Old Flame Part III

The last time I was at a park on the swings was about two years ago in my hometown. Nathan and I had been together several months and went there after homecoming before the big house party he threw. It was a time where I thought he hung the moon. The autumn air had a small breeze, making it a little chilly. Nathan had given me his jacket to wear since I didn't bring mine. I hadn't expected to stop at the dark, vacant park.

He took my hand and led me off the swings to picnic tables. He picked me up and sat me down on the edge, moving himself between my legs. Then began to kiss me. The kiss got more heated the longer our lips were connected. I can't lie, I liked it. I loved the attention he gave me. But when he started to get more handsy, I pulled back. I moved his hand off my breast, and that was the first time his mood changed faster than a New York minute.

He was instantly annoyed and pulled me off the table. We got in his car and went to his house for his party. People were already there, and the whole night, Nathan was distant and short with me. But I was young and naive then.

Now, here we are again in a dark, vacant park. But under different circumstances. I'd left Nevada to go to Georgia with my parents under the assumption Nathan had cheated on me. But he proved his innocence after coming all the way across the country to follow me. Now he had me in a position where not only did I have to break up with my new boyfriend of two months, Sully, but I had to be with him. To give him another chance. To be his obsession. He threatened my family and Sully. I was being blackmailed.

He had forbidden me to have anything to do with Sully. Yet, he caught us at the park in the middle of a hug.

We were so caught up in our embrace when we heard, "Look what we have here." My body stiffened at the sound of Nathan's voice. Sully looked over, but I was too terrified to look at him. He let go of me and took a step forward. Without warning, Nathan's fist met Sully's face. And this time, nobody was around to break them up.

They punched each other back and forth a few times until Sully took him down to the ground. I was yelling for them to stop, but I was talking to deaf ears. Sully's nose was bleeding, and Nathan had a cut above his eye where blood ran down the side of his face. They had changed positions and now Nathan was on top of Sully. I went over to pull on Nathan's arm.

"Nathan! Stop!" Instead of stopping, he pushed me down to the ground. The distraction caused Sully to get the upper hand and knock Nathan off him. They both stood up and before they could go after each other again, I ran to the middle of them, putting my hands on their chests.

"Stop!" I looked at Nathan. "Please. I'll go with you. Come on, let's go."

"No, Brooke!" Sully expressed. I looked at him pleadingly.

Suddenly, I'm yanked into Nathan's chest. "You heard her. She's coming with me." He roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me to his car that was parked a little way down the street. His steps were long, and I struggled to keep up as he pulled me along. Inside my chest, my heart was pounding frantically. He opened the passenger door and shoved me toward the seat. When I got in, he slammed the door and went around to the other side.

He drove right past my house without stopping. "Where are we going?" I asked, and although he was silent, I knew the answer.

He slammed the door after we entered his apartment. He wasted no time as he rushed me, grabbing me by the throat and pushing me against the wall. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

I whimpered at his shouting and grabbed onto his arm and chest. Tears formed in my eyes. He didn't give me time to answer. "Did you really think you could sneak around with him behind my back?!" He pulled me forward to shove me hard against the wall again. It winded me and I sobbed.

"Nathan-" I started.

"Don't. Give. Me. Excuses. All this time you accused me of cheating on you with Katie and look at you. Whoring around in the middle of the night."

Tears rolled down my cheeks. "We were just talking, I swear." My voice was barely audible. His large hand that was wrapped around my slender neck applied enough pressure that it was uncomfortable but not strangling me.

"Talking huh? Didn't I tell you to stay AWAY from him!?" He was shouting directly in my face. I could feel his warm breath. I was so scared my body was literally shaking. He was so full of rage right now as his large body towered over my much smaller one. "Answer me!"

"Yes," I whispered.

"That's right. I think after tonight you will get the message." What did he mean, after tonight?

Before I could finish my thought, his open palm came in contact with my face. I yelped in pain as he let go and I flew to the floor. On the way down, I fell on the end table by the couch, knocking the lamp off and breaking it. My side landed hard on the edge, making it feel like something cracked.

He swore at me under his breath, then pulled me up by my arm and led me to his bedroom. He roughly threw me on the bed where I curled up in the fetal position, cradling my aching side.

When he pulled his shirt over his head and started unbuckling his belt, a new sense of panic filled me. He stripped down to his boxers and got in the bed. He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me. Relief washed over me when that was all he did. He fell asleep, but I couldn't. I was in too much pain.

My mind and body were exhausted and anytime I barely dozed off, the pain reminded me of earlier that night. I stiffened when Nathan's alarm on his phone went off at 7am. He got up and left the room to go into the bathroom. I stayed exactly where I was, never moving an inch. When I heard the toilet flush, I closed my eyes. The bed dipped down, and he was suddenly beside me again.

"I know you're awake." I opened my eyes, looking over at the wall away from his face. I felt his fingertips play with my hair. "I didn't mean for things to happen like they did last night. That guy really knows how to get to me, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry, Princess." He leaned down and kissed my temple. "I'll call your mom to tell her you're sick so you can stay home from school."

He stood from the bed and left the room. I wasn't even sure where my phone was. I finally willed myself to get up from the bed to go to the bathroom. As soon as I tried to get up, a sharp pain shot through my ribs. I took in a few shallow breaths and stood up. My whole body ached with every step. When I reached the doorway, Nathan stood before me.

"Where are you going?" I didn't expect him to be there, so I flinched.

"Bathroom." I said in a low voice. I was afraid to do or say anything wrong.

He looked deep into my eyes for a moment, and then moved aside. Once inside, I waited to look into the mirror until I was done. When I finally did, my stomach sunk. My cheek on the left side of my face had a light purple mark and was slightly swollen. My lip was cracked and discolored. And there was a perfect print of Nathan's hand marked on my neck. How was I going to show myself anywhere?

I went back to the bedroom and paused. Nathan was lying down. "Come here." I obeyed. Once I was on the bed, he put his arm around me. I finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

I woke up to a loud knocking on the front door. Nathan wasn't in the bed with me anymore. I heard him open it, and the sound of my brother's voice. "Where's my sister?" His tone wasn't one of concern but rather accusing. What time is it? Shouldn't he be in school? I didn't have my phone to look at the time, and there wasn't a clock in here.

"What do you mean?" Nathan replied smoothly.

"She's not at home. She wasn't at school. And Sully told me you two got in a fight last night, and you took her with you."

"We did get in a fight, and Brooke stayed the night. But when we got up for school, she wasn't feeling good, so I took her home."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not true?"

I strained my ears to listen to them. I wanted to get up. To hug my little brother for caring about me. To have some type of comfort. I ached for it. But I couldn't move. Not physically, but mentally. I couldn't risk Nathan doing anything to my brother if Jamie retaliated after seeing my appearance.

"Maybe you should call her," Nathan replied.

"I did. It goes to voicemail every time."

"She's not here, man. But if I hear from her, I'll tell her to call you."

There was a pause as I anxiously waited. Finally, Jamie broke the silence. "If you hurt my sister, Pierce, I swear to God."

A minute later, I heard the door shut and Nathan came into view. I recognized from his face he was fuming, so I quickly sat up and retreated against the headboard. "Why does your brother think I'd hurt you?" He got too close for my liking, and I cowered. "What have you told him?"

My body tensed. "Nothing," I quickly stated.

“You better hope for your sake and his that you’re telling the truth.”

I spent two days at Nathan’s house. He skipped school with me. Turned out, he had my phone the whole time. He screened my messages and calls. He would get angry every time a message came through from Sully. I’d called Jamie and tried to convince him I was alright. He still sounded suspicious though.

On the third day, I had to use a crap load of concealer to hide the bruises on my skin. Nathan kept me close to his side at school. He had already made friends with several people already, and I felt like they were all watching me. It was easy to avoid Sully until Chemistry where he was my lab partner.

Sully was already in his seat when I entered the classroom. I took a deep breath before I sat beside him. He slid some papers over to me. “Here’s your assignments for the last two days and my notes for you to copy.”

I took them. “Thanks,” I said quietly. I could feel his eyes on me, but before he could say anything else, the teacher came in and started our lesson.

When he was finished lecturing, he gave us an assignment to work on for the remainder of the period. Suddenly, I felt a touch on my elbow. I looked over, and Sully was looking into my eyes, his hand softly caressing my elbow. His soft expression instantly turned hard. “What happened to your cheek?”

Oh no! I tried to look confused. “What do you mean?”

I saw his eyes roam my whole face. No doubt looking for signs on my skin. “You know what I mean, Brooke.”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“If he fucking hit you, you need to tell me now.”

“Mr. Sullivan, is there a problem?” The teacher rhetorically asked, catching him talking instead of doing his work.

“No sir.”

“Good. Quiet please.”

When he turned his gaze away from us, Sully looked back at me. I just focused on my assignment. When the bell rang, as Sully was putting his things away, he whispered to me, “Just know, I’m going to fix this. Soon.”

Without another word, he left his seat and walked out of the classroom.

A little over a week went by doing the same as every day. Glued to Nathan’s side. Avoiding Sully. Ignoring Jamie’s interrogating questions. I did my best to keep Nathan happy. He only yelled at me twice.

It didn’t feel like my life was real. Like I was watching myself from afar. In a zombie-like state waiting to see if I will ever be free. It was Friday and my parents were leaving for a weekend getaway until Sunday. And Jamie was going to the lake with some friends and would more than likely be gone all weekend as well. Which left Nathan and I alone at my house. It gave me an uneasy feeling.

Everything was normal and smooth sailing for the first few hours. Nathan cuddled with me on the couch while we watched movies on Netflix. After the second movie, we took a bathroom break, and I went to the kitchen to get some chips to snack on. When I got back to the couch, he had turned on the regular cable and was flipping through channels. I sat down, and he turned to me. He set the remote on the coffee table, leaving the channel on an episode of Two and a Half Men. I crammed some chips into my mouth as he watched me. He had a look of adoration on his face.

“Do you realize how much I love you, Princess?” He brought his hand up and pushed my hair behind my ear. I couldn’t respond because my mouth was full of Lays Potato chips, so I just forced a smile. “You’re so beautiful.” I broke eye contact, and he moved to take the chips from my lap, placing them by the remote on the table. He took both my hands into his as he said, “Remember our first kiss? You were so shy and nearly had a panic attack.”

I swallowed my chips and smiled at him, remembering the day. “Yes, I remember. It was in the hallway by my locker. You had only asked me out earlier that morning, so I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me like that. And in front of basically the whole school.”

He chuckled at the memory. “Your face turned the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.”

I remembered back when things were simple. When I had the puppy dog love for Nathan. In a sense, I missed the us then. But that was a whole different Nathan. That boy was long gone, replaced by this possessive, dare I say psychopath. He’d gone so far past the invisible line a man shouldn’t cross.

He pulled me closer to him and leaned in to kiss me. I kissed him back to keep him happy and in a good mood. After a few minutes, his kiss became hungrier. Possessive. Lustful. He pushed against me, leaning me on my back against the couch with him hovering above me. I was trying not to panic. I was finally able to catch a breath when he moved from my lips to my neck.

“Nathan, I think we should stop.” I gently pushed on his chest.

His eyes locked onto mine. They were a little darker than usual, and they were full of want. “Shh. It’s okay, Princess.” His lips pressed against mine again, his tongue seeking access. His hand that had been resting on my waist dipped down and pulled the hem of my shirt up enough to just show my stomach. He pressed his hand on my smooth skin, and I heard a soft moan come from him.

Oh no, this is it. He wants to go to the next level. As his hand started to drift further, I pulled away from him. “Nathan, seriously. We should stop.”

He looked into my eyes again, and now I saw a little irritation in them. “Don’t be scared. The time is finally right. No one is home. It’s just the two of us. Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?”

“I’m not ready.” I tried to sound as sincere as I could instead of frightened.

Ignoring me, his mouth went back to my neck. Kissing and nibbling. My heart was pounding so hard I wondered if Nathan could feel it on his chest that was flush with mine. Suddenly, Nathan dropped down and started to kiss my exposed stomach. When his hands went to the button on my jeans to undo them, I grabbed his hands with mine.

“Don’t. I told you I’m not ready.”

He was in my face in a flash, his hand grasping my chin in a tight grip. "You know, I can just go get this from anyone. It doesn't have to be you if you don't want to."

Did he really just say that to me? I felt a sudden burst of anger. I twisted my head to try and get loose from his grip and brought my knee up as hard as I could, hoping to make contact with where it hurts most. I was successful. He let out growl and let go of my face. I pushed him as hard as I could as he held onto his crotch. He fell back onto the couch, making enough room for me to slip out from beneath him.

But he recovered quickly because as soon as I shot past him, he was on his feet and grabbing me by my shirt, ripping it all the way up to the collar. I stumbled but didn’t hit the floor because of the handful of my shirt he held. He jerked my body against his, earning a cry from me. He slapped my face with his open palm, knocking me down.

“Please, Nathan! Stop!” I hold out my hand like it’s going to make him stay away from me. Tears streaked my face.

He began to walk toward me, hand out to strike me again when I heard a shout. “Nathan!” We both turned toward the doorway and my father stood there with my mother and Sully by his side. Nathan looked like a deer in the headlights. Sully rushed over to me to help me off the floor.

“Mr. Andrews…I can explain.”

“You can?” Anger was seething from my dad as he walked forward. Nathan took a step back every time my dad stepped toward him. Sully took off his shirt and handed it to me, so I wasn’t standing there basically in my bra. Once I had it on, he wrapped his arms around me.

I just noticed mom had been on the phone and hung up. “He’s almost here,” she announced. I wondered who she was talking about.

Dad, never taking his eyes off Nathan, said, “Sit your ass on the couch before I ring your neck.” Nathan obeyed. My dad wasn’t a small guy. He could easily intimidate anyone.

"Are you okay?" Sully whispered to me. I nodded, still somewhat shocked. He rubbed my back to comfort me as I leaned against his warm body.

Just then, the front door opened. “Dad?” Nathan said, confused.

Mr. Pierce strode right over to Nathan and slapped him in the face. Nathan was dumbstruck at his father's actions. “What the hell are you thinking, boy!? You never lay your hands on a woman! I taught you better than that! I hope you enjoyed your freedom because the police are on their way.”

I could visibly see Nathan’s Adam’s apple bounce up and down, a look of fear flashing across his face. "Dad-" he started.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear a word come out of your mouth." The anger radiating off Mr. Pierce lingered around the room. Nathan shifted his eyes to the floor. "Brooke..."

I looked at him. "Yes?"

"I'm very sorry for my son's behavior," he expressed sincerely.

I just nodded at him.

“Come on,” Sully said softly in my ear. I followed him upstairs to my room. “Let’s get you a shirt.”

I could feel myself shaking slightly. Not because I was cold. But because my nerves were shot. As Sully looked in the closet for a shirt for me to put on, he started to explain. “I told you I would fix this even though it took longer than I wanted. I talked to your parents about what I suspected was going on. So, they watched his behavior with you.” He handed me a t-shirt. I peeled his off, not embarrassed because of how comfortable I felt around him. He put his back on and continued. “They got ahold of his dad to tell him what was going on and had to wait until he had an opening and could come all the way out here.”

I sat on my bed, and he followed suit. “He believed it?”

“Yeah. Apparently, he found out Nathan wasn’t doing so good back home after your breakup.”

“Brooke,” we heard my mother call from downstairs. We both went downstairs, and the police had arrived.

I told the police everything that happened. Nathan was handcuffed and taken to the station. He was charged with assault and criminal threat. After a few weeks, things went back to normal. I wasn’t so stressed. People at school stopped staring at me funny. My family constantly asked if I was okay. And honestly, I was. My life was back on track. Sully was great, as always. It was hard to believe that I’d been a victim. And I vowed to never become a victim again.

The End.