A fractured fairytale

22

༻Rose's POV༺

I curled up on my bed, my blanket thrown across my lap. It was old and a little crusty now, nothing like the huge fluffy thing I'd picked out when I was younger. The pink colour had faded to an off white and all the fluff had shed, leaving a large sheet of loose threads. But it was the only one I had, so I snuggled beneath it, propped against my pillows resting on my windowsill.

Outside, I could see the sun setting in the distance. The sky was painted in oranges and yellows, so bright it hurt my eyes but I couldn't look away. Dark grey clouds heavy with snow had hung over the town for a long time now but tonight, they'd vanished, leaving a clear sky for the first time in weeks.

The light cascaded my room in a golden glow, making the dull space seem beautiful. I surveyed the space, imagining how it could look with just a little TLC. The walls were painted in a baby pink colour that had chipped off in a number of places, showing the navy-blue colour beneath. My desk was a rickety old thing we picked up at a market and the wood was splintered and chipped and one leg had cracked, causing it to lean slightly to one side. I'd managed to sort a temporary fix by propping it up on a textbook. The small stool underneath it was fairly new, something my mother had bought me for my birthday last year. It was cream coloured and velvet, much nicer than the wooden stool I used to have that had been incredibly uncomfortable to sit on.

Beside my desk was my closet. It wasn't very big but it didn't need to be since I didn't have enough to come close to filling it. There was a small mirror hanging on the door and then a shelving unit beside the closet that had all my school books, knickknacks and then stacks of my favourite books that spilled over onto the small amount of floorspace available.

My bedroom was the most personalised in the apartment, with small polaroid pictures of me and my mom pinned along the top of my mirror and around the window. There were a few of my dad too but he never liked having his picture taken and I didn't really like being reminded of memories involving him.

A soft knock at the door sounded and I smiled at my mom when she slipped into the room. "Hi sweetheart."

She shuffled across the room and settled on the bed beside although it was squeeze. I pressed further against the wall to allow her some more space but we were nestled closely together, both of us watching the sun dip below the horizon. "Are you okay?" she asked me after a few moments.

I shrugged a shoulder. I couldn't hide things from her and especially not when I'd been in such a low mood all week. "Things aren't the same with Matt now," I told her, "I hate it."

I hadn't wanted to reject him. In fact, when he'd asked me to celebrate passing his assignment with him, I'd been elated for about half a second before reality set in. I wanted more than anything to say yes. To have something to look forward to for the rest of the week and to have a whole day where I get to be in his company, learning more about him. But my dad never would have allowed it. Not when it posed a risk to him.

"I wanted to talk to you about that," my mom said softly, reaching over to take my hand. I felt hers tremble slightly. "Your dad has suggested that we go away for the weekend, just us two."

It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach as I processed her words. "What?"

She swallowed, raising her chin to hide the fear that was shining in her watery eyes. "He thinks that we need to spend some time together, just us, to talk about some things."

Immediately I shook my head. "No," I said, squeezing her hand in mine, "no you can't. He'll hurt you." He'd been more aggressive with her than ever after this week. If there was one thing that he desired it was control and finding out that she had been leaving the house without his permission while he wasn't around infuriated him. Taking her away for the weekend was a tactic to regain that control, to separate her from everyone and everything and have her isolated, with only him. There would be nothing she could do to stop him from hurting her.