Who wants a romance o/o? (OPEN)

"I was." Nicky said, nodding. He gestured over to where Laura's father was lying unconscious, his eyes on Laura, not the officer.

Laura trembled as she looked at the ground.
Jess arched her eyebrows. "Oh? And which one of you would like to explain what happened here?"

"That'd be me also." Nicky said, giving Laura a small squeeze, his gaze softening as he looked at her before darkening as he looked at the officer. "That fucker had his hands on her throat-" He started, having to stop himself. "Laura, d'you want to go to another room?" Reliving that wouldn't be good for her.

Jess looked sympathetically at the girl. "Why don't you step outside, hun? Some officers are gonna ask you some more questions and check you out okay?"
Laura nodded quickly.

Nicky pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her head, before letting go of her. He waited until she was outside to speak again, tugging a hand through his hair. "He was going to kill her." He said quietly, barely managing to control his anger, and guilt. "I really think he was going to kill her."

Jess frowned. "How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know." Nicky shook his head, tugging a hand through his hair. "A while, I think. She seems to have just…accepted it."

"You don't know when it started?" Jess asked. "That could help with the charges."

"I-no." Nicky shook his head. "The best I can guess is, doesn't it often start with the death of a parent? One parent passes, the other…turns into that."

Jess pressed her lips together and nodded. "Usually, yeah. I'll have to ask the girl. What's your name?"