Afraid to love

Chapter 8

I decide that I need to sneak into my room without him seeing me. I have a feeling once Daniel eats his food, he'll make his way to the bathroom. If I stay here, I'll have nowhere to go. As I turn my head, I whack it hard against the towel rail. It makes a loud banging sound. Not the smartest thing to do, but my reaction is to quickly step into the bathroom and close the door.

I hear Daniel walking towards the bathroom. My heart pounds in my chest, before he gets close enough, I lock the bathroom door from the inside. Daniel goes straight for the handle, it turns but the door doesn't open,

"Who's in there?" he asks, the threat in his voice sends shivers down my spine. He probably thinks I'm an intruder or something. But I'm too frazzled to think straight, so I don't respond. The knob turns violently once again, I look around for a weapon, a shampoo bottle is the first thing I grasp.

"Who's in there?" he asks, his voice louder than before. I open my mouth to say something, but no sound comes out. When I don't respond, he speaks again,

"I'm breaking in!"

No, no, no! I can't let him do that! But it's too late, in less than a second, there's a loud crashing noise and the door flies open, with a gasp I take a few steps back, away from the door. I lift the shampoo bottle up defensively. Daniel stops abruptly as soon as he sees me,

"Sofia?" he asks, his eyes roam down my body. And I know what he's thinking. Standing barefoot before him is a fifty-five-kilo girl dressed in nothing but black tights and an aqua crop top, ready to fight off an almost two-meter-tall boxer with a half-deflated shampoo bottle. Honestly, I think I'd laugh if my situation wasn't so dire,

"Go... leave" I say, nodding towards the broken door,

"Why are you hiding in here?" he frowns, and of all the thigs he could look at, his questioning eyes land right on the half-raised shampoo bottle,

"I'm not" I say, slightly lowering it, "I... I was in the bathroom when you came"

"And what? You thought it was better to hide then come out like a normal person?"

"I wasn't hiding"

"Yeah right, I heard you shut the door as soon as I walked towards the bathroom"

"Because I wanted privacy"

"If you wanted privacy you should have told me it was you in the bathroom. I wouldn't have broken the damn door"

"You didn't give me a chance to tell you"

"That's a lie! I asked five times who's in there! I thought you were a thief or something!" as he speaks, he waves his hand in frustration. Impulsively, I move further back and the shampoo bottle goes back up in defence. Daniel pauses, realising his actions are intimidating. He steps back, but doesn't hide the annoyance in his voice,

"If we're going to live under the same roof, this has to change" he says, "you need to stop acting like I'm the devil" when I don't respond, he continues, sounding even more frustrated,

"You're very full of yourself, Sofia. You think because you're a hot girl everyone is out to get you. Guess what? You don't affect me. I don't even find you that attractive. Especially not with that attitude" with those final words he turns and walks off.

It's silly to feel hurt at his words. I mean, if he's innocent in all this, I fully deserve everything he throws at me. But I can't lie, it stings. Mostly because when I first met him, I thought he was the most attractive man I ever laid my eyes on. I place the shampoo bottle back and inspect the broken door.

I stand in the bathroom a while longer, unsure of what to do. I know if he's not at fault, I should talk to him, explain myself, apologise. But I can't. I'm not ready to talk to him yet. Not while we're alone. I also can't just stand in the bathroom forever. I square my shoulders and decide to make my way to my room.