first impression ↠ e.d.

III

☆ 25 votes? thanks guys ☆

I knock at her door and rub my hands together by reflex. I quickly glance behind me, gulping down with difficulty, before looking back at the door.

I'm way too anxious for this, I should probably just go-

The door swings open and Angel appears in a long black dress, her curly hair falling on one side with a beautiful diamond flower attached in her hair. She pulls the corner of her mouth into a wide smile when she sees me. It's only now that I realize the skin around her left eye is a purple darkish color. I furrow my brows and my smile fades away.

"Don't stand there, come in!" she takes my hand and pulls me inside her gigantic apartment. I look around, taking in the breath-taking view of the paintings hanged up on the walls, before looking back at her. She crosses her arms behind her back and moves her shoulders left and right like a shy little girl.

A man walks out of the kitchen, tie undone, dress shirt untucked, livid expression, an almost empty glass of wine in his hands.

Angel tenses up when she sees him walking towards us. She quickly joins him and turns to me in an intimidated way.

"Ethan this is uhh..." she clears her throat. "My boyfriend Jason." she wraps her arms around his bicep but he flinches away from her and keeps glaring at me.

"Who's this." he clenches his jaw before swallowing the remaining gulp of wine. Angel looks down in submission and looks back at me, holding a stare for what seemed too long for his pleasure.

"I said. Who. Is. This." he turns to her and she backs up a bit, trying to remain calm and polite in front of her guest - me.

"Babe, this is Ethan, the guy I met on set the other day." she smiles toothlessly and he looks over at me, almost unimpressed. I gulp before bringing my hand in front of me.

"Nice to meet you." I try my best to sound enthusiastic, although I'm pretty sure I sounded like a scared puppy.

That dude is buff.

He walks up to me and squeezes my hand in his, swinging our hands in his strong grip. He nods, his stare not leaving my eyes. I look away, trying to avoid eye contact. He tightens his grip and I gasp silently, instinctively bringing my gaze back to his.

"Jason..." Angel furrows her brows and walks closer to us. He let go of my hand and turns around, almost bumping into his girlfriend on his way back to the kitchen.

She looks down, almost defeated. She closes her eyes softly and takes a deep breath right before a light smile curls up on her lips. She laughs silently, opening her eyes to look at me.

They're filled with tears.

My heart skips a beat. My gaze swerves between her and the kitchen.

Hug the girl or kill the guy?

I walk up to her and run my hand down her cold shoulder to reassure her. She sniffles and delicately wipes a tear away before we both head to the dining room.

-

I keep staring at her black eye and I can't help but imagine the worst. I tighten my grip around my fork and my butter knife, clenching my jaw at the horrible thoughts crawling in the back of my mind.

"So. Ethan..." Jason breaks the silence and I snap my head up to him.

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or do you sneak around, trying to steal other people's?" he chews aggressively his food and Angel kicks him under the table, giving him wide eyes. He shrugs it off and pours himself another glass of wine.

"You know if I were you, I'd slack on the alcohol a bit." I suggest before taking a sip of my water. He carefully put his glass of wine on the table and smirks lightly, wrapping his wide hand around the bowl of the glass. He applies a slight pressure and the glass breaks in his hand, leading the wine to leak between his fingers onto the white table cloth and leaving a wide red stain. His eyebrows fall closer to his eyes and his smirk disappears.

Angel's mouth falls open and she looks at me in an apologetic way.

"You know what? I think it would be better if you left, Eth-"

"No. Let him stay." he cuts her off by grabbing her wrist. I stand up almost instantly and glare at him.

"Let go of her." I clench my teeth and he scoffs at me. He looks down at her wrist and squeezes harder.

"Ow! Jason!"

"I SAID LET HER GO!" I run around the table and by the time I reach him, he already let her go and stood up. He pushes me and I stumble back like he was a giant and I was a mouse. He grabs the lapels of my suit and lifts my body up against the wall.

"Jason, please stop it!" Angel begins to cry in the background. I try to punch him but his massive arms retain mines down, pinned against the wall.

"Watch your mouth, kiddo." he spits with his jaw tensed. Angel covers her mouth as her soft sobs echoes in the apartment.

"Please... just let him leave." she begs. He loosens his grip and I fall onto the floor, at his feet. He begins to walk away but turns around as soon as he sees Angel hovering herself over me to make sure I'm okay.

He runs back to us and grabs a fistful of her hair, dragging her away from me. She screams as she tugs her hair to soothe the pain. I stand up in a heart beat and grab his arm, making him turn around and letting go of her. I draw my fist back before it connects with his face, leading him to stumble back to hold his nose.

I grab Angel's arm and pull her up as we both desperately try to run to the door. I open it as fast as I possibly can and we both run out of the apartment.

Her hand slips out of mine and I hear her scream once again. I turn around and the last thing I see is her being dragged back by her hair before the door shuts closed.

I rush myself to the door and bang on it as hard as I can, panting like an animal, draining all the energy left inside me.

I let myself slide down the door as I hear her scream on the other side.

All I can do is listen to him beating her up.

Listen to her heartbreaking screams and sobs through that god damn unbreakable door.

Listen to her calling for help while I'm here, sitting like an idiot, incapable of doing anything to save her...

∞