Her Second Chance at Love

5 April's POV

****Warning **** There is some content in this chapter that some might find disturbing.

April’s POV

As I was walking into the apartment, I let out the breath I was holding to see Colton was not back yet. As I was getting out what I needed to make supper I thought of Cassie. It was so good to see her again. I wish I had more time to talk with her. That brought me back to thinking about when Colton came to pick me up about a month after classes started again, after I agreed to stay living with him.

(Flashback)

I was outside talking to a classmate about a project we were doing together. When I saw him, I said good-bye to my classmate and got in the car. He was quiet on the ride home. As soon as we walked in the door, he went to the kitchen and started banging the doors on the cupboards closed. I asked him what was wrong, and he started to ask me who the guy was and why I was talking to him. I stood there in shock. Before I could say anything, he walked up to me and grabbed my arms hard and asked me if I was cheating on him. I said no and I told him about the class project and that the professor was the one to pair the teams up. He pulled me to him and hugged me tight to his chest and said he didn’t like me talking to other guys and that they were just trying to take me away from him. I told him he had nothing to worry about. When I was getting in the shower that night, I noticed red marks on my arms from where he grabbed me. As I was looking at them, he walked in behind me and hugged me from behind and said he was sorry for hurting me and it wouldn’t happen again, as he rubbed up and down my arms. I told him I was OK. And we went to bed.

A few weeks later, my professor asked me after class if I could help a fellow student (Matt) catch up with some work he missed due to being sick. I was a little reluctant because, since the incident a month ago, Colton has been getting agitated every time I leave for class or study groups. I did agree to help and me and my classmate Matt walked out of class discussing when would be a good time to go over the missing work, then went to work. When I got home, Colton was in the living room watching TV. I told him about what my professor asked, and he said no I can't do it. I didn’t want to argue with him, so I left it alone. Over the next week I would meet up with Matt at work and I would help him. It was going well until one day, while I was helping Matt on my break, Colton walked in with a few of his friends. I was on edge when I took their orders, but he didn’t seem to be upset. He even gave me a kiss before he left, so I didn’t worry so much about it.

As soon as I walked into the apartment, he grabbed me and pushed me to the wall. I was so dazed by what happened I couldn’t hear what he was saying between the throbbing in my back and my head from hitting the wall. When I finally zoned back in, he had his hand around my throat and was holding me to the wall and I couldn't breathe. He was yelling at me, saying that I was sleeping around behind his back, saying degrading things and how I was worthless. I was so stunned at what he was saying I couldn’t say anything to him. He gave me one final push and stormed out the door. I just slid down the wall, brought my knees to my chest and started to cry. I must have fallen asleep on the floor because when I woke up, I was still on the floor, and I didn’t know where he was. I took a shower and when looking in the mirror I saw bruises on my throat and some on my arms. I had class this morning, so I got dressed and made sure to cover my bruises. I was in the kitchen making myself something to eat when Colton walked in the door. I didn’t know what to say to him. He just walked to the bathroom and took a shower.

After he came out, he walked up behind me to hug me from behind and I flinched. He dropped his head on my shoulder and sighed. He turned me around and cupped my face so I could look into his eyes. He said he was sorry for the things he said last night, he didn’t mean any of it. He was also sorry for hurting me and he would never put his hands on me again unless it was for pleasure. He was just jealous when he walked in, and I was sitting with another guy. He hugged me and rubbed his hands on my back to sooth the pain. Of course, I forgave him and told him it was my fault since he said no to the tutoring, and I did it anyway.

That day in class, I couldn't focus on what the professor said. I was so in to my own thoughts that I didn't notice Cassie was talking to me until she bumped my arm to get my attention. I winched and grabbed my arm. She asked what happened to my arm after she saw the bruise and I told her I had walked into the door frame at home. She looked at me funny but didn't say anything and continued to talk. She asked if I had heard about what happened to Matt yet. I looked at her and said no. She told me that he was walking back from a party last night and got robbed and beat up badly. I asked her if he was OK, but she said she didn’t know. (I found out a few months later that Colton found Matt later that night, beat him up and told him to stay away from me. Matt just said it was a robbery because he was afraid of what Colton would do to him if he reported him.) At the end of class, she asked if I wanted to go for coffee, but I told her I had plans. When we exited the building, Colton was waiting outside and I gave her a hug and said goodbye. As soon as I walked into the apartment, we cooked dinner. During dinner he continually apologized and said how much he loved me and sorry. I forgave him.

The next few weeks, everything was good. I did notice that Colton would hover over me if we were not home. He was always at the door of my classes when I got out. But I didn’t think much of it. One day in class, Cassie said that it was getting awkward with Colton always around. I told her he said he just wanted to keep me safe because there have been a lot of robberies recently on campus and went back to what the professor was saying. Later, I walked to work to start my shift and my manager, Dan, called me to the office. He said that he needed to let me go. When I asked him why, he told me that he needed to cut back on expenses. I begged him to let me work for a week so I could find another job, but he said he couldn’t.

When I got home, Colton was just finishing supper. I told him what happened at work as we ate, and he told me not to worry about it. He will take care of my extra expenses for school and anything else I need. I told him I couldn't let him do that, but he said he would rather me focus on school than worry about money. He said that he was talking to his coach and said that he would be starting to enter fights soon and would be making more than just what a trainer makes. I still didn’t like the idea, but I didn’t want to get into an argument. I only had a week and a half left of the semester anyway.