Abused

Silence

Neither of them had managed to get any sleep, Jacob had been worried sick and Connie was too terrified; she'd also been too busy crying and panicking.

She turned the lights on and crept upstairs, hesitating outside the bedroom door until she heard a quiet, "Come in",

She slowly opened the door and turned the light on before going over to the bed and sitting on the edge of it,

"You couldn't sleep either?" he asked, already knowing the answer,

She shook her head and watched as he tried to wrap his arms around her, he didn't even touch her yet she started to shake and cry.

"Oh, Con, I didn't mean to make you cry, I'm so sorry... Not talking?",

She picked up her phone and began typing something in the 'notes' app, "You told me to shut up, I don't want to get hit again",

"You won't get hit again, I promise", he studied her face and noticed that a bruise had formed right where he'd slapped her, "I'm so sorry, beautiful",

"You promised you'd never hurt me and you did, you'll probably just break this promise too", Connie switched her phone off before shuffling over and snuggling into Jacob's arms.

"Do you trust me?", he kept his arms wrapped around her and began lightly stroking her hair, giving off no reaction when she shook her head, "You don't have to trust me right now but I'd appreciate it if you at least spoke... Just to let me know you're OK?",

She wrapped her arms around his neck and shook her head again,

"Please? I'm so sorry for what I did but you need to talk, you can't stay silent forever".

Twenty minutes had passed and he still couldn't get her to talk, she was still allowing him to hug her but neither of them could fall asleep,

"If you're not going to talk to me then who are you going to talk to?", he moved his hand to her waist but she quickly pushed against his chest and moved over to the other side of the bed.

She turned her phone back on and resumed typing, "I'm not going to talk to anyone, it's better for everyone if I just shut up",

"I won't make you go if you really don't want to... But I think you'd benefit from a few therapy sessions", he studied her face and frowned when she scowled at him,

"You think I'm so damaged that I need therapy? You told me you'd protect me, I have you, I don't need therapy".

"I don't think you're damaged, you're just... I'd be surprised if you weren't like this after going through abuse", Jacob instantly knew he'd chosen the wrong words, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound the way it did",

"So if I'm not damaged then what am I? Difficult?", Connie turned away and wiped at her cheeks to get rid of any visible tear tracks,

He sighed and carefully wrapped his arms around her, "I'm so sorry, I was just frustrated, I didn't mean to call you difficult and I certainly didn't mean to hit you".

She got up and quickly made her way to the bathroom, locking herself in and sitting on the floor in the far corner. She hated how vulnerable she had become, she hated the fact that, although she wouldn't admit it, she needed therapy,

"Connie, please... I didn't mean it, please let me in?", he knocked on the door even though he knew she wasn't going to open it, it wasn't until he heard her quiet whimpers that he became desperate to get to her, "Connie? Are you alright?".

A/N: sorry updates are so slow, my WiFi sucks and I've started school again 💞