raising hope | s.m

♡Ten♡

Maya

My heart races as the printed words repeat in my head. Owner will have 24 hours to gather their belongings before eviction. Shawn's eyes hold concern and regret.

"He told me it if I told anyone he'd get me evicted," I whisper. Shawn grabs the paper out of my hand.

"This can't be legal," he mumbles. A stray tear falls down my cheek. Hope touches the tear with her small hand. Laying my forehead against hers, I kiss her nose. She pats my cheek and a small smile forms on my lips. "Come and stay with me."

My eyes snap to his.

"Shawn, I don't want to take advantage of you."

"Maya, you're being blackmailed and are losing your house and you're afraid of taking me for granted? Look, I have an extra room you and Hope can use. All you need to do is get the most important things out of your house. We can go buy a new crib."

"Shawn..." my voice trails off.

"Please, just for a few days."

"Let me at least go try to talk to the landlord. Maybe this is all a mistake." He nods. "Can you watch Hope while I do that?"

He nods and I hand her over to him. She smiles and it makes him smile softly. She pokes his nose and I giggle. Kissing her cheek, I walk down the stairs and to the landlord's office. When I knock on the door there's no response. After waiting a few moments, the door opens. My landlord stands there.

"Can I help you?" he snarls.

"Um, I had an eviction notice on my door and I wanted to know--"

"If you're asking if it was a mistake, it wasn't. You told." Before I can respond he slams the door in my face. Stunned, I walk back up the stairs. When Shawn opens his door I wrap my arms around him. It doesn't take long before he repeats the action.

"It wasn't a mistake," I whisper. My throat burns. He holds me close and pulls me into his house. We sit on the couch and I watch Hope play with some toys. "Where did you get those?"

"They were off of her car seat." He lays his arm over my shoulders and I lay my head on his shoulder. 

"What did I do to deserve this?" He places his finger under my chin and makes me look at him.

"You didn't do anything." There's a small hand on my knee. Looking down, I see Hope smiling up at us. She bounces up and down as she stomps her foot. My hands are lifting her up on to my lap where she stands on my knees. "Next thing you know, she'll be walking like a pro."

"I don't know what I'm going to do when that happens." She claps her small hands and I giggle.

"We should probably go get your stuff," Shawn comments. Hope looks at him. She reaches up and touches his cheek. When she pulls her hand back there's a speck of red on her finger. Then I remember. Grabbing a tissue, I wipe the substance off of her hand.

"We should probably get you cleaned up first." He nods and I set Hope down on the floor. She grabs on to the table and stands again. He grabs my hand and leads me to his bathroom. "Where is everything?"

"In the drawers." Once I find everything, I set it on the counter. Hoisting myself up, Shawn stands in front of me and grabs my hips. As I get a better look at his face, I see the cut on his cheek, lip, and eyebrow. "How bad is it?"

I shake my head as I begin cleaning the cuts. He flinches and I stop.

"Sorry. They're not too bad just... shallow and they'll burn some." He smiles.

"How do you know all this?"

"Aiden got into lots of fights... fights that he sometimes brought home."

"He hit you?" Shawn questions. There's anger in his voice.

"No, no, no. We would argue some... most of the time but he never hit me."

"I can't imagine arguing with you," he whispers. My eyebrows furrow.

"What's that mean?" He steps closer to me, our noses touch.

"It means I-" he gets cut off by a loud crash. Hope begins crying. I'm off the counter in and in the living room in a second.

"Hope!" I call out. She's on the floor with tears down her cheeks.

"What the hell?" Shawn questions, running out behind me. Hope's cries make me not notice the shattered glass on the floor. Shawn grabs my waist and pulls me back before I can take another step. "Maya the glass."

"My baby," I cry. My eyes find her small hand. It's covered in a red liquid. "Her hand!"

"Maya, please just watch your step." Stepping carefully around the glass, I reach Hope. Scooping her up in my arms, I take her hand carefully in mine. There's a cut on her hand.

"Shawn her hand." My eyes find him. His eyes find me. Anger hides behind them.

"Let's get her cleaned up and then we can deal with this." He helps me around the glass and we go into the bathroom. Shawn turns on the water and I place Hope's hand under the water. She cries and scrunches her fingers. My heart shatters. Shawn grabs a band-aid and wraps it around her hand.

"What happened?" I ask. Shawn looks at me. Picking Hope up, we walk back into the living room. I place Hope on the couch and turn on the TV.

"Can you put shoes on? I don't want to see any more blood today." Nodding, I slip on my ankle boots and walk over next to Shawn. There's glass all over the floor. Bending down, I pick up a baseball. A dry laugh passes my lips.

"I found what broke the window." Shawn walks over and wraps his arms around me. His lips press against my head softly. I hold him tightly. 

"Hey," he lifts my chin with his finger. "There's nothing to be scared of. You're safe here."

Him saying that brings a weight off of my chest. Ever since the assaults I haven't felt safe. Even in my own home. When I'm with him though, it's different.

"Do you want to go get your stuff?" he questions softly.

"Yeah, I'll need a box." He nods and lets go of me. A few moments later he comes back with a box in his hands.

"While you're packing I'll clean this and keep an eye on Hope." Nodding, I leave his house and go to mine. When I'm inside I go straight for the pictures. I lay them in the box gently. Pictures of me and Hope, of Hope and Kate, and of just Hope. When I go into Hopes room, I gather her toys. I'm in such a rush that I almost forget to pack her elephant toy.

When I'm done, I walk back to Shawn's apartment and knock on the door. He opens the door and moves to the side, allowing me in. He shows me to my room and I set the box on the bed.

When we get back into the living room, I pick Hope up and sit her on my lap. She smiles and then yawns.

"I know, I'm tired too, baby."

"You all can rest here while I go get the crib," Shawn comments. All I do is nod before drifting to sleep.