Black & Blue |C. Cullen|

TWO

I woke to the sound of a glass being smashed. I kept my eyes closed, the glass had been smashed against my nightstand and I knew that Aaron was standing right behind me. I did not make the appropriate choice, however. Aaron took a piece of the glass and sliced my cheek with it. I cried out in pain and moved away from him.

"Good, you're awake," he stated.

"You're sadistic," I muttered.

"What did you say?" He questioned, although he heard me clearly.

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"That's what I thought. Clean yourself up and come downstairs, I'm hungry," he commanded and left the room.

Tears fell down my cheeks as I stood up and made my way to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt worthless. Blood dripped from the cut on my cheek and trailed all the way down to my jawline. My neck was covered in bruises, as were my arms and chest. I was an abstract work of art in his eyes, he felt his job was to add colour where I lacked it.

I cleaned the blood off of my cheek and held the paper towel to the cut until it stopped bleeding. I then worked a brush through my knotted hair and pulled it up into a tight bun. I glanced at the bottle of Vicodin sitting on the counter before I turned around, shut the light out, and left the bathroom.

I changed into a tank top and some shorts, any clothing rubbing on the bruises caused severe pain. I then walked out of my bedroom and straight to the kitchen. "What do you want to eat?" I asked Aaron who was sitting on the couch with a whole bottle of Gin in his hand.

"Surprise me," he replied and then continued to watch the baseball game on the television.

This sent a sense of fear through my whole body if I so much as picked the wrong thing he would add another bruise. My hands shook as I looked through the cabinets and refrigerator for something to prepare. I thought of his favourite meal to eat; steak and potatoes. I looked through the drawers in the fridge and found steak.

I took a breath of relief and searched the cabinets for potatoes, I found them, that day may not be so bad after all. I got to work cooking and played music through my headphones, I only ever had one in my left ear in case Aaron called for something. I cooked the steak exactly how he preferred it, nothing more or less. I then made the potatoes up and when everything was finished cooking I placed it on a plate in an elegant manner.

I approached Aaron hesitantly with his plate. I stood beside him until he noticed me, I then presented him the food. "You made my favourite," he smiled and took the plate. "Thank you, darling."

Relief flooded through me and I turned back to the kitchen to retrieve my own plate. I didn't make the same thing for myself, I made a quick bowl of pasta so that I could be finished before he was. I scarfed down my food and cleaned my bowl out, then I waited for Aaron to be finished.

He held his plate out and I rushed over to grab it. He dropped it into my hands, but it flipped and smashed onto the floor. I rushed to the hall closet to retrieve a broom and I started to sweep up the mess.

"You stupid girl, how could you let that fall?" He spat.

"I'm sorry," I breathed and swept up the glass.

He stood up behind me and grabbed my hair in his fist, forcing me to stand and face him. "What did I tell you about breaking things?"

"Not to do it," I winced.

He sent a fist into my chest and then dropped me on the ground, "Clean it up, now."

I gasped for air for a moment before I forced myself to sit up and clean up the rest of the glass. My hands trembled as I carried the dustpan to the trashcan and dumped it out. I brought the broom and dustpan back to their respective spots in the hall closet and took a wet paper towel to the floor to ensure that everything was cleaned up properly. I walked over to the kitchen window and looked out into the dark of the night.

I leant on the counter, bit my lip, ran my hand through my hair, and let tears fall. I looked at my reflection in the window and cleaned myself up. "Come here, Jessamine," Aaron called.

I sucked in a deep breath, turned away from the window, and walked over to the couch. He was halfway through his bottle of gin, he set it down on the ground and held his arms out for me, "I'm sorry, baby."

I wanted to vomit when he called me that, I thought I had loved him when we got married; I was wrong. I still walked into his arms and he wrapped me up in an embrace. "I shouldn't have hit you, I'm sorry."

Yeah right, I thought. "It's okay, you didn't mean it," I replied.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"I'm a little tired," I admitted.

"Okay, Jessamine, you can go to bed now," he granted.

"Thank you," I smiled and kissed him, my stomach turned when I did, but it was the only way he would let me go without further complications.

I walked up the stairs and then ran to my room. I threw up in my bathroom as soon as I reached it, I hated kissing that man. I sat against my bathroom wall and cried. My eyes wandered to the Vicodin bottle on the counter and I stood up. I grabbed the bottle, locked the bathroom door, and swallowed all of the contents. I grabbed handfuls of water to wash the pills down and then I drew myself a bath. I stepped into the bath with my clothes still on and waited for sleep to come over me.