No Midnight Mercy ☾ (gxg)

25-withdrawals

She thought was still dreaming when she heard someone mumbling and groaning.

Opening her eyes, she nearly forgot that she wasn't alone in her apartment until she saw a figure lurking over the couch. Waking up immediately, she remembered it was Cecilia and rubbed her sleepy eyes to clear her blurred vision. She watched the woman stand up from the couch, grabbing the bottle of water and chugging it eagerly.

Yawning, Eden climbed out of bed and stretched her arms, stepping past the open curtains. "Hey," she greeted.

Cecilia nearly choked on the water bottle as she snapped her head over to Eden, her eyes widening in shock. She stumbled back and looked around the apartment in bewilderment. "What? H-How did I get here?"

Eden wasn't so surprised to see that Cecilia couldn't remember anything. "I'm not so sure, myself." Cecilia's body must have woken up after her brain did, because she hissed and looked down at her gauzed hand as if it suddenly pained her. "You need to take that." Eden pointed to the tylenol she left on the table for her.

"Tylenol's not what I fucking need," Cecilia grumbled as she let the empty water bottle fall to floor, walking around the couch and nearly tripping over the corner as she made her way to the kitchen.

"There's water and food in the fridge," Eden stated, assuming that was what she was looking for. But when she watched the woman start hastily opening all the upper and lower cabinets like a wild animal, she realized what it was she was looking for. "There's no alcohol here, Cecilia."

"Then I'll go get some," Cecilia breathed, quickly walking towards the door as she slammed the cabinet closed, holding her injured hand against her stomach.

Eden sprinted across the room and slid in front of the door before Cecilia could reach it, grabbing the bat beside it and holding it up against the flat of the woman's chest, pushing her back gently. Cecilia looked at her and opened her mouth to demand her to move, but her eyes, now awake and sober, finally noticed the most obvious thing on Eden's face. Her eyes widened as they took in the big red knot on Eden's cheekbone which was swollen and bruised, and the dark purple discoloration all around Eden's eye which was also swollen. The whites of her eye were lined with red blood vessels that had obviously burst.

Cecilia's mouth fell open in shock. She couldn't believe she had been so drunk the night before and so disoriented only moments before that she hadn't even noticed it. "What happened?" she gasped.

Eden felt her cheeks burn red in embarrassment. Her eye looked and felt worse because she hadn't iced it since the previous evening. "It's not important."

"Yes, it is," Cecilia demanded, attempting to step forward but being stopped by the cold metal end of the bat against her chest. She looked down at the bat and up at Eden, and her eyes suddenly widened. She stepped back, holding onto the wall. "Did I..."

"No, you did not, Cecilia. Don't be fucking ridiculous, you pansy," Eden scoffed and rolled her eyes at the fact Cecilia thought she was the one who hurt her. Cecilia may have seemed intimidating, but in all actuality she wouldn't hurt a fly.

Cecilia sighed in relief. "Please let me see—" She tried to step forward again, but the bat stopped her. "It looks like it's broken, Eden."

"Fractured is the term," she corrected, feeling her cheekbone begin to throb with pain from the mere talk of it. "According to Oliver's mom, anyway."

"Who did this to you?" Cecilia pleaded, trying to think of any way it may have been her fault. The previous night began to flood back into her memories, and so did the events of the few days before. Then she remembered why she had gotten so drunk in the first place. Her worry faded into disgust. "That bulldog of yours, huh?"