7. Back Tracking

*Thank you for commenting guys =] Also there is a bit of an unsettling scene in this chapter so be warned!*

Finishing off her toast Nicki cleared away the breakfast plates and wiped down the table and counters, the amount of time Sandi and Drake were upstairs she just knew they were talking about something in private. She felt as though she was getting in their way a little and decided that she could take this chance to go hand up some assignments she'd finished and pick up some stuff from her old house. Praying her Father wasn't going to be home. She was deep in thought as she made her way upstairs and to her room before stripping down and getting in the shower.

Back in Drake's room he was leaning against the wall as Sandi waited for an answer. He was shitting bricks, what the hell was he supposed to tell her? He shut his eyes and drummed his fingers against the coffee cup still in his hands as he ran through a string of things he could say.

"Aubrey?"

"Mom, just..." He stopped to put his cup down and moved over to the chair in front of her. Taking a seat he looked at her face, preparing to be honest with her.

"You slept on that old rickety camping bed in the study didn't you?" She shook her head. "Look, I don't want to put you out of your bed! I'll go to a hotel-"

"No, no Mom it's fine really!" His mind was cleared of all worry as he grabbed her small hands. "Please, I want you to stay! Plus you'll be some company for Nicki when I go back to work." He smiled reassuringly as she put her hands over his.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive. Nicki will appreciate it too." He smiled again, making her return the gesture.

"What's her story? Talk to me whilst I unpack." She put her cup down and started to pull out her clothes, waiting for him to start talking.

"Well, you already know she's sixteen and pregnant but she's havin' a girl, due in three months-"

"So what's going to happen when she has the baby? Will she still be living here?" Continuing with her unpacking, she had her back to him as he tried to think.

"Well, yeah. This is her home now Mom. Their home." In his mind he was saying our home.

"That's a lot of responsibility Aubrey." She trailed off before opening her mouth again. "Hasn't she got her own home and family to support her?"

"I know Ma, but I wanna help her. You didn't see the way her Dad was with her, he threw her across the hall. She was four and half months pregnant and he still lay his hands on her." He shook his head feeling the anger take over.

"Such a shame, she's a really lovely girl. Why does this always happen to the sweetest people?"

"I'on know but it's sick."

"What about the Father of the baby?" He frowned remembering that he had absolutely no knowledge of the Father.

"She hasn't said anythin'. I tried askin' but she wouldn't talk about it." Running his hand over his face he heard her stop unpacking for a split second before carrying on.

"You ever take a minute to think that perhaps she doesn't know who it is?"

"Mom, she's not like that. I'on think she'd sleep around, I mean she was fifteen when-"

"Not like that Aubrey." She turned to look at him sadly as it clicked. Why had he never even thought of that? it was blatantly obvious.

"You mean rape?" Just the word alone made him feel sick. But the thought of it happening to her made his blood boil.

"Well, it's a possibility right? But then again, the girls are getting younger and younger nowadays." She sighed and proceeded with her unpacking as Drake sat in deep thought.

"Yeah. It is." He stood up slowly, he felt like he needed to speak to Nicki but he didn't want to pressure her to talk or make her feel uncomfortable. "Well I'mma go make us another drink, I'll bring it up in a bit." He smiled at her joyful face.

"What did I ever do to deserve a son like you?" Walking over to him she kissed his cheek and shooed him out of the room. "I need my space to unpack, that way I won't be distracted anymore." He laughed as he left and looked back at her shutting the door. Breathing out with relief he wanted to go tell Nicki that they should probably tell her soon before she really did find out by herself, which would be a lot worse. Knocking on her door there was no answer but he figured she was in there because he could hear the shower running. He sat patiently on the edge of her bed, having time to think he couldn't help but smile about where this relationship would head. Call him silly but he was actually excited about Nicki having her baby, he already knew that taking on someone else's child was a huge step but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to it. He knew he had to talk to her about the whole 'Father of the baby' situation at some point too, but he wanted to see if she'd tell him in her own time. He looked back to the bathroom door hearing the shower die down and the door open.

"Nicki I-"

"Holy shit! Oh my God! You scared the fuck outta me!" Holding tightly on to her towel with one hand she used the other to grasp at her heaving chest as she tried to recover from the fright.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." He looked so worried as he scanned her body without thinking.

"It's fine, just don't do that again." She immediately felt shy and nervous as he stared over her. That threw her off. Suddenly all the memories came flooding back to her, the hurt, the pain and most of all the fear. Feeling her breath quicken she shifted uncomfortably and looked down as she moved back a little. He noticed her change in body language as she started to stutter. "I-I'm just gon' g-go get dressed in here." Swiftly grabbing her clean clothes she shut herself in the bathroom before he even had chance to say anything. Moving over to the closed door he spoke to it as if it was her.

"Nicki? Are you okay?" He heard nothing in response. "Nicki?" He knocked calmly until her soft sobs made him stop. He had no idea what he'd done. Not giving up he called one more time but she didn't answer. The only option he had left was to sit it out, which is exactly what he did, for almost 3 hours. Everything he and his Mother had just discussed in his room was all starting to make horrible sense now.

Flashback

Turning the shower off she stepped out on to the bathroom floor mat before grabbing her little pink towel and wrapping it around her water beaded body. Her hair was still dry because she hated sleeping with wet hair. As she wiped down the foggy mirror she pulled her toothbrush from the holder and scrubbed at her pearly white teeth. Spitting away the toothpaste she ran the cold water to clean the sink before she exited the bathroom. She always hated that part because leaving the warm, steam-filled room and going into the cold hallway made her wish even harder for an en-suite bathroom. Getting closer to her room she heard footsteps behind her, not wanting to face whoever it was she opened her door quickly and slammed it behind her. Only it wouldn't shut. Looking down she started to panic seeing the boot trapped in her door frame. She pushed desperately at the wooden door to try and get them to move but they forced it back with such strength she couldn't keep her footing and fell hard to the floor. Trying to regain her breath she struggled since she'd landed on her chest, however her body acted without her effort as she felt a hand run along the back of her thigh, stopping at the hem of her tiny towel which she had managed to keep wrapped around herself. Scrambling to get up she heard her door click shut as Tyrone turned back to face her.

"Where you goin' Nika?" She literally couldn't speak for the amount of fear running through her body. Bundled in the corner she tried to shield her naked self with the towel but he snatched it from her before grabbing her wrist and roughly throwing her to the wall. Her palms grabbed at the peeling wallpaper as her stomach and chest were pressed up against the cold surface under the force of his body leaning on her. Aggressively closing the gap between them even more, he squeezed his hands between the wall and her trembling body, running his fingers all over her as she continuously cried out for him to stop. Growing ever impatient he yanked her back and pushed her over the bed, face down again. He didn't waste time checking if she was ready for him as he pushed into her forcefully. Her cries intensified as he continued to thrust into her. She felt him slow down with every plea she uttered, her tears staining the sheets. It felt as though it went on forever, she could hardly breathe due to the amount of crying she was doing and the pressure of his entire body weight on top of her tiny five foot two frame. She couldn't even get any noises out of her mouth any more. She gave in. She stopped fighting and squeezed her eyes shut just hoping for it to end. Hearing him groan breathlessly as he came he pulled out and staggered backwards. Leaving her laying vulnerably on her front as she whimpered endlessly. He still hadn't left and she was hoping, praying and wishing he would just go. But he didn't. Instead he slid down her wall with his head in his hands. He was crying. Not daring to move she lay still some more as the burning got worse. Shakily she pulled her arms down a little and steadied herself as she tried to lift her body up, letting out a few cries she managed to crawl to the corner of her bed, sitting safely between her cushions and the wall. Seeing the blood all over the insides of her legs and on the white sheets she started crying even more before resting her hand over the area that was burning. He looked up and started gagging at the sight of the blood and her dishevelled body, making her jump at the noise.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." He exhaled shakily and started pacing. "What have I done?" He got lower and lower to the floor before eventually ending up rocking in the corner as far away from her as possible. She didn't know what to do. Couldn't anyone hear her screaming? Or crying out in pain? She sniffed as the tears kept rolling down her face. She finally felt a tad less exposed since she'd grabbed her robe off of her bed post and used it as a blanket. "Nicki?I-"

"No, no don't come near me!" She pushed her body even further into the corner as he stood to walk over to her. He stopped immediately seeing her terrified face and heaving body. He dropped his head before biting his lip and looking back up at her. She could see the tears on his face. 

"I am so, so sorry." Pulling his hands into a praying position he brought them up to his face before shaking his head and leaving. She had no idea how but she managed to put her robe on before checking the hallway but she stopped as she heard her Father's voice. Tyrone was handing something to him but they couldn't see her. She realised what had just happened. Her own Father had just used her as a drug payment. 

End Of Flashback

Waking him up a little he heard the door cracking open as he quickly stood up and rubbed furiously at his eyes. It was obvious that she was crying but what she did next shocked him. With her head bowed and her face becoming buried in her hands she walked directly into his toned chest, it took a moment for him to react but when he did he pulled her close to him as she let out the most heart-wrenching cries he'd ever heard. This only made him grip her tighter before moving them over to the bed. She lay crying in his embrace for ages and honestly he was starting to get worried about the amount of stress she was putting on the baby. Hours passed and he knew he had things to do but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Not the way she was. Although she'd finally stopped crying and was now sleeping, he didn't want her to wake up alone. He had soothed and calmed her as best he could but he knew she was going to have to open up to him sooner or later. Gently moving away from her he managed to get off the bed before shutting her curtains and pulling a blanket over her. He stood looking at her for a moment from the doorway before closing it. He felt deflated, exhausted and drained as he made his way back downstairs.

"Oh Aubrey! There you are!" She laughed cheerfully as she looked at him from the couch. She was sat with a cup watching a cooking show. "I thought you must have gone out without telling me."

"No, no I was upstairs. Sorry." He was as pale as anything and looked completely worn down.

"Aubrey? What's wrong?" Walking over to him she waited for an answer as she looked over his sallow face.

He explained everything that had just happened with Nicki upstairs and quite honestly he had lost all worries about what she would think at this point. Obviously she was quiet after he finished speaking, all that was heard was the clock ticking on the fireplace before it rang out a tune at 8pm.

"I want you to be honest with me now Aubrey. What's going on between you two?" She didn't look or sound angry. In fact she appeared concerned and bit disappointed, almost like she already knew.

"Mom-"

"And don't lie to me. Please? Don't insult my intelligence Aubrey. I'm not some silly old woman you can just fool with a stupid lie."

"Aight, I'm sorry." He shut his eyes and leant forward on the couch, resting his sleeveless elbows on his knees as he ran his hands once again over his pale face. "I met her at the hospital, she was a patient." She dropped her head and sighed before he continued with amore urgent tone. "She had nowhere else to go so I let her move in wit'me. It took me a while to realise that I had feelin's for her, and she felt the same about me." Her dry laugh made him look up instantly.

"Oh Lord! Aubrey, she's sixteen! She's an impressionable young girl! If you make her feel special then she's going to fall for it! She's underage, it's illegal! I can't believe how stupid you're acting! This is your career that's at stake here! Does that mean nothing to you? All the money I spent trying to give you the best possible education. The hard work and the endless hours of hell I endured! All to get you here and you're about to throw it all away?! Unbelievable!" She was in tears as she finished her rant. This was definitely not going to plan. Standing up quickly he stormed into the kitchen, leaning his hands over the sink and rocking slightly. She followed him and stood on the other side of the kitchen, this time thinking before she spoke since she wasn't usually a shouting kind of person.

"Please don't Mom. Don't say anythin' else." His head hung between his shoulders as he kept his position leaning over the sink.

"Aubrey." The calmness of her voice was a lot more comforting now. "Nicki is a wonderful girl and I really do like her, but she's just too young. Can't you see that? Not to mention being pregnant at such a young age." He was about to answer but hearing the front door shut loudly they both looked between one another before Drake moved speedily out of the kitchen. They had absolutely no idea that Nicki had been sat at the top of the stairs. She'd heard everything.

*Poor Nicki :''( Right? I hope this was OK, I'm going to try and post again tomorrow if you want and thanks so much for reading and to those who leave comments xox*