Elastic Heart (Dilmer Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Thank you so so much for your feedback and likes on this so far. It's so reassuring. I was nervous posting this story as it's so different to what I normally post/write. This chapter is a basic summary of how Demi is in the position she is the next chapter will contain Dilmer scenes so don't worry!

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Demi POV

I woke up the next morning in so much pain. Despite taking two of the prescribed tablets last night it hardly touched the pain. I saw the man I was supposed to love lying down next to me, an alight cigarette in the small bowl, it made me cough instantly as the vapor was being sucked into my lungs. I didn’t choose this life, it claimed me. It was like having some grab a hold of you and never letting go. One day I woke up in this tiny apartment and that was my fate sealed. These four walls were all I ever saw, I was hardly allowed out, unless of course that involved hospital trips that were supervised by my husband who spent the whole time in the car and would keep his eyes like a hawk stalking his pray on the doors I walked in. I debated going out the back on one of the many occasions I went to the A&E department but I knew he had friends who “magically” happened to live in the block of houses out the back entrance. To summarize I was stuck in this torture day in and day out. I was allowed to go shopping with his agreement if he was ever running low on tobacco or beer but that was it. I had hardly seen my parents since we got married and they rarely ever made the effort to see me. We went around monthly for a dinner when the rest of the family would turn up and that was it til the next month. My life had gone from being unpredictable to a monthly schedule that I was stuck on like a broken record; it hadn’t always been that way though…

It had started about 3 years ago, I had just moved out of my childhood home with my parents, I had a rocky relationship with them since my teens and couldn’t wait to get my own independence, something I had needed for such a long time. I got a job in a nearby diner, it wasn’t anything splendid but it paid the rent for my one bedroom flat and also left enough over that I could afford to eat and buy essentials and the odd treat for myself. I felt settled and content for the first time in my life. One night after my shift ended I got into a little trouble as I took the lock off my bike and went to ride home. Some of the drunken guys from the diner came out and began to hold me inappropriately, I told them to leave yet they ignored my every word, I pushed one of them to the ground and that only agitated them til they had one of their hands viciously invading up my skirt. It was then a man I had not seen before frightened them away and punched the one who had touched me to ground, he whimpered as he wiped away the running blood from his nose. He introduced himself as ‘Matthew Davis’ and I told him my name. I blushed remembering the way he said my eyes matched my heart, they pure and full of gold. I told him to come to the diner where I worked the next day and I would get him a free meal as a thank you. It was that moment I regretted the most in my whole life. I shouldn’t have done that. That was the day that everything in my life changed. It was the day he came, we sat and talked the whole shift in between my duties, after it finished we went back to his and we talked more after we’d talked til the early morning he brought me back in his car to get my bike and then walked me home. After that we spent every day together whether it was the evenings after I finished work or vice versa. He was a businessman involved in a large company that sold electronics and the prospects were flourishing every day for him and his role. After several months we began dating and things only went up from there. After a year I officially moved into his two-bedroom apartment in the nicer part of town and then a year later we married.  We’d only been married a few months when the attacks began. To begin with I thought it was just the alcohol he’d naturally consume with every meal but as they began to get more regular and more personal I realised this wasn’t a blip, it wasn’t an accident it was intentional. He didn’t love me the way he told me he did, he couldn’t. Still now I wish I could run, I would. I didn’t love him anymore not since the moment I first ended up in hospital with a hairline fracture in my arm. The first time I broke something was after the worst fight we ever had. He had called up my boss and told him I couldn’t work anymore, he didn’t even ask me first just went ahead and did it and what’s worse was the only reason my boss accepted my resignation via him was because he threatened he’d kill him if he didn’t. My boss had noticed the way he looked at me, like I was his possession and whenever they had spoken on the rare occasions when he’d pick me up after a late shift the conversation were always heated yet awkward. I remember shouting at him, telling him he couldn’t control me that he didn’t own me, I didn’t want to be with him anymore and that was when his hand first connected to my cheek. The pain I still feel now, the sting it left was worse than an insect sting. He kept pushing me once I fell onto the floor, kicking, punching, doing anything that made me scream or moan because my skin was slowly changing and bruising. It was then he grabbed my arm with his might and twisted it and slammed it against the wall. The tears didn’t stop that night til he took me to the hospital realizing I wasn’t me being dramatic that he’d actually caused me a serious injury. The doctor confirmed the fracture and taped my arm up, he didn’t question my slightly bruised cheek as my husband made sure to mention that I had fallen down the stairs and he’d be making sure I took better care in the future. Only if then I realised that would be main reason I’d use to why I was going in time after time with different injuries. That night be brought me home and it was like nothing had ever happened, he was lovely, kind, modest, he made a cup of coffee exactly the way I wanted and carried me to bed and changed me before giving me the cup. I couldn’t smile no matter how much he tried to show remorse. I didn’t feel it. I didn’t care what excuses he made, this wasn’t something new, it wasn’t something I should be accepting and yet a year later I still did. I never intended to stay but I was scared. The fear in my eyes was too apparent every time he spoke to me. He once threatened me that he’d hunt me down til he found me and would kill me on the spot if I ever left him. I believed him. I knew he meant it. He wasn’t one for sarcasm or humor every thing that left his lips was serious.

This time he had used the excuse I didn’t clean his plate from the night before as a reason to beat me. He was clever that way every time he touched me he made sure he had a reason even if it was completely ridiculous. I got out of bed quietly; I didn’t want to wake him yet I needed the peace even if I only got another hour of it. While he slept I was safe however sad it was to admit it was true. I crept into the kitchen; the long t-shirt I wore was just covering down to my knees and barely clung to my figure. I stepped over the broken pieces of porcelain that was scattered across the kitchen floor. I grabbed a broom once I was sure no sharp pieces had got stuck on the sole of my foot and began sweeping them into a small pile so I could put them into the bin and save anymore injuries being caused. I heard footsteps when I was bent down on the floor scrapping the remaining shards and looked up. he came towards me and bent down to my height. I instantly closed my eyes preparing myself for the harsh contact that could go anywhere on my face that was still facing yet he didn’t. he kissed my forehead, brushing the stray hairs away from my eyes and began to sweep up the remaining pieces. As I stood up I winced, grabbing my ribcage and fought off the tears with any once of dignity I had left. “Go sit on the couch, I’ll bring your breakfast through” I went to protest but he soon interrupted. “Toast okay?” I just nodded sadly and left for the couch. Arguing would only lead to more injuries and right now the pain I was in was unbearable.

We sat in awkward silence while we ate, the only noise available was the sound of him munching on the toast and the television he had turned on low. I knew something was happening the second he began to act like we some married normal couple with the picketed fence, loveable dog and a child on the way. He stood up taking my plate off my lap once I finished and put into the sink gently before turning around seeing I had followed him through. I had learnt that lesson harshly before, don’t ever stay seated, make sure you follow him in case he wanted something done that second.

“Dem, can you go put some make up on and hide that umm coloring on your cheek?” he couldn’t even admit to what he caused, it was a bruise, a deep purple bruise on my skin. I nodded and rushed off into the bathroom that was connected to our bedroom. I stood in front of the mirror layering about four coats of foundation onto my skin til it looked a shade lighter but covered up the bruising well enough no one would suspect anything.

“Where are we going?” I said almost whispering to him. a part of me deep down didn’t want to know.

“Your parents of course” he smiled and put his arms around my waist as he tried to hold me while I focused on applying the makeup more even onto my skin.

“please let go, it hurts” I whimpered, I felt his fingers play with the broken ribs, every touch was like a knife entering my skin, the soreness didn’t fade it continued until they were fixed and even then because they had been broken so often I knew I’d have continuous trouble with them til I was dead.

“I think you’re forgetting princess I make the requests around here” he smirked at me in the mirror before pushing his fingers in deeper. I chocked on the air as I gasped so loudly to try stop the tears rolling down my cheeks. I will not let him win.

“Stop crying, we need to go.” He summoned as he walked out of the room leaving me alone.