Love, Demi (lesbian story)

For The Love of a Daughter

**A/N: TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE/ABUSE - All written in italics are possible triggers; if you don't want to read it then skip past until the italics are done.**

Lia's POV

"Who are you?" 

I couldn't see who it was, but as soon as I heard the harsh grit to the man's voice, I didn't need to see to know. My entire body shut down, I was unable to react, or even move. My eyes were glued to the thick air surrounding me as I felt a tug on my arm, Demi pulling me into the dreaded room. I didn't want to go in there, but I was powerless; I couldn't resist the force pulling me forward. Just by looking at the floor I knew he could see me. I felt his eyes burn into me, the sight of me to him most likely filling him with rage. That's what he always told me anyway.

"What the fuck are you doing with my daughter!?" The same rough voice spat once again. As he spoke, the sound of metal crashing to the floor filled the room, causing me to jump and my mind to flash back to many bad things.

~

"Where the fuck are you?" My father's slurred voice bellowed through the entire house, ringing in my ears as I sat curled up in the laundry room. I'd discovered I was able to fit myself in the gap between the washing machine and the dryer, and that I could hide here without being found. With the trusty help of a towel pulled over the gap to conceal my whereabouts. The sound of glass smashing was the next thing I heard, the sudden noise causing me to whimper and hold my hands over my ears, my entire body shaking. I couldn't hear anything for a few minutes, not because I was covering my ears, it was just silent, until the echo of heavy boots grew louder each painful step. I tried to wiggle backwards to secure my hiding place. 
"Ready or not, here I come. Come out, come out, wherever you are!" His sinister, gritted voice sounded once again. My heart was pounding at such a rate I became scared it would burst through my rib cage and actually just run away. Just as I let my focus slip, the heavy boots shuffled into the room, and my breath hitched in my throat. He knew I was in here. I started to panic, feeling my chest tighten as it always did when I grew anxious. My heart was beating so fast I couldn't keep up, and my breathing got louder and louder as it became more difficult to catch a breath. 
"I know you're in here. You've never been quiet." He mumbled to himself. I went to hold my breath, but ended up jumping out of my skin, letting out a squeal as the towel covering the gap was harshly thrown across the room, making a sort of clapping sound as it hit the wall, then it fell to the floor. I held my breath and stared at the man who was now crouched down in front of me, only his face and a strip of his body visible to me as I sat squished between the washer and dryer. 
"Get. The fuck. Out." He ordered, in a soft, but stern tone. "NOW!" He screamed, causing me to jump and scramble forwards and out through a gap between him and the washer. I crawled across the room to the corner and then stood up, turning back to see him getting his balance as he stood. He was bearing half of a beer bottle in one hand, the other balled up into a fist. The bottle looked freshly smashed, the jagged base of it still wet, the remains of his drink dripping from the points. As soon as he gained balance he came straight towards me. I closed my eyes, bracing for whatever pain was about to come to me. All I could hear was that familiar stomp of his heavy boots, soon interrupted by my own scream, as the jagged edge of the bottle plunged into my ribs. I felt his fist meet my face at speed, the impact making me fall to the ground. Then everything went black.

~

"Lia? Lia look at me." Someone spoke to me, but I couldn't focus, I couldn't hear anything properly, I didn't know who it was. 
"Lia." The same voice spoke again, this time holding the sides of my face and lifting my head. I blinked a few times and looked up, seeing Demi in front of me. Demi. Why were we here? How did she know my father  was here? Why would she take me here without asking permission?
"Lia I'm sorry, I knew you wouldn't let me do this if you knew about it." Demi spoke as if she read my mind, answering my question. I looked at her with pleading eyes, feeling them welling up. 
"Why?" I tried to say, but my voice cracked as I did. 
"You need closure. Something you said the other day made me realise you haven't let go of this. You need to baby it's holding you back." Demi tried to make me feel better about this whole situation. My eyes widened when she called me baby, and I saw him, out of the corner of my eye, slowly turn his head to me. I flinched when he took a step backward, to then see he was only picking up the chair he had previously kicked back. I didn't dare look up. He and I both knew the reason for his staring at me, and it wasn't because he hadn't seen me in 5 years. 
"You should sit down." The police officer or guard or whatever he was said to us. I felt Demi's hand on mine and she pulled me to the opposite side of the table to where he sat. I shuffled forward and slowly sat down in the metal chair. 
"Baby?" He quoted Demi, lifting his hands to gesture air quotations, again, making me flinch. I looked at Demi as I was on the verge of breaking down, but she was just scowling at him. 
"Well, I'm glad you've found happiness. However weirdly wrong it may be." He tried to speak with a calmer tone. 
"It's in no way wrong." Demi spoke up, her voice steady and strong. 
"I can't do this." I whispered. Demi immediately turned to me and put her hand on my knee.
"You can. You can be strong for me." She repeated. I screwed my face up and turned away from her. 
"Lia. You haven't looked at me once." He spoke, his voice fairly quiet. I bit my lip and looked up, forcing my eyes not to avert from his face. Our eyes met, and we both scanned each other's. His were a mixture of anger, and..regret? I couldn't tell.
"You look different." He added. I just stared at him, unable to conjure up a sentence. "You're an exact 50/50 mixture of your mother and I. Both brown and green eyes, skin lighter than mine, but darker than your mother's." He continued to speak.
"Don't talk about her. Please." I managed to say, spitting my words out at him. I began to feel somewhat calmer. The situation piecing together in my head, and the reality that he couldn't hurt me even if he tried to, not anymore, finally sinking in. I could say whatever I wanted to say to him, and he couldn't do anything about it.
"I hate myself for what I did to you." He broke the silence after I spoke, but his words left me confused. 
"I took my pain out on you. I shouldn't have." He carried on talking. I scoffed and shook my head. 
"No, you really shouldn't have." I pulled up my sleeves and set my arms out on the table in front of him, giving him the opportunity to scan each insult he ever threw at me, physically etched onto my skin as a lasting memory. 
"You pushed me to take both your pain and my own pain out on myself. Every single one of these scars is just another thing you said to me. You did this to me. How does that make you feel? As a father, knowing you pushed your own daughter to harming herself, attempting to take her own life. How do you feel about that?" I began to raise my voice at him. 
"I couldn't control myself Lia! God dammit!" He bashed his fists against the table. The police officer moved forward, standing right behind him. 
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Lia I didn't know what to do. She always did the hard part of raising you. I was just there to make my daughter happy, play around and stuff. I lost everything when I lost her." He spoke about my mother. 
"You had me! I was still there for fuck sake! You and mom both raised me, you taught me different things. I was a part of you as much as she was how can you say you lost everything!?" I shouted, half rising from my seat. I felt a hand on my arms and I snapped my head to see Demi, her eyes fearful as she looked at me. I sat down and took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb back and forth, reassuring her that everything was okay. 
"Of course you meant a lot to me, but I never loved anyone the way I loved your mother. You know that. God, you remind me so much of her." He leaned his elbows on the table and put his face in his hands, covering up his expression. 
"It was never your fault." He spoke.