He had her pressed up against the wall, his large hands around her throat. Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head, and Ian's were full of fire and rage. She kept trying to push him off of her, but he was much too strong and his anger made him even more focused on keeping her where she was and under his control. "Don't you ever cross me like that again!" He yelled at her, the back of his right hand colliding with her cheek. She could feel the sting from where his ring had dug into her skin, but she couldn't show any pain, any weakness. Not with Ian.
Their eyes met, and brown collided with blue as Ian let his hands fall from her throat. He didn't let her move however, keeping her backed up against the wall. "Ian, I'm sorry." She mumbled, mainly saying it just so their fight could end and she could go to sleep. "I won't do it again."
"You're damn right you won't!" Ian backed up, but she stayed where she was, not wanting to make any sudden movements. Ian had been drinking, which was partly why he had reacted so badly when she told Declan that he could stay up for a few more minutes. He got angry about her telling Declan he was allowed to do something when he had told him otherwise. It was rare that he got angry about small stuff like that, but when he was drinking it was hard to tell what he'd be mad about.
The fight had started in the upstairs hallway. Ian had started yelling before he shoved her, and she fell, hitting her face on the hand-rail of the staircase. Somehow they had ended up in the bedroom, most likely because she begged for him to not let Declan see them fighting or see him hurt her. That was over an hour ago, and they had been fighting since then. But luckily Ian looked like he was done, as he turned around and left the room. Emily stood in the corner for a little over a minute before quickly rushing into the bathroom and closing the door. She looked in the mirror for a few seconds before started to clean up, avoiding having to look at herself as much as possible.
She jumped slightly when she heard two soft knocks on the door, followed by a quiet voice. "Lauren?"
Emily made sure her tears were wiped away, and there was no more blood on her face before opening the door. "What are you doing up, sweetheart? You should be in bed." She told him as she pulled him into her arms and picked him up. She knew that he had been watching through the crack in his door, waiting for Ian to walk by so that he could run in Ian's bedroom and check on Lauren. He had done that a few times recently when her and Ian had gotten into arguments, and luckily Ian hadn't caught him yet.
"Daddy hurt you..." The four year old whispered as he reached his tiny hand up and ran his fingers along her lip. From the glance in the mirror, she knew that it was busted from hitting the table. She flinched at Declan's touch, and she sighed slightly as she took his hand and softly kissed it.
Emily shook her head as she carried him through the bedroom and down the hallway to his room. "Daddy didn't hurt me, honey. I tripped and hit my lip on the railing on the stairs." That wasn't a complete lie, and it was much better than letting Declan know that his father hit her on a constant basis. That was much more than the four year old needed to take on at the current moment.
She laid the little boy in his bed before leaning down and kissing his head. "I wanna sleep with you." He whined, trying hard to fight sleep and stay awake. Emily just shook her head as she sat on the edge of his bed and ran her hand through his hair.
"Not tonight, sweetheart." She told him, knowing that it was very rare that Declan was able to sleep in her and Ian's bed. She could only think of one time that Declan slept with them, and it was when the little boy was sick. "But I'll sit here with you until you fall asleep."
Content with that answer, Declan snuggled up with his blanket, holding Emily's hand as he closed his eyes and the big blue orbs that Emily had been looking at disappeared. The boy looked just like Ian, and it killed her sometimes. It killed her to think that he could possibly turn out to be the same exact person that Ian was. And because that was the man she was in love with, that hurt her even more.
Declan held Emily's hand as he fell asleep, and once she was sure that he was asleep for good and wouldn't wake up at the sudden movement, she gently removed her hand from his. She stood up and watched him sleep for a few moments before going out into the hallway and gently shutting the door behind her. As she was walking to the bedroom, she heard the door to Ian's study open, and she held her breath as she quickly entered the bedroom. She stripped down to her bra and underwear as quick as she could before climbing into bed and pretending to be asleep.
When Ian walked in, he either believed she was asleep or didn't care because he walked right past her and into the bathroom. Emily let out a sigh of relief as she saw the light turn on and heard the shower. She placed her hand on her stomach, rubbing in circles softly. "We'll be okay, I promise." She whispered before wrapping her arm around her pillow and slowly closing her eyes.