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Carol watched as Doug stormed out of the house. She sighed and drew her hand up to her mouth, her fingers trembling as tears filled her eyes.
No. She wouldn't cry. She bit her finger and moved towards the kitchen. She opened up the refrigerator and looked in it, not really seeing anything. She knew Doug wouldn't be home tonight, that he would probably go back to his apartment tonight. So she decided to go walking some more. That seemed to have helped earlier that night, even though the outcome wasn't what she had been hoping for. She walked back to the living room and got her coat off the back of the chair. She shrugged it on, catching a quick whiff of Doug's cologne from where her coat had been laying on top of his. She shook her head and opened the door of the house, stepping out quickly.
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Doug couldn't go back to his apartment. Not yet. If he walked around for a little while longer, the cold could numb his mind a little and he wouldn't have to be faced with an empty apartment. He sighed and dug his hands into his pockets as he walked on.
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Carol walked, her gloved hands in her pockets and her head down as she put one foot in front of the other. How could she have hurt him so bad? She knew why she had done what she did. She had felted scared and rushed, much like she had when Tag had pushed her into marrying him. She didn't want that with Doug, so of course, she had to go and hurt him. She sighed and pushed her hair behind her ear.
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Was he being unreasonable? Maybe she had a good reason for kissing that man. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed. When Carol had said she thought they were rushing into this, he hadn't really thought that he was pushing her, like Tag had pushed her. He hadn't thought of that until now. He didn't want to push her, especially if it meant she would hurt herself. Doug knew she would never do that again..but that was what she had done last time someone had pressured her into getting married. But no..she had kissed another man. It was betrayal. He now knew what she had felt all those years ago.
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Carol began to walk past Lake Michigan Park. The wind picked up and her hair lifted off her neck slightly. All of a sudden a pair of big strong arms wrapped around her neck and face, covering her mouth. She began to scream but the screams were muffled by the hands. She started to swing her elbows and tried to stomp on her assaulter's feet. He jerked her along, going deeper into the park as she continued to scream and squirm.
"Would you hold still you little bitch?" A gruff voice spits out. She elbows him in the side hard. "Aw, shit, that smarts. You shouldn't have done that." He says, his grip tightening on her. Carol tried to take a big bite out of his hand, but he had his hand clamped over her mouth so hard it wasn't possible.
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Doug walked by Lake Michigan Park, his head down, barely taking in his surroundings. He heard something that sounding like choking and screaming all in one. His head whipped up and he looked in the direction of the noise. He saw a man dragging a kicking screaming woman towards the woods. He paused, considering what to do. He figured he better help the woman or she would soon become a new patient in the ER. He ran towards the man, yelling.
"Hey! What are you doing?" He yells. The man looked back as he caught sight of Doug. He immediately dropped the woman to the ground and took of running into the woods. Doug ran to the woman and his heart dropped when he recognized her.
"Carol?" He asks, dropping to his knees beside her.
"Doug." She whispers. He takes her face into his hands.
"Are you okay? My God, did he hurt you?" Doug asks. She shakes her head.
"I'm fine. Really, Doug. I'm okay." She says. He sighs deeply and pulls her into his arms, hugging her tightly to him. Their hearts race against each others.
"He could have killed you." Doug exclaims. Carol buries her face into Doug's neck.
"Can we leave, please?" Carol asks.
"Yes, we should go." Doug says. He pulls himself away from Carol rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks. Her eyes fill with tears.
"I'm sorry." Carol says. He smiles softly and shakes his head.
"Shhh....don't talk about it. We have plenty of time to talk about it. It's okay." Doug says. He leans foreward, kissing her lips gently, reclaiming them to himself. She nods and he stands, pulling her up with him. "Let's go home." He says. She nods and takes his hand into her own as they begin to walk away from the park.
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