TW: This book has a lot of descriptions of abuse and because of how often it is, there are no trigger warnings at the beginning of chapters. Take this as a warning for the whole book.
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Samuel never thought that moving out of his childhood home wo...
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xxiv. To Lose Freedom
I woke up freezing and in pain. I wasn't surprised about that, but it wasn't a pleasant way to wake up. Every part of me ached because of the position I had slept in. I had fallen asleep leaning against the cold wall, my blanket wrapped around me tightly, but during the night, I had moved and ended up in a twisted position with the blanket barely covering my body.
I stood to my full height and stretched my limbs in an attempt to get rid of some of the pain but to no avail. It didn't help, so I gave up on trying and cracked open the door so I could go back inside the apartment.
"Come inside, Benjamin. We need to talk," I heard Taylor call from the kitchen. I took careful steps to her and she gestured for me to sit down in the chair across from her. Taylor held a coffee cup in her hands and she sipped from it like nothing had ever happened between us.
"So?" I asked. I was hesitant to open my mouth, but Taylor didn't seem to mind that I spoke. It seemed like today would be a good day, just because Taylor seemed calm, almost happy even.
"First off, I'm sorry for blowing up on you last night. You know I love you, right? I was just so angry because you went and forgot about our anniversary. What I said was completely uncalled for and I really do love you," She said with a familiar tone in her voice. I used to fall for it every time she said those words and looked at me with her puppy-dog eyes, but only recently I realised how much bullshit was spilling out of this woman's mouth. "I promise I'll never yell at you like that again."
"It's okay," I told her with my head hung low. "I love you too." I fiddled with my fingers under the table. "Did you have something else we need to talk about?" I asked tentatively.
"Yes," Taylor said and placed her cup down onto the table. She leaned onto her arms and spoke again, "Where were you the night before yesterday? What were you really doing? I don't want lies, I want the truth."
I took in a deep breath and intertwined my fingers together, squeezing my hands together tightly. I wasn't a good liar. I never had been and most likely never would be, and Taylor knew it. She'd known me long enough to be able to tell when I lied to her, so I wouldn't lie. I just told her the truth.
"I slept at Samuel's apartment," I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper. Taylor still heard what I said and I could just feel her mood change. Maybe I had spoken too soon when I said that today would be a good day.
"Oh really? Since when are you two close?" She asked. She was intrigued and I knew that with it came anger.
"We've been friends for a little while. It's really no big deal," I told her. It really wasn't a big deal; I just had a friend whom I liked being around, everyone has one so why couldn't I have one?
