Okay so here's the next chapter. It isn't much as the moment because i'm just setting the story up for all of my other ideas. So here it is, enjoy. :) -Jade. xo
CHAPTER TWO: DID HE DO THIS TO YOU?
Tia had been right in guessing that Mark wouldn't be at home when she returned, he was nowhere to be seen, and in fact, he was currently in bed with another woman somewhere else in Chicago – another night, another girl. So she had been relieved to find out that she was alone, which meant that she wouldn't receive any form of punishment, and she could sleep as peacefully as her sore body would allow her to, to make the most of her time away from that monster. And when she woke up from her slumber in the morning, she was surprised to see that she was still on her own, and inside, she thanked the lord for having mercy on her for at least one night.
The black-haired beauty stretched beneath the covers before kicking them away from her body as she climbed away from the comfortable mattress. She had the most perfect figure, with curves in all of the right places, but bruises blemished that soft canvas and made her feel incredibly ugly and self-conscious. There were bruises on her ribs, arms and thighs – some were small, in the shape of fingertips due to the crippling strength that he used against her. They were old and fading, but there were a few fresh ones among them, all small apart from the one at the side of her jaw which was now turning a deep shade of green. This was why she didn't look at herself in the mirror, or at least she tried not to when she wandered through the bedroom, but whenever she entered the bathroom she had no choice but to look at her reflection. It was almost a daily routine; she would look at herself in the mirror and cry. What had she become? Why did she let this happen to her?
After pulling herself together she wiped her fingertips beneath her eyes to collect the tears and she slowly undressed herself to prepare herself for a much-deserved bath. Once she had finished washing herself she pulled the plug from the socket and hoisted herself up and out of the bath tub, grimacing at the pain she felt in her wrist. It wasn't too long ago now, when Mark shoved her to the ground and she ended up spraining her wrist which was still causing her a lot of pain from time to time; mainly when she put pressure on it. A sigh fled from her lips as she wrapped herself in a towel and made her way into the bedroom where she had already prepared her clothes for the day, resting neatly upon the freshly made bed. Tia dressed herself in a pair of acid-wash jeans and a simple black, v-neck top, finishing the ensemble with a hoody that was a little too big for her and a pair of scruffy high-top converse. She always dressed down unless somebody told her otherwise, and she was only going out briefly to meet with Punk, so there was no need to dress to impress.
Once her hair was dry she pulled the length of black waves back into a ponytail and took one last look at herself in the mirror. She looked okay, she looked normal behind her casual attire, but beneath the layers of material was a different story, and behind her calm exterior was a terrified little girl. After grabbing her phone, keys and money, she left the house and began her journey towards the coffee shop.
Throughout her entire walk there, she kept getting the urge to just turn around and run home. What if Mark found out about it somehow? She'd be in for a world of pain. What if Punk didn't believe her excuses? She had always been a terrible liar, simply because she hated doing it, so what if it ended up with a confrontation? She wouldn't be able to handle the truth when it came at her from another person's perspective – it was always harder to hear when it came from somebody close to you. All of her concerns were cut short when her gaze fell upon the familiar figure ahead of her. And there, stood outside of the coffee shop waiting, was Punk, a baseball cap on his head and his hood up – he looked just the way she remembered him. Tia had forgotten how calm she felt when she was around him, how she usually forgot about the troubles in her life and focused on her small amount of time with her best friend.
She noticed how a slight look of shock graced his features for just a split second as his gaze fell upon her and she couldn't help but flash a quick smile.
"Well, look who decided to show up." He teased with one of this infamous grins that was always slapped over the television screens during the television shows. A sheepish smile slipped over Tia's lips as she pulled the long sleeves of her hoody over hands; it was like a nervous twitch, everybody did something when they were nervous, chewed fingernails, tapped feet, Tia just happened to fiddle with her sleeves.
"Surprise." She dared to tease in her quiet voice, flashing another small smile as she stopped in front of him.
"It's a nice surprise!" he continued with his teasing habits as he looked down at her – she had always been significantly shorter than him. Most girls were! "What? No hug?" a look of mock sadness moved over his features, making Tia feel a little bad and just as she was about to make the decision to reach forward and hug him, he had grinned and pulled her tight against his chest. Tia slowly lifted her arms to wrap around his torso to hold herself against his chest as they hugged, enjoying the warmth and comfort whilst it lasted.
"I've missed you." she grumbled before being pushed back slowly by Punk's hands which were now curled around her shoulders as he looked down at her.
"Everybody misses me when I'm gone.. They can't live without me." Punk answered, resulting in a roll of Tia's eyes as she took in her friends teasing attitude. Of course she was used to it, but those who didn't know Punk were often annoyed by the endless stream of wit that fell from his mouth as soon as he opened it. "Nah, I missed you too, T.. Let's get inside, you look cold." And he was right, Tia had underestimated the weather, it hadn't looked cold out, just cloudy, but clearly she had been wrong and had made the wrong decision of wearing just a hoody, as she was now feeling the effects of the cold.
The two had been sat in the coffee shop for little more than half an hour, enjoying warm beverages and each other's company. Their conversation had been normal, the type of stuff that you would expect to hear from two people that hadn't seen each other for a couple of months. What have you been up to? How's life treating you? The usual. And they were now on the subject of Punk's work and where he had travelled to recently.
"It's all good at the moment. There's little time to rest though.. Who am I to complain though? I'm doing what I love so I'm not going to sit here and bitch about it." he admitted with a small chuckle. It made Tia smile, and it felt good to smile – there wasn't a lot of opportunities for Tia to be happy, so it made a change to be able to laugh and feel good about something for once.
"I'm glad you're happy, it's nice to see you doing something you've always loved." She commented with a heart-warming smile. It was a shame that she wasn't happy all of the time, she was a beautiful girl and her smiles made her look even better. Tia shifted her position and reached up to unzip her jacket and she was now a lot warmer than she had been before and she was getting a little uncomfortable sat there in something that made her feel even more warm. After slipping it off she sunk back into her seat and looked over at Punk with a small smile, only to have it fade as she noticed the look on his face.
"What are those?" he grumbled, his previous humours mode seemed to have vanished and he was now being completely serious. It was only then when she noticed what he was talking about, as she had noticed the line of his gaze and she slowly reached up to the area of her neck beneath her ear and jaw. It was then when she was reminded of the bruises when she felt pain as she pressed down slightly against the area. How had she been so stupid? She had completely forgotten about those, as usually they were hidden by her long hair which she usually wore down, opposed to having it tied back.
"It's nothing.. I don't even know how they got there." It was a pathetic lie, and Phil knew it, he always knew when she was lying, she would quickly look away from his gaze and avoid eye contact at all costs, because that was when she usually broke.
"Don't tell me that they're nothing. They're bruises Tia.. and by the looks of it, you've had someone.." he seemed to struggle to get out the word, and when he did it was full of disgust and anger. Who wouldn't be angry at the idea of their best friend being hurt in such a way? And he knew that it was probably Mark, he had done it once before, why wouldn't he do it again? Of course he was unaware of how often this was all going on. ".. wrap their dirty hands around your neck. Don't tell me that it's not what it looks like, Tia.. Don't lie to me."
Tia was panicking now, she didn't like to lie at all, she hated it, but then she didn't want Punk knowing about her explosive, abusive relationship with Mark. He would know that she had kept the full extent of it a secret from him for five months, and she knew that he would be pissed. Who wouldn't be? She remained silent, lowering her head as she caressed her sore neck whilst biting down on the skin of her cheek.
"Tia.. Did Mark do this to you?" he almost growled, which sent chills down Tia's spine. And when she looked up at him through sad, blue eyes, without anything to say to him, he knew that he was right and the look on his face was terrifying.