HAPPIER THAN EVER L.T.

35. Gone

CHERRY'S POV

I slowly push open the door, my hands shaking from what wrath was about to come. Please god let him be out drinking but it won't happen as i wish. 

"Here you are bitch." He took strides towards me while my trembling figure was stood at the door. My eyes were burning, I guess the painkiller's washing off.

"WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?" he roared gripping my hair, tears clouding my eyes as my scalp was already sore from the previous assaults of his. I don't know how much I can take it today.

"Ni-iall" I hiccupped knowing, i would've it worse if I didn't.

"ran to your little best friend for help huh?" he darkly chuckled. "He won't even believe you, you know why because we text every day, letting him know how I'm keeping you happy, oh and did i tell you, Eleanor's pretty much my cousin" he mocked me for my actions. The tears flowed down my cheeks without shame. If Eleanor or someone related to her was involved in it, there was no use for me to even try. 

THIRD PERSON'S POV

She was deep in thoughts to even realize his hand smacking her face, resulting in her falling to ground. After numerous pulls by hair, slaps, punches and kicks she was left there on the floor, worse than ever, passed out. She woke after 10 mins or so.

The only thing on her mind was how she couldn't die without seeing her kids. Her shaky hands and self, glad and relieved when she found her phone in her pocket. She dialed the most recent number on her phone.

"Hello?" Taylor answered.

"Please i need to see the kids before i die." cherry sniffled from her position on the floor.

"What do you mean?" "Hello? cherry?" "CHERRY?" Taylor screamed in tears, worrying her boyfriend. Cherry was on the floor, lying with no energy to speak, her eyes slowly closing.

"We're coming baby, we're coming" Taylor comforted her, pulling up the snapchat for finding the location of her best friend. 

---

"Please don't kill me, don't kill me" Cherry chanted in a whisper when the door burst open and manly shoes came in her view. She prayed for her life when they came near her.

"I will fucking kill him." a familiar voice made its way into her ears as was picked up from the ground. After taking time to process, she inferred it was Joe's voice and finally let herself relax, closing her eyes and in an instant she passed out.

"No, no, no cherry, C look at me, come on, for the kids, look at me." Joe shook her in arms but to his disappointment it was no use. He strapped her in the car's seat, calling her girlfriend who was now with Anna and Selena with the kids, to inform them to come to the hospital but not before punching his steering wheel, blaming himself for Cherry's condition.

The girls arrived at the hospital, rushing to the waiting room. Taylor sighed seeing her boyfriend, hugging him, both seeking for comfort, and they all waited for their best friend to be medically treated.

"That piece of shit Brian did this to her and we don't even know since how long is she suffering." Joe mumbled breaking the silence, running through his hair and on spot the doctor walked in.

"it's a case of physical abuse, we'll have to inform the police, the bruises on her are running deep into her, it looks like it's been going on since weeks, who knows even longer and she's got high fever, caught the flu and because of the trauma her body went through" She informed.

"You can't call the police, please wait until she gets up, let her decide, please." Anna requested, making the doctor hesitant yet nod. 

"You can see her" and with that the doctor left, sympathy clear in her eyes. Patient's friends rushed to her room waiting for her to wake up. Taylor called Louis' number in case he or any of the boys know anything about her or met her, she highly doubted that but still tried.

"Put it on speaker, if the lads are around you." she spoke into the phone.

"fine" louis scoffed but did as she asked.

"have any one of you recently contacted cherry?"

"you called to ask this question at three in the morning, seriously?"

"Tell me if you know anything or else fuck off."

"yeah well, she came here today, i don't know why but she did, didn't even talk to me, just took care of cause I was running a temp, but what happened? did she catch the flu cause of me, oh my god, I'm so sorry, please tell her thank you and get well soon." Harry's words echoed through the room along with Niall's "she came to see me but i got caught up in the studio" and without saying a word Taylor hung up. She was boiling from anger, feeling like to kill the so-called boyfriend who was to be blamed for Cherry's condition and Joe knew exactly what was going on in her mind and hugged her in an attempt to calm down, succeeding.

Anna's phone started ringing with her boyfriend Niall calling to ask her about Cherry, but she knew better than to tell the truth and with a heavy heart lied to him saying, that her bestfriend caught the flu.

After three days was when Cherry finally woke up, her friends relieved to see her up but tensed as soon as she received her boyfriend's call. She picked it up and told them know she had no relationship with him, after a lot of sorrys and protesting he complied but asked her to meet him the next day, begging to see her for the last time. Her friends told straightforward no but she still agreed, because that was her, seeing the best in everyone even after they hurt her, she just didn't have the heart to say no.

But the next day was the day, that changed her life, the next day was the day...

"she's gone" Taylor whispered and the screamed for her boyfriend with a note in her hand.

"she's gone" she repeated, crying.

"What do you mean she's gone? who?" Joe asked her, hating to see her cry, wanting to help her as much as he could.

"Cherry. she's gone." she handed the note to her boyfriend and walked into her friend's room, looking for something to keep as her friend's memory only to find a cd which was left in the last drawer of the nightstand which cherry mistakenly left, hurried packed to leave. Taylor picked up the cd and made her way to her room.

I'M DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR ALL OF US
I'M LEAVING, YOU ALL DON'T NEED TO SUFFER WITH ME
AND PLEASE I'M ONLY GOING TO ASK YOU FOR ONE LAST THING
PLEASE DON'T LOOK FOR ME, PLEASE

he read the note, his tear making his way down the cheek on the note.

Taylor put the cd in her laptop, only to find it was some snippets of the song Cherry wrote.

... when she left, when she was last seen.

Until...

A/N: no this is not the end of this book.

If anyone of you is going through anything, I'm always here, feel free to text me in the messages here.