METANOIA | Eddie Munson

Papa, Part 10

[Trigger warning: Abuse, attempted SA]

3rd Person's POV

"Well if it was bad enough for Vecna to give you nightmares about the dude-" Eddie trailed off with a scoff.

"He was the first and only guy I dated. He wasn't a bad boyfriend. He was actually pretty great. Well, at the start anyways." She bit her tongue when she saw the skeptical look in Eddie's eyes, realising she was already making excuses about a guy who deserved none.

"It started off as petty comments. He'd ignore me and would stop talking to me if I talked to any other guy. Or if I went to parties without him. Or if he had a problem with my clothes. I didn't really think much of it, just brushed it off as him being protective." She sighed.

Eddie leaned his head against her shoulder, waiting for her to continue.

"It seemed the more we dated the more comfortable he became doing whatever. At school, if I did something that pissed him off he'd grab my hands or waist tightly, almost as a warning. Sometimes it would leave marks but I didn't think anything of it. He surely wouldn't have done it intentionally." Valerie shook her head, at just how naive she'd been to miss the signs.

She took a glance at Eddie to see his mouth clamped shut, jaw clenched. They both knew what was coming.

"Then he slapped me. For the first time." Valerie sucked in a breath, wondering why her eyes threatened to spill tears over someone so pathetic, "I had a fight with him and I hadn't picked up his calls in a few days. I was sleeping over at Steve's, we fell asleep watching a movie. Apparently he'd been looking everywhere for me, and he barged into Steve's house in the middle of the night."

"He saw you two together." Eddie said.

"Yes. He had the decency to act unbothered in front of Steve, but when we got to his car he hit me. I tried explaining to him we were just friends but he wouldn't listen. After that he was the one hurt, and me the asshole." Valerie felt a bitter smile taking over her features, "And sure enough, the next day it was me apologising for my mistakes and him being great enough to forgive me."

Valerie paused before speaking again, "He had a way of doing that. Making you feel like it was your fault, making you feel fucking terrible for your decisions. I never felt good enough for him, I just realised it too late."

"Didn't any of your friends ever?..." Eddie trailed off.

"Oh no, like I said, he was also a great boyfriend. He'd kiss me, buy me flowers, take me to the movies. Girls at school used to be jealous of our relationship. I stayed with him because the parts of him that made me happy, far outweighed the parts of him I considered slip ups."

"We had been dating for a year by that point, and I noticed him getting touchy. Which was fine, I was okay with it. But after a while I could tell that wasn't enough for him anymore, that he wanted to have sex but I just-"

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows, "You don't have to-"

"No, I need to... I need you to know." Valerie mirrored his expression, "I told him I wasn't ready and he was surprisingly okay with it. I thought we were over it. I was hanging out at his place one day. His parents weren't home. I didn't feel like drinking but that didn't stop him from doing so. He was drunk, he started kissing me, taking my clothes off-"

"Val..." His eyes almost looked pleading, as if begging her not to let the story get worse.

"He tried forcing himself on me and that was when I just... I felt something in me snap. I didn't want to apologise, neither did I want an apology. I didn't care that he was drunk. I didn't care for whatever reasons or excuses he would come up with. I didn't care if I was making a fuss over nothing. I didn't want anything to do with him. I pushed him off of me, broke up with him and left."