99 Steps

Step 44: Break

"You say 'before he did that', what exactly are you referring to?" Milo, their couples therapist, asked, looking between Mark and Jack.

Jack paused, he didn't realize he was referring to one of the first times Mark hit him.

"Um, I..." He didn't want to put Mark on the spot, or make him seem like a bad person. "It was my own fault. I mean it's not that big of a deal." He knew he was lying, because it was a big deal. He kept his gaze on the floor, hoping she wouldn't find out he was lying.

"Even the littlest things can have a big effect on a relationship, if you aren't comfortable talking about it right now -"

"I hit him." Mark cut her off. "I hit him, and kicked him. I damn near killed him. I didn't let him explain himself and I beat him because I thought he cheated on me." Jack noticed that Mark was looking straight in Milo's eyes, his voice hardly even cracking, the whole time he spoke.

"Why did you think that?" Milo asked, scribbling something down on her notebook.

"He went out without me and came back with hickeys all up his chest and neck, and scratch marks on his stomach and sides."

Milo looked back to Jack, who was watching Mark. "Where did you go out to?"

"Uhm, it was a party at my friends house." He wasn't going to say any more than she was asking.

"Did you sleep with someone else while you were there?" Milo wrote some more in her notebook.

"I... well, there -"

"Some ass-hat drugged him, apparently." Mark cut him off.

"Mark," Jack looked over, taken aback. "What do you mean 'apparently'? Do you still not believe me?" His voice cracked, when asking. Mark couldn't still be upset about something he had no control over.

"I don't know! I don't know if I can believe you or not, Jack. You went out to a party, what am I supposed to think when you come back with a hang over and look like you fucked someone all night?"

"I told you," Jack felt tears starting to roll down his face.

"No, you wrote it down and took my money to pay your way back to Ireland."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but it seems you two never got a chance to talk through this?" Milo looked between the two.

"He's just a little bitch, he can't face his feelings and deal with them." Mark crossed his arms and sat back in the soft couch.

"Mark," Jack couldn't say anything else, his chest physically hurting from his boyfriends words.

Milo sat forward, a serious look on her face. "I've helped many couples, and nobody has ever spoken to their significant other like that. That tells me that you need to up your time in anger management and take a minute to think if you actually love Jack or not." She sat back, writing on her notebook again. "I think we're done for today."

Mark got up, and practically dragged Jack out of the room by her wrist. Once they were in the car, Mark turned to Jack.

"Next time just get some fucking balls and speak up. Crying isn't going to help you."

"This isn't for me, Mark. This is couples therapy. We are supposed to be working together." Jack wiped his face off, sniffling a few times.

"Whatever."

"Seriously, if you want this relationship to get better then you need to work with me. Yelling at Milo about something that happened to me isn't going to -" Jack felt a familiar sting on his cheek, his eyes watering again with hurt.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear your voice again today." Mark continued driving, like their whole relationship wasn't crumbling apart with each passing second.

I'm back and so is this unhealthy relationship and my shitty writing

Also I work in 7 hours and haven't even gone to bed yet yikes