Chapter One
You duck out of the apartment, carrying your possessions in a bag. You can hear your boyfriend yelling after you, and you run as fast as you can, not even paying attention to where you're going, just intent on escaping your abusive boyfriend.
You eventually check into a cheap hotel, get up to your room, and have hardly closed the door before you collapse on the bed, sobbing.
After a while, your phone buzzes. You ignore it, then after it buzzes again you look at the two texts you've received. They read:
dont come back
and
thanks 4 nothing bitch
You feel angry. Who does he think he is?
You'd moved in with him after dating him for four months. About a week after you moved in, he stopped being the man you'd thought he was and gradually became more and more of a control freak, forcing you to follow his stupid rules that he himself wouldn't bother to follow. Then eventually that became calling you names, ordering you around, making you pay the rent and do all of his cooking and cleaning.
When he'd slapped you for the first time, you'd been shocked and upset. You'd tried to confront him about it, but he'd told you that it was your fault for making him angry.
The abuse had continued and worsened for almost a year, but you had no way to get out. You'd started packing your belongings in a bag, however, on the off chance that you had an opportunity to escape.
That chance had come tonight, when he'd fallen asleep in front of the T.V. You'd walked quickly to the door and had unlocked it. The sound, however, woke him up, and when he'd realized what you were trying to do he'd let you know what he thought about it.
You'd have the cuts and bruises for weeks.
You sobbed into your pillow, hopelessly thinking about all the things in your life that had been changed because of him.
You'd been cut off from all of your family. They'd thought you were ignoring them, and hadn't even tried to communicate with you in the last six months. Your birthday was in four days, and you hadn't received any cards.
Except one.
From your old friend, Matt, who you'd been told not to talk to or communicate with by your boyfriend.
But that was over now.
Wasn't it?
You fell asleep, tired and lonely and confused.
.-~-.
When you wake up the next morning, you are momentarily confused to find yourself in a hotel room.
But then you remember the events of the previous evening.
Especially when you try standing up.
It seems as if every inch of your body is either bruised or cut. You look at your reflection in the mirror and very nearly actually jump in shock. Your makeup had run rather horribly from crying, and your lip was split. Your hair was a tangled mess that would most likely take a good half hour to fix.
You sighed and got the shower running.
.-~-.
When you'd finished with you shower, you decided it was time to talk to an old friend.
You dialed Matt's number, feeling slightly anxious. It was funny, you'd never felt that way about him before. You ignored the anxiety as best as you could and hit the "call" button.
He answered on the second ring, sounding pleased and surprised as he said your name.
"Hello! This is a surprise."
You blushed. "I'm sorry it's been so long but I've had a lot going on, and I've just had so little time, and-"
He cut off your stammering. "It's all right darling. I'm sure you have your reasons."
You felt relieved as you realized you had at least one friend who wouldn't ask questions about what had been going on.
"Now," he continued, snapping you back to earth, "I'm sure you wouldn't call me just to apologize."
Actually, yes, You thought. Although...
"Would you like to have lunch?" You find yourself asking.
"I would love to."
You smiled. Things were looking up.