Get used to not getting your way.
Callahan escorted me out of the junkyard, and I ran straight to the bathroom. I cried as I attempted to wash my face. I sat on the toilet and hid from the party until there was a light knock on the door.
“Eleanor,” Riot called quietly.
“Go away!” I spat.
I wasn’t sure what to say to him. He stole Callahan from me, but when we’d kissed before, it didn’t feel fake. For that flash of a moment, I thought he liked me. I liked that feeling. But now I was aware of everything, and I determined that Riot was nothing but a dirty snake.
He was just one of the many people in my life that was content on keeping secrets from me.
“I’m just checking to see if you’re okay. I have your room ready if you want to go lay down.”
I stood and went to the door. I opened it and peered out.
“My room?” I looked up at Riot, studying him carefully. He didn’t look malicious. He didn’t appear amused at my heartbreak. He looked almost… regretful.
“Yeah, there’s plenty of rooms at Heathen Heights. Cherry cleaned one up for you, the one right across from mine. You want me to take you up?”
I sniffled and nodded, opening the door completely and following him up the stairs, keeping my head down. My shoulders slumped, defeated. Callahan didn’t love me, not like he loved Riot. He loved hurting me. My twice beaten body was proof. While tonight I had no outward bruises, my insides screamed from the abuse. He’d thrust so hard, he’d wanted to hurt me. He wanted to prove a point. I was defenseless and he could do whatever he wanted.
It hadn’t felt like we were making love, despite me coming. It felt like…
I couldn’t bring myself to say the word. Instead, I allowed Riot to take me to my room.
“You can decorate it however you want. It’s not much. Probably less than what you’re used to. I tried to make it slightly better.”
“How?” I snapped. The room was completely bare, except a mattress pushed against the wall.
“I gave you a box spring.” He pointed. I squinted in the dark. I could make out two different layers of the bed.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Do you want a blanket? It’s pretty warm, but you can have one of mine.”
“No thanks,” I muttered. “You can leave.”
I couldn’t even look at him. Callahan didn’t want me to. He said I wasn’t supposed to go near him, but here he was, and Callahan was nowhere in sight.
Where’d he go?
Riot stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets for a long moment. I laid down on the bed and glanced only once before I rolled toward the wall.
“Close the door please.”
Eventually, he left and only then did I let myself cry.
I woke up, my cheeks crusty from hours of tears. My body was sore, inside and out. I tightened my core and cried. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was bleeding. Callahan had been ruthless. I went downstairs, moving slowly, and quietly, not wanting to wake the rest of the house.
However, I was disappointed to find people already awake.
Callahan sat at the kitchen table with Boone and Bonnie, sipping coffee. They stopped talking the moment I came in, their happy faces turning dark in a flash.
“What?” I asked, taking a deep breath.
I wasn’t going to let last night shake me. I was the highest ranked Young Lady in the bunker. Last night I shot a wasteland monster straight between the eyes. I knew my stuff. I was just… heartbroken. My chin trembled as my eyes set upon Callahan.
He’d betrayed me.
