Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

six.

I could feel the light shining on my eyelids as I laid on the bathroom floor. I had slept here last night and the throbbing pain in my neck was the proof. I could tell that I was going to be sore the second I decided to move so I didn't, I continued to lay on the cold tile in the clothes I wore out last night.

The sun began to grow brighter and I knew that it was quickly approaching mid day. My left eye was tender to open as I had expected and my neck was also tender at the front. I gripped the bathroom counter and stood to face the mirror. Fuck.

The bright red splotches of rage surrounded my swollen eye. I tilted my head up and peeled down the turtle neck to find the four green finger prints on one side and the singular one on the other.

"You want to ignore me? In front of my friends? You want to make me look like a fool in public?" He screamed, tightening his grip on my windpipe.

I couldn't stop the tears as they formed, I tried blinking them away. I clawed at his wrist in hopes he would let me go and go to sleep, but he didn't.

"Stop crying!" The veins in his neck protruded past his hot skin and he raised his fist to meet my eye.

The mirror started to fog up due to the steam floating in the air. The hot water burned my skin and for just a moment, took my mind away from the pain I felt in my heart. I got out of the shower and tiptoed into the bedroom. I grabbed a pair of grey tracksuit pants and a black hoodie. With winter around the corner, it was getting easier to hide the marks.

Right as I slid my arms through the sleeves, I heard stirring from the bed behind me.

"I'm never drinking again." Will moaned and groaned, slinging his elbow over his eyes.

I chuckled to myself at his statement, oh the times I've heard those words fall from his lips.

"What time is it?" I looked at my wrist, "11:45."

"Ugh. Come lay with me." I looked over my shoulder to see him lying on his back with his arm stretched to the side. I slowly crawled up from the foot of the bed and laid with my back to his side, to hide my bruising from his vision.

His fingers brushed through my hair and I closed my eyes. His hand then grasped my shoulder and slowly turned me to face him and my stomach dropped. As I turned, his eyes were closed to fight his headache, but once I fully faced him they opened. His eyes set on my swollen eye and the marks on my neck and the colour drained from his face.

"Baby, what happened?" His eyes opened frantically and his hands cupped my cheeks.

My throat ran dry, "Oh my eye? Funny story, I was so drunk last night I couldn't get my shirt off so you tried to help me and I flung my arm back into my face." I lie through my teeth, trying to make my face look genuine.

"What about your neck? They can't be the same as the eye." He placed his finger under my chin and tilted my head up.

"Those are," I swallow, "hickeys." The words tasted vile as they passed through my lips.

His eyes widened momentarily, looking me in the eye, before a smirk presented itself on his lips and his eyes scanned back down my neck.

"Damn. Wish I could remember that." His fingers brushed over the bruises and I took in a sharp breath.

"Next time." I grabbed his hand and pulled it away from my neck, sitting it intertwined with mine in the space between our heads.

"How many weeks of school left until break? I wanna maybe go away for a week." His eyes closed and his face softened, I guess he has moved on from the bruising that litters my body.

"Um, today's the 20th right? Last day is the 26th, so Friday the kids will finish early and I'll have two weeks off. What did you have in mind?" My fingers traced shapes on his palm and he kept his eyes closed.

"Well, I wanted to go camping with the guys. Thinking maybe up the river, Hamish knows this spot right on the river that's pretty flat for our swags and shit. I'll let them know that next week works for me. I should shower, I feel disgusting." With that he sat up, groaning, and made his way out the door and up the hallway.

He didn't even mean taking me somewhere. But that means he is away from me for a week while he drinks, so it's not all bad.

The rest of Saturday was just spent on my laptop, looking at things for my classroom while Will went and had a nap and watched sports in the other room.

Sunday's are grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and odd job day. I went out and grocery shopped for two hours, battling with my trolley full of food in the pouring rain, decided against mowing the lawns in the cold June weather and spent the rest of the day practicing covering my eye bruise while Will was at work.

Let's just hope the kids aren't as observant as they usually are tomorrow.

this is a very short chapter, i'm rather disappointed hahaha.