"Alright alcoholic?" Tom laughs deeply from the side of me, I roll over and look around in confusion before it dawns on me that we're back home. I must have made it through the airport and the flight home but my hangover is stopping any memory of that.
"Don't" I grumble, my head pounds.
"Look, what happened with you and Nathan?" Tom asks me instantly, moving some hair from my face.
"What do you mean?" I panic, what if I missed something due to the alcohol.
"Well he carried you back in a right state, called you a whore, but now he's really upset" Tom tries to make sense of it all.
"Well I did cheat on him?" I laugh emotionlessly as to why Tom seems so confused.
"No, theres something else" Tom moans impatiently.
"I might just go and ask him, I need all of this shit to go away, I can't cope with it for much longer" I sigh, the hangover is bad enough, surely anything Nathan has to say can't make me feel any worse. If I don't talk to him now I'll spend the whole day avoiding him.
"Good luck" Tom laughs, turning to fall back to sleep. I look down at myself and moan as I see the state of me, I take a quick shower, and then decide that my all in one pyjama set will be best suited for today, everybodys recovering from the holiday and the change in weather has shocked us all, sun to snow isn't a nice change. I place my hair in a high wet bun, grab Nathan's hoody, and make my way over to his bedroom.
"Nathan" I try to whisper as I don't know who is still asleep. He mumbles something back and I don't know if he's telling me to come in or to go away. I wait a few seconds and hope that he will come to the door, or that he shouts again so I can hear him clearly this time. I open the door so I can just throw him his hoody back, but the handle turns at the same time, and we're millimeters away from each other.
"Sorry, um, I just came to give you this back" I say akwardly as his chest rises and falls. He turns his back on me and sits down on his bed, leaving his door wide open, I'm not sure if that's a sign for me to follow or not.
"Will you hang it up for me please?" He asks me indifferently, I shrug and grab a hanger from the floor, opening his wardrobe and finding a space to hang it, that boy has too many clothes. I turn around and prepare myself to leave but we're in the same situation as when he opened the door, millimeters apart, I stumble back slightly as I don't expect him to be so close, I thought he was sat on the bed.
"You look like the old Maddie now" he comments, proabably because that shower was the first one I'd had were I'd properly thought about getting myself together, instead of crying or wanting to be sick. I nod not knowing what else to do.
"What happened last night?" I gather the courage to ask him.
"Look at your wrists" he commands me, rolling up the sleeve of my all in one for me to see. The hand marks around both wrists are clear and distinctive, and I can't believe they managed to escape my view when I was in the shower. The bruises are purple and fresh, and come to think of it, they really hurt. Nathan tugs at my zip and I look at him dumbfounded.
"Just have a look" he says sadly, a look of pity in his eyes. I unzip the zip that conceals my whole body, and standing infront of Nathan in just my bra and pants seems completely outrageous after everything that has happened. He turns me around and I start to observe my arms as I realise he's looking for more bruises.
"I don't understand" I ask in bewilderment as he points out another hand mark that is cupping the top of my thigh.
"Just hold still" he whispers, something cold and moist is smothered on to my skin and the smell of Sudocrem tells me that there must be more damage. He rubs the cream in lightly and kindly, and his touch is almost too much for me to handle.
