Surrender

VIVIAN

I knocked on Jack’s door, feeling the coolness of the ice cubes wrapped in a towel against my palm.

My heart was still racing from everything that had happened. The slap. The look on Jack’s face. The way he’d pulled me out of that house without a single glance back.

When he didn’t answer right away, I nudged the door open and stepped inside.

Jack was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out the window, lost in thought.

"Your face is red," I said softly, stepping closer. "I brought some ice. Thought you might need it."

For a moment, Jack didn’t move. He just kept staring ahead, but then his gaze shifted to me.

I half-expected him to tell me to leave, like he always did. But he didn’t.

Instead, he nodded, and I moved to sit beside him, gently pressing the cold towel against the red imprint of his father’s hand on his cheek.

He winced slightly but didn’t pull away.

“You didn’t deserve that,” I said quietly, my gaze fixed on his face. “I’m sorry.”

He let out a short breath,