straight back to it ⇉ central cee.

dollhouse.

When Oakley arrived home the door to his house was wide open, causing a feeling of unease to wash over him until he spotted Shanel watering the flowers. A small smile appeared as he watched her add water to the base of every flower and bud; he knew he had forgotten to do something this morning and shook his head remembering the note on the fridge. She had heard his footsteps on the gravel and promptly stood straight after emptying the rest of the water onto the bushes to watch her boyfriend waltz onto the drive. Wasn't much of a waltz really, but it was rather theatrical what with the unnecessary bounce to his step and the goofy grin that had since grown. The woman wasn't impressed at all and she let that be known with the stern glare she stared the man down with as he approached her and the entrance to their home. He was confused, to say the least, but he never let the grin falter.

"How's your day Shan?"

Oakley wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her into his chest with a grip so tight they nearly popped, feeling the warmth from the indoors flush onto him - it may have been summer but the evenings still held a chill you couldn't quite shake off and his body was freezing. The hug was tense as it always was but just that slight bit harder and he was hesitant to ask why, he had an inkling of what caused her to be so apprehensive to the embrace but it didn't exactly click until she spoke up.

"You smell like Ralph and cheerios"

God, she had the nose of a bloody Metropolitan sniffer dog that girl and he cursed it every time he came home from somewhere he knew she'd drag him for being, but this instance was most definitely worse. It was obvious to anyone really, you don't need the nose of a drug-detecting hound to know the difference between his own sweet smell and kids' cereal & another man's cologne.

"You've been wi' tha fucking rat ent ya?"

And so she shouted in his face. She hadn't meant it to be so explosive or personal, she wasn't that mean. But still, it came out that way and she couldn't change it now even if the expression it inflicted on her boyfriend made guilt bubble in her stomach and regret burn behind her eyes. His eyes were blown wide, the corners of his mouth now downturned in some sort of sick, animated frown and a cast of pink rising in his cheeks: a sight truly sad enough to break your heart. Oakley had known all this time she'd react badly but not like this, not like an overflowing volcano or dare I say, how Michaela used to. He shook that thought from his head as quickly as it came - he couldn't be too lenient with his weaknesses these days.

"Listen, love, he ask to see me uno this"

Before either of the two could blink the palm of the girl's hand came into contact with Oakley's cheek, releasing a sickening smack into the air and leaving his head to spin at the force. Her arm instinctively sprung back to her side, but she felt no guilt this time. The man reacted only very subtly, rubbing his own hand over the quickly reddening cheek and making a hiss between his teeth; he simply stood as he waited for Michaela to shout in his face again because he knew it was coming, he was prepared for it at least. This wasn't the first time nor the last in which his girlfriend had reacted in such an intense way to things he had done, so really he should've anticipated this when he visited Marvin. They were former lovers of course. Fiancés even.

"How fuckin dare ya"

The girl was spitting a vast amount of insults in his face and a few threats here and there but he was far too distracted by the throbbing in his face. It was most definitely going to leave a mark and he'll wake up tomorrow his cheek still as red as Rudolph's bloody nose meaning he'll have to cover it up somehow. An interview at 8 am sharp tomorrow was scheduled with some lady from a radio station he couldn't quite remember so he has to look presentable and not like he'd just got into a physical altercation with his future wife. He wished he'd listened when his ex girlfriend had tried teaching him make up all those years ago now, it sure would be handy these days. The marks from Shanel were never too visible until recently. She knew he had public appearances to maintain so she kept her abuse to those hidden places that were easily covered, however in the past few weeks she'd lost the urge to care all that much about it. Though Oakley would never actually call it abuse because you know, it was normal, wasn't it? Every somewhat stable relationship he had been in had some sort of domestic violence in the mix and he knew no better.

Amanda had noticed one of the bruises on his shoulder the other day at his last session with her and questioned him on it out of policy, obviously getting no genuine explanation in return and only a simple "I banged it on a doorway" excuse. She hadn't accepted it as truth though and wrote it down onto his file. The number of his visits was supposed to have been decreasing soon which she'd notified him of, filling him with pride and gratitude for her help, but she feared that it would be a while before that could happen now. Oakley had been gushing all about his girlfriend in every session and how much she helped every day and how happy she made him; she'd always suspected it was a front. There just wasn't a way to know unless he spoke the words himself. He knew deep down she was making him worse but that wasn't something he wanted to put into the universe and unleash. It was best he kept it a secret.