A New Beginning

The Fight

                “Alright, I’ve had it. I’m done, no more taking him back,” I thought to myself as I packed my clothes from the dresser. I had just witnessed Ryan, my now ex-boyfriend, cheating on me AGAIN with some stripper from the club he worked at. That would make the fifth time in the last 6 months. I know what you’re thinking… I should have left him a long time ago, and you are completely right, but I thought I was in love. I mean, we had been together for almost two years. There was probably a lot more cheating going on in that time, too. I wish I had known about it earlier, it would have been easier to leave. I finished packing as much as I could and put everything in my car. I didn’t know where to go. I had moved in with him over a year ago and my parents live in the states. I had moved to England when I turned 18, 6 years ago. I had always wanted to at least visit here, but when I did, I didn’t want to leave. I wound up staying and getting a job at a magazine as an editor, which is where I met Iris McGinty. We became fast friends and she helped me get settled and showed me around. She’s always there to help me. I don’t know what I would do without her! She always knew what a jerk Ryan was, but I didn’t want to believe it. She’s always the one I called when we got in fights. When it got really bad, her boyfriend always stepped in and helped even though I never asked him to. I didn’t even know him the first time he came over to help.

**Flashback**

                Ryan was accusing me of cheating on him, ME!! I couldn’t believe it. We were standing face to face in the living room, yelling at each other.

“You are such a slut! How many times did you cheat on me this time, Jess?” he questioned me as walked towards me, forcing me to walk backwards until I was pinned against the wall.

“Are you serious? How could you think I would do that?” I asked him, shocked. He was getting really upset and he seemed a little violent this time.

“Just tell me who it was so I can take care of it,” he yelled as he slammed his fist against the wall, just barely missing my head. A few more exchanged sentences between us and he had slapped me across my face. I stood there, staring at him unbelievably. Tears welled in my eyes. How could someone that loved me do this to me? I tried to shove him away so I could walk away, but he wouldn’t budge. I had been texting Iris earlier, so she knew he was mad. Somehow I had accidentally dialed her number on my cell while we were arguing, so she had been listening. When she heard his fist against the wall, she grabbed her boyfriend Niall’s hand and dragged him to their car. They got in the car and she began to drive before he said anything. He knew something was wrong.

“What’s going on, babe?” he asked.

“Jess is in trouble. She must have pocket dialed me by accident. I knew her and her boyfriend argued, but it sounded like he was getting violent this time,” she answered.

“Oh, well in that case, let’s go help!” he said. They reached our flat and heard the shouts coming from inside. Iris knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I was still pinned to the wall by Ryan, and he wasn’t about to move. Luckily the door was unlocked, so I shouted, “Come in!” Iris and Niall walked in as Ryan glared at me, knowing he couldn’t do anything and get away with it now. They saw me standing there clutching my cheek, tears streaming down my face.

“Ryan, let her go!”  Iris said.

“Why should I? She’s a filthy, cheating whore that deserves to be punished,” he replied.

“Mate, you shouldn’t say such things about a lady,” Niall reprimanded him. Iris and Niall had walked over to where we were. She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away, but he still wouldn’t move. Niall pulled at Ryan’s arm and he jerked it out of Niall’s grip. He turned and walked over to the couch where he plopped himself down sighing. Iris led me up to the bathroom so I could clean up.

“How did you know?” I asked, shakily.

“You accidentally called me,” she said with a small laugh. I laughed at my luck.

“Thank god something good happened today.” I wiped my face clean of the tears and washed it with warm water. It felt nice in contrast to the cold tears and the swelling appearing on my face where he struck me. “Great,” I said as I looked at my cheek, “that’s probably going to be a black eye.”

“Jess, how long has this been going on?”

“Honestly, this is the first time he has actually hit me,” I said, “Usually he just hits the wall.”

“Are you gonna stay with him?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I love him, so I want to, but if there’s a chance that he will do that again, it might get worse.” I didn’t know what to do.

“Well, you can stay with us for a few days if you want, you know, so you can clear your head and think clearly,” she offered.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” We went to the bedroom and started packing me some clothes and things that I would need. I walked back to the bathroom to get my toothbrush and Ryan blocked me in. My eyes got wide.

“Where are you going? Staying with one of your hook-ups?” he snarled at me.

“No, I’m going to stay with Iris for a few days.”

“I don’t think so. She puts ideas in your head.”

“Yes I am, and you can’t stop me.” Just as I finished my sentence his hand slammed against the wall again. Niall came in from the other room.

“Problem here?” he asked.

“No, Ryan was just moving so I could get by. I’m staying with you guys for a few days.” Ryan didn’t want to move, but he knew if he didn’t that he would have to deal with Niall. He didn’t like getting in fights, I guess he just liked being the one in control and now he wasn’t.

**back to today**

We left without any problems that day, but I did decide to go back to him. I mean he apologized and said he had been jealous or something. I don’t even really remember. This time, I really was done. I called Iris when I got the car packed.

“Hey, alright to stay with you guys for a bit?”

“Sure, come on over. You know you can always come here. What did he do know?”

“I’ll explain when I get there.” I said before we hung up.