“I think you didn’t think about me at all,” I reply.
It’s not entirely true, but it feels like it is. Right now, that’s all that matters.
I turn away, grabbing my bag off the bed.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“I’m leaving.”
“No.” The word comes out sharp and immediate.
I freeze for half a second then slowly turn back to him. “Excuse you?”
“You said you’d stay if I told you the truth. And you’re not safe out there,” he refutes.
Something inside mesnapsagain. “Oh my god,” I laugh, the sound almost hysterical now. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. Especially not now.”
“I’m not telling you-”
“You just said ‘no,’” I cut in. “Like I’m someone you can command.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive,” he fires back.
“And I’m trying to keep my dignity,” I shoot back. “Which you’ve already done a pretty good job of wrecking.”
I start throwing things into my bag just as haphazardly as the night I packed to come here.
“You can’t just leave,” he says, stepping closer.
“Watch me.”
“Liv-”
“Get out.” The words come out louder and sharper than I expect.
He stops. “…What?”
“Get out,” I repeat, my voice breaking now despite how hard I’m trying to hold it together. “I don’t want you in here right now.”
“I’m not leaving you like this.”
“Then I’ll leave,” I shoot back. “But one way or another, I need you away from me.”
I can see him calculating, thinking over what to say and how to say it. “Liv-”
“GET OUT!” I scream. The sound tears out of me, raw and broken. My chest heaves, tears blurring my vision as everything finally catches up to me at once. The betrayal, the fear, and the realization that even when I thought I was safe, I wasn’t. Not completely, not even with him.
“That son of a bitch will never lay a hand on you!” he snaps, his voice rising for the first time. The words echo in the room.
“I don’t need you to save me from my father,” I say, my voice cracking. “I needed you to respect me. But instead, you decided to use my body without permission, just like he does. You’re no better than him.”
A silence stretches in the room, heavy and final.
“Please,” I add, softer now. “Just… go.”
He stands there for a second longer, like he wants to say something but doesn’t know how. But then he nods once and turns, walking out of the room. The door closes behind him with a quiet click.
And just like that, the space feels empty. The room is now big and quiet again. I stare around at it, standing for a second, then my legs give out.
