“Are you certain that this is what you want to do?” she questions, following him closely down the stairs.
“Enough, Grace. I’m not discussing it anymore. What was it you said to me when you were leaving me to die? Oh right. ‘I’ve made my decision, now honour it’?” He raises his pitch slightly, the condescension drilling to her core.
“I hardly think these are the same situations,” she contests, holding her grip on his bag. “ What indication has your father given you that he’ll treat you any differently?”
He stays silent.
“I mean, think about it. What’s stopping him from locking you up in that barn again? Or in some other place where I can’t help you?”
She reaches for him but he pulls himself away, moving quickly toward the front door.
“It can’t be worse than being here.” He snaps, “I thought you wanted to help. But instead you’re just trying to make me your fucking prisoner instead of his!”
“No, Adrian, it wasn’t like that-”
He whips around and looks her directly in the eye, piercing, his intensity keeping her in place.
“You lied to me!” he exclaims.
Grace drops her hand and backs away, clutching it to her chest.
“Adrian, darling this is about the bedroom? Where else was I supposed to put you?! You couldn’t walk, you couldn’t swallow, or even hold yourself up. I was not about to lay you somewhere noisy where you would be uncomfortable. You needed bed rest, the surgeon made that clear.”
He redirects his eyes to the ground and turns toward her, softening his edges. Their hands graze. She closes the distance between them.
“I just wanted you to be able to rest, love, after all of that.” she slides her thumbs over the top of his hand. “You needed it. So much. You’re still so vulnerable, I just wonder if moving back in there is really the best decision for you right now.”
“I’m walking just fine.”
“I know,” she nearly whispers, “but…what about inside yourself, you know? You’ve hardly processed what happened to you. I can see how much you are struggling with it. Do you really think that putting yourself back in that situation, away from any support system, is going to help you heal?”
He contemplates this. She moves closer and rests her forehead on the outer edge of his shoulder.
“Please, stay here a little longer.”
He lets out a long, ragged sigh, the sound more of a protest than relief.
His curls his lips inward, rolling them together in thought.
Grace watches him intently.
“Let me take care of you.” She continues, “We can do things differently if that would make you more comfortable. We can spend more time together, anything you want.”
He looks away, eying the door.
“Why now, Grace?” his tone cutting, “I’ve been trying to get you to say that for months.”
“I will admit that I overstepped some when you first arrived.” She says quietly, her own eyes now glued to the floor. “I treated you like you were more helpless than you were. That was wrong of me.”
His breath catches, and she quickly lifts her head to him.
“And I am so sorry for it,” she states, holding eye contact. “You deserved so much better than that.”
He takes this in.
“But, surely leaving is not the best option? I mean, what will happen?” she rubs her eyes to push away tears. “I cannot bear to see you be… belittled and.. hurt by him any longer. Please, Adrian. The very thought of you suffering like you did in that barn again, its.. Its too much!”
He tenses, suddenly unable to look at her.
“Why open yourself to that risk? When we could…” she trails off, her voice a quiver of what it was, “when we could talk about what’s upsetting you, we could try and make it better, or-”
“You know as well as I that he isn’t going to change. At least I know what I’m getting into there. With you I just-”
“You what?”
His brow furrows and his lips turn into a sharp frown.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Something fragile flashes across her face before she forces it down.
“Right.” She bites, “So, we should just accept that at any moment you could be trapped somewhere again for any amount of time? Do I need to chain you in this house to make you see reason?! That worked so well when your father did it.”
He scoffs, “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Adrian. Be serious. You are putting yourself in danger going back into that house and you are doing it to be petty. I have offered you everything you wanted and you are punishing me for my timing.”

Grace lets out a sharp breath, letting her hands fall to her sides.
“Everything I wanted.” He mutters under his breath, shaking his head. “That is rich coming from you.”
“What do you mean?!”
“When are we leaving Grace!?” He throws his hands up, “Where’s my emancipation! You could’ve done it when my dad signed all of that paperwork you so diligently prepared but you didn’t. No. You’d rather role play than let yourself be vulnerable. Why are you making my ability to make my own fucking choices dependent on whether or not you’re turned on?”
She gasps. “Adrian, that’s not what I mean-“
He gathers his bag of the floor and storms out, letting the door slam behind him.