the silence

fourteen.

warning: domestic violence

    eddy drove home with shaky hands, his heart pounding so badly he could feel it in his fingertips. he had to tell mae to leave. he had to. he'd already gotten way too involved with brett to keep any trace of his old relationship going, for the sake of everyone in the situation.

    no, it wasn't fair to mae that he cheated on her. he knew that. but, honestly, he and mae had been over for a long time. they just hadn't said the words yet. and brett was just so... irresistible. there was nothing about him that eddy didn't absolutely adore, whereas mae was the opposite. it just made sense to be with brett.

    but what would it mean to be with brett? eddy thought, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. it was obvious that they had feelings for each other. but what were they supposed to do now?

    eddy pulled into his driveway and sighed deeply before getting out of the car. he opened the front door and saw mae sitting on the couch as usual. her hair was wet, indicating that she'd just showered. her head turned quickly as eddy walked inside.

    "long time no see," she said bitterly, standing up. eddy shrugged.

    "hi," he said simply. mae looked him up and down and noticed the hickeys covering his neck.

    "what the fuck are those!?" she shouted, pointing at them. eddy didn't flinch.

    "you know exactly what they are."

    "yeah. you're right. so i guess my question is who the fuck gave them to you? who the hell did you fuck?" she spat, poking eddy's chest hard. he looked down at her.

    "it doesn't matter."

    "doesn't matter!? you fucking cheated on me and you're telling me it just doesn't matter!? what the fuck? what did i do to you, eddy!?" she screeched. eddy scoffed.

    "did you honestly just ask me what you did to me? you've been a completely different person ever since right before we moved here. you treat me like i'm worthless and you beat the shit out of me. do you not see anything wrong with that? really?" he said, narrowing his eyes at her. she laughed.

    "i'm not the one who's changed, eddy. you have. and i'm getting really sick of it."

eddy just stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing.

    "excuse me?" he scoffed. "i've changed?"

    "yeah, you have. you're not eddy anymore. you're cold and mean to me and you don't care what i do. you used to be sweet to me, but now it's like you don't even care what i'm doing."

    "you're the one who's been really different, mae. you're so mean to me. you've literally been—"

    eddy's sentence was interrupted by mae's hand around his neck, her long nails digging into his skin. he gasped and grabbed at her fingers.

    "you don't tell me how i've been acting, eddy. i've been acting perfectly normal."

    he couldn't do or say anything. he'd underestimated how difficult this was going to be.

    "i want you to leave," he said, his voice strained as he jerked her hand away from him. she laughed.

    "me? leave? no, eddy. i'm not going anywhere. i'm going to stay with you until you learn to behave," she growled, grabbing his hair and slamming his head against the wall. he pushed her hard away from him.

    "what the hell is wrong with you!?" eddy shouted, rubbing his head. mae grabbed him again and pushed him to the floor.

    "you're going to learn. you can't do this to me, eddy," she spat, kicking him in the ribs.