Chapter 22

The loud chirping of birds sitting outside my bedroom window finally woke me up from what felt like a great night’s sleep. I no longer felt exhausted, and my body no longer felt sore and weak. Quickly remembering where I was, I glanced around my bedroom, the floral fragrance now replaced with the musky smell of Xavier’s aftershave.

Xavier? Was he still here?

I glanced down beside me, to see that Xavier was indeed still in my bed, but fast asleep. I sighed happily in relief. He had taken most of his clothes off and was lying in just a pair of black boxers. He still had his arms wrapped around me tightly as if he were protecting me from anyone who dared enter the room. A burning sensation started erupting from my bladder, and I realised I desperately needed to use the bathroom. I tried to wriggle out of Xavier’s strong cast iron like grip without waking him, but he grunted sleepily.

“Where are you going, baby?”

“I need to pee Xavier,” I giggled sheepishly at him, finally pushing his strong muscular arms off me, and sliding off the bed.

“Make sure you come back!” groaned Xavier sleepily with his eyes still closed.

I watched him bury his face into the pillow, groaning loudly and sure enough, loud snores soon bellowed out around the room. I tiptoed gently to the bathroom and pulled the bathroom door closed behind me. After doing what I needed to do, I walked over to the mirror and rested my palms on the sink, before staring closely at my reflection.

I noticed that the welts and purple bruising from around my neck had, but all had disappeared. There were a few tiny marks left, but they would be easily hidden with makeup. My eyes were no longer bloodshot and sore, and my throat didn’t burn anymore, and I could swallow with ease.

The Doctor was right. I was a fast healer.

Turning slowly, I turned on the shower and gingerly stripped my clothes off. I glanced back into the mirror and gazed at my back and gasped loudly in shock. Unexpectedly, a voice erupted inside of my head.

“Are you okay in there my love?”

It was Xavier mind-linking me. He must have felt my sudden shock at seeing the marks on my back. I had forgotten that we were connected now.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just taking a shower,” I fired back before looking in the mirror once more.

The welts were no longer red hot and angry, but rather, they had turned to a reddish-brown. Some had already begun to turn yellow, and I noticed one or two had started to become silvery and shiny.

Great. Some are beginning to scar, as the Doctor said, I contemplated miserably.

Pulling my attention away from the mirror, I carefully stepped into the bath and stood under the heavy stream of water. The hot water made my skin tingle like it was on fire, and it made me feel good and full of energy. I grabbed my purple body scrubber from the bottom of the bath and squirted some sweet-smelling shower gel into the netted material and began to scrub furiously at my body. I was determined to wash away any evidence of Tom and what he had done to me. I wanted to be clean and fresh and be able to move on.

I cautiously cleaned in between my legs and used the water to rinse off the bubbles. I grabbed the 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner bottle and squirted a generous dollop into my hair and began massaging the gloop into my head. The smell of coconut soon filled the room, and I could feel my hair becoming clean once more under my fingertips. I promptly washed all the shampoo out and turned off the shower before stepping out and wrapping a fluffy towel around me. I snatched another smaller towel off the shelving unit and briskly dried my hair, before pulling my hairbrush through it, getting rid of the tangles.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the bathroom door and made my way into the bedroom. I was surprised to see Xavier now sitting up on my bed, cross-legged, resting his chin on his hands and watching me enter the room.

“Nice shower?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

“Was alright,” I shrugged nonchalantly. “I feel cleaner now though,” I laughed before making my way into the closet, leaving him sitting on my bed once more.

I made my way over to a set of drawers and pulled out some baby pink lacy underwear and found the matching bra to go with it. I glanced around the room at all the clothes that I owned, trying to decide what to wear. In the end, I decided to go with a burgundy cowl necked ¾ length sleeved top that sat along the top of my thighs, and I pulled out a comfy pair of black leggings and pulled on my brown Ugg boots. Satisfied with my look, I confidently walked out of the closet and back into the bedroom to find Xavier getting dressed.

“Are you leaving already?” I asked slowly, feeling a lump form in my throat. “I was enjoying your company.”

“Sorry baby, I’d love to stay with you all day. I really would, but I have an important business meeting that I need to attend to,” he explained sadly.

He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me towards him and burying his head in my neck.

“I’ll see you later, I promise. Just take it easy today okay,” Xavier breathed, sending his warm breath into my ear, before planting a kiss on my cheek, then walking out into the hallway.

I sighed sadly. I had enjoyed his company, and now I felt alone once again. I decided to find Hannah and see what she was up to today. Some girly time was what I needed. I swiftly walked out into the hallway, turned right, and continued up the corridor until I reached the next bedroom door and knocked loudly.

“Come in!” a soft voice shouted out.

I walked in to see Hannah sitting in her window, her head bent over, reading a book. She looked up and jumped in shock when she saw me.

“Leah! Oh my god. You're okay! I am so sorry I didn’t take you seriously. Can you forgive me?” Hannah stammered, tears welling up in her eyes.

I hastily walked over to Hannah and pulled her into a massive cuddle.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. We weren’t to know that Tom was going to come back and pull the stunt that he did,” I soothed.

Hannah pulled back and scrutinized me. “What did he do to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, but I am fine. Honestly!” I replied confidently.

Hannah looked at me, raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Fine. But if you ever need to talk, then you know where I am okay!”

“Thank you,” I replied gratefully. “Anyway, I came here to find out what you are doing today?”

“Erm, nothing. Why?” Hannah responded, putting her book away and pulling on her trainers.

“I fancy some girly time. Fancy hitting the shopping centre? We could get our nails done too!” I winked.

“Um, how about hell yes!” Hannah exclaimed. “I thought you would never ask! We can take my car!” Hannah laughed, grabbing her keys and her handbag from beside her bed.

“Let’s get some breakfast to eat on the way,” I said happily before following Hannah out of the room and towards the staircase.

We hastily made our way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Rachel and a couple of other people were busy preparing breakfast for the pack.

“Oh, hello girls” Rachel beamed happily. “You’re awake early Leah,” Rachel continued, glancing briefly at my neck before averting her eyes.

I knew what she was looking for.

“Me and Xavier spent the night together last night, but nothing happened,” I told her.

“Yes, I know. He told me,” Rachel smiled. “Just give him a chance. He really does love you, you know.”

“I know. I’m just taking each day as it comes,” I declared before grabbing an apple and a banana from the fruit bowl and walking over to the fridge and pulling out a glass bottle of chocolate milkshake. “And I’m sorry for Xavier snapping at you last night and for talking to you the way he did!”

“No, it's my fault for opening my mouth. I saw you two together looking loved up, and I just assumed that things were going in the right direction. Please forgive me, Leah!” Rachel sniffed sadly.

“Honestly, it's fine. And yeah, I understand. But no harm is done okay,” I replied, smiling gently at Rachel.

“Off anywhere nice then?” Rachel asked us, noticing our handbags and Hannah’s keys in her hand.

“We are off to go shopping in the mall,” Hannah quipped in response.

“Well, make sure you keep an eye on Leah. We don’t want anything else to happen to her,” demanded Rachel. “Xavier will have my guts for garters otherwise!”

“Of course, I will. I won’t let her out of my sight,” Hannah reassured before continuing “Are you ready, Leah?”

I nodded and followed Hannah out into the lobby and out through the front door towards a silver Audi. Hannah briefly pushed a button on her key fob, and the car emitted a shrill beeping noise. Casually, we both jumped in the front, and the car roared into life.

“Let’s go and have some fun!” Hannah laughed happily before winking at me and snaking the car back down the drive towards the freedom of Silvermoor City.