Fighting to Be Free (Fighting to Be Free 1)

I found some leftover pizza in the fridge so I pulled it out and sat at the counter munching on it.

Mark came in after a couple of minutes and smiled. "That looks good. Can I have some?" he asked, nodding at the plate.

I shrugged and pushed the plate in his direction as he sat down next to me. "Thanks for the ride home. Even though you did scare the crap out of me," I said, grinning and blushing at my stupidity.

He smiled and bit into his pizza. It was a little awkward. Conversation had never flowed easily between us, talking wasn't one of the key points of our three year relationship - then again, there wasn't actually many key points to our relationship at all to be honest. I loved him in the beginning but then it just kind of fizzled out, but by then we'd been together too long to just give up on it so we stayed together and the relationship turned a little sour.

"So what are your plans for the weekend?" I asked politely.

He shrugged. "Not sure. My dad wants me to go into his office tomorrow and help him prepare for a big case he has coming up, nothing interesting really. What about you?"

"I'm seeing Jamie tomorrow daytime, nothing else planned though," I answered, throwing my crust in the trash.

"Want to catch a movie or something tomorrow night? That guy that you like, Chris Pine, has a movie out I think," he suggested, looking at me hopefully.

I squirmed in my seat. "Jamie took me to see it last week," I replied, smiling apologetically.

"Oh. Well, maybe we could see something else? Or dinner?" he asked giving me the little lost boy look.

I smiled sadly. When Mark wanted to, he could be sweet, but this nice guy act never lasted long. He would be nice right up until I wore something he didn’t like, or spoke to someone without him being there, or even accepted a drink from someone at a party. He was crazy possessive. If he was thinking I'd forgotten the reasons that we broke up just because he suggested we go see a chick flick together, then he was very much mistaken. Even if Jamie did break up with me then there would be no chance that I would ever go back to Mark.

"Mark, I'm with Jamie."

A frown lined his forehead as his eyes turned a little hard. "Ellie, it's not right that we're not together! We were a great couple. Just give me another chance, please?" he asked, getting off of his stool and stepping closer to me, his eyes boring into mine.

"Mark, I think you should go. Thanks for the ride home, I appreciate it." I eyed the door as I stood up too, signalling the end of the conversation.

He obviously didn’t get my signal though, because he gripped the tops of my arms, pulling me against his body as his lips crashed against mine, kissing me fiercely. I whimpered and squirmed, turning my head to the side to break the kiss but his grip tightened on my arms, his fingers digging into my skin as he kissed me again.

I got my arms between our bodies and shoved him as hard as I could, making him stumble back a couple of steps. I glared at him as I swiped at my mouth angrily, trying to wipe away the feel of his lips against mine. "Just get the hell out!" I growled quietly, not wanting to wake my parents or sister.

"Ellie," he started, but I held up a hand to cut him off.

"Leave. Now," I ordered, marching out into the hall and wrenching the door open.

He did follow me out there but he didn’t look happy at all. His jaw was tight, his eyes piercing into mine as he stomped over to the open door. "I love you, Ellie. Sooner or later you'll realise that you're dating a waster and you'll come begging me to take you back," he vowed.

I snorted and shook my head, not looking at him as I opened the door wider in prompt. He sighed and before I could stop him, he bent forward and kissed me again for a second before heading out of the door. I growled in frustration and closed the door, wanting nothing more than to scream and kick the wood in frustration.

After locking the door and throwing the rest of the pizza back into the fridge, I headed upstairs. As I got to the top my mom came out of the bathroom, crossing the hallway, heading back towards her bedroom. She smiled at me, a little glint to her eye told me that she'd witnessed at least some of that little exchange that happened between me and Mark.

"Hi, Ellison. How was the dance?" she chirped, smiling happily.

I sighed and shrugged. "It was okay I guess," I replied. "I'm going to bed. G'night, Mom."

"Good night, honey."

I ignored the second smug smile on her face and headed into my room, practically ripping the dress off over my head and flopping down on the bed in my underwear. I buried my face into the pillow and tried my hardest not to cry. I refused to think about Mark and him kissing me. If I started thinking about him then I'd end up getting angry about it and then I'd never get to sleep. My thoughts turned to Jamie, I silently wondered if he made it home okay or if he needed me to go over there and play nursemaid for him. I longed for him to be here with me, to hold me in his arms and kiss me goodnight. I missed him like crazy. I was both excited to see him tomorrow, and scared at the same time because I was dreading the moment that he would say what I knew he was going to say - that it was over. How was I going to cope with that when he said it? My best guess was that I wouldn't handle it very well at all.

Chapter 17

~ Jamie ~

I pulled my keys out of my pocket as I walked down the road. Earlier in the day I’d parked my car near her school so that I could drive myself to the warehouse when the time came. Anger and resentment was boiling in my chest. The resentment was firmly directed towards my mother for dragging me into this situation in the first place. The anger, and it was a lot of anger, was directed towards the ass**le that had been calling me constantly all night asking when I was getting there and panicking about the boost being late.