Alex's POV:

All I can hear is my feet hitting the pavement, my heart beating, and my heavy breathing. I'm running as fast as I can. I have to get away. I need to get to safety. I need to get to her.

Mitchie's POV:

I'm sitting in my room, doing some extra credit work for when school comes back around, when I check my phone. No new messages. That's odd. Alex always texts me at 10pm sharp. That's when she locks up the sub station for the night. She's done this for as long as I can remember. I send her a quick text, thinking that maybe she just forgot. 10 minutes pass. Still no reply. I'm starting to get worried. I send her another text asking if everything is okay. Another 5 minutes pass. Still no reply. Now I'm really worried. I know she's not asleep, because she woke up at noon, like she always does on Sunday's. I start pacing my room, getting really worried about her, and start to consider telling my parents, when all of a sudden I hear a violent knocking at my window. I jump, and after a second the knocking quiets down, and I rush over to the window. I pull back the blinds to find a very scared, very tired looking Alex. It's raining, so she's standing on my fire escape getting soaking wet. I quickly unlock the window and open it for her to come in.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" I ask as I take in her disheveled appearance.

She doesn't reply. She just walks over to me and hugs me tightly, like she never wants to let go. I hug her back just as tightly.

She pulls back slightly, but she doesn't let me go.

"Yeah. I'm okay now." She looks at me and smiles.

Her eyes seem sad, but relieved. She doesn't say much else about what happened, she just hugs me and doesn't let go. I lead her over to my bed, and pry her off me so I can get her a change of clothes, seeing as hers got soaked on the way over here. I grab the one shirt of mine she always wears when she stays over like this. It's her favorite. I told her she could have it, but she said she doesn't want to take my shirt. I don't know why, I consider it hers now anyway. I also grab a pair of pajama pants, seeing as she looks like she's starting to freeze. I walk over to her and hand her the clothes. She looks up at me, smiles, and says a quiet "thanks." She gives me another hug, and she goes into my bathroom to change. While she's in there I take a quick moment to show the bewildered feeling that I'm hiding inside, I have no idea what brought this on. I don't know why she's here, or why she looks so sad. But she's more than welcome to stay.

She comes back out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and sits down on my bed. She's still being really quiet, which is unlike her. I know she needs some cheering up, so while she was in the bathroom I ran downstairs to grab her favorite snack, and I pulled out her favorite movie. I also pulled out the stuffed teddy bear she had won me at a carnival last year, and set it on the bed. She picks up the teddy bear, looks at it for a second, before hugging it to her as tightly as she can, before setting it back down. She finally looks back up at me when I sit down next to her on the bed. Its dark out, still raining, I actually think the rain picked up. I can clearly see that Alex was crying before though, from the light of my bedside lamp. I can also see that her one cheek is red, and looks like its swelling. What happened to her? I thought. Being as careful as I possibly can, I reach up to touch her cheek. She flinches at first, before leaning her head into my hand. Oh, poor Alex, I thought. Who could have done this to you?

"Alex…" I whisper. "What happened to you?"

Alex's POV:

"Alex… What happened to you?"

I knew she would ask. But she asked sooner than I expected her to. With that one question, I relive the torture that was coming out to my father.

FLASHBACK:

"Hey, dad?" I called while walking down the stairs of the loft.

"Yeah, Princess?" my dad replied from the couch.

Good, I thought. I caught him at his happiest. After dinner, and before pro-wrestling. When he's rubbing his belly. I giggled at my dad's blissful state.

"I wanna talk to you about something…" I trailed off.

"What's on your mind, Pumpkin?" my dad asked, sitting up.

"Well, you know how you told me I could come to you if I ever had any… you know… romantic relationship issues…" I trailed off again.

My dad's face instantly turned to steel.

"What happened? Did someone hurt you?!" He was visibly angry at the thought of anyone hurting daddy's little girl…

"No, no, no! Calm down! No one hurt me." I soothed him.

He calmed down after deciding that I was telling him the truth.

"Alright. Then what's the matter?" he asked me.

Now for the hard part…

"Well there's this… person. And I've known this… person… for quite some time. And I've developed quite a crush on them. I don't want to ruin our friendship, but I want to tell he-them how I feel, nevertheless."

Dang it! I gotta be more careful. I almost slipped and said "her". It's not that I don't want my dad to know that I'm gay, it's just that I'd rather ease him into it. Hopefully he'll guess, and I won't have to say the words out loud.

"Is it Nate?" my dad asked me.

Nate was a really good friend of mine, but I was never interested in him that way.

"No, it's not Nate. Nate is just a really good friend." I told him.

My dad looked slightly disappointed. I knew he wanted me and Nate to get together. He was always saying how we'd make a cute couple. But I just think of Nate as more of another brother.

"Is he someone I know?" my dad asked, after getting over his disappointment, automatically assuming I was talking about a boy. I sighed. This may be harder than I thought…

"Yes, it is someone you know." I stressed the word "it", hoping he'd realize that "it" wasn't a boy.

He didn't catch on. He successfully went through a whole list of guys that I was friends with that he knew. I was growing more and more impatient with each name he called out.

"He's someone I know? Are you sure?" he asked when he had listed every guy I was ever friends with since I could walk.

I sighed. I was beyond fed up that he hadn't figured it out yet. And I'm guessing that if he hasn't by now, he's not going to. Might as well just come out and say it. Because he's obviously not going to get it right of he keeps guessing.

"Yes dad! SHE is someone you know!" I all but shouted.

My dad was taken aback at my random outburst, but I couldn't process the dumbfounded look on his face just yet, because I wasn't done yelling.

"There, I said it! You know HER. SHE is one of my best friends. Dad, I'm gay!" I finally screamed.

Somewhere in the middle of my rant, I had gotten up and started pacing in front of him. I stopped pacing and looked at my dad again. He was still wearing that shocked look on his face. I mean, I'm sure he was surprised, but there's no need to just shut down like that… I stared at him for a full minute before I moved.

"Dad?" I hesitantly asked, seeing as he was still wearing that shocked look on his face.

"Hello?" I asked while inching closer to him.

As soon as my face was within arm's reach, my dad's dumbfounded look turned to one of pure white rage. And before I could back up, or even blink, he reached up and backhanded me across the face.

I all but flew backwards from the force of the hit. I stumbled into the nearest wall and slid down it, while cupping my sore cheek.

"Dad!" I shrieked in surprise.

I looked up to see him getting up from the couch, his face turning bright red with anger. It looked as if steam were about to come out of his ears. If the situation were different, I might have laughed at his expression.

He started towards where I cowered against the wall.

"ABSOLUTELY NO DAUGHTER OF MINE IS GOING TO BE GAY! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I FORBID IT!" he all but roared at me.

"Dad! Come on! Be reasonable! It's not like I had a choice!" I yelled back, but it sounded like a whimper next to his roar.

"No choice?! NO CHOICE?! YOU ARE GOING TO CHOOSE TO LIKE BOYS OR YOU WILL HAVE HELL TO PAY!"

"Dad! I can't do that! I didn't choose to like girls! It just happened!" I sobbed out, for I had started crying.

My dad was beyond livid. He couldn't even form words anymore. His only response was to hit me again. Repeatedly. And even kick me a couple times. I never fought back. I just sat there and took the beating I never saw coming.

Once he calmed down enough to form sentences again, he went back to yelling at me. He said things along the lines of "it being an abomination" and even going as far as saying I wasn't his daughter anymore. All of it hurt. I was silently sobbing through the whole thing. He finally got sick of looking at me, and he told me to get out. To get out and to never come back. He turned around and started walking away, and I got up off the floor and bolted out the door. I had my phone on me, but I think my dad broke it when he kicked me. But I didn't need to call anyone. I knew exactly where I was going to go the second he first laid a hand on me.

I ran away. I ran away from my home, my brothers, my mom. I ran to the only place I knew I could go. To the place where I knew I would be safe. I ran to Mitchie's.

END FLASHBACK

I relived all of that in a matter of seconds. Mitchie is still sitting next to me, her soft hand still on my cheek, her perfect eyes filled with worry, confusion, and compassion. I can't tell her. She doesn't even know that I'm gay. And after my dad's reaction, I'm too scared to tell her.

In those few moments reliving that nightmare, and staring into Mitchie's beautiful brown eyes, I started crying again. I hated her seeing me this weak, but that's all I was right now. I was weak. I was a little girl who was beaten by her daddy for something that she couldn't control.

As soon as those first few tears spilled over the rims of my eyes, Mitchie pulled me into a tight hug.

"Shhh… It's alright. You're safe now." She whispered in my ear, while smoothing my hair. I hugged her to me as tightly as I could, without crushing her. She was the one I could always count on. The one who was always there to tell me everything was okay. And when I was with her, everything was.

I was still crying uncontrollably when Mitchie leaned back against her headboard, pulling me with her. I cuddled into her side and cried into her shoulder. She just sat there with her arm around me, playing with my hair and telling me that everything was alright now.

We stayed like that for a while, even after my tears dried up. I was getting tired, and since I was done crying, I figured she'd want her space. I started to pull away, but she held me in place. Keeping that comforting arm around my shoulders, and her fingers twirling my hair. I start to relax a bit and even put my arm around her waist. She tensed up at first, but then she relaxed and quietly giggled. She probably thought I was asleep. I start to drift, and I end up falling asleep right there, in Mitchie's arms.

Mitchie's POV:

Alex had the most pained look I had ever seen on her face when I asked her what happened. She didn't answer me, she just started crying. I pulled her into a tight hug, and just let her cry.

"Shhh… It's alright. You're safe now." I told her.

After I said that she hugged me as if her life depended in it. She was still crying. I leaned back against the headboard, pulling her with me. She cuddled into my side, and continued crying into my shoulder. I just sat there and let her cry. I had my arm around her, and I was playing with her hair. Partly because I knew it calmed her down, and partly because I just loved playing with her hair. It was a perfect silky texture, soft, even when damp.

She continued crying for a while longer, and after her tears finally stopped, she tried to move away, but I wouldn't let her. I held her to my side, keeping my arm around her shoulders, and still playing with her hair. She seemed to relax a bit and even put her arm around my waist. It startled me, but then I relaxed and quietly giggled. She probably fell asleep. After a while longer I hear her breathing even out, and even hear her slight snore. It's beyond adorable. We're still sitting in that position, leaning against my headboard, her head on my shoulder, her arm around my waist, my arm around her shoulders. I stopped playing with her hair when I heard her snoring, afraid to wake her. It's a little past midnight now. She had showed up at my house a little after ten. I still don't know the reason that she's here, or why she was crying, but I'm glad she is here.

I watch her sleep for a while, even though I myself am exhausted. Her soft, auburn hair fell across her face. I gently sweep that hair behind her ear so I can see her beautiful face. She looks so peaceful. Her eyes closed. Her eyelashes finally dry. Her cheek is still slightly pink, still slightly swollen, but not as much as when she first arrived. I finally look at her full, pink lips. How many times I have imagined kissing those very lips. I still want to, but I'm not going to. Not while she's so vulnerable. Besides, there is no way she'd feel the same way.

Now I know what you're thinking, and yes, I'm gay. And yes, I'm in love with my best friend. I have been since we were twelve. Probably even before then, but I didn't realize it until then anyway. She's seventeen now, and I will be in a couple weeks. Its summer break and we're going to be juniors in high school this year. I really want to tell Alex how I feel about her before school starts up, but I just can't find the words when I'm with her. But that's because there is no possible way that she'd ever feel the same way about me as I feel for her. She doesn't even know that I'm gay. And she's as straight as a ruler. But I still want to tell her. I just don't want to ruin our friendship.

I feel my eyelids get really heavy, and I lean my head against hers, and drift into a very comfortable slumber.