldn't find the words to say.

"Hi Ulrich," I began softly, apparently I was at a loss of words as well. It had been so long since I was able to see him or talk to him freely. I had always wished things had gone differently between us, but ultimately William had entire control over that situation because I was so afraid of him.

"It's been a while." was all he could manage to say. And I don't blame him. There wasn't much else to say at first, until we adjusted to the current situation.

"So Ulrich, how have you been?" I said, hoping to start a conversation, to learn things about him that I missed out on.

"I'm doing alright Yumi. For once my grades are decent, I'm a starter on the schools soccer team, my parents don't seem to hate me 24/7, and I'm sitting in front of the girl of my dreams after 3 long years of not being able to come near here because I thought she hated my guts."

I didn't really know how to respond at this point. Was he angry at me for blowing up at him? Did he still resent me partially? I hope I'm making the right decision by being here.

"I'm so sorry Ulrich. If only you knew what has happened to me these past three years. If only you've seen what I've been through and what he's done to me. I'm just so sorry Ulrich." I say as I begin quietly sobbing.

"It's okay Yumi, I know it's not your fault. He may have wanted it to seem that way, and to be honest it did for so long. But now I'm noticing more, and there's no way you made all those decisions by yourself."

I sat silent, unsure of what to say. Unsure if I should tell Ulrich everything right here, right now. Clearly he could see something was troubling me, he could always tell.

"Yumes. Tell me what's been happening, tell me what he's done to you."

I looked over my shoulders, and around the coffee shop twice, frantically, praying I wouldn't see him. He always seemed to show up whenever I was about to confide in someone about the hell he has put me through these past few years.

"It's a really long story Ulrich, and it's awful and horrible, and I can't believe I let it happen. I'm such an idiot." I say, looking down at my hands in my lap.

"Yumi, you are the farthest thing from an idiot. It's not your fault that whatever happened. I know its not," he said reassuringly.

"Thank you Ulrich, for everything you've ever done for me. You're the only person I can truly depend on. Brace yourself, you won't like what I'm about to tell you."

"I'm ready Yumes."

"Okay ,well it all started when we get into an argument for the first time after getting together," running my fingers through my hair I recalled the bitter memory and the physical pain. "He saw me talking to you in the park and he blew up. He started yelling and out of nowhere smacked me and told me to never talk to you again." I said softly, as I looked down into my lap, fiddling with my hands.

"Yumes…"

"There's more Ulrich. When he smacked me and told me not to talk to you ever again, I saw a look in his eyes that struck fear into me. I have never been afraid of anyone Ulrich, you know me. But that look in his eyes, he looked as if he could've killed me then and there. I have never seen someone have such a look in their eyes. It haunts me every night almost nowadays," I confessed softly to my best friend, "I honestly didn't think he would hit me again. I tried to avoid running into you, especially when he was around, and even when he wasn't around he had people watching me, always."

I looked up to see Ulrich staring at me sympathetically, with his soft brown eyes. Oh, how I missed those brown eyes, I missed my best friend. I miss having someone there for me. Ever since I got with William, all my friends got cut off. He didn't like me being around them because we were all close with each other, and he especially didn't like Ulrich.

"I know I should've went to someone after the first time he hit me, but like I said, I didn't think it would happen again. But I was very wrong. If he thought I was looking at you, talking to the others, or anything involving communication with you guys, he would hit me. So slowly I started losing touch with everyone, you, Odd, Aelita, Jer… It was like I was all alone. Stranded in some living hell I couldn't escape from. Ulrich, I'm covered in bruises about 90% of the time, even now, the recent ones haven't healed…" I tell him with tears welling in my eyes. I slowly lift my shirt sleeve up to show him what I mean.

Ulrich sees the bruises on my arm from where he last gripped me before he "punished" me, and I see a fire ignite in his eyes as he speaks, "You aren't going back there Yumi. I'm not going to let him do this to you. You don't deserve this, you are worth more, you are so much better than a punching bag for some dude with anger issues."

"He's not going to let that happen Ulrich, he'll find me.. I tried to leave once, and we can see how that ended."

"No, Yumi. I'm serious. You aren't going back to him. I'm going to help you. He may not have let you be around me or talk to me, but now that we're here together he can't stop me from intervening."

"Ulrich, you don't have to get involved.." "You don't understand Yumi, I can't stand to let this go on, I won't. I'm going to make some calls, and send some emails and you and I are getting out of here until I can make sure he's somewhere where he can't hurt you anymore. I love you Yumes, I always have. Seeing you with him killed me, and now seeing what he did to you makes me so mad I can't even take it, I can't let you go back to that."