[ RF ] `` I never wanted you to leave . ''

Two people stood on opposite sides of a living room, their everyday battlefield, with the soft throw over the sofa and the holiday pictures on the mantlepiece. Two faces smiled in front of the Sagrada Familia, but on the other side of the glass, their expressions were hard as stone. Bags stood around Fran's feet and the football game on the television was frozen solid. 
 
 
 `` I never wanted you to leave,'' Luke said and Fran's lip twisted. `` I love you.'' 
 
 
 `` I know, I'm sorry,'' Fran replied. 
 
 
 `` But you came back,'' Luke said. He pointed at the bags. `` Let me help you with those.'' 
 
 
 Fran stood back gratefully as Luke picked up the bags. He let her go first up the stairs to the bedroom they shared. The bedroom they shared most of the time. Her phone was in the back pocket of her jeans. He could see the light as she received a text. Then another. 
 
 
 The doors of the wardrobe still hung open in the bedroom. Hangers lay across the floor and the bed was unmade. Luke's dirty t-shirts lay across the floor, and only the clothes Fran had n't managed to pack were there, scattered where he'd thrown them when she left. 
 
 
 `` I'll tidy up,'' Fran said meekly. Luke heaved her torn, fraying suitcase onto the bed. It paid testament to the amount of times she'd left and come back. It had been the same suitcase every time. 
 
 
 `` There's a good girl,'' Luke said. `` I'll make you a cup of tea.'' 
 
 
 `` Thanks,'' Fran nodded. She unzipped the suitcase, but Luke did n't move. 
 
 
 `` Do n't I get a kiss?'' He asked. Luke tapped his cheek and waited. 
 
 
 Fran's eyes dropped and she leaned in to kiss him. 
 
 
 `` It wo n't be like last time,'' Luke said. `` I promise, I'll be good to you this time.'' 
 
 
 Fran nodded. 
 
 
 Luke went downstairs, Fran's phone palmed in his hand. He put the kettle on, fumbling for teabags as he unlocked it. Upstairs, Fran unzipped her jacket and sat down on the edge of the bed, wondering when the bruises on her arms would fade. 

