Corrupting the Good girl

Chapter 35

I stepped through the front door and slammed it shut behind me. I was now completely drenched, drops of water surround me as I stood shivering by the door. My teeth were chattering and I was shaking violently from the cold. I dropped my school bag to the floor and wrapped my arms around myself in a desperate attempt to warm up.

Dan came strolling out of the kitchen whilst looking through his phone and stopped in his tracks when he saw me. His face was hard but his eyes softened when he saw the state I was in.

"Shit you must be freezing." He muttered as he slipped his phone into his pocket and stepped towards me. I was too cold to answer; I merely nodded my head frantically.

He stepped closer to me and tentatively began to reach his arms out towards me but then something snapped inside his mind and he retracted his limbs. "You should probably go up and get changed out of those clothes." He said flatly, causing my heart to drop; I wasn't expecting him to forget about everything that had happened but I at least hoped he would have a little bit more sympathy for me.

I sighed and turned to walk up the stairs. I stalked into my room and ditched my bag onto the floor; I stripped out of my wet clothes, which clung to my body as I peeled them off, and shivered as cool air hit my even colder skin. I ditched the clothes on the floor and put on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, I was still shivering but much less violently now.

I pulled a blanket off of a shelf in my wardrobe and threw it over my bed; I climbed underneath the covers and set a pillow up against the headboard for me to lean against. I leant over to the bedside table to my left and grabbed my copy of Looking for Alaska by John Green; I brought my knees up to my chest and opened the book up to the page I was last at.

Word after word. Line after line. Page after page. I lost myself in the story and soon I began to forget about everything. Reading was my escape from the harsh reality that is life; when I lose myself in a book I not only escape my worries I also break away myself.

A soft creak caught my attention and I looked up to see Dan slowly walking through my door and over towards me, he slid a cup of tea down onto the bed side table next to me and looked up at me, he opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but I guess he changed his mind and turned around to leave. He was just about to close the door when he popped his head back around.

"I - uh – I’ve turned the heating on so you should warm up pretty soon.” He said quietly before moving to shut the door.

"You said you wouldn’t judge!” I called out after him as I put my book down. He looked back to me with a confused look on his face.

“B-before I told you what had happened you promised that you wouldn’t judge me and you would always love me...” I elaborated.

Dan sighed loudly and came back into my room. “I know...” He murmured.

“So was that just a lie?” I asked sadly.

“Fran I said that before I knew what had happened-”

“You still lied though.” I squeaked. “You said you wouldn’t judge me and you did-”

“OK yes I did judge you for what happened but can you really blame me?” He snapped; I didn’t react to his tone and instead I pursed my lips as I looked at him.

After a few moments of silence I spoke up. “... y-you said you’d always love me but you pushed me away.” I whispered dismally.

Dan looked taken back and his eyes widened a little.

“Fran I-”

“I’m sorry about what happened Dan. I'm sorry I lied and I didn’t tell you at first... But you lied to me too: you told me you’d always love me but what you meant was that you’d always love me as long as I did no wrong but you know what people do make mistakes.... You’ve made mistakes before and I have always stood by you throughout that, and now that I’ve made this mistake I really need you to stand by me

“I'm not proud of myself, but I am in this family too and you can't keep giving me the silent treatment. There are a lot of things that I’ve done that I’m ashamed of and I don’t blame you for being disappointed in me... But if you love me, you have to love all the things about me. I love you, and I'm sorry I let you down; I'm so sorry Dan... But you've let me down too.” I said softly, I brought my hand up to my face to brush away my tears just as I let out a quiet sob.

Dan stepped forwards and sat down on the end of my bed; he leant his elbows on his knees and pressed his hands against his head. “I’m so sorry Fran.” He whispered.

I looked at him through tear clouded eyes and he turned his head to face me. “I had no right to react like that... I mean you’re right, you need me and I just shut you out... God I’m so sorry.” He mumbled ashamedly.

I smiled slightly and crawled forwards to pull Dan into a hug; he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back.

“I-I just can’t believe Ethan did that to you...” Dan muttered angrily.

Me neither Dan, me neither...