Song: 'Treat You Better' by Shawn Mendes
I won't lie to you
I know he's just not right for you
And you can tell me if I'm off
But I see it on your face
When you say that he's the one that you want
And you're spending all your time
In this wrong situation
And anytime you want it to stop
I know I can treat you better than he can
And any girl like you deserves a gentleman
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HANNAH'S POV
After crossing multiple corridors, we finally exited the darn building and entered a dimly lit but abandoned alley, with a few cars parked here and there.
"Elijah, slow down, let go of me," I cried out because of how fast he was dragging me. He didn't listen.
Flinching in pain I tried to get rid of his firm hold, "Elijah, let go of my hand; it's already hurting!"
That made him stop. Taking the opportunity, I yanked his hand away and tried to normalize my irregular breathing while soothing the burning skin.
"He did this, didn't he?" He held my hand again, gently this time, to examine the fresh bruises. I looked away not to further aggravate him, but it rather confirmed his suspicion.
"That mother fucker!" he hissed, and my eyes widened again as I heard him say this a second time, "I'm going to kill that fucking bastard!" pushing me out of his way lightly, he tried going back inside, but I held his arm and stopped him.
"Stop it," I almost pleaded with my eyes. "The security took him away as you made sure of it. And you've done enough damage to him already; God knows what those bouncers will do to him now."
"Are you feeling bad for him?" He looked at me in disbelief and said, "I told you to fucking not move, but you just don't listen, ever. Tell me, do you want me to take you back so he can continue what he started, huh?" He aggressively put his hand under my chin to look at him. "Come, I'll take y..."
Smack!
Wait, did I just slap him? No way!
Yes, way. Don't be too shocked; you know he deserved it.
Can't argue there. I'm not a violent person, but boy, did that feel good.
"I'm surprised it took me this long to do it, better late than never. But I'm done being pushed over by you and your menstrual mood swings. Not anymore. Not by you, not by him, not by anyone else," I lashed out.
I don't think the slap could've done him much damage because of how tall he is and how petite I am, but I can tell it was enough to catch him off guard, for his eyes widened for a few seconds before they went back to normal.
"It would've saved us so much trouble had it been him on the receiving end of this slap." his calm tone contradicted his merciless stare. I slapped him, and this is what his response is.
What else did you expect for him to slap you back?"
Perhaps.
"And you're exempt from it because, oh, you're a portrait of 'good behavior'." I air-quoted sarcastically.
"I would never force myself on you, and you know that." He glanced at me sincerely, I looked down at that.
"Don't you dare look away now. Look at me when I talk to you," he commanded and I obliged wordlessly.
He tried reading what was going on inside me but he failed. His gaze intensified with fury when I just stood there like a statue.
"What the hell is wrong with you? What were you thinking? Coming here alone with people you hardly know," stepping away he shouted in frustration.
"Tell me, how well did you know these people to go partying with them?" He came closer again, frustration replaced with anger now.
"How well did I know you before I got married to you?" I retorted back, angry at him and myself.
Silence.
"Well, that should've taught you," he replied distantly after a while.
"It did," I tried to match his vacant stare. "It taught me to take people by their words; if someone says they're good, I don't doubt them, and if someone says they'll fuck me up, I believe them," my eyes hardened.
"What, no comeback?" He stayed silent, and by the flashes of guilt I saw in his eyes, I knew he didn't have any counter arguments.
"I thought so." I said assertively, "Thank you for what you did for me today. Seriously, I owe you. But I'm done for the day; I've had enough. So I mean this in the humblest way possible, but please, get lost. Please!" I pushed him aside, walking a few steps away, and he let me.
I rigorously rubbed my face, then took my hands up to my hair and pulled at them not knowing what else to do or feel. I was angry at him, Max, and myself, and it was making me exhausted.
"You knew all this while that I was here, didn't you? When I suspected someone was watching me, it was you, wasn't it?" I started again despite telling him otherwise; I just could not let it go. "You knew what kind of man he is; why didn't you intervene sooner, huh?" I accused him vulnerably, my emotions all over the place.
They were piling up within me for so long and now were finally bursting out, needing answers to his behavior instead of brushing them under the carpet.
"I did warn you," he replied.
"Yeah, you did; 'just be careful,' you said." His response aggravated me more. "Be careful not to trip on my steps or be careful from getting myself trapped with a molester, possibly a rapist? Well, thanks fucking much for being so clear, you asshole! Waiting for the final moment to become a hero in a situation I was in because of you." I was so overwhelmed with everything that I pushed him with both my hands.
The jerk didn't even budge but rather held me up against some random car behind me. He held my wrist not too firmly but enough to seize any movement and pushed himself closer to me. Our connected bodies ignited sparks within me.
"Watch your tongue, Hannah; I'm trying to watch out for you, though you're making it very hard." He looked intensely into my eyes.
"And how did you want me to intervene sooner when I didn't know you were out with that douche? When I try to tell you something or stop you, you go against my words and do exactly that. And when today I let you be on your own because you wanted that, somehow I'm still the bad guy?" His voice was no louder than a whisper.
"You must be rejoicing inside, won't you?" His stone-cold facial muscles contracted in confusion as much as they could. "You think I deserved what happened inside there, don't you?" My voice broke down. "It was my fault, wasn't it? You warned me, and yet I went out, so you think I wanted this. Because for you, I'll always be a slut," the thought alone crushed me from inside.
"I'm sorry, I ruined your date. Go back to the girl you had in your arms. You came here for her, didn't you? You should not waste any more of your time here with me. I'm sorry." I tried to free myself, but he held me tighter.
"Are you mad or what? You're the girl in my arms, Hannah!" His voice raised as he pulled me closer if that was possible, "You think I care about a girl whose even name I don't know? I wasn't here on a date; it's my fucking club! That girl was to keep myself distracted so I don't come over to you and pull you away from the bastard that you chose to be with like an idiot. If not for that, I would've ripped him to shreds then and there when he touched you and tried to shove his glass in your face." He's bluffing, isn't he? Was that girl just a ploy? Did he really see everything?
"What did you think his intentions were? It was all over his face the moment he laid his eyes on you. Yes, I warned you a couple of times; I even tried to keep him away from you, yet you went back to him, and that too behind my back. That moron dared to bring you here to my club, then abandoned you to fuck another girl in the bathroom!" My eyes forgot to blink as I took in every word of his outburst.
"It took every ounce of restraint in me to respect your decision because I swear the thought of throwing you over my shoulder and taking you back home crossed my mind a thousand times." a mixed sensation of bitter and sweet pulsated within me as an image of him doing that popped at the back of my head.
But the hurt resurfaced because he didn't actually do that in real life.
"I know you don't owe me anything." I don't know why, but everything he said enraged me further. "You didn't have to rescue me or give two shits about me; trust me, I FUCKING KNOW! But if it wasn't for you leaving me alone on my own when you damn well knew I'm not okay, all this mess wouldn't have happened. I was angry and hurt that you left me alone because you had to be your fucking self and go out." Oh God, I'm so going to regret saying all this later.
"Trust me, this wasn't the first time someone left me alone, and it wasn't the last either, but on some days you don't want to be alone. So when he offered to take me out, I accepted. Not because he was there for me but because you weren't." Guilt flashed in his eye, but he masked it instantly.
"I asked, but you refused. Why didn't you say all this then?" Why is he answering back with logic? Like shut up, please.
"And give you the satisfaction of my vulnerability, to beg you that I need you? And even if I would've, as if that would've stopped you!" I snickered in mockery.
"Yes, Hannah, it would have." His eyes didn't waver one bit as he gazed deeper and deeper into mine. "I can't read your mind. I'm not God!"
"Well, neither am I!" I retaliated, "One minute you saved and comforted me, but then the next minute you're distant and cold. Just make up your mind and stop messing with me. I don't understand you or anything you do; you weren't ready to spear me a glance in the evening, and now you were ready to kill him for me. Why? Why were you so angry at..."
"Because no one can touch what's mine!" I gasped as he banged the car's window; his brown orbs turned so dark they looked almost black, impenetrable.
My breath hitched at his claims, and a warm shiver ran through my body.
'Mine'
He can't possibly mean... can he?
"You came here with me on my responsibility," he added. "If something happened to you, it would've been a failure on my part. And I do not fail." He said it as a matter of fact.
Oh, well, so this is what he meant; I should've known. He thinks of me as his burden and...
...not his?
Ah, what a fool I am to misinterpret his words. Don't I know my place in his life?
"Fair enough!" I jerked his hand away, suddenly feeling repulsive to his touch, and folded my arms to take him on his words. I needed answers. "Then, what took you so bloody long to react, huh? Oh, I know why. Because you were busy touching someone else. Blame me all you want because that's what you always do without knowing anything," my eyes hardened.
An image of him with that girl fogged my mind once again, killing the butterflies I felt in my stomach. His confession left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I couldn't help but spew it out.
"I'm not blaming you, Hannah, at least not this time," his eyes softened.
"Are you not? Then why I keep seeing accusations in your eyes like what happened was my fault?"
"Because I didn't expect you to not put up a fight! What happened to you inside the club, Hannah?" he asked gently this time. This question was the one that I've been trying to get away from since the nightmare with Max ended. "Where did all this feistiness of yours go? Why did you not respond to him the way you fight with me? You just stood there like a statue, waiting for what to happen, huh? How could you let him do that to you like a damsel in distress waiting to be saved? What if I wasn't here tonight? What if no one would've helped you? What if you were..."
"I don't know, I don't freaking know, OKAY! I've been asking that myself too." I just lost it completely. " I don't know what happened; it was like my mind shut down or something. I don't know why I even let him be near me, let alone let him assault me. The things he said to me are still ringing in my ears; they make me feel filthy and nauseating. You think I wanted to act like that? A damsel in distress waiting for my knight in shining armor? No, Elijah, I wasn't. And though I knew of your presence, I still didn't count on you to come to my rescue or come at all; you know why? Because I don't trust you, and no, I'm not your fucking responsibility; I know my place in your life. Because since day one, more than once you have made me feel the way that Max did today. Each and every word you've said to me left a scar on my heart. No matter how much I try to shake them away, they fucking don't leave. Do you know why I stood there at his mercy? Because in the end, no one comes to save me; I SAVE ME! I fight for me, and I bandage my own wounds."
I cried out in agony, letting all the hurt of today and the past come to the surface. "And maybe I was tired or it was the exhaustion of a panic attack, I don't know. But when today he said and did all those things, I gave up. I couldn't muster up the courage to fight another battle, so I thought one loss might end it all." Relentless tears were cascading down my cheeks.
I didn't know all of this was building up inside me only to come out like this. It didn't make me feel light, but all this outburst rather reinforced a headache that was already there.
I didn't realize he was leaning up against me until he straightened up; his tall, lean body brushed up against mine. Both his hands took hold of my cheeks as I cried uncontrollably. With his thumbs, he wiped away my tears simultaneously.
His soft caresses were like the touch of rose petals; his strong cologne rendered me breathless, and my eyes closed on their own. His soft breaths fanning my face had a tranquilizing effect on me. I unknowingly licked my lips, which felt dry. I heard him inhale sharply.
"God, you'll be the death of me," his deep husky voice was barely a whisper, his thumb lightly grazed my now wet lips. It held so much passion that I couldn't help but open my eyes, I sighed helplessly.
His face was dangerously close to mine now; the intimacy and loss of control I saw in his eyes aroused something from my deepest core that I didn't know existed. The tension between our bodies was so thick that it could be fut with a knife.
The second he caught the glimpse of need on my face, he didn't waste any time. His lips crashed down on mine, hard. They held urgency as his life depended on it, and I think mine did too.
My trembling lips responded immediately, relishing everything he was offering to me. The kiss held the comfort I needed at the moment; it held passion; it held aggression even, and by God, he was giving it all.
His hands wrapped around my waist possessively, leaving no room for air between our bodies. I don't know when my arms wrapped around his neck possessively or when my feet stopped touching the ground; I was lost in the magical sensation I was feeling. It was like a glass of cold lemonade on a hot summer day-something that you can't get enough of but keep wanting more of.
Our warm bodies rubbed against each other rendering me senseless of anything aside what we had in this moment, our hands busy exploring anything and everything, causing friction that can only be described as magnetic.
Neither of us was ready to let go as we continued devouring each other; our lips fought for dominance. I groaned in his mouth when he bit my bottom lip, catching me by surprise. He took advantage of that as his tongue entered my mouth, exploring its every nook and cranny. It's only then I realised what cloud nine must feel like.
I know he cheated, but I didn't mind; it was a battle I wasn't aiming to win.
After that, he masterfully took charge of what I could easily call the most breathtaking kiss of the century. Our lips moved in great accord and passion; both of us were panting relentlessly, but neither of us felt the need for air; it wasn't a necessity anymore. I don't know how long we kept going; I lost track of time.
I lost count of how many times I moaned when his skillful tongue invaded deeper in my mouth. Every weak sound that left my mouth gave him new energy and zeal.
I never want to stop feeling this way, it was more than I could take but man who was I to give up on this heavenly sensation.
I got back to my senses when a car moved past us honking, its headlights blinding our closed eyes. I opened my eyes at that and abruptly pushed him away, creating some distance. Elijah respected that and stepped aside, but not far away; he moved from in front of me to my side; both our backs were now against the car's doors.
I don't know how, but after such an erotic kiss, his breathing was still very much in control; the only giveaway was the slight rise and fall on his flat chest.
I, on the other hand, had my heart twisted in knots, for I was unable to breathe or think properly. I was heaving like a dying hyena in need of an oxygen mask. The kiss was so consuming and sensual that I felt my legs would give out any minute now.
Thankfully they didn't, and I got some time to get myself back together.
"You can't go about kissing me every time you please!" I said shakily hiding the blush that persisted to stay on my burning cheeks as I got most of my breathing back to normal.
"You didn't seem to protest when you kissed me back. In fact, something tells me you enjoyed it a little too much." His tone held a hint of a smirk.
Without changing his position, he slightly turned towards me and, with his right-hand thumb, wiped his lips. I didn't have the nerve to look him in the eyes, but from my peripheral, I could see him examining my lipstick stain on his thumb smugly.
"You're such an asshole!" My face flushed further at his actions and my words lost their power.
He's right, though; I have enjoyed the kiss a lot. It was the kind of kiss everyone reads about in books and sees in movies, but very few actually experience in real life. My tingling, swollen lips are a testament to that.
This is the first time I don't regret kissing him; there are no ifs and buts in my head, but pure bliss. I didn't know that a simple act of kissing could change my mood by 180 degrees.
It was too good to be true.
........................................................................
Author's note
Who could've guessed a new update would drop so soon?
And what an update it is.
I initially intended both chapters to drop together but decided against it. Yet I couldn't wait to share this chapter with y'all, so here it is earlier than ever.
Since it's a long chapter, I get to write very few words for the closing credits, so I'll make it short.
This was a challenging chapter to write; since it deals with a rise and fall of emotions, I had to rewrite it multiple times. Since the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, like our protagonists, I struggle to express mine as well.
But I think I did pretty okay. Writing it makes me feel so giddy inside as if I'm the reader. It had aggression and passion and a kiss to die for.
Uff, the kiss! Hannah and I both are still feeling dizzy from the aftereffects of the sensual, bone-crushing kiss.
I hope it evokes butterflies in your stomach and puts an ear-to-ear smile on your face too.
I love reading your comments and theories and the anticipation for the next chapters. I love all of it. Leave as many comments as you can on each line and paragraph; trust me, I won't mind.
Please show this chapter the love it deserves, vote, comment, and share.
Much love ð