The Way He Lies | One

|Chapter Five|

Thinking of changing the name of this book, if you have any suggestions please comment! :)

Previously in Stockholm Syndrome: Nick and Demi go away to Demi's parents house to celebrate thanksgiving, how will their relationship be while being under constant supervision of others?

"Why are you up so early?" Dallas asked me as I was hunched over the stove, the bacon sizzling against the frying pan as I made sure it was just the way that Nick liked it.

I flipped the greasy food, "I could ask you the same thing" The estranged relationship with my older sister was something that made every family event extremely awkward.

"Is it because he made you, or because you couldn't be bothered putting makeup on so came down here before anyone else so that they wouldn't see your battered up skin?" She asked me, her pink shellac nails tapping against the island counter top.

I cringed at the words that left her mouth, "He doesn't beat me" I lied, "You saw a bruise on my face once because I was swooped by a fucking crow"

"You know how rare we see crows here"

"Well just my luck then, isn't it?" I snapped through my teeth as I flipped the pieces of bacon onto the white porcelain plate next to me.

"Is everything okay down here?" Nick asked, standing at the bottom of the staircase as he rolled the cuffs of his sleeves up to his elbows,

Dallas looked me in the eye as I telepathically begged her to keep her mouth shut, "Just fine" My older sister forced a smile onto her face before leaving the room.

Nick took the plate from beside me and sat at the island counter, "You're just going to wait until lunch, yeah?"

"To eat?"

"Yes to eat, idiot" He spat, the remnants of bacon throwing themselves from his mouth, mixing in with his saliva.

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess so" I told my husband, turning the pan off and heading upstairs as he finished his meal.

I felt somewhat fearless being here, maybe I should still be afraid of him because he could punish me later, but from experience he would just let it go.
My reflection looked back at me in the bathroom mirror, my blonde hair wound back into a messy dutch braid and my light brown freckles scattering along my cheeks, looking somewhat more prominent than other days.
What had I become?

"I'm so glad to see you again" Nick gushed, wrapping his arms around me as I fell into him,
I smiled as a small tear slipped down my cheek, "I missed you so much" I sobbed uncontrollably. I couldn't believe I had spent so much time away from him, he wasn't even allowed to visit me while I was in rehab, and words couldn't comprehend how much I had missed him.
Nicks lips met mine as I smiled into the kiss, nothing made me feel more at ease than when we were connected, even if it were just by conversation.
I was so in love with this man.
"You look so different, I love it, I love that you're healthy" He told me, "I was so worried for you"
"Are you sure you aren't like, thoroughly repulsed by me now?" I chuckled, referring to the weight that I had gained during my stay in the treatment centre.
"Don't even joke about that, as long as you're healthy then I'm happy"
Could he be anymore perfect?

What in the world changed?
I keep thinking back, looking back at our relationship over the years and I just don't know where we went wrong, what I did to make him so angry with me.

"Maybe we should start working out a bit more" Nick suggested as I picked at my pasta salad,
I swallowed the weirdly cold food, "Yeah, I think that'd be good, I'm not really comfortable being this much bigger than I'm use to" I told him, thinking about the 30 pounds that I had gained over the past six months made me feel physically sick. "I don't want to fall back into old habits though"
Nick shook his head slowly, "I mean, it's losing weight, you're going to have to eat a bit less"
"Yeah... I guess" The tears welled up in my eyes but I blinked them back as I pushed my food away,
"What are you doing?" My fiancé asked,
I shrugged, "Better to start sooner than later, right?"

He was so subtle at first, making me think that it was my decision even. I guess in a way it was my decision in the end but he just kept hinting, he would poke me until the poking turned into shoving, and the shoving turned into pushing me to the ground, to where I was before rehab.
It happened so slowly, I didn't even think about it.

...

My family was big, and luckily so was this house. The dining room was so full that we had food being surved in the kitchen as well as in here.

"It's so good to see you" My older half sister, Amber, hugged me before taking a seat next to me at the dining table.
We didn't see each other much as she lives in a different state with her family, but we always caught up at thanksgiving. Every second year Amber and her children spent thanksgiving with us, every other year she spends it with her Mother's side of the family.

"How's everything with Jaton, he's not here?" I asked Amber, her husband of 9 years was nowhere to be seen,

Amber shrugged softly, "We're getting a divorce, he moved out two months ago now" Aivi, her daughter looked to me from across the table before looking back to her food. Clearly it was a touchy subject. "He was hooking up with his secretary on his 'business trips', I found out when she showed up at my front door asking who I was. I guess we were both being cheated in a way, he has no one now" Amber explained.

If Nick ever cheated on me I would be so hurt, it would be in result of something that I had done wrong, but it would break me.