Face off

Long day

Willow

The bath/shower combination was definitely a good move. Although it did nothing for my mood, it did help my sore muscles. I spent the majority of it under water up to my chin. I took a shower to wash off the layer of dirt I could still feel on my skin and to deal with my hair. I scrubbed my skin enough times that it was pink and irritated in places. I probably used up all the hot water by the time I was done, but I finally felt clean. Brushing my teeth until my gums bled helped with that. It was therapeutic. Once I was sure there was no trace of Will's mouth I put the brush down. I rooted around in the drawers until I found a comb. This time when I looked in the mirror I wasn't as surprised or horrified. The marks still made me sad, but they weren't as horrible at the second glance.

Besides, it wasn't the first time he left them there. The handprint was new compared to the last time but it was mostly faded down to an angry red mark on the highest part of my cheek bone. However, it was the firsttime he did anything like this in public, let alone outside of his own home. As much as I hated to admit this to myself, I knew he was going to get away with this. One of the main reasons he chose this school was because his brother was a cop here, had been for a few years. And his brother had alot of friends from what I heard. Will could lie about where he got the bruises, or lie and say He stopped Chase from hurting me and started a fight.

I sighed in frustration. How could I be so naïve, so stupid. He was doing a lot of eratic things. Why wouldn't he show up there under a fake name? Not telling Chase sooner was a mistake. He only thing keeping ot from him accomplished was hurting his feelings and putting myself in that situation alone. It was so stupid. He wasn't even mad at me, he was angry with Will. I never had someone be so understanding about my feeling before. It was always an argument, gaslighting, and screaming. Chase was different, I was finally starting to see that. It just happened to take being strangled to figure it out. I snorted at the thought that was entirely not funny.

I threw on the clothes Chase picked out for me, tying the pants as tight as they could go. They were several inches too long, but they were clean. Without even thinking twice about it I balled up the clothes I was wearing and threw them in the garbage before leaving the room and walking into Chase's. When I found him sittong on the edge of the bed with his hands in his lap, I knew something was wrong.

"Chase?"

He startled. "Hey, " He smiled at me gently and patted the bed beside him.

I hesitantly sat down beside him and grabbed his hand, leaning on his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, I could see my purple phone case peeking out from under his other hand. He handed it over to me silently.

" I know you were worried about starting things between the team, but this is too far to not say anything,".

I froze. Was I coming between him and his friends? Because I didn't want to see them when I got here? "Chase if this is because I didn't want to see the guys-"

"I called Wyatt,".

I was silent for a beat.

"I used your phone. I know you didn't want to start shit, but this is far enough. He needs to know,".

I couldn't tell if I was surprised or angry. "He's been nothing but an asshole this whole time, why would you call him? You know I don't want to see him,"

"Because your ex put his hands on you. He's Wyatt's bestfriend and pulled this. I know they play for the same team, but I'm not going to sit back and let him stand up for Saunders any more. He needs to know what happened, if only so he doesn't try to murder me for what happens to fuckface. You deserve better than the lies he's going to spread about this,"