being married

v.

f i v e

"I'm so glad you called me."

I looked over at the nice cashier, he had a look on his face as if he wasn't too sure if he should call the police on this guy with his arms around me. After all, I could tell it looks as if I didn't really want to be touched by Jacob. I didn't exactly know this guy. I've only had lunch with him once, I barely know him.

'It's fine.' I mouthed to the bearded man. He nodded. I wasn't too sure but I felt safe with Jacob. "Come on, I gotta get something cold on your face." He tilted my head towards the light before nodding towards the man and walking out the store with my hand in his.

The cool autumn breeze hit me like a brick but didn't affect the warmth Jacob's hand provided. He ushered me into his grey Mustang and we drove away into the opposite direction from which I came.

💍

"How's this?"

"Wha-" I froze. Jacob placed a cold bag of green peas on my face and kept it there as he relaxed and watched me. "Uh, thanks."

"No problem, just remind me to put a bandage on that cut. This is just to take down the swelling." I nodded. I placed my hand on the bag to hold it up, replacing his. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

I shook my head slowly, "I don't want to talk about that right now." He mumbled a silent okay before looking at the television. I lay my head on his chest and embraced his warmth. "Tell me about yourself." Jacob broke the comfortable silence. "There's not much to tell."

"I doubt that," he said, a smile evident in his voice. "Come on, just tell me anything that makes you you." I shrugged. I was pretty stubborn when it came to talking about myself. He sighed, "How old are you?"

"20."

"Wait, for real?" I nodded. What? Did he think I was 30 or something? Just the thought of getting older made me depressed. "I thought you were younger," he said. "When is your birthday?" I never quite thought of my birthday until he brought it up. Usually, I dreaded the day, it was nothing but a boring day like every other day. "In the next two months."

"November baby? Nice. I turned 21 a month ago. Where are you from?" I contemplated for a while before saying, "Where was I born? No where important."

He sighed loudly, his voice vibrating his chest and echoing in my ear, "Stop being so difficult."

"I'm from Germany."

"Well, that's unexpected. Are your parents in Germany?"

"No, my dad died."

He placed a light kiss on my hair, "I'm sorry to hear that." I remained silent. "Where's your mother?" I didn't want to answer that question because I didn't want to talk about her. She always found a way to sneak her way back into my life after I try my best to burn each and every memory. "How did you meet Chris?" But I was comfortable telling this story.

"At a meeting 2 years ago. He was on a business trip and I had just gotten an internship to work as a PA for my old boss. She was, how should I put this nicely? A bitch. She was short with a high pitched voice that got on everyone's nerves. She couldn't walk in heels to save her life yet she wore them everyday," Jacob attempted to suppress a laugh but failed. "I didn't know why Chris kept staring at me when I was sitting there but then he asked that lady if he could have me. I was appalled at first but she gave me away without a second thought and so did my..."

"Your mother?" I nodded. "A year later we got married after my mother practically begged him to. I have no proof but I just know she did. After that she made him buy a house in Silent Hill for her and she's been feeding off of him since then. I didn't want to marry him but she made me." I clenched my fists. I couldn't stand that woman. "Did you tell her he's been hitting you?"

I sat up quickly feeling offending but startled him in the process, "Of course I did. All she did was tell me to go back home... To him. She told me to think about her and stop thinking about myself and that I'm just making up excuses so I can leave him for some odd reason I don't even want to repeat in fear of being eternally damned."

"Wow, it's that bad, huh?" I nodded."You're welcomed to stay here as long as you'd like." I smiled although it made my face hurt and pulled him into a hug and connecting my lips with his. He was surprised at first but he relaxed and kissed me back while pulling my face closer to his.

I pulled away quickly. I didn't know what was going through my head to make me do that. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. No need to apologize." And that's when I realized he was still holding my face. "Um.. Could you...?" I pointed towards his hands that were pulling me closer. Sneaky. With a sly smirk, he let me go. He left the room for less than two minutes then came back. He fumbled around with a small object in his hand before placing it on my face. It was just the bandage. "Come on, you need some sleep." He took me by the hand and pulled me up off the couch.

"Where are we going?"

"Taking you to bed."

Oh. "I wouldn't mind if I slept on your couch."

"No, no, no. That won't do." He put his hand on small of my back after he stopped in front of a barely open door. He pushed the door open and ushered me inside. I looked around the neat room. The room had gray walls, a white floor and a queen sized bed with a black bed frame, the bed itself was covered with gray and white sheets and pillows, and black furniture was placed discretely around the room. In all, the room was lovely although it's smaller than what I used to be in. "This is a lovely guest room."

"I don't have a guest room. I have an empty room down the hall but no bed."

"So if you expect me to sleep here, where are you supposed to sleep?" I asked turning around to have him.

He shrugged before saying, "on the couch."

"No! I couldn't possibly put you out of your own room. And besides, I can't possibly stay here and just live off of you, Jacob."

He shook his head vigorously, "You won't be living off of me, you'll be living with me, at least, until you get yourself straightened out. If you still want to leave by that time," he shrugged, trying to hide the sadness in his eyes, "then you can and I'll help you all the way."

"Thank you but I still don't feel even the slightest bit okay that you'll be sleeping on the couch in your own home."

"And I won't feel okay if you sleep on the couch." Both of us sighed. We were at a complete loss for a solution to this predicament. He ran his hands through his hair before a leg weakening smirk replaced his small frown. "What about we share the bed?"

He-Me.. I-Why-... He had me dumbfounded.