Sunny had just been settling into her own bed wrapped in her favorite blanket when she heard the knock on her door. Normally she would shout to come on in but at night Sunny made habit of locking herself away from everyone on the outside. "Just a second," she said sleepily, shuffling around and upsetting Brutus in the process. He looked at her with his big green eyes and pouted, as if asking what in the world was more important than sleeping. "Hush up fat cat," she whispered giving him a quick scratch before bounding across the room and unlocking the door.

The second she opened the door she was glad that her roommate was out for the night because she knew she needed this time with Emma. The sight of the other girl woke her up instantly, sending a jolt of adrenaline surging through her. She didn't even ask, she just pulled her into an embrace, trying not to squeeze too hard lest she hurt Emma even more. The shut behind them quietly. "Little sis," she cooed quietly, smoothing Emma's hair.

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Emma felt relieved at Sunny pulling her into her arms, and she wrapped her arms around the other girl stiffly, wincing a little. She pulled back after a few seconds. "Don't wanna get blood on your blanket," she mumbled, sniffing again as if to emphasize her point. She shuffled over to where Brutus the cat was and pulled him into her lap after sitting down on the bed. Sitting wasn't as painful as she though it might be, it was really only her rib cage and abdomen that hurt the most, and her eye that was slowly swelling shut. It could have been worse she reasoned in her head, and it was kind of her fault anyway.

"I didn't know where else to go," she explained after a few moments. "Nurse Kia is starting to get suspicious and Ruby...I don't want Ruby to know at all." She could feel tears building up in her eyes and immediately swallowed them down. She cried about a lot of things, this was one that she didn't want to however. She really didn't want to look like the victim here, she should have never lied to Sawyer, or talked back to her. "This is my fault anyway," she said quietly, scratching absent minded at Brutus's head.

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Sunny watched Emma from the door as she latched it and placed a silencing charm on it. No one would find her tonight even if they were looking. She made her way over silently and knelt in front of Emma. She carefully dabbed Emma's nose with a cloth to get the blood out of the way, then began righting the wrongs done to her. When she was finished she crawled into bed with the other girl and looked at her sadly.

Emma's words broke her heart because they were so familiar, she had been haunted with the very same demons up until very recently. A tugging sensation in her stomach brought tears to her eyes but she swallowed the feeling hard. She knew it was time to share her secret with Emma because maybe it would help her. She had to take the chance. "Ems," she said gently, taking the other girls hand. "I..." her voice broke slightly but she rallied and tried again.

"I'm gonna tell you something I've never told anyone before and I'm gonna tell you because you need to hear it," saying it aloud and writing it on slips of paper were two entirely different things but she needed to be out with it. "For eight years I have been saying the same thing over in my head, that it was my fault," she squeezed Emma's hand. "That I was beaten and raped because of something I did wrong. And I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to be a victim and I was scared."

"But we're not victims, we're survivors. And this," she pointed to the bloody cloth. "This is not your fault. And what happened to me was not my fault." She reached over to her night stand where she kept her puzzle box and hurriedly undid the lid like it was a dire need. She rummaged through the things inside and pulled out one tiny slip of parchment.

She handed the parchment over to her friend, in her bubbly writing it simply read: It's not your fault. "Some nights are harder than others," she admitted. "But having this to hold onto, well... it's something. And trust me, there are nights when this slip of paper is not going to be enough," her voice cracked and she let go of the little sob in the back of her throat. "But on those nights all you have to do is come find me okay," she wiped at her eyes. Sunny wanted to be strong for Emma.

"You don't deserve this."

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Emma was skeptical at first about what Sunny was about to tell her, but the break in her voice caused the younger girl to look at her friend seriously. She was shocked when Sunny finally revealed what she had been hiding all this time. She gave the other girl's hand a squeeze, and looked up at her with watery eyes. How could someone as nice and caring as Sunny go through such a horrible thing and still be so strong? Emma didn't think she was a survivor at all, she was just trying to get through the day, trying to get through the week without getting beat up. She bit her lip as she clutched at the piece of parchment.

"Oh Sun," she said quietly, her voice cracking. She let out a small sob, and scooted over to Sunny, cuddling into her, Brutus still clutched in her arms. "I'm s-so sorry."

She sat quietly for a few minutes, cuddled into Sunny, letting out quiet sobs every once in a while. She was upset for Sunny, that she had to go through something so horrible. That it seemed so much worse than just Sawyer getting angry at her and knocking her around a little when she did shitty things. She hadn't told Sunny about being with Ruby over the summer, or about lying to Sawyer.

"But w-what if it is my fault?" she asked quietly, burying her face into Sunny a bit. "I...I lied to her Sun. All summer...and...I'm cheating on her..."

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Sunny wrapped her arms around the other girl and cradled her for a while. "No need to apologize," she said quietly. Brutus smooshed his face against Emma, he knew something was up with his girls and he didn't like it one bit.

"Sure cheating and lying isn't ideal but maybe if she treated you better you wouldn't have done those things." She looked down at Emma seriously. "There are so many people who lie and cheat, but they don't get beaten. And what about... what about the other times, when you weren't lying or cheating?" she wiped at her own eyes. "She has no right to put her hands on you," her voice was quiet but firm.

"It's not your fault," she repeated. It was like a mantra and she knew it all too well. "Truth is Emma, she doesn't deserve someone as sweet and kind as you. She doesn't deserve someone who can make pretty much anyone love her within seconds of meeting her."

"I know you feel like it's your fault and it's like..." she sniffed. "It's like no matter what anyone tells you, you're still going to feel like there was something you could have done to prevent it. That it was your fault but it's not. You gotta trust me on that."

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Emma snuggled the fat cat against her, enjoying the safety of Sunny's arms. She was crying a little harder now, especially as Sunny kept repeating her mantra. No one had ever told her it wasn't her fault, not that she had every really let anyone else know besides Sunny what was going on. She had discussed it briefly with Ruby, who only knew that Sawyer was verbally abusive. Ruby had, of course, essentially told her the same thing, and threatened to kill Sawyer, but Emma had quickly changed the subject not soon after. She didn't want Ruby to know how toxic her thoughts were, or how much hate she harbored for herself deep down.

"W-what should I do?" Emma sobbed. She was so torn between Ruby and Sawyer, although she knew deep down in her heart of hearts what the answer was. "I...Ruby is just...she makes me so happy Sun. I l-love her so much. She's always been m-my best friend. But," she shifted a little closer to Sunny, petting Brutus's head so he wouldn't get put off with her clinging. "Sawyer...I can't leave her. She needs me Sun, you don't understand. I know she's kind of messed up in the head but she...she's just got a lot of demons. If I leave her now...I don't know if she could handle it."

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"I think you have a great girl waiting for you and I think Sawyer is geting in the way of that," Sunny said, snuggling closer. "It really doesn't matter if she needs you or not. The most important thing is that you deserve better and there's proof of that already."

Pausing, she closed her eyes. She knew it was bad but she didn't really know the extent of how bad it really was. Taking a deep breath she finally opened her eyes and looked at the younger girl. "You need to leave her and you need to do it soon. She's only going to hurt you in the end and frankly Emma, I'm not going to let that happen anymore." She already felt guilty enough but this was the last straw.

"You might feel guilty now but that's the way she wants you to feel. You have to walk, no, run away," she kissed the top of Emma's head. "I love you lil sis, but you can't just let this Ho on anymore."

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Emma hummed, feeling unsure as she snuggled Sunny. She knew deep down that Sunny was probably right. Ruby was better than Sawyer, she had always been. Emma knew that she was meant to be with someone like Ruby, who would care about her and take care of her. Sawyer could have been capable of that one day, but when would that day be? Emma could wait for her to get her act together forever, and Ruby had always been number one in Emma's book anyway.

"I-I...I want to leave her," Emma admitted hesitantly, almost waiting for Sawyer to suddenly kick down the door. "I'm just scared." She chewed at her lip, trying not to cry again. "How am I supposed to do it? W-what do I tell her? I know she'll get mad, I...I've tried to do it before."

Emma buried her face into Sunny a bit more and voiced her worst fear of all. "What if she hurts Ruby?" she whispered.

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Sunny listened, cooing her quietly as the younger girl spoke. "Little sister, I will stand around the corner if you want me to," she said. "Tell her the truth. Tell her you don't deserve to be abused and tell her you are better off without her and that you don't need her."

Sunny squeezed her. "It's going to be hard, trust me. You know how I got H... Hector," she stumbled a bit trying to say his name but forced it out. "How I got Hector to back off? I confronted him, I screamed at him, and instead of taking my anger out on other people the way I have been for years, I took it out on him. I beat the shit out of him and it was awful. It was awful but it was so freeing to be rid of him and all the things that he made me feel."

"I'm not saying you should get into a fist fight with her," she said quickly. "But you need to get out of this and deal with it in the way that you need to deal with it."

"I'll make sure that fucking cu... I'll make sure she doesn't touch Rube okay?" she said, a fiercely protective tone in her voice.

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"No!" Emma blurted out when Sunny suggested standing around the corner. She didn't want Sunny to get involved for a lot of reasons. She didn't want Sunny to get hurt, and if she stepped in, she didn't know what Sawyer would do. She also felt like this was a battle she would have to fight herself. Sawyer would only taunt her if she had Sunny come help her, she would probably talk her out of it eventually. Emma hated feeling as weak as she did when Sawyer called her a pussy. "It's not that I don't appreciate the offer Sis," she clarified, snuggling back into the girl appreciatively. "I just...I have to do this on my own."

Emma listened to Sunny carefully, as if memorizing each word the girl was saying to her. She closed her eyes for a moment and thought about what it would mean to be free. She could do what she wanted, hang out with friends she had been avoiding for the whole school year. She could be with Ruby and finally be happy. It made her chest hurt just to think about it. She wanted it so badly.

"Y-you really think I can do it?" she asked quietly, chewing on her lip. "You really think I can be free?" It almost sounded too good to be true. Like she was sitting at the bottom of a well, looking at the clear blue sky above. It was so close, yet still so out of reach.

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"I get that boo," she said gently, reassuring her. "I worry about you is all because I've seen what she's done to you..." she swallowed hard. "The only way it will stop is if you leave her and you're right. It's something that you have to do by yourself. It's... for me it was something immensely private but it had to be done and it had to be spoken about. If I didn't tell anyone that bastard would still be out there, hurting people."

"You'll be alright though," she said confidently. "Of course I think you can do it. You're the fucking best," she grinned, giving Emma another kiss on the top of her head. "You're going to get through this. You have Ruby and you have me, and you have a million other people to back you up."

"Trust me when I say, that all the bruises, all the pain and the shame, and the tears, all of it is worth the feeling of freedom. Like... have you ever held your breath for a long time, like made yourself dizzy and almost passed out?" she asked. "That feeling when you finally take a breath, it's like that only a million times better. You can feel every little bit of yourself finally relaxing and after a little bit of time, you start to stitch back together. That's worth it."

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