More Than What They See

CHAPTER 23: Worry and Old Friends Return

Rhian’s POV

The next day, my whole body still ached with every small movement. Dark bruises marked my arms and side, and every breath felt heavy and sore. I did not go to school because I needed to rest and carefully tend to the wounds I got last night. All I could think about was Francis, Gio, and Jace, and how wild and desperate they looked when they fought to keep me safe. Every time I closed my eyes, I could still hear Francis shouting that no one was allowed to hurt me.

Late in the afternoon, someone knocked softly on our wooden door. When I opened it slowly, Liza and Mae stood there. They kept their heads down, hands clenched tight, shifting their weight from one foot to the other, and looked like they were struggling just to meet my eyes.

“Rhian…” Liza began, her voice already shaking and breaking. “We are so sorry. We are so, so sorry we walked away when you needed us most. We were just so scared back then. We were afraid Bea and the others would turn on us too, and treat us the same way they treated you. But when we heard what happened to you last night, it felt like our whole world fell apart. We could not stay silent anymore. We could not keep pretending we did not see anything.”

“We should never have let you be alone,” Mae added, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. “We saw how those three boys stood up for you, even when everyone else looked away. And we realized—what kind of friends are we if we run away the moment things get hard? We were supposed to be the ones protecting you.”

Tears filled my eyes too and spilled over before I could stop them. “I understand. I really do. I know you were just afraid, and I never blamed you for it.”

“But being afraid does not mean we leave you behind,” Liza said, stepping forward and hugging me tight. “No matter what happens from now on, no matter what anyone says or does, we will not leave your side ever again. We will make up for all the time we lost, and we will never let anyone hurt you again.”

Mae wrapped her arms around us both, and for a long moment we just stood there crying and holding each other. Finally, I felt the warmth of true friendship again, the kind I thought I had lost completely.

We sat together on the small bench inside our home, talking quietly and sharing stories. They helped me clean my wounds gently, blowing softly when it stung, and told me that Bea and her group had been unusually quiet all day. A little later, as we rested and drank water, we saw someone standing outside our gate. It was Gio.

He leaned against the wall, his hair messy and uncombed, with small cuts and fresh scrapes on his face and hands from the fight the night before. He shifted his weight nervously and looked around like he was checking if anyone else was watching. He carried a bag filled with medicine, bandages, ointment for bruises, clean band aids, and a pack of warm bread and juice he knew I liked.

He walked slowly toward the gate, placed the bag gently on top of it, and kept his hands there for a moment before letting go. He could not look me straight in the eye.

“We just wanted to know if you are alright,” he said softly, sounding almost ashamed. “Jace went to three different pharmacies just to find the right medicines for you. He wanted to make sure you would not feel too much pain. Francis… he could not come up here. He is just standing near the corner, waiting for us to leave. He is afraid you might get even more scared or hurt if you see him right now. He knows he was also one of the reasons you learned to be afraid of us. He thinks he does not deserve to stand in front of you yet.”

I gripped the hem of my shirt and swallowed hard. “Thank you. Please tell him thank you too. And tell him… I am not afraid anymore.”

“He knows,” Gio answered quietly, finally glancing up at me for a second. “And we promise all three of us… we will never let anything happen to you again. We will not let anyone lay a hand on you ever again.”

He nodded once, turned around slowly, and walked away. I saw him glance back for a moment before he disappeared around the corner, and there I clearly saw the sadness and heavy regret in his eyes. I picked up the bag carefully, feeling how warm the food still was, and went back inside where Liza and Mae waited for me.

I stood there holding the things they brought, wrapped in the arms of my true friends, and felt more confused than ever. But this time fear was not the strongest feeling inside me anymore. It was hope. Hope that things really might change, and that there were still so many secrets and feelings I had not yet fully understood.