I awoke the next morning to thunderous stomping down the basement stairs. I sat up in my bed with a jolt, moving my wild morning out of my face so I could see who was causing all the racket, but I had a feeling I already knew who it was. After my eyes took a few seconds to adjust, my stomach dropped and my worst fears came true. My mom would not have let him in. She must not have come home last night.

"Care to tell me who the hell you were with yesterday?!" Xavier yelled at me from the foot of my bed. Xavier is my boyfriend. I've been trying for months to break up with him, but I can't seem to get it through his thick skull. He was the reason I moved home. But he followed me here. One day he'll listen to me. One day he'll understand what he has done.

I groaned tiredly and stood, switching on the lamp next to my bed before sitting back down. I ran a hand through my hair. "Xavier, chill out. I only just met the guy. He's a friend. He gave me a ride.

The tall blonde was uncharacteristically quiet. However, his face was red and his eyes glinted with anger. He slowly walked over to me and shoved me back onto my soft bed, his hand making contact with my throat roughly. My eyes widened as I looked up at him, what was once confident and cool was now fearful and weak. My breath was shallow as Xavier inched his face toward mine.

"You think I'm an idiot, Jess? You think I didn't see how happy you were?" He whispered in a deep aggressive tone. I wrapped my hands around his wrist in an attempt to pull his hand away from my throat. He fought back.

Before I could answer, a familiar voice rang through the house. "Jessalyn? Your front door was open…"

I smiled to myself. It was Mark. Thank God. I struggled to yell out to him, but failed. Xavier's grip was getting tighter as he jerked his head toward the sound of Mark's voice. He turned his head back to me and scowled.

"So you invited him over?" His hold on me loosened as a look of hurt momentarily flashed over his face.

I took this opportunity to jut my knee up into his stomach and make a run for it while I could. I quickly grabbed slippers that sat by my bed and dashed up the steps with them in my hand. Closing the door will take too much time. Just grab Mark and get out of there. I searched the house, frantically running and yelling his name. I yelled louder and ran faster when I heard Xavier coming up the steps. I finally found him in the guest bedroom. He was just leaving it as I went in.

I stopped and gasped for air, out of breath. "Mark….gotta….leave." I breathed out. He looked at me in confusion before turning his head to the side. He heard the footsteps too. He grabbed my hand and we both ran to the front door and out of the house. He slammed the door shut behind us.

Once in his car and driving away, I finally took a moment to breathe. Mark was talking, but all i could hear was the deep rumbled of his voice.

I looked over to him and managed a smile. "Thank you."

He returned the smile and nodded. "If you need me, I'm there."