Zoey lay as if she was paralysed. She lifted her head to see Justin leer his head towards her. She dropped her head back to the floor as if it gave her the protection she needed. He leaned in as close as he could possibly get and whispered in her ear, "I told you not to lie to me." He pulled away and sat on the couch, grabbing another can of beer on his way. Zoey continued to lie where she was, thoughts of what she had done to deserve everything that she had got started to consume her. She began to sit up and with shaky legs she stood up. She breathed in slowly and not letting the fear get to her she walked over to where Justin sat and closing her eyes, moving her arm back and swinging it forward, her hand hit the can out of his hand and on to the floor where all the liquid spilled out.

Justin looked from the can on the floor to Zoey standing there in front of him. "Did you seriously just do that?" Justin said in a monotone, staring at her.

"Well unless we have a poltergeist in the house…" she said clearly. She was fed up of being scared of him. It was about time she stood up for herself and did the one thing she needed to do for months – leave.

"Are you trying to be clever?" he said asked her, standing up trying to be intimidating.

"One of us has to be." Zoey said bravely. She stood there in front of him, not taking her eyes off him.

"Are you asking for a smack?" Justin threatened.

"Go on, do your worst. I don't know what else there is to do now. You've beaten me up black and blue, you put me in hospital not once, not twice, not three or four but five times. Oh and to top it off, you've just raped me. So if there's anything else you want to do go ahead."

Justin said nothing but started to walk towards her, taking large strides.

Instead of backing off, she stood her ground. "Go on Justin. Go on." Zoey goaded him. "You know what, I don't care what you do to me anymore because i know there are people out there who do care about me and my well-being."

Justin stopped in front of her, swung his fist back forth, making contact with her face. Zoey blinked back the tears that threatened to escape from her eyes despite the stinging red mark that was now occupying her left cheek. She moved her hand up to it and felt a little bit of blood start to drip. Zoey looked Justin in the eye and laughed at him. "Is that all you got?" she saw the mad glint in his eye and she knew she was in for a lot more. She was glad though – she needed this to gain the strength to leave him for good. Justin turned round and Zoey could see his shoulders heave up and down. "I'm slightly disappointed. Do you really want to know where I was last night? I was with another man, in his bed, I used his shower this morning, I borrowed his shampoo. Do you know who that man was? He was my ex-boyfriend. The one who I fell in love with five years ago and who broke my heart. I didn't think it was possible to feel that sort of pain again but being here with you ... allowing myself to be put through so much misery ... sleeping in the hospital waiting area til early hours of the morning because I was scared to come home ... I would be more than willing to put myself through that heartache again. In fact, I would have run after him and made things right because that would mean never meeting you!" Zoey shouted at him. "If I could go back in time and make sure I never met you, it would be the best thing I could ever do."

That did it. Justin turned round, with fury brewing and with all his might; he grabbed Zoey by the hair and threw her against the wall, which she slammed her head in to and fell to the ground, knocking her out for a minute or two. When she came round she looked up and saw Justin standing there like a robot. He had just knocked her out and he just stood there, in the middle of the room, doing nothing about it. "It's over Justin." She managed to get out before she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and her head fell back down again.

A/N: I know I said this chapter was going to be longer but I felt this needed a chapter of its own. Let me know what you think – next chapter will be longer