Enraged

I don't know how long I sat against that wall, but the tears never stopped flowing. All I could think about was that hit to my face and how much force was behind it. As I sat there, I noticed that there was a burning sensation on my chest in the area where I had that strange mark. The mark itself had long disappeared but the pain of having it was still there. I placed my hand over it before getting up and heading up to my room to put on some different clothes. Once I was dressed I went into the bathroom and cleaned the dry blood from my nose and lips. There was a mark under my eye, great…just what I need. I was sure that if Mark saw this, there would be problems, so I went back to my room to grab my make-up bag.

On my way down the hall, I heard my front door swing open and slam into the wall.

"Serena? Serena where are you?" said Mark.

I sighed and headed down the steps slowly, "I'm right here."

He looked up at me with an angry look on his face. "Come here."

I walked up to him slowly letting him gently touch my face. I winced when his warm thumb traced over the bruise under my eye. "Mark…it's ok."

"No it isn't…" he snapped. "This is absolutely unacceptable!"

I sighed and looked away. "I don't want to cause more trouble…can we please just forget about this?"

He sighed, "We can if you come live with me."

"What?"

"You heard me Serena, I refuse to let that punk headed father of yours come up here and put his hands on you whenever he sees fit!" he said.

I sighed, "He apologized…"

He shook his head, "Any time a man apologizes for something like that, he'll most likely so it again."

I folded my arms, "Can I say the same for you?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You used me Mark…USED me!" I yelled. "How do I know you aren't using me now?"

He didn't say anything as I turned on my heels and ran up the steps. The nerve he had trying to make himself sound all innocent. I sat down on my bed and buried my face in my hands. Why couldn't people just leave me alone? Why must there be drama everyday in my life? If only I would have kept my legs closed…

A few seconds later, he made his way upstairs to my room. I didn't look at him as he walked in and took a seat next to me.

"Serena…I'm sorry." He said in a tone that didn't sound like him at all. "I can't stand to see a woman get physically hurt by a man. Especially a woman whose carrying my child."

I smiled as he placed his hand on my belly. "I know…I'm just so sick of feeling like I'm in tears every single day. It isn't fair Mark."

"And that's why I want you to come live with me. I want to show you a different side of me. I'm not always dark and evil." He explained.

I nodded and sighed. "Are you sure you aren't going to go all evil on me?"

He laughed and rubbed my belly, making our baby kick him. "I'm not just sure…I guarantee that I won't do anything like that unless it has something to do with the show."

I smiled and glanced at him. "Ok then…lets get my stuff packed."

"No need to…I've had a new house built just for us and the baby." He said.

I blinked several times, "Really?"

"Yep. I've just been waiting on you to get comfortable with me being around you."

I nodded and raked my hand through my hair, "Well, I'm comfortable, but I don't want a relationship just yet. I don't think I'm emotionally ready for that."

"no problem." He said. "Now come on so I can get you to the house."

"Are we flying?" I asked.

He sighed, "No, driving through the country is pretty nice. I'm sure you'll like it."

I nodded and grabbed my jacket and put on my shoes. He then hooked my arm with his own and together we headed out to the truck. I sure hoped that things would work out with me living with him. Sure my father or uncle…whatever he is would probably be mad about it but at the same time, I didn't want to be in his hair anymore. As far as I was concerned he was dead to me the moment he called my mother those horrible names and told me that I was just like her. Can you believe it? The nerve of that man, I sure hoped he got hit with a real bad case of karma…