Two

Cover up with makeup in the mirror
      tell yourself, it's never gonna happen again
      You cry alone and then he swears he loves you.

When I arrive to the bar a few hours before we open I'm still thinking of her, as usual. Last night her boyfriend came to pick her up but he has a terrible timing. She wasn't doing anything wrong but she works at a bar, drunk men don't always know what they are doing. Right when the caveman arrived to pick her up some guy approached her and grabbed her hand to stop her right when her boyfriend was walking in, watching the whole scene.

In a few words, the drunk guy ended with his nose broken, bruised ribs and his right wrist sprained because her boyfriend beat the shit out of that guy for touching her. She screamed and tried to stop him but that only made things worse. He grabbed her by the neck and dragged her out of the bar, leaving us all behind.

Needless to say I had to be held by my band mate all the time so I wouldn't interfere and get myself beaten up, too.

I've been worried sick about her. What if he hit her? What if she's so hurt that she can't even come to work today? I'm scared for her. I don't know what I would do if that idiot hurt her.

But she's here, earlier than usual. When I'm walking by the female lockers I hear soft sobs and I approach, just taking a glimpse. She's the only one inside so I allow myself walk in just to see her wiping tears away and then washing her face. When she looks up at her reflection I can see that idiot's work. I can see the marks on her face and neck.

He hit her.

I ball my fists and count to ten to not run and kill that motherfucker myself for hurting her. I tell myself she needs me now, she's hurt.

I call her name and she turns around startled by my presence there. Once she sees me there she gives her back on me, hiding her face from my scrutiny so I step closer, trying to reach her.

"You don't need to hide from me," I tell her grabbing her shoulder and coaxing her to turn around and meet my eyes.

She does and when our gazes lock, she starts crying again.

Without knowing what else to say I just wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, giving her room to cry. I bet she held it inside until she left that house to come here to work. I'm sure she hasn't allowed herself to cry the pain until now. And it infuriates me that he did this to her. I hate to think about this. Who knows how many times he's done this before? Who knows in what other way he's hurt her. And she allows that. Why? Why does she keep doing this to herself?

I hug her even tighter as if like that I could shelter her forever from that imbecile, but I'm not naive. I know it's not enough.

"I wanna kill him," I whisper and she tenses in my arms. "How can he do this to you? A man doesn't hit a woman!" my tone rises as I speak, furious with this whole situation. Tired of it.

"No," she whispers pulling back, breaking our embrace. I'm reluctant to let her go. She's not safe outside my arms.

"What?" I ask incredulously, confused.

She shakes her head and finishes pulling away from me, facing the mirror to wash her face again. Then she grabs her purse and rummages inside looking for something. She finally takes out a small case and when she opens it I see it's makeup. Calmly, she starts applying it and still outraged I see how the bruises disappear little by little. She erases them with the precision of a makeup artist, which makes my guts twist. How many times has she done this before?

"He's sorry," she whispers calmly, her voice and posture collected again. “After he... After he calmed down he cried next to me, hugging me, saying he was sorry, that he didn't mean to."

I roll my eyes at her words. 'Didn’t mean to'? What kind of idiot does he think she is? You don't beat someone up by accident. He's a savage and yet she's defending him. Again.

"This is never gonna happen again," she whispers, her eyes locked on her reflection and I'm not sure of she's telling me that or of she's telling herself. 

Does she actually believe he won't do this again? If he hit her once, what will stop him from doing it a second time? And a third? And a fourth? He's a violent person, he can't control himself. This will happen again and she must know it.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" I retort, incapable of hiding my sarcastic tone.

She looks at me with a hurt expression and with gritted teeth I apologise for being rude.

"I do. I believe him. You didn't see him. I had to comfort him because he was destroyed," she relates and I feel sick.

"You comforted him after he beat the crap out of you. While you were in pain?" She doesn't reply and I get more furious. "It should've been the other way around. No, wait. It should've never happened! He shouldn't have hit you at all!" I shout and I know I scare her by the way she reacts and I regret immediately but at the same time I get angrier because it's his fault she reacts like that when someone raises their voice. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I shouldn't have yelled."

She takes a deep breath and turns to look at her reflection again, putting her hair in a long side braid.

"I just hate what he does to you. You deserve better," I tell her and I know I've said this a million times.

"Better? What better? He loves me. He swears he loves me every day and that he can't lose me. He says I make him a better person. He needs me. What better than that? Who else could love me like that?" she spats. 

I could, I say in my head but I don’t utter the words, not wishing to hurt her any deeper. I could love you better than him.

"You don't have to worry. I'll be fine," she says and smiles at me once she's done with her hair and ready to start working.

She walks past me and I can't move. She deserves so much better, someone who really loves her. She doesn't really know what love is, she's never been really loved. That guy is ruining her, he selfishly keeps her by his side even if that's killing her inside.

I hate him. I hate him so much.

-:-:-

I'm so happy you're liking it so far. Please, keep telling me what you think and vote if you liked the chapter. Also, I think it's an important message so if you have someone who's trapped in an abusive relationship maybe you should show her/him this story. 

Also, this story will have nine chapters, each one based on a different stanza of the song. So there's more to come.

Bel, xx