✩ SIT DOWN BESIDE ME ﹒ ʲᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ ᶜʳᵃⁿᵉ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

─ chapter vi ; a step in the right direction

in y/n's first week at his house, she'd hardly eaten. meals he would leave for her on the nightstand remained untouched, occasionally picked at. jonathan assumed that this was simply defiance that would expire when she was hungry enough. but after a few days of finding plate after plate untouched, knowing that she wasn't eating made him feel sick.

why wouldn't she just take what he was giving right to her?

nearing the end of that first week, jonathan had made one more attempt at breaking her walls down, at coaxing her into spending time with him.

one evening after work he'd brought her out to sit beside him on the couch, hoping to spend the evening in each other's company. but it wouldn't work, no matter what he did she struggled against him, wouldn't let herself even just be next to him.

jonathan feared the thought that y/n had began to hate him. he just needed to keep trying, give her just a little more distance. but her continuous refusal infuriated him. other tactics needed to be set into play. he hated to do it, but if it had to be done, so be it.

in her second week there, meals stopped coming. water was the most that she got. and even then, there were days where y/n didn't see jonathan even once (he did still have to go to work, she assumed). only the cold walls of the bedroom all day until sleep finally reached her.

the next morning when y/n woke up, in the throes of missing her apartment once again, for the first time, she remembered her bills. last she'd thought about them was the night she was heading home from work. instinctively she mentally punished herself for forgetting them. but from here in jonathan's house, there was no sense in worrying about them.

couldn't get evicted if she already had been. also, so long credit score.

on the floor, same spot as always, she sat with her head in her hands. in her hair she could feel the thick of greasiness that'd built up. the deep unclean that rested on and even permeated her skin was more than apparent now. it was all she could feel.

and without a shower in the bathroom attached to her room, there wasn't much to be done about it. supposed jonathan didn't care enough to let her keep herself clean.

"made you lunch, if you even want it."

from y/n's stomach, a deep, hollow growl emanated at the mention of a meal.

click, creak. the door unlocked and opened.

the sight before jonathan was deeply unexpected, and far from what he wanted for her. y/n glanced up at him from her hands which her face was buried in. her hair had developed a sheen of grease, days of tears had ran her cheeks ragged. she was unclean and visibly thinner.

he forgot about the plate before he'd even set it down on the nightstand.

his hands were gentle, tentative around her as he helped her to stand up. y/n remained tense, but to his surprise, she didn't struggle. she knew that he would be taking her to the bathroom to get cleaned up, and against that, she would not protest.

down the hall, he didn't let her out of his arms. not for fear that she'd falter without his support, but that she might try to slip off. she let him lead her into the bathroom where he closed the door and immediately ran water from the faucet into the bathtub.