Twisted Games

nine - taylor

tw: domestic abuse

I woke up in my bed, a bucket on the floor, with painkillers and Powerade sitting on my nightstand. Groaning, I touched my throbbing temple and lifted my head. The clock told me it was mid-afternoon already, so I'd really slept in.

Reaching for my phone, I cursed when I saw the few texts from Joe waiting for me. I had to check in with him while he was away and I'd missed this morning. He was going to be so angry with me now, so I put my phone down without replying, figuring I couldn't make it any worse.

"Morning." Travis said when I walked out half an hour later, changed into sweatpants and waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

"Shh." I groaned, cradling the Powerade to my chest. "Too loud. Where's Sabrina?"

"She had something she needed to get to, and she didn't want to wake you." Travis said, lowering his voice. "I made sure she was alright though, but she can handle her drink unlike you."

"Hey I handled it fine for how much I had." I dropped into the seat across from him, slumping my head on top of my arms. "I didn't do anything right?" I mumbled into my arms.

"Like what?"

"I don't know." I sighed, forcing myself to lift my head. "Like try to hit on you or something. Sometimes I'm a fucking idiot when I'm drunk."

"No, you didn't do anything." Travis looked like he was trying not to laugh. "You just danced a lot and hung out with Sabrina before throwing up and passing out in the bathroom. I put you to bed after you fell asleep."

Oh good, not that bad then. I nodded, dropping my head back down and letting out a sigh. I wasn't used to getting drunk, since I wasn't supposed to drink that much when Joe wasn't around and he didn't take me out often. Sometimes I did stupid things, but luckily not this time. 

The week passed slowly. It took me almost two days to recover from my hangover, and I convinced Joe that I'd stayed up really late songwriting and hadn't replied to his texts because I'd slept in. He bought it, and I made sure to always check in on time after that. 

I stayed at home all week, cancelling the few things I'd scheduled with friends under the pretense that I was sick. I soon got bored but busied myself in my songs, developing a few and listening to some other artists had sent me. Sometimes my friends sent me drafts to hear my feedback, and I loved doing that. It was nice to hear other work that I hadn't created.

"Ugh, fuck!" I groaned when I checked my bathroom on Friday and realized that I was out of tampons. I'd got my period the day before, and I knew I didn't have any somewhere else. Biting my lip, I considered quickly going out to get some more, but decided Joe would most definitely find out and yell at me. I couldn't do that. "Travis?" I asked tentatively, going to knock on his open door.

"Yeah?" He glanced over from the desk. 

"Umm..." I suddenly felt self-conscious, but I didn't have another choice. "I ran out of tampons, but I'm not supposed to leave the apartment until Joe gets back so could you...could you..."

"Yeah, I can go." Travis saved me from actually having to ask, closing his computer and getting to his feet. "You'll be okay here for fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah of course." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Thank you; I know it's a little weird."

"No it's fine." He shook his head. "Why don't you send me a picture or the name of the ones you need so I get the right ones?"

"Thank you." I whispered, a little touched that he was doing this no questions asked.