Crashed

VIII

Zoë 

I decided to stay with my parents for a while. I know Eric has come by to look for me here and my mother always told him I would contact him when I felt up to it. I have to get my stuff and we need to talk eventually. A few days later I decide that today is the day. I drive up to my house and let myself in. I feel like a foreigner in my own home. I took some boxes with me. Eric isn't here and I start to pack my clothes. I look at all the pictures in which we looked so happy. I want to smash them, but I try to keep my head cool. I have most of my boxes finished and already in my car. I gather some small items. The rest will come when we need to decide who get's to keep what. I make myself some tea when I hear his car pull in. I take a deep breath and wait for him in the kitchen. He comes running in. "Baby Hi, I didn't know you would be coming today." He comes towards me but I take a step back and nod my head for him to sit down. It stays silent and after some time he starts to speak of how sorry he is and he would never do it again. I can't feel any pitty for him. Nothing. "Was it always her?" He nods. "And for how long?" He starts to stammer. "I have no idea, maybe 6 months or something." 6 months, wow. I'm so blind. I nod and stand up. "I packed my personal things and will come back later to talk about who get's to keep what of the items we bought together." I want to walk away but he grabs my wrist. "Please Zo, we can talk about this." I try to pull my arm back but his grip gets stronger. He pushes me against the wall and holds me by my wrists "Let me go, you're hurting me." His face is centimeters from mine and I can feel his breath on my skin. "Zoë come on, we're meant to be together. Just give me another chance." I'm breathing heavily and try to get away but he only holds me back harder. "If you kiss me you'll just feel the spark between us, you can't walk away from that." I try to avoid his lips but he crashes into mine. Tears are falling on my face. I finally get my leg a little room and I hit him with my knee in his balls.  He folds down and I grab my keys and start my car as fast as I can. He comes running outside and tries to open my door. I put my foot down on the gas and drive of with screeching tires.

I call Sophie. I don't know where to go anymore. He will come after me when I stay at my parents. He will not expect me to be at the Verstappens house. She immediately says yess and comes to help me move my stuff. I sit on the couch with her in the evening with a cup of tea. She pulls me into her when I start crying. "Sweetie, you need to go to the police. You can't let him walk free when he assaulted you like this." I know she's right but I just can't. I nod at her. "Maybe I'll go this week." She strokes my hair out of my face and smiles at me. "I will come with you if you need me." I smile at her. "Oh and I don't want you to worry or something but Max and Kelly are coming to stay her for a few days. They come tomorrow. But I will tell him to keep his distance of you, he doesn't need to be around you if you don't want to." I shake my head. "It's fine. I can't tell him to not come, I mean it technically is his house." She snorts a laugh. "Yeah that's true." I go to bed, hoping I will see Max as little as possible.

Max

I arrive home. My mother is already waiting for us in the door. "So good to see you and sweet little Penelope again." She hugs us all. "So ehm, I didn't tell you but Zoë is staying here for a little while." My eyes widen. I haven't spoken to her since Bahrain. Kelly told me her ex cheated on her. Why wouldn't she just tell me herself? I nod and smile at my mother. "I will behave. At least there are no karts around here to crash into eachother." I try to joke but she rolls her eyes. Zoë is sitting on the couch scrolling on her phone. "Hey Zo!" Kelly enthousiastically goes towards her. "Didn't expect you here!" They hug. "I'll explain to you later." she smiles at her. "Hi." "Hey." I give her a small smile but she almost completely ignores me. Kelly introduces Penelope to Zoë. She runs back to me "Maxie are we all going to play in the pool?" I look at Kelly and Zoë. Kelly nods and get's dragged outside. Penelope also takes Zoës hands but she takes it back. "I'm sorry, I'm just gonna lay down a little. I'm so tired but maybe I'll join later!" She goes off to her room. 

In the evening Zoë and I are doing some dishes together in total silence. She wants to put something back in the cupboard above us and I see her sleeve revealing a little more of her arm. Her wrist is purple, blue, bruised. I grab her arm and pull her sleeve up. The bruise is even bigger than I thought and it's clearly visible that it is from someone that grabbed it. I take her other hand and pull that sleeve up as well to see the same thing. She flinches and I can tell it hurts her. "What the fuck Max! Don't touch me!" I hold her arms up in front of us. "Who did this to you?" I try to stay calm but rage is building inside my body. "Why do you care?" She aggresively pulls back her arms and quickly pulls her sleeves back down. "Who did that to you Zoë?" My voice raises a bit and she looks down. "Nobody important." She grabs her phone and storms of to her room. "Was it Eric? Did he come for you?" She ignores me. "If you won't tell me I will find out myself!" I yell after her. "Goodluck with that!" She slams her door. I get my keys and storm off. How dare he hurting her! He will regret this.