Zoe remained on the floor of her bathroom, her skin was pale, her eyes were red. She yearned for Martin's arms around her right now. As she leaned against the cold wall, closing her eyes, all she could see was Alex's face. His dark, shadowed eyes and his tongue protruding from the gaps of his teeth as he grinned at her.
Zoe's breathing became shaky and fast as she recalled him pinning her wrists by the sides of her head while he thrashed himself in and out of her, and she remained with a stolid face, looking straight up at the ceiling, waiting for it to be over, crying from the pain.

The moment Martin stepped in the door he was greeted with the overwhelming stench of alcohol, making Martin feel nauseated.
"Sorry- me and Derek were out last night, son had a wild house party! Just starting to clear up, got back an hour ago." Justified Amanda, "take a seat."
Martin looked around the dark green room, the furniture was old and oak, the coffee table had a broken bottle of vodka in the centre, on the ground below were scattered whiskey and wine bottles, both of which were empty but still reeked. Martin couldn't find any words to speak. He looked to the one of the walls and saw a splash of red-brown in what appeared to be hand prints.
"How old's your son?" Asked Martin, trying to make conversation as they hurriedly tidied up.
"Sixteen- seventeen? God, I dunno anymore. He's moved out." Said Amanda, biting her lip.
"That's pretty young to move out." Remarked Martin, crossing his arms.
"He wanted to, so we bought him a flat in the city, don't know why he had the party here." Amanda told him, making Martin feel so sick and angry with all her lies.
"Where's he now, taken a runner has he?" Asked Martin,
"Yeah. Anyway, sorry- enough about him.. I heard about Martha, I'm so so sorry." Said Amanda, sitting down beside Martin and placing a hand on his knee.
"I heard about Ellie, too." Added Martin, awkwardly looking at her, trying to avoid eye contact.
"She was killed." Uttered Amanda,  Martin could feel the warmth of tobacco from her breath. "It was that fucking cunt of a son I have."
"What?" Questioned Martin,
"He pushed her onto the road in front of a car." She Growled, "sorry, I don't want to take this out on you."
"B-but wasn't there CCTV footage- the driver didn't stop." Justified Martin,
"The driver is dead now. And Ellie is dead and Ollie will be soon." She said, grinding her teeth before shaking her head, "sorry- you don't want to hear about this... how has life been for you? Where is it you work again?"
Martin looked her dead in the eyes,
"I work as a music teacher in Rustrike High." He told her, making Amanda stand still as her lips slightly parted.
Martin stood up, his jaw nearly shaking, he shook is head and walked to the wall with the finger prints,
"This is blood." He breathed, "all you've said is lies. Lies. Lies."
"excuse me?" Responded Amanda hastily, standing up behind him.
"It is not Ollie's fault your daughter died." He said, keeping his voice down.
"Fuck. Fuck you're fucking onto us! Derek! Derek get the fuck down here!" She yelled.
When Martin heard the loud stomping footsteps above him moving towards the stairs he made it for the door.
"What the fuck are you doing here!" Thundered Derek, a huge man who was making his way quickly down the stairs.
"I'm just leaving." Martin Replied, opening the door and slamming it behind him, unlocking his car quickly and climbing in, not bothering to put on his seatbelt before he drove quickly onto the road, watching Derek and Amanda open the door again in his rear view mirror.
Martin drove a few miles before pulling into a large Asda and buying the essentials. While in the bread aisle he noticed Cloda carefully checking the prices of wheaten loaves.
"Hello stranger." He greeted, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Long time no see!" She laughed, hugging him,
"What have you been up to in the last five hours?" He asked her, slipping a £20 note into her back pocket as he split away from the hug.
"Well, I did a bit of tidying up and then I just fell asleep on the sofa, not half as exciting as you." She giggled, patting his arm as she chucked a loaf into her basket.
"....sorry?" He laughed nervously before she opened a packet of makeup wipes from her basket and took one out, wiping Martin's neck quickly and handing it to him, which was now stained slightly pink.
"Shit, I've seen people today.." he gasped, though chuckling through his hands which covered his mouth.
"Don't worry, only true experts will have noticed." She flirted jokingly,
"Well, thanks for that." He laughed, blushing.
"Happy housewarming." Cloda Added as he walked towards the tills to pay.
"love you!" He called back,
"Love you too!" She chuckled, shaking her head before walking away.

Martin returned to his new house he found it peculiar to be entering in silence.
He set down the shopping in the kitchen and began to unload the items into their christened cupboards before he began to wonder where Zoë was.
The sky was getting quite dark now, it was nine o'clock, and he assumed that Ollie hadn't been fed yet.
After putting some pasta on to boil, he walked back into their bedroom to see Zoë lying fast asleep and naked under the covers of their bed.
Martin gave a smile before removing his shoes and jacket and crawling in beside her, burrowing his face into her neck and placing an arm over her waist before she moved and opened her eyes.
"Hey.." she breathed,
"Sorry I woke you." He replied, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just felt a bit sick, are you okay? How were his parents?" She whispered, and he told her everything, even to his funny conversation with Cloda.
"So.. it was definitely his parents." Sighed Zoe,
"I'm gonna have a closer look at his injuries.. because there were a lot of broken bottles- has he called?" Asked Martin, sitting up,
"I don't think so, no." Said Zoe,
"I'll go check up on him."
Martin sat up and kissed her forehead letting his fingers slowly slip away from her face before standing up out of the bed,
"You up to eating?" He asked her,
"Not tonight, Martin. Sorry." She replied, sinking back into the covers and closing her eyes.
"That's alright, just get better." He told her, watching her nod slightly in response.
"I love you." He murmured,
"I love you too." She mumbled in reply, making him smile before walking out the door.