Hi everyone, this is my first submission to Literotica, not sure if I'll do more or a follow up but I felt this story needed to be written. It was inspired from real life experiences and all the characters depicted are 18+ even during flashbacks.
Trigger Warning
There is references to abuse, both the mental and physical variety, but overall the story is meant to be about the main characters overcoming those obstacles.
Otherwise, please enjoy the story.
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"Jenny, I know you're mad but-" Mark was quickly interrupted by the angered ramblings of his best friend.
"Yes, yes I am." Jenny interrupted, "I'm furious. You punched my fiancé. At my party. In front of everyone. There was no need for you to step in."
It was no secret that Jenny and her fiancé, Chris, had been arguing at her party, in fact, they had been screaming at each other right in the middle of the dance floor in a privately rented venue full of Jenny's friends and family. Chris wanted to leave and go out with friends, but it being Jenny's 30th birthday, she wanted him to stay.
When Chris went out with his friends, she wouldn't hear from him for the rest of the night and sometimes he wouldn't come back until late evening the next day, so it was understandable that she was upset at this notion.
As with all their arguments, it spiraled out of control, people started to get involved, trying to calm them down and others just trying to gossip about what was actually going on.
That was when Mark had noticed something in Chris' eyes that seemingly no one else had the insight into their relationship to prevent, so when he realized there was no stopping what was about to happen, Mark punched Chris square in the face.
"I had to do it," Mark retorted. "It was either I hit him, or, god forbid, he hit you."
"I don't need your protection Mark, he wasn't going to hit me, Chris would never-" It was Mark's turn to interrupt her.
"Oh please, I know this wouldn't have been the first time." Mark kind of shocked himself at his tone, he was being stern, he had never been stern with Jenny. He took a deep breath and continued. "You used to love sleeveless tops and short dresses so you could get a nice tan. This is the first time I've seen you in nine months and you're completely covered up, and before you say it's cold, I'll remind you that we're in one of the most humid states in America, and it's June."
Jenny and Mark had been friends since middle school, for a while they were inseparable and many people had thought of them as a couple, they insisted they were more like siblings. Although, they hadn't seen much of each other in the past 3 years due to their respective relationships and the pandemic.
"Who are you to judge? You really think we all like that bitch girlfriend of yours? Why do you think she wasn't invited tonight?" Jenny stopped.
Mark was taken aback. He knew Jenny didn't like Claire, but wasn't aware of the rest of his friends having issues with her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I think I'm still a little drunk." Jenny apologized. "It's just, she seems to have stopped me seeing you a lot as of late and I guess I resent her for that."
"Ok, let's stop for a minute." Mark took a deep breath. He patted the couch next to him. "Come sit down. I brought you here so things could calm down between you and Chris, not so we could fight."
"We wouldn't be fighting if you hadn't punched him." She trailed off, mumbling most of the sentence and Mark pretended not to hear it. Jenny took a breath, accepted Marks offer and sat down next to him.
There was a lingering silence. With how close the two of them had been over the years, there were never any awkward silences between them but this one was different, you could cut the tension with a knife.
Mark stood up and walked to the kitchen. His two bedroom apartment was mostly open plan in the living room and kitchen area so he wasn't cutting off the conversation. He poured a drink for himself and got Jenny some water and some painkillers. After doing so, Mark sat back down next to Jenny.
"I know how you get a headache when you're mad, drink up." He instructed.
"Thank you." At this point Jenny was sitting cuddled into her own legs, taking the water and painkillers from him.
"So, you don't like Claire." Mark took a sip from his own drink. "And I don't like Chris."
"It seems that way." Jenny mumbled. "Wait, doesn't she live with you?"
She took a look around and noticed a lack of a feminine touch that had previously been around the apartment.
"She's visiting her parents for a while so took some of the more sentimental stuff."
"Looks like a lot of stuff, how long is a while?" Jenny quizzed further.
"Well she said it might be for a few weeks so as of today it'll be..." He feigned a calculation. "Indefinitely."
"Wait, so you split up?!" There was excitement in her voice, realising her tone she continued more calmly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so happy about that."
Mark let out an awkward laugh. "I, er, I guess you could say that. We'd been arguing a lot, she still didn't fully trust me to go out without her and then when I told her I was coming to your party..." He shrugged. "I guess that was the last straw."
"I don't want to be as excited as I am about that news, and I'm sorry that I am." Jenny hugged Mark tight and continued into his shoulder. "But I finally get my best friend back."
They held that hug for a few minutes. This time, the silence was not so tense. Mark took another deep breath, realising how much he had missed her and smiling at her choice of words in that last sentence.
"I know it's fresh, but I want you to listen to me the next time I tell you someone is no good for you, Mark." The soft tones to Jenny's voice continued with a hint of care that you would only expect to hear from a family member. "There was so much emotional blackmail coming from her, it was difficult to watch. In fact, in hindsight, as much as I've missed you, I'm kind of glad I hadn't seen things at their worst. I think I would have actually killed her." The awkward laugh at the end of that sentence told Mark that the reality had just hit her.
"The same way I couldn't see Chris lay a hand on you tonight." Mark took another sip of his drink.
The room went quiet once more, Mark's last comment echoing in Jenny's head for a good few minutes before she decided to speak up again.
