Try Me (18+)

Twenty Three

"Earth to Ezra." 

She removed her gaze from the window to Noah, who was standing in front of her with a small smile. He was no longer in a cast but his face still had a discolourations. 

"I know you're here against your will but you don't have to commit to the prisoner role." Noah attempted to joke lamely, gesturing towards the plain slice of bread on her plate that she was ripping apart. 

"We don't want Yong to think I'm actually comfortable here." She responded with a small laugh, earning a chuckle from Noah. At that moment Jude entered the room, Bam hot on his tail, dressed in plaid pyjama bottoms and hoodie. He stopped slightly in his tracks upon the sight of Ezra before continuing, ignoring their presence. 

Jude was caught of guard by the fact that Ezra was sitting there, laughing with Noah as if nothing had hppened. He had anticipated Ezra to be clingy, perhaps even needy after their night together. But here she was, sharing jokes and laughter with Noah as if he didn't exist. He couldn't help but feel a confusing mixture of relief and surprise. Relief that she wasn't trying to latch onto him emotionally or as an attempt to help sway Yong into releasing her, and surprise that she seemed perfectly content without him. Jude couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this situation sparked an internal conflict within him. What exactly did her indifference towards him mean? He found it hard to believe she did it just for comfort, from the start of her captivity she had been relentless, even physically getting hurt in attempt to escape. She hated them, all of them who were keeping here against her will, she made that very clear. So how? Or why? Why would she now suddenly want comfort from him? He glanced at her while she talked to Noah. But then again, he shrugged mentally, she had found what seemed to be a strong friendship with Noah, perhaps she truly was lonely. Whatever, it didn't matter now. 

"Ezra, what happened?" Noah suddenly asked, noticing a nasty purple bruise on her collarbone, it was partially hidden by her shirt and so he,without realising, reached over to pull the fabric aside, revealing an even large bruise. His eyes widened and Ezra quickly slapped his hand away, covering it up again. Fuck, she had forgotten about the hickeys. Thank God Jude had been all over her chest instead of neck, otherwise it would have been too hard to explain. An idea popped up into her head. Noah didn't live here and so if she could manipulate him into believing that she was getting hurt and it wasn't safe for her to be here, perhaps he could help orchestrate another escape, only this time it would be succesful. Thankfully Jude was far enough behind her and unable to see her expression. 

"N-nothing." She whispered, clutching on to the bruised area as she forced a tear to slide down her face. Where was her Oscar? She sniffled, wiping it away before looking up at Noah with a somber smile. "I'll head back to my room, see you around." She turned around and left the kitchen hurriedly, slowing down when she was far enough away. She was suprised to see how angry Noah seemed. His expression was filled with genuine concern and anger. She almost felt bad for her manipulation. Key word, almost. At the end of the day, they had done more to hurt her. This was nothing. 

"Jude?" Noah questioned, after watching Ezra scurry off. Something was going on, someone was hurting her. He knew it must have seemed irrational for it to bother him seeing as she had been kidnapped and the entire situation calls for her being hurt, but he knew Yong wouldn't hurt her. Hell, he was doing all this to protect her so it had to be someone else. 

"What?" Jude responded, sitting at the kitchen island as he sipped on his banana milk. 

"Ezra, she had a huge bruise on her collarbone, do you know anything about it?" Jude looked up at Noah as he finished his drink before placing it down on the counter. 

"No and why would I?" He responded in his usual, stoic manner. Before he could leave, Noah grabbed his arm. 

"Jude, someone is hurting her." Jude stared at him, seconds passed and to Noah's surpise a chuckle left his mouth before it returned its stoic expression. Jude pulled his arm out Noah's grasp harshly and took a step towards him. 

"So?Am I supposed to care?  You're forgetting the girl's supposed to be dead anyway. Every day she gets to breath is a blessing." 

"Jude, she's a human being. This isn't ri-" 

"One beating wasn't enough?" Noah was silenced, the memory of Yong's anger towards him enough to keep him quiet. "We are murderers, you are a murderer. What were you doing on the night you first saw her?"

"Burning a body." 

"Exactly." Jude seethed. "So get off your fucking moral highground. Your hypocrisy is sickening." With that he turned around and stormed out of the room. Leaving Noah to his realisation that he was in fact a hypocrite and the question was now whether he was going to do something about it. 

A/N: It's been foreeever guys sorry :( I just lost motivation to write cause i felt like nobody was reading this. I hope some of you are now. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please let me know what you think!!!