against all odds

chapter 5: fear

Valentina's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Lucho.

Over the past two months, he had become very possessive and aggressive towards Valentina when he didn't get his way; often yelling at her and harshly grabbing her. She didn't know what was wrong with him. Of course she knew that she had been distant because of her father's death, which she understood could be a reason as to why he was acting so different, but sometimes he scared her. Thinking back to a few weeks ago, Lucho had come over despite Valentina's wishes in the night. As they were arguing, he suddenly grabbed her by the wrists, screaming in her face and then threw her to the ground before storming out of their house. It terrified Valentina so much that she spent the rest of the night crying, unable to sleep from the altercation. She had bruises on her wrists for weeks afterward. She wanted desperately to break up with him, but her fear always got the best of her. She had no idea what he would do to her if she tried.

Lucia and her walked into their house, looking around to see if Lucho was in the living room but with no luck. Valentina was hoping he wasn't in such a private place so that he wouldn't get physical with her, but knew that he was sitting in her room.

Valentina hadn't told anybody about Lucho becoming more aggressive. She didn't know why, but a part of her didn't want to worry her family with their relationship, so nobody knew anything was wrong.

Lucia gave her a knowing look after briefly looking around, and then patted her on the shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything, mija. I'll be in the living room, okay?"

Valentina weakly smiled at her and thanked her, afraid of what was to come but careful not to show it on her face. She slowly walked up the stairs then stopped outside of her closed door. With a heavy sigh, she reached for the door handle and slowly pushed it open—her heart was pounding as her hands shook with fear.

She looked up to see Lucho sitting on her bed, his face plastered with an intense frown.

Fuck.

She walked in without saying anything and quietly closed the door behind her. Lucho stood up from the bed and stared at her, his eyes piercing back into hers. They stood like that for a few moments, Valentina's stomach turning in knots with anticipation.

"Where the hell have you been?" He said through gritted teeth.

Even though she was afraid, Valentina stood her ground and continued to face him. "Lucia took me out today to get my mind off of things and we went to the studio". She said calmly, taking in a breath hoping that he didn't notice her unease.

He glared at her for a second and she watched as he flared his nostrils in anger. "So, you can go out and spend time with your step mom when she asks, but when I want to spend time with you, you don't even give me the time of day?" His voice was getting louder as his anger rose.

Valentina was getting more afraid, her breathing was becoming short and fast as her hands began to sweat. She tried to keep a cool composure, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of getting to her.

She was quiet for a moment, avoiding his gaze. "Lucho, listen.."

"NO Valentina, YOU listen!" He burst out suddenly, quickly closing the gap between them and grabbing her by the wrists.

"Ow, Lucho stop!" She tried yanking free from his grip but it only tightened. She looked him in the eyes with fear stricken across her face.

"Valentina, IM your boyfriend! There should be NOTHING more important than for you to spend time with ME over anyone ELSE!!" He leaned in close to her, she turned her face away from him trying to escape but her back was now pressed against the wall.