Hidebound

Chapter FortyEight

I jump as Teddy meows. I cover the window with the curtain once again and look at Teddy. He's standing in front of his bowl and I realise that we hadn't given him his dinner.

"Oh Teddy, I'm sorry" I mumble and feed him.

I watch the clock tick away and hope that the sound of a car will be heard soon as Hex returns home.

My phone starts to ring and I run to grab it, it's not Hex though; it's Harley. Which only makes me worry more. Had something happened at their house?

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hi, it's me. Did you tell Hex about today?" She asks. I hear the rumble of Banks' car in the background, its loud engine distinguishable.

"Yeah, I had to. He didn't take it well" I mumble and rub my forehead as I feel the ache of an headache coming on.

"Yeah, that was obvious" Harley scoffs "he came over here pissed and then just left with Banks" she informs me.

"He did?" I ask, shocked. They hadn't ever showed dislike towards each other but also didn't show a liking. Hex also found it hard to connect with people or trust them so it didn't surprise me that they didn't become best friends.

My hearts sinks knowing that he won't be home soon like he said he would be, but the sadness turns into anger quickly when I recognise that it's me being punished for something I can't control, a punishment I don't think even Hex is aware he's giving.

"Yeah, I don't know where they were going but don't worry. He's with Banks, he won't let him do anything stupid" she reassures me with a yawn. Hex must have caught them just before they were going to bed, after all Harley is opening Darby's tomorrow morning.

"Okay" I reply shakily. I really don't want to be here alone especially in the dark. I double check the front door is locked as I continue holding the phone to my ear.

"Will you be okay by yourself? I can come over until Hex is back" she offers. I hadn't bothered to hide my worry but I wasn't going to make her drive over here just to keep me company in my own home.

"No, I'll be fine. Let me know if you hear anything okay?" I ask and take a seat on the couch, ready to turn the tv on for the night while I wait for Hex to return.

"I will. Call me if you need me" she says before we hang up.

I hold my head in my hands and rub my temples, my headache growing but also the frustration is growing too.

I can't decide if I should be angry at Hex. On one hand he said he wouldn't leave and he did, but on the other hand he was told in anger management that if he felt like blowing up then he had to leave and that's better then the alternative of putting a hole in my wall.

But I'm allowed to be angry, especially when hours pass by, anger growing each time the big hand makes a rotation around the clock and by the time twelve o'clock strikes I stand from the couch. I keep the TV and the lights in the kitchen on in an attempt to make myself feel more comfrotble during the night.

I can't help but wonder how Hex is going to get up for work in the morning when he's still out and has to be awake in five hours, but I get rid of that thought quickly, that's not my problem and it will be his own fault.

I take Teddy with me, not because he can protect me but he'll make the bed feel less lonely as I climb in by myself. And in a moment of annoyance, I lock the bedroom door. If Hex comes home he can sleep on the couch.

I lie awake for hours, the annoyance turning into worry and fear that something had happened but then I would remember he's with Banks and it would lessen a bit and the cycle would repeat again and again, until I eventually fall asleep.

*

I wake from a half asleep/half awake state to the sound of a car. I recognise it as Banks loud engine, the same one I had heard on the phone to Harley earlier. I wince knowing that it has probably woken our neighbours.

Only moments later it leaves and the front door opens.

I expect to hear stumbling from intoxication but he sounds exactly how he left. Sober. The noise from the TV is switched off and the flick of the light switch can be heard as I see the light from under the crack of the bedroom door turn off and then Hex can be heard walking in the direction of our bedroom.

My heart lurches knowing that he's about to find out that I had locked the door on him and I begin to feel guilty but I don't move and unlock it. It's only one night, I can hold my ground for once.

He stops outside and I hear him trying to turn the door handle until he realises it's locked and then he stops. He stands outside the door for a while, the sound of our breathing the only thing heard in the apartment.

I wait for him to call out, to say something to me, maybe even beg me to let him in and tell me he's sorry for leaving but he doesn't. Instead, he turns and heads back out to the louge room. It sends a sharp pain to my chest.

It's the first night we had spent alone since Hex was released from Hellbound and I know I'm going to hate it, and I know I'm probably not going to get a lot of sleep but there's very few things I have asked for him to respect in terms of boundaries and he broke one tonight.