Any Other Name

Chapter 17

"Then let me take care of you."

"What?"

He seemed about as taken aback as she was, like he didn't know he had meant to say it until it was out in the air between them. He sat forward in the chair and tightened his grip on her wrist just barely. His voice was low and strong, confident. "Let me take care of you."

Too many things were running through her mind——what Marshall would do, the cost, the logistics, new environments, River. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not. I'm offering."

"You're a stranger?"

"I thought we were friends?" He was smiling but she could feel his heartbeat pulsing through his thumb, could feel how nervous she was. He was an open book and she felt that she could read anything that she wanted to if she just looked hard enough.

It...it seemed like a good thought? The idea of being safe, to do something without the worry that she was doing wrong. The feeling that she could breathe in her own home. Not lying, not being accused of lying. Not being...hurt.

"But, Marshall would——"

"Don't think about him." He stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, put his warm hands on her upper arms. "What do you want to do? What do you think is right?"

Eliza pressed her lips together and looked away. She couldn't hold such a steady gaze for as long as he could, could barely look him in the eye without being reminded of Marshall telling her When they want to be friends, they're asking you to be their whore. For a moment she thought she was going to be sick.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just...It's hard." When he cocked his head to the side she scrambled to find the words. "Thinking about it, without him in my life. We've been together for so long, you know? It's been like this for so long." She sighed and shook her head. "Feels normal."

He seemed to consider this, taking his hand away from her arm in the sling to scratch at the side of his head. "Have you ever sighed when he left the room? Felt relieved?"

She nodded.

"Looked for ways to make him happy? Out of fear?"

She nodded, slowly.

"That's not normal."

"I don't know what normal is anymore."

"That's fine. Look, I mean it. Let me take care of you. Let me help you get away from him."

She shook her head. At this point she didn't know why she was saying no. She wanted to say yes, wanted to not hurt anymore. But there were just so many things wrong with this. What would happen to River? What would Marshall do if she said she wanted to leave him? What would he do to Tesey if he knew he was filling her head with ideas like this?

"What's stopping you?"

Everything. "Marshall."

"Forget him. Say he would just let you go, what would you say then?"

The idea was so stark that she had no idea what to think.

"You'd want to leave, wouldn't you?"

Would she? She would. She'd take River and she would leave. Why was it so clear now?

"I just want to help you. I just want to see you safe."

When they want to be friends, they're asking you to be their whore.

"Would you?" Her voice was small and practically hoarse. She looked up at him, feeling her face heat up in the way it did before she was about to cry. She was talking about leaving her boyfriend, her fiance. Just...leaving him. Some part of her, the broken bone maybe, was incredibly relieved. The rest of her screamed that if she left Marshall, Tesey would leave her too, and then she'd be alone. "Would you help me?"

"Of course I would. Will you let me?"

She nodded lightly, then grabbed the edge of his shirt and pulled him closer. It was an awkward hug, especially with her arm in a sling between them, but she buried her face in the crook of his neck so he wouldn't see her cry. She nodded harder, then again and again, and felt the tears slide down her face.

He slid his hands gently down her back, over and over. Over the scars from when he had thrown drinking glasses at her months ago, over the bruises of the stairs, over where her heart hammered in her chest. Surely he could feel it. Surely he could hear it.

It was the sound of Eliza deciding to leave Marshall.

A/N:  Thank you so much for reading!  I'm in my last week of classes and then have exam week.  I'm trying to write this between essays but it's definitely harder to work and study from home.  I hope you're all doing okay.  Stay safe.