Sophiz🪲🔮

“The boys and I are having poker night here. You better be quiet and stay out of the way.” He explains.

You look at him dumbfounded but nod knowing that if you didn’t agree something bad could happen. He walks away but not before slamming the door and locking it on his way out. You frown knowing you would not get dinner tonight. First the physical abuse, now the food neglect. What else awaits you in this fresh hell?

You look back out your window, hoping for Spider Punk to come and visit you. You knew that trying to sneak out would probably cost you your life. You feel pain from hunger and pain from the emotional whiplash you’re living in. You wait for two more hours until you decide that Spider Punk isn’t coming. Other, more important things, must be preoccupying him. You crawl into bed. Loud thunderous male laughter can be heard from downstairs. You hate it here.

Next morning you wake up in a daze. The lack of food from the night before was doing a number on you this morning. You cautiously try for the door and find it unlocked. Thank god your drunkard of a father remembered you have school and need to leave soon.

After getting ready and you have a hearty breakfast you start your way out the door.  As you round the corner of your kitchen towards the door you hear shuffling from behind you. You're on high alert. 

"Where are you going?" Your dad questioned you.

"School." You answer, voice shaking. 

You slowly turn around to face him. He was disheveled and drunk. The new norm. He looked like he was going to pass out. You considered whether to walk him to the living room. Flashes of his hand around your neck come to mind. Your skin prickles and you recoil. Before he can get another word out you mutter a "bye" and disappear through your front door. 

You felt the urge to run to school. As if that would keep you from him. You were living with a monster after all. There was no escape, unless you were with Spider Punk. You're only reprieve.

When you get to school you catch a glimpse of Hobie as he walks in. Before you can think it through you run towards him. You know that Hobie is Spider Punk, but how to get it out of him? More than that, you wanted to know why he didn’t come to visit you last night. You needed him and he wasn’t there.

"Hobie!" You call him. 

He turns and smirks as he realizes that it’s you calling his name.

"This should be rich" he thought. 

" 'Ello, love." He forgets all how hard you tried to push him away last time and focuses on what can transpire now. 

"We need to talk." You catch up to him. 

“What’s occurring?"

You look side to side, making sure you're alone. Noticing that there were too many people around you pulled him into a utility closet. 

"I haven't the scooby doo wha' is happenin', but 'm likin' it." He smiles wide. 

You chuckle, "It’s not like that, so chill."

Hobie pretends to be disappointed.

You take a deep breath in trying to gather your nerves, "Where were you last night?” You try to not sound accusatory.

He lifts an eyebrow, "I wa' at the doll’s last night."

You didn’t believe or like his answer. So, you press for more.  

You swallow hard, “What about the other night? When you… and I…” You find yourself a loss for words.

He averts his eyes and smiles, “Still at the doll’s.”

You frown, "Don't play this game. You're Spider Punk. Tell me it’s true."

He feigns surprise, "Me? Sp'ider Punk?" He chuckles, "Quite the imagination."

You close your eyes in frustration. You were so sure it was him. It can't be a coincidence. 

You look at him hard in the eyes, "You can deny it all you want, but I know. I'm not going to tell anyone; I just need to know it was you the other night with me in my room.” 

Hobie’s eyes widen, "Sp'ider Punk was in ya room?" He continues his facade of surprise and confusion. 

You look down realizing that if in fact Hobie wasn't Spider Punk, you were sharing intimate details about your relationship with Spider Punk. 

You look back up, "Please say it’s you." You begged. You needed Hobie like you needed air and if this was the only way you could have him you were okay with that. 

Hobie never wavered, "wha’ difference does it make who Sp'ider Punk is?"

You bit your lower lip, "Cause I want it to be you holding me at night."

Hobie felt a jolt of adrenaline. His girl. Always. 

Hobie slowly reached for your cheek and caressed it with his thumb. "Don’t go bendin’ the spoon if the brew is sweet.”

You sigh and lean into his touch. You will never get a straight answer from him. If this was all you could get, then so be it. In the distance the bell rings. 

"We gon' be late for class." He whispers. 

You straighten yourself and Hobie watches as you build up your walls once again. Distant and cold. A stark contrast to your vulnerable and pliant self when you were with him the other night. 

You take his hand from your cheek and hold it with both hands. A silent promise. 

"No one will know." You reassure him. 

He nods as you let go of his hand and you both head out of the closet to class. 

There Joshua was waiting close to your seat. You paid no mind to him. He had made it clear that he didn't want your friendship. 

As you sit down you hear someone clear their throat, you turn to your side to notice Joshua has turned to you. 

" ‘ ello..." he says shily. 

“Not this. Not now”, you think to yourself. 

"Hi." You try to be respectful. 

He smiles kindly, "It's been a while. Soz fo' how I acted befo' "

You sigh, "It's all good. Water under the bridge."

"Bonzer! I guess I just wan'ted to know if ya wanted to have a chingwag. I know that you and Hobie are brown bread.”

You give him a weird look, "News travels fast" you said in disdain.

He raises his hands in defense, "Oy! Have a bubble. I was just makin' an observation." 

You look at him hard, "So, what do you want?"

He chuckles, " I want to take a jam tart out." 

"Then you should go find her." You try to deflect. 

He shakes his head, "I can see imma have ta try harder, huh?" 

"How about not trying at all."

He looks you up and down but before he can retort the teacher comes in. Everyone turns their attention forward. You sigh in relief. 

For the rest of the morning, you try to avoid Joshua as best as you can. You didn't want to entertain his fantasies, and you didn’t want to turn him down. When it’s lunch time you find yourself out by the steps of the school. You swear you slipped out of the cafeteria without being noticed. 

"Duck and diving?” 

You turn in relief to see Hobie, "That noticeable?”

"A blin'd man can tell."

You look down, embarrassed. Hobie sits next to you. 

"Why not give the bloke a chance?" He says.

Surprised you look at him, " How can you say that?"

He shrugs. Before he can say anything, you stand up, enraged, embarrassed and sad. 

"So that's it? You don't want me anymore?"

He stands up with you, "Love, that ain't it. Ya deserve to be happy. If Joshua is that, then why not?" 

"No!" You sounded like a petulant child, "I don't want him."

A smile slowly trails itself onto Hobie's lips,

"Then who?" He steps closer to you. His hand plays with a strand of your hair. 

You look up at him, breath caught in your throat. What were you doing? You can't have him. At least not as Hobie. 

"You. Always you."

Hobie takes his chance. He descends slowly and catches your lips in a soft and slow kiss. You're caught in his web. Always helpless to his charm, his body, his existence. 

Blissfully unaware a car passes by quickly in front of the school. Reckless and loud. This breaks your kiss. 

"You know we can't." You say.

"At least, not like this." Hobie winks at you.

You blush. 

The rest of the school hours you made sure to stay away from Joshua and Hobie. You didn't want anything to do with Joshua and you couldn’t have Hobie during school hours. You slowly trail back home daydreaming of Hobie's kiss. You were giddy about Spider Punk visiting you tonight. At least, you hoped he would.

You enter your house and it’s eerily quiet. You're on high alert. 

"Y/n." You dad calls you from the living room. 

You cautiously approach him. He gets up from his seat. 

"Were you messing around with that piece of trash, again?" He questioned you.

"Who?"

"Don't play coy with me! You know who I’m talking about! And don't lie to me! " he raised his voice and got his face as close as he could to yours. 

You swallow hard. You quickly noticed you were in a no win situation. "No."

A swift punch to your left cheek sends you to the ground. "I didn't raise a liar." He pauses. 

You hold back tears. You instinctively stay on the floor. Maybe this was the worst of it. 

"So, when I drove past the school, I didn't see you kissing that piece of shit?!" He accused you.

You stilled. He saw you. That loud car was him. He saw all of it. Before you could protect yourself, a hard kick connected with your stomach. One kick. Another. And another. 

"You lying, bitch! You're no better than your dead mother!" He raged on, snarling and yelling. 

You couldn't hold the tears anymore. You sobbed loudly as you curled up in a ball. 

"Now go get showered and dressed. We're having dinner with a shareholder and his son." He looks at you one more time, heap of nothing on the floor and walks away. 

You're still sobbing and afraid. You dare peak to make sure he's not close by. You slowly get up, afraid that he may come back. You grip your bruised stomach as you, hunched over, made it up the stairs. 

Before you can stop yourself, you run to the bathroom and get sick. Pure vile. Thankfully no blood. 

You do as your father said. Showered and got dressed nicely. You notice the bruise starting to form on your cheek. You try to cover it with makeup. It’s out of sight but not out of mind. 

You make it down the stairs and into the luxury car your dad had decided to buy to match his new abusive attitude. 

The restaurant you guys go to is high-end and has many high profile people in it. You keep to yourself. You follow your father to your reserved table. You see your father shake the hand of a big man you guessed was the shareholder. 

"David, this is my daughter, y/n." Your father introduces you. 

You turn to him and smile. You shake his hand. 

"Strong grip!" The man says. "Well, let's eat.”

You take a seat at the same side as your father across from David. Before your dad can enquire about David's son, a young man comes into view. 

"Soz, I'm late. I was finishin’ up som’ home’work."

Your eyes widen and you swallow hard. 

"Mark, y/n, this is my son Joshua." David introduces you.

Joshua smiles wide, "Oh, y/n! I didn’t know our pots and pans knew each other."

"Yeah, me either." You mumble. 

"I guess I did get to take a jam tart out." Joshua winks at you. 

You groan. You feel a swift kick under the table. Your father was not having your attitude tonight. You feared what would happen if you messed up this dinner. You decide to play nice. 

Your father wastes no time talking about business and money. 

Joshua is still smiling big as he makes googley eyes at you. 

"So... what's new?" You try to start a conversation.

"Oh, not much. Runnin’ the chess club and I have plans on runnin’ for class president soon. Ya?" He rambles on.

"Um, nothing really. Just school and back home."

"Sounds like I need to take you out." He leans in. 

You lean back, "Can't. I’m not allowed to go anywhere after dark." 

Your father is monitoring your conversation and quickly jumps in, "Nonsense! If it’s with David's boy, you can go out whenever you want." 

You hold in a scream of despair. 

"Bonzer! Let's put it on the cook’s!”

"Uh... sure." You were trapped and you didn't know what else to do. 

"Saturday night. Dress nice. I'll take you some’where nice. A clanger."

Before you can answer, your father jumps in again, "Stop by at 7pm. Bring her back before sun up." He laughed. 

You held in an eyeroll. You were trapped in your home life and now in your social life. You held in tears as you held onto the hope that you would get to see Spider Punk soon.

During the rest of the dinner Joshua talked and talked and talked. You offered encouraging nods and noises to let him know you were listening, even though you were not. 

Your dad kicked you under the table again when he noticed you weren't eating. You held in a side eye glare. It was his fault your stomach hurt from the three kicks he inflicted on you. So, you nibbled. Your father made a crude joke about you wanting to keep your womanly figure to which Joshua exclaimed "lucky for me." You wanted to die. 

When the night was over and you were in the car there was heavy silence. 

"You better be good to Joshua. David is a high-profile client and if we lose him because you were whoring around with that piece of shit you will never walk again. Do I make myself clear?" He looked your way for confirmation. 

You say nothing as tears pricked your eyes. You just nodded. 

As soon as you get home, you can't stop yourself and you run out of the car straight to your room. You close the door as quietly as possible. Opposite of what you wanted to do. You lean your head against your bedroom door and start crying.  Sob after sob courses through your body. 

Strong arms wrap themselves against your stomach. You wince in pain. Spider Punk, your reprieve. He came for you. 

" 'm here love." He whispers against your ear. 

You turn to lean into his embrace. Your tears are a waterfall as he holds you while you cry. Spider Punk is patient and loving as he holds you. He guessed something went down with your father again. He was mindful to not pry.

"He saw us! He saw us kiss!" Your voice was muffled against his chest. 

Spider Punk frowned under the mask, "wha' did he do to you?"

"He kicked me... in the stomach... over and over again." You were able to vocalize in between sobs. 

Spider Punk listened in quiet horror. He held you closer but with care, mindful of the possible bruises on your stomach. 

"Love, sweetness. ‘ts going to be alright." He cooed. 

You break free in anger and desperation. Eyes wild and full of tears.

"No it’s not! I’m trapped here! Trapped forever." You started to raise your voice but got quiet out of fear your dad might hear you. 

Spider Punk raised his hand to grab yours. You let him hold your hand, defeated. 

"Y/n, I can't promise you much because I don't have much. But I promise I'll get you out of this."

"Hobie... don't say that. You can't even admit to me who you are"

Spider punk swallowed hard, "ya right." He steps closer. "Tell me how can I make you feel most loved tonight?" 

You look up and look at his masked eyes. 

"Lay with me? I need to feel you." 

Spider punk swore his heart skipped a beat. He would give you the world if you asked. He leads you to your bed and lifts the covers for you to get in first. As soon as you're settled, he slides into bed next to you. Without missing a beat, he moves in closer to you, careful not to touch your stomach. 

"Bet' er?"

"Yes." You sigh into his arms as you let him envelope you.