Desperate Lies

Chapter 11

That same night.

Eve sets her bags down on the bedroom and sighs, relieved to be back in Chris's house. It seemed like she was finally getting away from Paul for good, and a part of her was overjoyed, but another part of her was terrified. Being with Paul was obviously horrible, but it was familiar. It was predictable. Eve now had no idea what the rest of her life was going to look like.

Chris walks up behind Eve and softly puts his hands on her hips, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek, "Hey."

"Hey," Eve repeats.

Chris sets his chin on top of Eve's head, "How are you?" He asks.

Eve shrugs, "I-I don't really think I wanna..."

Chris chuckles, which surprises Eve. She turns around, then Chris takes her hands and squeezes them, giving her a small smile.

"You know I'm never gonna be upset at you for not being in the mood, right?"

Eve looks down at her shoes.

"What's wrong?" Chris asks.

"I think I'm starting to realize that I don't know how to not be abused," Eve says, looking up at him again, "I mean, obviously I'm happy that I'm with someone who's good to me and I trust you and everything...but when you've spent your entire life living a certain way, and then one day it changes, no matter how good that change is..."

"Was us doing this maybe not the right decision?"

"No, it was. I guess there's just going to be a bit of an adjustment period..."

Chris nods, understanding. Eve wraps her arms around Chris's torso and lays her head on his chest. Chris holds her for a moment, then kisses the top of her head.

"Why don't you go take a hot bubble bath or something to help you relax? I'll unpack your things for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, take some time to yourself to calm down."

Eve pauses a moment, then nods, deciding this may be a good idea. She gathers her things, then walks into the bathroom, and locks the door behind her out of habit.

x

Eve walks out of the bathroom in sweats, her damp curls brought over her left shoulder. She goes to the bed and sits down on it next to Chris, who had finished unpacking.

"Feel a little better?" Chris asks.

Eve nods, "Much. Thank you so much for helping me. I'm just sorry we had to encounter my dad."

"Hey, this is the first time in almost six years of him harassing us that I've actually gotten to speak to the guy - and more importantly, stop him from hitting you."

Eve nods, "Yeah, thank you for that too."

"Of course," Chris says, "How about I order us some food and we watch a movie or something? Let's settle down for the night."

Eve gives a small smile, "Sure, that sounds nice," She says before changing the subject, "I'm gonna sound like such an old woman, but can you teach me how to use Instagram? I wanna start a page for my art but literally never use social media."

X

Eve wakes up the next morning alone, but she immediately smells coffee which lets her know right away where Chris is. Eve sits up and stretches, letting herself wake up before throwing the covers to the side and walking out into the house.

Eve walks into the kitchen as Chris pours two mugs of coffee. He looks over his shoulder at her and smiles.

"Hey, you."