Stella
My lungs burn for more air, but I'm breathing as fast as I can. The panic attacks happen more often, as the day's tick by. I know what must be done, but still, I can’t. Not yet, anyway.
It’s been seven days since Liam has gone back to Manhattan, he’s due back in less than twelve hours. I know if I don’t leave, I’ll have to marry him, but I can’t leave California, not yet. I still haven’t gotten all of my answers from Zack and, if I don’t, then this will have been for nothing. Unfortunately, despite the text messages I have sent Zack, I haven’t heard from him since the dinner with him and Gena – hence the panic attacks.

As the panic attack subsides, I grab my keys and head out of the room. I dig in my wallet for some money and head to the front desk. “Send someone up to my room to pack my things,” I tell the young man standing behind the desk. “I’ll be back in a few hours to gather them.”

“Ms. Saint-Clair, we don’t –” He starts but I interrupt him by laying the roll of money down in front of him. “Yes, ma’am!”

I nod before walking out of the hotel and towards the man working the valet. I cross my arms around my chest, trying to comfort myself to get my heart from pounding out of my chest. My car is returned to me and before I’m entirely ready, I head in the direction of Huntington Beach.

I’m not sure what I will say to the man that wants nothing to do with me, but I know I have to try – I have to know why he did what he did; why I wasn’t good enough. My lashes are wet from tears when I pull up to Zack's house. I use my mirror to wipe my face dry and search for eyedrops, but there’s nothing in the rental car.

I shake my head, shake every emotion I’m feeling out of my body and climb out of the car. I can feel Liam’s touch as I walk the now unlit pathway to Zack's house like we had a week ago. My hand shakes as I ring the doorbell and it remains to shake as the door is opened.

“Stella?” Zack asks, squinting as the sunlight pours into his house. “What are you doing here?”

“Is Gena here?” I ask him. “I thought she might want to help me pick out colours for the wedding.” I motion to my purse as if there are samples of colours inside, but there’s not. Truth is, I haven’t even started to plan the wedding that will never happen.

Zack shakes his head. “No,” he says shortly.

“Oh,” I say, nodding. I silently beg my mouth to form more words, but nothing comes out. I turn silently and start to walk off.

“Hey – are you okay?” Zack calls after me.

I turn around. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Zack studies my face from afar. “Do you want to come in for a drink?”

I nod without thinking about it and my feet carry me into his house. Despite the sunshine, Zack's house is dark. It smells like stale liquor and beer as if a party had been thrown but not cleaned up afterward. There’s shattered glass beside the door that cracks beneath my weight.

“Um –” Zack starts as he hears the sound, “sorry about the mess. It’s, uh, it’s been a long week.”

“Is everything okay?” I ask, looking around the room.

Zack doesn’t answer as he walks deeper into his house. I follow him, confused and slightly worried. He stumbles into the kitchen and begins lifting random bottles, checking the contents for each one before throwing it in the trash.

“I hope whiskey is okay,” he tells me, lifting up a bottle that is half empty. He grabs two glasses from the cabinet and fills them before handing me one. “So, what’s up?”

I shake my head. “Nothing, really. Just…wedding planning,” I lie.

“And how is that going?” He asks me, taking a gulp of the whiskey.

I set my glass down on the counter. “Zack, is everything okay?” I ask him once more.

“Everything is fine,” he tells me, walking out of the room. “Just been a long week, is all.”

“I texted you the other day,” I tell him, following him into the next room.

“Oh, about that…” Zack raises up his phone, the screen completely shattered and black. “It, uh…well, yeah.”

Furrowing my brows, and grab his arm before he can walk further off. “Zack, obviously something is wrong here. Are you okay? Did…did something happen?”

He shakes his head, gently pulling his arm out of my grasp. “Gena and I broke up…or we’re taking a break or…fuck, I don’t even know anymore.”

“Oh, Zack, I’m so sorry,” I tell him, sitting next to him as he sits on the couch.

“It’s my own damn fault,” he tells me. “I really don’t want to talk about it. She’s staying at her mom’s house, I can give you the address if –”

“No,” I say quickly. “That’s alright. We don’t have to talk. Let’s just drink.”

Zack smirks. “That sounds so much better.”


The rest of the night is a blur. When I wake, the room is spinning, and the smell of alcohol makes my stomach lurch as I sit up. An aroma of something else fills my nostrils as my head pounds and I realize I’m not wearing any pants.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” I hear behind me. With the way Zack's couch is angled, I can see straight into the kitchen. Zack stands behind the stove, shirtless.

I run my hand through my tangled hair. “Hey,” I say, getting up from the couch and pulling on my jeans. “This is going to sound totally presumptuous but…”

“Did we have sex?” Zack finishes, and I purse my lips. “Nah. You kept complaining that you were hot last night, so you took off your pants. Plus, if we had sex, you’d definitely be feeling it.” Zack winks, causing me to giggle nervously. “Sorry, that’s probably not something I should say to someone engaged. It’s been a while since I’ve done this whole ‘single’ thing. Anyway, do you want pancakes?”

I shake my head. “How can you eat –” the word ‘engaged’ finally registers. “Oh shit, what time is it?”

Zack throws me a confused look. “Um, ten-thirty?”

I freeze for a moment before the panic begins to set in. The sweat begins to puddle in my palms as my heart races. “I – I have to go,” I tell him, heading back into the living area. I find my shoes in the mess of liquor bottles and slip them on.

“Hey – wait, what’s wrong?” Zack asked, following me. “Stella – I’m sorry for that inappropriate comment, I –”

“It’s not that, Zack,” I tell him, finding my phone stuffed between the couch cushions. I grab my keys from the table.

“Then what is it?” He presses as I make my way to his front door.

I shake my head. “I’ll uh, text you later…well, shit, I guess I can’t – your phone. I have to go.”

If Zack replied, I don’t hear him as I hurry off to my car. My heart doesn’t stop racing the entire drive back to Anaheim. I’m near shaking as I rush through the lobby, and to the elevator. Once on my floor, I’m so scared I think I’m going to pass out. Staying at Zack's last night was a mistake. Not only was I supposed to be back last night – with all of my answers with Zack – so I could leave Anaheim but now…

I unlock my hotel room door and head inside to see Liam sitting on the edge of the bed, next to my pile of packed bags. “Liam,” I gasp. I was expecting to see him here, knowing his flight in Los Angeles landed hours ago but still, I hoped it got delayed.

“Where have you been, Stella?” he asks me.

I leave the room door open. “I went to get coffee but, they were closed…a water line or something…”

Liam nods, getting off the bed. He moves with a type of intimidating shuffle, moving closer to me. He raises his hand, and for a minute, I think he’s going to hit me, but he closes the door instead. This, however, feels even more threatening.

“I know you didn’t stay here last night, Stella. I know you paid the help to pack your bags. So, what’s going on?”

I shake my head. “Nothing, I’m just tired of staying here,” I tell him as confidently as I can. “I thought we should go closer to the beach, get a –”

“So, then, where were you last night?” Liam interrupts.

“I –”

“You were with him, weren’t you?” Liam asks me.

I scoff, “With who, Liam?”

I taste blood before I feel the sting of Liam’s slap. I grip the smoothness of the wall to prevent falling over, but it’s not needed. Liam grabs me and holds me against the wall. “I know you’re fucking him, Stella.”

“Are you talking about Zack?” I ask, trying to push him from me. “Liam – he’s just a friend!”

He slaps me again; this time I fall to the carpet. “Lie to me again, Stella and next time it’ll be my fist.” He pulls me up to my feet and pushes me deeper into the room.

I scurry across the room like a beaten dog. “Liam, please…our wedding is in two weeks. These bruises won’t heal if –”

“Oh, don’t give me shit about a wedding that isn’t going to happen. Your fucking bags are packed, Stella. I know you were planning on leaving me!”

I shake my head. “No, it’s like what I said – I’m just tired of staying here! If I was leaving you don’t you think I would have been gone by now?”

Liam stares at me for a long moment. “So, you and Zack are just friends?” He slowly starts to make his way towards me.

“Yes,” I tell him.

Liam nods. “Because you see, Zack said you and he weren’t even friends – he said that you were more friends with Gena.” I open my mouth to reply, but he doesn’t give me the chance. “So, if the two of you can’t get your story straight, why shouldn’t I believe you’re lying to me?”

“I’m not,” I tell him. I don’t realize my feet were moving until I feel my back against the wall.

“Then what the fuck is this?” Liam asks. He uncrumples a piece of paper and shoves it in my face. The post-it note with Zack's number.

“Liam, it’s not –”

The tightness around my throat takes me by surprise. Liam squeezes harder and as I open my mouth to gasp for air, he shoves the crumpled post-it in my mouth. “What did I say about lying to me?” He removes his hand away from my throat long enough to ball it into a fist and punch me in the stomach.

I fall to my knees, attempting to spit the paper out of my mouth and breathe at the same time. “Liam, please!” I cry into the carpet, holding my stomach.

“You were going to leave me for him, weren’t you?” Liam yells, kicking me. He pulls me up by my hair and then slaps me again. I don’t have the strength to hold myself up, so I fall into a cower.

“Liam,” I cry into my hands. My entire body hurts, my swollen lip causes his name to come out funny and I can’t taste anything but blood and tears.

Liam pulls me back up to my feet, this time using my throat. “You were planning on leaving me for that prick, weren’t you?” he asks again. There’s a darkness in his eyes that I know all too well and I know he won’t believe anything of reason.

“Yes!” I scream. “I left you weeks ago, Liam but when I came here it was for Zack! I had all of my stuff packed because I was going to leave before you came back! I –”

Liam slams me against the wall and I know I’ve done exactly what I needed to do. I know Liam isn’t going to stop this beating until I’m unconscious. I fall to the ground and he climbs on top of me. He delivers multiple punches to my shoulder, chest, and stomach. He never was one to hit my face with a closed fist for some reason. I cry and beg him to stop, but before he does, he wraps his hands around my throat again.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” he tells me. I attempt to pinch and push, claw and punch him off of me but nothing helps.

My head is pounding, the room spins as the edges begin to darken. I dig my nails into the skin on his hand and beg him to let up, but he doesn’t. He lefts my head up from the carpet and slams it back down. The splitting pain cuts my brain in half. He slams my head down a second time – my entire body tingles with pain, vision blurs. He slams my head down a third time – the fingers that once embedded themselves in his skin become limp, and my hands fall down to my side before everything goes black.

Notes

Okay, so Liam is a crazy, abusive asshole. Answers are coming very soon, including why Zack hasn't figured out the obvious yet - is he playing dumb or is he just stupid? We will be finding out super soon..................maybe.

On another note, this story will be ending at Chapter 15, so it's coming up pretty quick!

Title credit: (FOB “Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner”)