starlight, luke hemmings

better you than anyone else.

The police arrived to take Vivian's statement before Luke could really talk to her about moving forward.

"Okay, so first, I want to start with the smaller thing." The woman said. "Tell me what your mom does. We have the photos, proof, videos, but we'd like your statement."

"I don't know if this is something bad," Vivian said, rubbing her hands together. "My mom is a sex-therapist in a way to make some of her own money. But her office is in our own house. She does it in our house. Each time she had to give someone therapy, she'd have me leave the house for hours on end. Sometimes I won't be able to come home until midnight."

"Alright," The officer nodded.

"And," Vivian exhaled. "She started using drugs. I'm sure you saw the photos. Her boyfriend, B–" She swallowed. "Her boyfriend, he once asked me to try cocaine and got mad when I refused."

Luke grabbed Vivian's hand gently and squeezed it. He gently closed his eyes.

"He'd hit me too." Vivian exhaled. "Hard. Whenever I do something wrong."

Luke never wanted to punch someone so bad.

"And it all led up to last night." Vivian finished.

"Thank you, sweetheart," The officer said softly. "We will keep you guys updated."

The officer left and Vivian let out the loudest breath of relief. Instantly, she leaned into Luke and he didn't waste a second to hold his daughter

"Why didn't you tell me, baby?" Luke asked softly, kissing his daughter's head.

Vivian exhaled. Closed her eyes. "I don't know," She answered honestly. "I didn't want mom to get in trouble. I didn't want you to have to worry about me. I just wanted to ignore it."

Luke frowned, letting his arm snake away from her and turn to face her completely. He took her hands in his and said. "Never, and I mean never ignore something like this. Especially not like this. If something is bothering you, tell me."

Vivian's eyes clouded with tears. She inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry, dad."

"Don't be." Luke insisted.

The next few hours consisted of police officers coming in and out, informing the whereabouts of Cassandra and Benjamin.

Cassandra was found easily. She was inside the house, and the police came. She freaked, ran, and they caught her. A pretty simple catch. Benjamin was found in his house, packing.

They found out he knew Luke was going to beat his ass — Luke was 6'2, Benjamin was 5'6. Ben wasn't gonna win anything against Luke.

The end of the day rolled around, and Luke stepped out of Vivian's room to take a call from Ashton.

"Hey," Luke hummed.

"Hi man," Ashton exhaled deeply. "How is our girl?"

"Stressed," Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear to god I am going to ruin Cassandra and that son of a bitch in court."

"Do you want us to come up for the court date?" Ashton asked.

"No." Luke immediately said. "I don't even want to be in the room. Plus, after I get full custody I'm coming home with Viv."

"Alright." Ashton said. A beat of silence. "How are you?"

Luke hadn't been asked that yet. He hadn't even stopped to breathe. He let out a long exhale, closed his eyes, and said. "Not good."

"Luke—"

"How am I supposed to help Vivian through this?" Luke stressed. "She's stressed, rightfully so, and so am I. I feel so fucking bad. She's flinched every time I touch her. And fuck, dude, her stomach is full of just black and blue bruises."

"Luke," Ashton repeated. "Breathe."

He took a breath.

"Right now," Ashton began. "You are Vivian's safe space. Her getaway. Being there for her is going to help immensely. She needs you right now more than anything. And yes, unfortunately, she's going to flinch. We don't know how long this has been going on."

Ashton took a breath as well. Like the words coming out of his mouth were at the tip of his tongue. "Either way, this is going to be a journey, but it's better you with her than anyone else. Trust the process, Luke."