She had just managed to remove her suit, slip into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and get comfortable on the couch with a glass of apple juice before the doorbell rang. She opened the door to see Craig standing before her. Aside from the night she showed up on Nick's doorstep she hadn't seen him since their kiss,
"Hi, um come in." She stepped aside and let him in,
"Have a seat. Want something to drink?" He shook his head,
"No thanks...so how is everything?" Of course Nick told him, Nick tells Craig everything,
"Nick told you." He shook his head,
"Told me what? I haven't talked to him since that night you came over to his house." She bit her lip and nodded as she took a seat beside him,
"You guys having problems?" He smiled,
"No just busy, then he and the guys left for New York." She tucked her legs underneath her,
"Oh I forgot about New York...what guys?" She remembered after New York was Los Angeles, surely he would be spending time with Lexi,
"Sam, Mike and Pete." Of all the guys for him to be with he chose the three stupid stooges,
"Great, they have a combined IQ of forty. Can't wait to hear what stupid shit they get Nick into." Craig shook his head,
"That's not fair. Nick is an adult and those guys are my friends too. No one makes Nick do anything he doesn't want to do." Shayna sighed,
"I understand that but shouldn't you have your friend's back? They should see when a situation isn't good for Nick and pull him out. You do it." He nodded his head in agreement,
"And I understand that but those guys are anonymous and get to do stupid stuff without having to worry about being judged by the world and as much as Nick likes to think he is a regular guy, he isn't and he has to think about things like that. Honestly, it's Nick who goes overboard to prove he's not a pretty boy Backstreet Boy." Shayna nodded and held out her hands,
"Ok, truce." He laughed momentarily before placing his hand on her knee,
"So what happened that night?" Just the thought of it all made the tears form in her eyes,
"I got into it with Bill." The last thing she wanted to do was look like a victim, especially in front of Craig of all people,
"You went to Nick after you got into it with your boyfriend?" The tears escaped her eyes,
"He hit me." His eyes stretched,
"What? Who hit you? Your boyfriend?" She nodded slowly,
"Yeah, he found out Nick and I were still-" He sat closer to her and wrapped his arm around her,
"Aww baby, I'm sorry. Did you already break it off?" She knew that was what she was supposed to do, what was expected of her but she knew he didn't mean it, that he was sorry. He repeated the answer and when she didn't answer he pulled back and looked at her avoid his stare,
"Please tell me you are not going to stay with him." She wiped her eyes,
"If I wouldn't have cheated it never would have happened." She could tell he was shocked, he couldn't hide it,
"Oh my God sweetie, that's no reason."
"He won't do it anymore." He grabbed her arm and she flinched,
"See? You see that? The bruises may go but the fear stays. What happens when you go out with your friends and he doesn't like it? What happens when he wants you to do something and you refuse?" He looked at her but she remained quiet,
"He'll hit you that's what." She laughed lightly,
"He loves me, he cares, if he didn't he wouldn't have gotten so upset." Craig frowned,
"That sounds like a line from a bad Lifetime movie. Don't tell me you actually believe what you just said like his hitting you is proof that he loves you?" Shayna leaned forward and sipped her drink before sighing and shaking her head,
"I'm not like one of your social work cases Craig." He graduated a year and a half ago with his Master's degree in psychology and works with abused women and children,
"The very fact that you think you aren't proves you are." She frowned,
"What does that mean?" He slowly placed his hand on her knee,
"No one ever thinks they are a victim...until it's too late." The tears started again and this time they were accompanied by uncontrollable sobs.
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Chapter 59