Handcuffs in Winter

Chapter Four

I coughed violently as water was forced in my face. I felt like I was drowning. I couldn't open my eyes and right away I knew I was standing in the shower. The sound of the water running was the only thing I could hear. A pair of strong hands forced me to stay under the water. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn't break free. "Taylor!" I screamed.

"Stop!" But he continued to hold me there. "TAYLOR!"

Finally, his grip fell and I slipped to the bottom of the tub. I coughed the rest of the water out and rubbed at my burning eyes. The water still fell on my head as I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was breathing hard. His sleeves were rolled up and his arms soaked. He turned away from me and paced the bathroom twice before sliding down the door to the floor. He continued to stare at me. I wasn't sure if it was anger or disappointment. All I know was I wanted him to look away. I couldn't handle anymore.

                      The morning was very uneasy. I remembered almost everything from last night. I had a couple black outs but like Keith said, it gets easier to rememeber everything. What I remembered had me too scared to walk downstairs. But the smell of food cooking made my stomach growl. I climbed out of bed and down the stairs. Taylor was standing in the kitchen in front of the stove. The sound of bacon sizzling was music to my ears. The smell was amazing. I tip toed up to the counter and stood on the other side waiting for Taylor to notice me.

He turned around with a piece of bacon in his mouth and staring down at what looked like the morning paper. When he did notice me, it wasn't a pleasent look. He didn't greet me with a smile or a good morning. He stared at me like I was some kind of freak. After an awkward silence, he dropped the paper on the counter and half of the stripe of bacon back on the plate. "Your stuff is in the living room if you need to change."

I forgot I had slept in Taylor's clothes. The shirt I came home in was soaked and my clothes were still at Keith's. I bit my bottom lip under his stares. "Hungry?" He finally asked.

"Yeah," I replied, trying to give him a smile. He didn't return one. He turned his back to me and pulled more bacon strips off the pan. I couldn't take him ignoring me and acting as if I was some stranger. I wanted to throw the newspaper at the back of his head. I wanted to slap him in the face and tell him to talk to me even though I was the one who needed it. "You can't just ignore me. Talk to me. Stop acting like I'm some stranger who intruded in your house."

It took him a long minute but he turned around to face me. I could tell he didn't want to talk. He was disgusted. The look on his face told it all. "Okay. Why'd you do it?"

"I needed answers," I told him.

"So you do more drugs? I'm trying to help you."

"I didn't ask for the help, Taylor! I didn't ask you to take me away from all that. I'm not asking you to change your life for me! Whatever my father is paying you, just take the money and go! I'm not going to change for my father!" He seemed surprised and my words.

"What makes you think this has anything to do with money? What makes you think this has anything to do with your father?"

"But you said--"

"I said nothing. If your father was still here, I'd be doing the same thing. If your father was dead--It has nothing to do with any of that. Don't you ever think I'm doing it to actually help you?"

I took a deep breath and turned away from the counter and Taylor. "Well quit while you're ahead. It's just going to back fire."

Before he said another word there was a knock on the front door. We exchanged looks before he left the stove and went to look out the window. He put his finger up to his lips and opened the door. "Officers." He greeted.