The Broken Orphan [Being Rewritten]

Forty Nine- Secrets

I know there is no use in trying to reason with him. I drag myself out of the room and to the guest room. I start a warm bath to get cleaned up and lower myself slowly into the warm water. I sink into the bath and try to forget the pain. It leaves my body after a while. I clean myself up and make myself stop crying. It's not going to help anything. It will only make his angry because he says it's annoying. I slip on my loosest pair of pajamas and use the wall for support as I make my way to the guest bed. It's pretty common that I sleep here instead of with Josh. Sometimes he lets me sleep with him, but he never cuddles unless it's a very special occasion. I hold a pillow close to my body and pretend it's someone else. Someone who doesn't hit me. Someone who says nice things to me and likes me for me. For those few minutes I can feel hope. Only to have it die when I open my eyes again to see pillow and not a person. It will never happen.

"Happy anniversary Josh." I whisper to myself and drift to a much needed sleep.

I open my eyes to find myself sobbing uncontrollably in a bathroom floor. I remember that I'm in Luke's home and he is comforting Evangeline. I check my phone to see I've been in here for ten minutes crying. I pull myself off the cold tile floor and dab my blotchy face with a damp cloth to clean up a little.

To know that someone has been hurting her for so long is crushing my soul. I could have stopped him. She wouldn't have ever been hurt if I would have known.
'Why was I so stupid?' I scold myself. I can't stop a few more tears from leaking out as I open the bathroom door. Luke is standing against the opposite wall and I try to hide my face by looking down to the floor. He practically leaps off the wall to in front of me. He holds my shoulder lightly in one hand and brings his other up to my face. I turn my face away and brace for an impact that never comes. I open my tightly shut eyes to see a very confused and surprised Luke staring at me intently. I try to relax but it's proven difficult with him right in front of me. He touches the bottom of my chin lightly a tilts my face upwards to meet his. His eyes fill with concern as a tear rolls down my cheek. He suddenly pulls me into a hug and I break down in his arms. We somehow end up on the edge of his bed with him comforting me. When I finally calm down enough to get words out, I look up to him and he wipes away some of my tears.

"What about Evangeline?" I ask
"She's taking a nap." He says and brushes a piece of hair over my ear. "Wanna tell me why you are crying?" He ask
"It's.... a long story." I mumble
He checks his imaginary watch because he doesn't have his on and looks back to me. "We have time." He says
I sigh because I know he isn't going to give up.
"Oh to hell with it." I mumble to myself. "But, you have to promise me you won't lash out again." I order him
"Promise." He says. I take a deep breath to prepare myself. I wipe my cheek and stare at the floor in front of me because I know I won't be able to look at him while telling him.
"I haven't been in a relationship in a little over two and a half years, but trust me, that's not why I'm crying. My last relationship wasn't a good one. It lasted for almost two years before I finally came to my senses and broke it off. Well, more like the cops did." I say without looking at him

"His name wash Josh. I thought I was in love with him. We met in a coffee shop one day and he seemed really nice. We went out on a few dates and everything was... normal, I guess. That changed when he moved in with me. He became possessive at first, but I just thought it was because he didn't want anything to happen to me. That changed into him being very controlling. I couldn't go anywhere, talk to anyone, basically I couldn't do anything without his permission. I barely left the house, and when I did I had to text him every hour if I was at work. When I did go out, he would have to approve of my outfits. I lost a lot of my friends and kind of drifted away from my family." I say sadly. I can feel him looking at me, but I can't face him; not while I'm telling this story.