His Prisoner

To A New Start [11]

"Eliot?" I call quietly trying not to show my sudden panic.

What if I have to go back there tonight? Jack's not going to be forgiving towards me. If anything, he'll be angrier than he was before and I dread to imagine what will happen.

"Yes?" He asks, turning to face me as he wipes his hands on a tea towel.

"Uh, what's going to happen now? With Jack and everything."

Eliot frowns slightly. He throws the tea towel on the counter and comes back over to sit opposite me.

"Do you want to go back there?" 

His voice is soft but I can hear a slight irritation to it. Maybe even a little sadness. Does he want me to stay? I study his expression closely. He's trying to cover up his emotions but I know he's still angry about Jack. I'm surprised he let Jack live with the amount of anger I witnessed as he beat Jack relentlessly. 

I look down at my hands that are resting on the table. I nervously begin playing with my fingers, using them as a distraction to keep my emotions at bay.

"I- well I don't want to intrude and you barely know me so I wouldn't expect anything from you. You don't need to help me, I can go back.. but I don't really want-" Eliot cut off my rambling.

"Then you're not going back. If you don't want to be there then I won't force you. I'll actually feel better knowing you aren't anywhere near him." I nod, biting my lip as I stare intently at my hands. 

I gasp and look up at Eliot as he places both of his hands over my trembling ones.

"You can stay here for as long as you want Meredith."

"Thank you." I whisper in hopes he won't hear the tremble in my voice as I try my hardest not to cry. I swear, if I'm not sleeping then I'm crying.

He smiles in return and pats my hand comfortingly. Just then we hear the front door open and the voices of Chase and Emily approach us. I turn in my seat just as Emily walks in. She's holding a few shopping bags and Chase follows in shortly afterwards with what I recognise as one of my travel bags. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Is that mine or does Emily have the same bag as me? Chase notices my confused expression and chuckles.

"Yes, this is your bag little lady." He places it on the table in front of me before moving to help Emily with the shopping.

"I don't understand." I voice as I open the bag as see a few outfits inside and my wash bag.

"We assumed you would want to stay here so we went back to yours and picked a few things up for you. Well, Emily packed it, I just stood guard in your bedroom doorway so Jack wouldn't try anything."

I giggle at the image of a broad Chase standing intimidatingly in my doorway, taking up the whole space as he glares at Jack. I find humour in Jack being intimidated by someone. I don't see it often.

"Thank you. That's really thoughtful." I notice that most of the outfits that Emily packed for me are the ones that we bought when we went shopping together. 

I zip the bag up and place it down by my feet. I stand up and without thinking about it, hug Chase quickly before moving over to Emily. I squeeze her tight and smile as she returns the embrace with just as much enthusiasm. When I finally let go of her, she holds me by my shoulders so that I'm looking straight at her and speaks with a final tone.

"You will always be welcome here. I do not like the kind of man Jack is and I hate the thought of you living with him. I know you don't love him and there is no way I'll stand by and watch him control you. You're staying here with us. He's not going to control you anymore, not if I have anything to do with it."

My eyes are watery by the time she finishes and the feelings that bubble up in my stomach are overwhelming. I've never really had anyone stand up for me. Since Jack became my carer, I haven't had a life outside of him. It feels good to have friends. I barely know any of them and yet they're willing to fight for me, to help and support me so that I don't have to deal with Jack.

Emily hugs me once more before she lets go. Turning around to the shopping, she pulls out a bar of chocolate and hands it to me.

"Here. To a new start." I laugh. It's silly but it means a lot.

I take it from her smiling.

"To a new start."

[ Hey everyone! I hope you've enjoyed your weekend. I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting, this is just a little filler chapter really, not much excitement happening but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. A bit more on Meredith's parents' deaths next chapter :) ]