Taylor's POV
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The storm continues to hit us the following morning, as the light streams through our drapes I gaze down at Matthew and smile, lifting my hands to stroke him I feel tender. My wrists have rings around them, pink marks that circle them. Like blood spots before they form into a bruise. I remember Matthew's firm grip on me last night, from his strong hands holding me in place. He's left two marks.
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"Mmm what's the time?" He asks me sleepily.
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"Half ten... shhh" I say softly kissing his lips.
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"Damn" he says kissing me.
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"Jay is coming here in like twenty minutes" he says hoarsely as I continue to kiss him. His emerald eyes open and he eyes me, smiling at first and then kissing me softly.
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"Your wrists" he says stunned glancing at my arms as I watch his lips.
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"Jesus Taylor, I'm so sorry" he says concern shadowing his features.
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"No it's okay" I say to him as he checks my hands and arms.
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"Is not they're going to think I'm beating you" he says kissing the marks.
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"I think they're going to know exactly what you've been doing Matthew" I smirk and he sighs, rolling his eyes.
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"Does it hurt" he asks me worried.
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"No" I say cautiously, it does a little bit but if I tell him that he will never ever touch me again, and I must admit that was possibly the best ever.
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"Taylor" he says softly.
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"I'm so sorry, I didn't want to bruise you. I..." he begins brushing his hair back frustrated. The doorbell chimes and he curses.
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"No Matthew that was wow" I say to him.
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"I enjoyed every moment of that" I assure him as he eyes me steadily.
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"I love you" I tell him.
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"I love you" he responds lifting my shirt and eyeing the fresh marks on my hip bones that I hadn't even realised were there.
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"Fucking hell" he says and I shh him.
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"So we went a little harder than we should have" I begin trying to assure him.
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"That was honestly the best sex we've ever had and I'm not having you worrying about it" I say defiantly, as the door knocker goes on the oak door downstairs.
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"We ought to let them in out of the storm" I say to him, he's hardly responding to me. Climbing out of bed I pull my hair into a high ponytail, curls cascading down my back. Matthew stands behind me and places his hands lightly on my hip bones.
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"I'm so sorry" he whispers kissing my ear before he pulls on some joggers and leaves the room.
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"Matthew" I hear Jay's southern voice booming downstairs as I cross the hall in my nightshirt. Splashing water on my face in the bathroom, I gaze in the double vanity mirror and notice the marks instantly. They're pretty obvious, two bloodshot red marks around my wrists. I sigh and pull on Matthew's maroon sweatshirt, that will do for breakfast, I tell myself deciding to get changed later.
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I walk my bare feet down the oak staircase, hearing Rachel's shrill voice instantly I plaster a smile on my face and turn into my living room. Three sets of eyes turn on me and I shrink visibly. Rachel is wearing a leather jacket and jeans, it's toned down from her usual brightly coloured appearance and I smile at her. Jay is in his usual expensive get up and his eyes shine just eyeing my legs briefly before giving me a smile.
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"Hey, sleepyhead" he laughs and I practically stick my tongue out at him.
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"Wow Taylor, I'm envious of your au natural skin" Rachel says softly, and I rub my face self consciously.
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"Thanks" I say weakly as Matthew pulls me into his chest, which is bare, I rest my hands on his lower abs.
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"You look great Rachel" I manage.
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"Hey do you guys want breakfast" I say wanting to move the conversation on, I'm hungry and I will offer them food too. I count in my head, keeping myself together, I will not cry in front of our guests. Matthew watches me and I just want him to touch me normally.
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"Yes, that sounds great" Jay says smiling at me. He's wearing a baby blue Ralph shirt and designer jeans. His eyes shine at me.
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"You just ate" Rach snarls as they follow me into the kitchen.
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"A cereal bar" he snorts and I can't help but to smile at his tone.
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"I made you a coffee too" she laughs back at him.
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Pushing the oak door open, instantly eyeing my thong on the floor alongside my leotard and skirt, I blush bright red. Jay eyes my reaction hiding a smirk.
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"Wow, Tay" Rach says smiling, clearly wanting to make this completely awkward.
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"That looks like my kinda night" she says eyeing my wine on the side and clothes on the floor.
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"Yeah I forgot all about..." I begin scooping my clothes up flinching from my hips as Matthew joins me taking the clothing from me and dumping it in the direction of the laundry room. He helps me up and looks at me absolutely guilt ridden.
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"Looks like you guys had fun anyways" she chuckles. I turn to look at them as Jay is staring at me intently.
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"Want a fry up?" I ask looking back at him ignoring how awkward Rachel is making this whole situation.
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"Perfect" he says watching me move gingerly around the table. Rachel slumps at the table, by the fire as I take the plates over to the dishwasher and grab some disinfectant to wipe the table down.
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"Here" Matthew says taking over from the cleaning, I smile up at him and head over to the kitchen island where I can hide from our guests and think about cooking and only that. I turn the sound system on and put on my playlist, letting the music fill the room and lift my mood. Blocking out everybody else I grab a pan and all of the ingredients for my fry up.
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I place the sausages and bacon on and then I prep the tomatoes and mushrooms.
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"What can I do?" Matty asks smiling at me as I'm ignoring the constant chatter from Rachel. He grasps my hip and strokes it lightly looking into my eyes.
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"Toast please" I smile back at him, he crosses to the opposite side of the kitchen and begins toasting bread for everybody.
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I start the beans as everything else is looking good.
"We all want fried eggs ?" I ask catching Jay's eyes as he approaches me.
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"You are great at cooking" Rach smiles applying more lipgloss.
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"I wouldn't even be able to do eggs" she laughs glancing at Jay as he begins whisking up some eggs for me.
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"I'll do fried and you can do scrambled" I tell him my hands shaking just slightly. He briefly touches my hand and I look up at him as he smiles.
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"Hey can I have a glass of wine?" Rach asks, breaking my concentration.
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"Sure help yourself" I say. It's not even midday how can she possibly want wine? She loves her alcohol. Jay grabs a pan and begins to scramble the eggs having added the cream and whisked the mixture together.
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Extricating the sausages and the bacon and placing them on plates, I pull at the sweatshirt as Jay eyes my wrists. His eyes going wide, before he glances back down at his own pan. He doesn't comment or make any silly innuendos he just scrambles the eggs and adds them to the plates once they're finished.
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Matthew places all of the toast on the table as I grate up potatoes adding in flour, onion, baking powder and some chopped sage. Jay watches my hands the entire time. Placing my potato mixture into an oiled pan I make them into disc shapes and fry them up.
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"Kind of like hash browns" Jay says softly and I nod at him.
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"Just like hash browns" I tell him smiling and he chuckles sipping his coffee. I flip them as he stands next to me, Matthew's ear is metaphorically being chewed off by Rachel. Standing behind the kitchen island, and consequently hidden from view, his hand brushes down my waist whilst I continue to move the hash browns around the pan. He holds onto my hips and I flinch, visibly.
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"Are you okay" he whispers seriously.
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"I'm fine" I whisper back, it almost makes me giggle that he could think for one second that Matthew would ever harm me. He stares at me intently and I clear my throat before he scrapes his hair back and releases my hips.
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"I'm fine, Jay" I tell him plating up the rest of the food.
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"Could you get me the sauces" I ask him looking into his eyes. He nods and walks over to the fridge. Returning to my side immediately and checking my hands again, they're still shaking. He takes the plates and places them on the table I watch him as he walks over and Rachel gives him her best smile, already half a glass of wine down.
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Jay sets Matthew's down before him and I notice the tension between them instantly, I take a seat on my chair next to Matthew as Jay serves my food and then returns for his own.
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Seated opposite me Jay watches me briefly before tucking into the hash browns and nodding in appreciation.
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"We could add bacon to them next time" I comment and he nods smiling at me.
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"You can stuff them with bacon and cheese" I clarify and he smiles reassured that I'm acting normally. I glance up at Matthew and he smiles down at me whispering his thanks for the food.
Sipping my orange juice, and having a break from the delicious breakfast I notice Jays eye’s on my wrists just briefly. It's bugging him, I wasn't aware that he would be bothered. I can't help but to imagine this from his perspective; taking in my general mood and the marks most people would assume the worst. However, of course that is not the case, my mood is down due to Matthew being worried and partly still because of the problems with Ross and the accident.
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"You didn't fuck on the table right?" Rach asks laughing as I snort into my orange juice. Jay looks at her imploring her to shut up. I'm far too embarrassed to answer that, I keep my eyes down begging Matty to take over.
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"We didn't fuck on your side no" Matthew says and I turn bright scarlet. Keeping my eyes down and on my food, I continue eating wishing that he had just dismissed the conversation and told her to mind her own business. I imagine his need for wanting Jay to know was stronger than my need for discretion.
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"So yeah we need to get Ross some stuff on the way" I say completely changing the subject. I glance up at Matthew and he looks at me apologetically.
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"I've got his keys, he just needs some more clothes" I add, finally I look up and Jay is completely finished. He's sitting back watching me whilst sipping his coffee.
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"He gave you his keys" Rach says slightly shocked, as she finishes her wine.
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"Yes but just for today he hasn't got any clothes at hospital" I remark.
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"You want anything else" I ask Jay, he finished eating so quickly. I briefly wonder to myself whether he is still hungry as he pauses smiling. Before telling me, no but thank you.
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As Matthew and Jay begin clearing up, I head up to the bathroom and jump in the shower, leaving Rachel to sip her second glass of wine before midday. I scrub my entire body, delicately moving around the bruises. At the time it hadn't felt painful, yet now my body is marked almost everywhere. Wrapping a towel around me, I scrunch in some curly jelly deciding that my natural ringlets will have to do for today. Applying just a small amount of makeup in the bathroom mirror and spritzing on my favourite Armani perfume before pacing over to our large bedroom.
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Pulling on a black long sleeved corduroy dress, I zip it all the way up at the back and pair it with some semi sheer tights and my thigh high boots to keep my legs warm. Using the diffuser on my hair dryer I create the perfect bouncy curls that my mother loves. Remembering how she would scrunch my hair and blow dry it when I was little, the brunette tendrils falling down to my waist. I frame my face with a few of them and then clip half of them back pinning it in a half up half down style. Eyeing myself in the mirror I decide whether more makeup would help me out, resolutely hearing my mother's voice in my head telling me that I do not need makeup in order to be beautiful. I turn to the door with my purse in hand and head out.
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"You look wonderful" Matthew says hugging me in the hall. As Jay and Rach argue all the way out of the kitchen.
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"Thank you, please touch me normally" I whisper to him as he smiles down at me hugging me fully.
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"Awww your hair" Rachel squeals and I smirk slightly.
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"Tay are you coming out tonight" Rach asks as we leave the house and crunch through the snow on our porch.
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"Haven't really decided yet" I tell her smiling, I pull my scarf around me and my Barbour jacket.
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“Please” she whines and I smile over at her before I step into the 4x4. I glance up at Matthew and he smiles. It’s a win that I got into the car with no problem or hesitation.
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Matthew reverses off of the drive first and Jay follows behind us in his Audi.
