𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 [𝟏𝟖+] ✔

16

It's been three weeks since I bolted out of the cellblock in tears, the painful lump in my throat was strangling me until I felt like I couldn't breathe. Frank had comforted me the best he could when I dropped to my knees, hyperventilating. He kept a careful hand on my shoulder while trying to talk me through each deep inhale, asking me what happened. Thankfully, telling him that I was upset about Eric attacking my idiotic ex was good enough.

I was crushed by someone else who didn't want me, and I'll be damned if I ever put myself in that position again.

The first week, I wasn't even allowed to leave my parents' house. Belinda kept me company, spending hours upon hours telling me stories about her life growing up that had me engrossed, swatting my hand away when I'd try to help her tidy up. Ainsley had been warned by her dad to give the McClure's some space, so daily voice notes have been our way of staying connected. Eric was released on day four, and although he's been handed a six-week suspension, he still walks around the manor like he owns the place, shouting orders at his men, sitting with my dad as they conversed like normal.

Dad doesn't want the people of the dome thinking he considers Eric's behaviour acceptable. Even though he's thankful for his brutal retaliation against Robbie for harming me, he's been told to stay away from the public, to train the new guys behind the house until his moratorium is up.

You'd think after blowing up at him and humiliating myself, he'd steer clear of me. But, whenever I wandered into a room he happened to be in, he made it his life mission for me to feel awkward by keeping his eyes on my every move. I dodged him in the kitchen when he tried to speak to me, and I regretted it an hour later, but I stood my ground that I was finished with it all, especially the odd glances and the absentminded touches when we had bumped into each other. The small of my back seemed to be a magnet to his palm when I tried to shift by him, and I always gave him such a snarling look that I'm surprised my dad hadn't noticed.

The dogs were always basically by my side, following me around day by day, and I was sure that annoyed him. I guess I did smile at the thought of him having to come for them. He'd stand in my doorway, huffing as Skye refused to leave my bed until he left her with me to sleep under my duvet.

I ignored him when he lightly knocked against my bedroom door in the middle of the night, whispering my name through the wood, drunk, having a death wish if my parents heard him. I wanted nothing more than to open it, but I buried my head into the pillow and pretended to sleep, nearly breaking when my wristband beeped with two slurred voice notes that I couldn't decipher.

It felt like a second break up and I was trying to dodge him like my life depended on it, how ridiculous? I just didn't have anything left in me to deal with it all, even if my heart did skip a beat every time I saw him.

Fighting the urge to look over my balcony to the group training had been hard, but I gave in, twice. Both times, I was caught by a smug Eric and one of his trainees who was with him when he attacked Robbie. The guy had smirked every time he'd seen me since then, and his trainer gave him a shove to pay attention when he glanced for too long.

The second week, I finally got permission to go home, with the protection of Frank, who would leave my place at ten each night and come back at eight in the morning. It had been peaceful; he knows how to keep to himself and not invade my privacy the way Eric used to. Oh, and having endless running water made my showers nearly an hour long. Just sat on the tiles with frigid drops hitting me, imagining that I was in the rain while I played the sounds of thunder in my head.

It's crazy how much the weather had impacted me, even the thought of being in a storm made me calm.

Mum had visited me daily, helped me tidy up then sat on the couch while we watched Come Dine with Me like nothing had happened. She wasn't mad at me anymore, thank God. But I still wasn't trusted, nor was I allowed to go anywhere without Frank, which I wasn't too fussed about.