Nude » h.s (#Wattys2016)

xliii

Those nights were printed on my mind, they had scarred me badly. I was seventeen when it first happened and Alexander did nothing to stop him, he pretended like he didn't notice Ethan sneaking into my room late at night completely wasted. At first I liked Ethan, he was nice to me and showed interest in me, but that changed when he started touching me in ways that I didn't like. The innocent kisses and hugs were long gone, they were replaced with lust. He forced me to do things that I didn't want and he took advantage of me so that he could satisfy his own needs. Nights of crying and begging him to stop haunted my dreams since then, but Harry had somehow managed to make me forget. His touch and kisses made me feel loved and not dirty, his smile and the way he looked at me made me feel beautiful. Now I lost him, too.

"He has hurt you. He caused you pain, physically and emotionally." Harry said in disgust, lifting his hand up to touch my face with his warm fingers. My eyes filled with tears as he said that and I bit my lip. The feeling of his fingers brushing my cheek delicately relaxed me a bit and I wanted nothing more than to lean into his touch, but as I closed my eyes he dropped his hand down and his stare darkened once again. "Yet, you ran back to him like a good Doll that you are. I gave you everything and I was willing to change for you, I wanted to show you love, but you ruined everything! Anything good that I felt for you is now gone. You chose to be with him behind my bad and you helped them destroy me!" He yelled in anger, clenching his fist and I flinched.

"I was forced to do it, Harry. I had no choice!" I told him. He chuckled darkly, shaking his head.

"What do you mean you had no choice? You could have chosen to tell me the truth. Don't try to deny it, Ethan told me everything, he told me that you helped them and he even confessed that he killed Agnes. They are planning to ruin me and you fucking helped them. I should have never taken you from the Dollhouse. I just needed an excuse to be there again and see them, but it was a stupid thing to do. I was a fool to even believe that you were different from them, you are just like them, Angelina. A slut willing to open your legs to Ethan and any other man, for money and attention!" He said. His words pierced my heart like a knife and even though I knew that it wasn't him talking, but the alcohol in his system, I did what I probably shouldn't have done. I raised my hand in the air and slapped him across the face.

His head turned to the side and I brought my hand up to my chest too shocked by what I just did. Harry licked his lips and clenched his jaw as he titled his head to the side to look at me.

"I-I'm s-sorry." I stammered.

Before I could form another word, though, Harry was on me. His hand wrapped around my neck and he pushed my back against the wall roughly, knocking the air out of me. His grip at first wasn't strong, but was enough to stop me from moving and his other hand was placed on my hips as his fingers dug into my flesh.

"Harry." I whispered, tears falling down my cheeks. My heart was thumping wildly and I was breathing heavily. I was truly scared, he wasn't himself anymore.

He tightened his grip around my neck and slowly brought his face closer to mine, his hot breath fanning over my lips. He looked at my lips and then back at me, seeing for the first time my tears.

"I don't even want to look at you. You disgust me. Whenever I look at you I picture you with him and then I remember Agnes. It's your fault, everything happened because of you." He said in a low voice, staring deep into my eyes. I tried to raise my hand to touch him, but stopped myself when I saw him flinch away and felt his nails on my skin applying preassure.

"Please, Harry. I never wanted to hurt you. I-I lov-" I cried.

"Don't fucking say it! I'm tired of your lies. I don't want to hear any more bullshit." He yelled in my face, tightening his grip around my neck and causing my hands to grab his wrist. I shook underneath his and moved, kicking my legs in hopes to make him let go of me. He was suffocating me and I couldn't breath properly.