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sounds faint and far away.
    "Does he know where you are?" Lexi asks.
    "I didn't tell him anything. I just left."
    "Good." She sounds pleased. "If that bastard shows up here…."
    "I don't think he will. I'm not worth coming after."
    "Stop it," she snaps.
    My gaze flies up to hers to find her staring at me.
    Her blue eyes flash with anger.
    "He was a bastard, and you deserve better. Don't doubt that."
    I know this. I think.
    "I'm sorry."
    She huffs and her expression softens for a minute before turning fierce again. "I want to kill him," she mutters under her breath.
    I flinch and she sighs.
    "I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you."
    "I'm–" I start to apologize again but she stops me.
    "You have nothing to be sorry for, Savannah. He hurt you, abused you." Loose blonde waves bounce as she shakes her head, disgust stamped across her face. "Why didn't you tell us? We would have come for you."
    "I–"
    Why didn't I tell them?
    Why didn't I leave earlier?
    Why didn't I do anything other than stay and obey?
    I don't know the answers to any of these questions.
    "I thought he loved me."
    It sounds false to my own ears, but I did believe it. Once.
    " You are so fucking stupid! Every fucking time I tell you…. I'm so tired of you not listening. You can't even get a simple request right."
    " I'm sorry," I cry.
    " You're always fucking sorry!" he yells. A picture frame shatters against the wall beside me, glass raining down across the floor.
    The door slams shut.
    I curl up on the couch with my arms wrapped around me. Tears pour down my face and my nose runs, but I can't seem to care. Nothing I do ever seems good enough for Toby. It's like I can't please him. I can't win.
    I'm not sure how long I sit there crying, but the apartment darkens.
    The front door opens not long later and he comes in again, closing the door quietly behind him.
    I stare at the coffee table when he stops in front of me.
    I feel his eyes on me but I'm scared to meet his gaze. If he kicks me out, I don't know what I'll do. Where I'll go. We've been here three months and I know no one. I think I resent that.
    " Look at me," he pleads. His voice trembles. "Savannah, please look at me."
    I do, and he seems broken as he drops to his knees in front of me.
    " I'm sorry," he groans. "Oh God, I'm sorry."
    I want to turn away from him, ignore him, but I can't. He looks so miserable. I reach out and pull him up onto the sofa beside me before stretching out with my head in his lap. His hand curls around mine and holds tightly. He strokes my back with the other while I cry quietly.
    "You hurt me," I whisper. "The things you said…."
    " I didn't mean it, Sav," he says. "I didn't mean any of it. You just make me so crazy when you don't listen to me."
    " I'm sorry." I squeeze his hand. "I'll do better next time."
    " I love you. You know that, right?"
    I believe him.
    "I was so stupid," I mutter, more to myself than to Lexi.
    "You weren't stupid. You were just a kid." She's making excuses for me.
    "I was nineteen," I remind her.
    "And I was oblivious. We all were." She frowns. "We should have gone after you, made sure you were really okay over there with him."
    "It's not your fault." I don't think I can take it if she blames herself. It's my fault. I was so stupid, so naïve. "It's over now. He's out of my life for good." I hope.
    I'm terrified he'll come for me.
    Will I be able to tell him to go to hell if he does?
    Again, I don't know. And again, I hate myself a little for it.
    She peers at me for a moment and then nods. "What are you going to do now?"
    It's the million dollar question. Yet another I don't know how to answer.
    "I'm not sure. I think maybe… I'll get a job?" I've never really had one before, but I can do something, right? My stomach flutters with uncertainty.
    Lexi frowns again. "What about school? You can transfer, right?"
    I'm so surprised she doesn't already know that I just blurt it out. "I wasn't in school."
    "What?" Her eyes widen. "I thought you