Not Broken, Just Bruised

[27]

"we drink the poison our minds pour for us and wonder why we feel so sick.."
- atticus

•

It's been a few days since Amy, Ian and I's little trip to Westview Hill.
Nothing exciting has happened - I haven't seen Amy, and Ian and I have been chatting over text.

I miss them both, despite the fact that it's only been 3 days.
I'm going love crazy..

My phone pings, as if on cue.
"My house ASAP."
The message reads. It's from Amy.

I waste no time sprinting up and out of my bed, grabbing a sweater before rushing out of the door.

We've been through this moment already, when crap went down with Jake.
And something tells me we're about to relive that.

——————

As soon as I pull into her driveway, I notice Jake's car parked at the curb.
Shit.
I'm quick to hop out of the car - hustling towards the front door, barging right in.

In the middle of the room stands Amy and the devil himself.

"Jake."
I greet him with a cold expression.

"What's this dimwit doing here?"
He groans.
"She's always getting all up in our business."

His pants are basically halfway down his legs.
I cringe.
Who thought it was a good idea to wear pants like that? You might as well go half-naked.

"I invited her here."
Amy mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.
As she does so, Jake pulls at her arms aggressively - forcing them back at her side.

"Jake!"
I shriek.
"Keep your hands off of her."

He turns towards me, my heart skipping a beat.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of this guy.
Something's gotten him really riled up, and that usually doesn't end well.

"You have nothing to do with this. So get out before something bad happens to you."
He sneers, squaring up.

Oh hell no.

I send Amy a reassuring glance, reaching into my pocket to take out my phone.

I can feel Jake's presence getting closer - which only makes me panic more.
I rapidly type a "Amy's house, hurry." message to Ian, just before my phone is ripped out of my hand aggressively.

Jake tosses it across the room - I cringe as it makes a hard impact with the floor.

"You need to calm down."
I murmur, my heart practically beating right out of my chest.

Jake isn't an abusive guy - at least not physically.
But we all know he's got a tendency to lose his cool when things don't go his way.
I'd hate to chance it.

"You need to get the hell out."

"Jake! Leave her out of this."
Amy pleas.

"You're the one that brought her here, you jackass."
He slurs.

Amy shies away.
Despite her outgoing personality, she doesn't handle brawls very well.

"Just let her leave, she won't come back."
Amy whines.

I can tell she's regretting inviting me here.

But Jake doesn't listen, instead closing in the space between us.
I put my hands on his chest - trying to push him back - but it's no use.
He reaches for my throat, grabbing onto it as he slides me up the wall.