• Tomorrow Will Be Different • {J.C} (P.1)

•Chapter Twenty-Eight•

•Quick A/N•
Hate to disappoint, but no sex in this chapter. It will be the NEXT chapter 😂
I realized my problem; this scene needed to be expanded; point A to B
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Bo Burnham voice: "My apologies"
Took me 2.5 weeks to figure that out 🙃

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        Erin secluded herself in Al's bedroom. She hoped Julian wasn't inclined to come knocking; she wasn't sure she was strong enough to ignore him if he decided to.

Some time passed, and it was clear that Julian was trying to respect her boundaries—he never came.

        Gathering Albert's pillow and blanket, Erin crept into the living room, headed for the couch. She had planned to get some sleep, but saw the mess on the table. Knowing sleep wouldn't come easily, Erin decided to clean up a little—quietly.

She was ashamed, not because of what had (almost) happened with Julian, but because of the way she reacted—the way she lied.

        Not to make excuses, but Erin was still processing what Michael had done.

        Malory had shown up at the apartment, plainly expecting Michael to be the only one home.

The look on her face when Erin answered the door was unforgettable—the astonishing awe said everything...
     ...Malory knew who Erin was—Erin wasn't supposed to be there.

       The guilty defeat on Michael's face faded to anger when Erin looked at him—when she glared—showing that she knew he had done wrong.

Michael had never called it off with Malory, and from the looks of it, he had been building the courage to end things with Erin.

At least, that's what it appeared to be—when Michael had ran off after Malory instead of feeding Erin his typical apologies.

        Erin was done fighting, so instead of getting angry, she did something else—she simply packed up her things. By the time she had finished and started out the door, Michael was already back.

He locked her in, and then stood in front of her blocking the way out. She waited impatiently for him to say what he wanted so that she could leave.

     ...However, Michael didn't let Erin do that.

         Instead, Michael chose to belittle her, resorting right back to his old ways. He berated and accused that she and Al had been sleeping together behind his back—obviously a deflection from his own transgressions.

Erin had a few colorful choice words to say before pushing him out of the way to try and leave; but Erin didn't make it out the door—at least not that day.

        Erin spit in Michael's face when he refused to step aside—or maybe it was when he had pushed her away from the door. There was a sense of victory—one Erin would never regret. Having literally spat in her ex-lover's face seemed like the perfect sentiment to leave on.

However, the triumph of her disgusting action was short lived—Erin would come to regret it.

        The physical violence that ensued at the hands of Michael immediately after had triggered a harrowing chain of events. It lasted all day, and all night—the next day, however, Erin was adamant to leave.

She had spent the entirety of the day playing her part—apologizing for things that didn't need forgiveness. It was a desperate attempt to get him to let her go.