The glint of hatred in his eyes fades away and he cradles his face in his hands.

“Sorry... (f/n), I’m sorry...”

“It’s okay,” you say in relief, still feeing your face getting hotter, “can you... untie me, please?”

He pulls his hands from his face and his eyes travel over your body, the shade of red deepening on his face. You clear your throat.

“You drugged me... I am five seconds away from yelling rape.”

He quickly grabs the scissors and snips away at the rope. You rub your wrists as they are released.

‘I just confessed to him...’ you think, making the beating of you heart and the heat of your face increase significantly.

You shake two light blue pills out of a prescription bottle, handing them to Mark.

“These will knock you out for the night, so make sure you lock your door when I leave.”

He rolls them around in his hand, but looks to you with sadness on his face. “Do you have to go back to your apartment?”

You smile kindly, “It will be better this way, make sure to let me know when you get up tomorrow." you grip his other hand, “please... just... get some rest.” You stand up and walk out, turning to wave, “Goodnight” you close the door, leaning back against it.

‘and goodbye’

You feel tears glide down your face as you enter your apartment.

You took extra care to remove any trace of you being there, you weren’t sure of how much he would remember. You lay awake most of the night, spending a good portion of it silently consoling yourself.

You awake the next morning and look at your phone. No messages, no missed calls. You sigh and get dressed, going out to the living room and falling onto your couch. You flail your arms in a bit of frustration.

‘Why?!’

You frown as you feel how swollen your eyes are, a slight itch on your chest, a pang of sadness deep inside. You jump as you hear a knock at your door and freeze for at least a minute. The knocking continues.

“Come on, I’m sorry, okay?” his voice resonates from the other side of the door, “It’s been about a week, I don’t even know your name, how can I make amends?”

The pain in your chest worsens.