Family first

8. Settling in slowly

I couldn't sleep the whole night. My body was in so much pain from Zayn hitting me last night and also the way Shaun was whipping me with his belt, then spraying me with ice cold water. I looked up at his alarm clock, and it was five minutes before it went off

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. My body ached with every step I took, and it felt as if I was gonna fall at any second or even if I took the wrong step. I stood in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection. I had bruises all over me. My skin was covered with blue and purple marks. There were bruises lining my jaw all the way up to my nose. I had a blue eye and a swollen lips

I pulled opened up the shirt a bit —since I fell off to sleep in it— and saw bruises on my collarbone, I felt so much anger and fear in that one moment. I turned to the door to see Zayn leaning against the door frame. He had his arms crossed under his chest and a smile on his face. He scanned my body before walking towards me. A smile as if he was proud of what he did

"You know I love you and never want to hurt you. I had to punish you for what you did, even if I didn't want to. If I didn't punish you, dad would have done it worse, " He told me, putting his hands on my cheeks

"Your dad already punished me?" I said coldly

I looked away from him and back in the mirror. He sighed and moved behind me. He lifted my shirt to see all the marks on my back. Zayn pressed his lips into a straight line. He put my shirt down and then walked to the door but stopped just by the door and looked over his shoulder at me

"Have a shower. You were supposed to last night," he said

"Okay,"

He walked out of the bathroom and into the room. I peeled off the shirt that I was wearing and stepped into the shower. I opened the water and the cold water hit my skin, it burnt like crazy. I waited for it to warm up a bit, but it didn't. Cold water it is

I finished up showering and then wrapped myself with the towel. Walking  into the room, I saw some clothes on the bed for me, but Zayn wasn't there. It was black jeans, on the either side had 2 rips. I put it on and the white shirt that came with it. I tied up hair up into a nice ponytail before walking out the room

I made my way down the stairs and towards the table. Kayla and Jayden were sitting and eating cereal. Zayn and Shaun were standing by the table talking. Everyone stopped what they were doing the moment they saw me enter the room

I heard Annabelle and Jax walk down the stairs a couple of seconds after. Annabelle covered her mouth with her hands when she saw my condition. Jax looked at Annabelle then at me. His jaw dropped when he saw me as well. I turned back to kayla, and her eyes were glistening with tears. Jayden shook his head before taking kayla and his bowls to the sink

"Angel, come here," Shaun called me

I looked behind me at Annabelle and Jax before walking towards Shaun. I stood in front of him as he examined my face. He pulled the top of my shirt down to see my collarbone

I flinched when he touched me. I wanted to pull away, but he would slap me if I did. Jax sat down in his seat and watched Shaun examine me

Jayden walked back to the table and kissed kayla before leaving the house. Zayn was standing next to me with his arms crossed over this chest. Kayla got up and went into the kitchen

Shaun let go of me when he was done examining me. I took a step back and made my way over to my seat and sat down, then began to eat the cereal that was left for me

I ignored everyone's eyes on me and just ate my food. I didn't want to look up at anyone, their eyes burnt into my skin. I glanced up at Jax, and he was staring at me. He had a slight smirk on his face, but his eyes looked so soft