Prey

Chapter 55

Doe's POV:

His hand never left me as we made our way back to his room.

Both of our steps were quicker than usual, but I knew that was for different reasons.

I couldn't begin to fathom the details of Xander's because I was too focused on mine.

Far too busy dealing with the knowledge that I was finally coming undone.

My attempts at blinking back these tears were becoming futile fast, appearing faster than I could try to blink them away.

I was shattering and I couldn't react fast enough as I've done in the past to gather the pieces and repair them quick enough.

I forcefully closed my throat, choking on any sob that tried to make its way up.

Not yet... Come on just hold out a little longer.

It felt like his touch on my back was making it worse, yet at the same time, some deranged part of me didn't want it to leave.

Like the soft contact gave me some sort of hope that he wasn't completely angry at me.

I just hoped that I could get away before he says anything.

Even still, seeing me shatter wasn't something I wanted him to witness.

A cursed sniffle managed to pass through my crumbling defenses as he set he unlocked the door.

The bottom of my vision was completely blurred as he pushed it open and lead me inside first.

I was scared to even blink now because I knew that it would only cause the tears to fall. At this point, anything would.

His touch finally left me as I quickened my steps away, aiming for the bathroom.

But my body froze the second I heard the door close behind me, my left hand shooting up to cover the sob that managed to slip through now that it was just the two of us.

I couldn't hold it anymore.

I couldn't hold anything anymore.

My exhaustion, my lack of food, my anger, my sorrow... everything was at its limit and it was too much for me to bear.

I couldn't even move without risking the tipping point, and my legs trembled with the effort it took just to stand.

Even my fingernails dug into the skin of my cheek.

What was I supposed to do!?

The quiet sound of shuffling fabric told me he'd removed the jacket.

"Doe."

His voice didn't carry the harshness from just a minute before.

No, there was a plead in of itself in the single, quiet word. Begging for something other than what he was assuming my plan was.

He wasn't dumb, and as much as I hated it, he'd become familiar with my thought process.

And as much as I wanted to ignore it, to go ahead with what I had intended to do, I was stuck.

I was running out of options, and the realization that I was going to have to deal with this here and now was settling in.

The smallest motion right now was going to set everything off. The fuze was practically at its end.

And with nothing but the sound of a single footstep of him approaching, it exploded.

With the last remaining energy I could muster, I turned, hands shooting up to shield his vision before the first tears leaked down my cheeks.