SATURDAY MORNING, 10:28 AM
EVIE'S POV
a wet tongue licking my face is what wakes me up.
I turn onto my other side, bringing the blankets up higher over me. "harley," I groan, feeling her paws walking over me to reach my face again. "let me sleep."
I barely got any sleep last night since I didn't get home until almost three in the morning. the moment I reached my bed, I knocked out. so I currently refuse to wake up.
she starts licking my cheek again, and her heavy breathing in my ear finally grosses me out and forces me to get up. I turn onto my back and squint my eyes open, seeing harley on top of me practically slobbering all over my sheets.
"you're a pain in the ass, you know that?" I grumble, rubbing my eyes and probably smearing leftover mascara under my eyes. harley's ears perk up when I speak, obviously not understanding that I'm complaining about her. rather, she settles herself on my stomach and lays her head on my chest. her big brown eyes look into mine endearingly.
this little fucker knows she's cute.
I give in, letting out a defeated sigh as I lightly rub her neck. even though she just interrupted me from sleeping, which is a fairly serious offense, I could never stay mad at her. she's literally a gentle giant.
guaranteed, she's the only thing in the world that can make me feel soft.
she enjoys my affection, wagging her tail in appreciation. I give her one more good scratch behind the ears before patting her back and signaling for her to get off of me. she obeys and hops off my bed, allowing me to follow suit. I yawn since I still could've used a few more hours of sleep, but I'd rather be productive with my day.
by binge watching horror movies on the couch.
on my way out of my room, I catch a glance of my appearance in the mirror and it's not a pretty sight. I never got a chance to wipe off my makeup or change out of my clothes from last night—I'm still wearing ethan's shirt.
suddenly feeling icky, I take a detour down the hall and start heading to the bathroom to clean up instead. but the loud sound of a pan clanging against something stops me. especially since no one should be home.
harley's already raced down the stairs to investigate. she's attracted to noise, I've realized.
I walk downstairs as well and peer into the kitchen. to my surprise, it's andrew at the stove who was making all the noise. my mom always works weekends and andrew is always gone on weekends too doing god knows what. it's weird to see him actually here for once, and making breakfast.
bummer. there go my plans for binge-watching movies on the couch.
since I don't want to talk to him, I slowly start backing away so he doesn't hear me behind him. but one of harley's chew toys is in my path and I step on it, making me jump from the abrupt sound. fuck. as a last resort, I decide to just rush back upstairs but it's too late. andrew stops me.
"wait!" he calls out, his voice firm. "get down here, evie." the tone in his words makes me think he's upset with me. but then again, isn't he always?
I begrudgingly turn myself around and mope into the kitchen, finding him watching me as I walk in. he has the pan in his hand and a spatula in the other, and he serves the eggs he was making onto a plate on the table. then he puts the dishes he used into the sink, which either I or my mom will be forced to wash later.
"sit." andrew gestures at the seat in front of where his eggs are plated. I hesitantly take the seat while he also sits in front of me, leaving us much closer than I ever would've liked. I often avoid being near him.
"you got home awfully late last night," andrew starts, and my stomach drops. when I got home last night, all the lights were off and he and my mom were nowhere to be seen. asleep, I assumed. I hoped I had gotten away with getting home past midnight but I guess not.
he uses a fork to break off a piece of egg, waiting for me to respond with something. "and?" I ask, not sure of what he wants to hear.
he shakes his head slowly. "that's all you have to say for yourself?" he pauses for emphasis. "nothing but and?"
I swallow the lump in my throat and shrug my shoulders. "I don't know what it is you want me to say." I lean back in my chair, maintaining eye contact with him.
"how about you start with why the hell you look like that?" he looks me up and down, almost like he's disgusted. I become acutely aware then of my horrible appearance from looking in the mirror just before this. but still, it really isn't any of his concern.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," I tell him matter-of-factly. until my mom is the one to ask me these questions, I don't need to explain myself to anyone. especially not andrew.
he seems to be getting irritated. "your mother asked me to speak with you. she's very busy at work and won't be able to herself so stop being a little brat and fucking explain why you couldn't obey us and get home before midnight?" the vein in his neck is practically bulging from the strain of him strangling that out. like he's fed up with me.
I feel myself biting my tongue, wanting so badly to tell him off. but I'm only ballsy enough to do that when it isn't just us two.
"I didn't drink, if that's what you're wondering." right off the bat, I want to make that clear because I know that's what he's assuming.
"okay," he replies with a suddenly calm voice. he chews another bite of egg, then puts down the fork and puts his full attention on me. he swallows. "what were you doing that caused you to get home late?" he asks again, noticing me avoiding the question.
the honest answer: reese drank so much alcohol that she could barely stand straight. would I have joined her, hell yes. but since I was driving, I was smart enough not to. but reese refused to leave until she was puking literally everything she had in her. it wasn't until then that she let me drive her and julian home. I couldn't just leave her, so I ended up getting home way later than I had intended.
am I going to tell all this to andrew? no. I can't. even if it'll save my ass. because then he'll never let me see them again.
I stare down at the table to avoid his glare. "I was literally just hanging out with reese and julian. and then we lost track of time, that's al-"
"why do you smell like men's cologne then?" he raises his voice and pounds his fist on the table, startling me. even harley who's laying on the floor next to us jumps. his sudden outburst makes my heart race in my chest until I feel it in my pulse.
having gotten used to the smell of him already, it takes me a moment to understand what he's talking about. but then I realize that he must think I fucked a guy last night. in reality, it's just the cologne on ethan's shirt.
I start shaking my head no, since he has the wrong idea. "nothing like that happened, I swea-"
"that's not your shirt, is it?" he cuts me off. his entire stance is rigid and tense, like he's restraining himself from bursting out of anger. "who's fucking shirt is that, evie?"
"stop cutting me off!" I shout and stand up from my chair so I'm taller than him, trying to assert some sort of dominance so he'll listen to me. "not that it's any of your business but it's a friends. he was just helping me out because mine got ruined."
it isn't his place to be interrogating me about my personal life, but at this point, I'm just trying to calm him down. but as I look at him, it doesn't even seem like he's listening. he's so fixated on staring at the table, lost in his own twisted thoughts.
finally, his eyes move back up to mine and it sends nervous chills down my spine. for the first time, I actually feel fear threading itself through my body.
he rubs his chin, looking suddenly calm again.
"take it off," he commands me, taking me by surprise. for a moment, we're both silent, because I don't understand what exactly he means or if he's being serious or not.
I give him a confused look, wondering if I heard him right. "what did you just say?" I ask, a tone of disbelief in my voice.
andrew's eyes glance down my body and then back up. "your shirt, take it off." he repeats, and I feel sick to my stomach that I did hear him right in the first place. he keeps watching me, waiting for me to do as instructed.
I'm literally not wearing a bra under this. is he out of his mind?
I cross my arms, feeling very disturbed. I swallow the lump in my throat and feel my chest get tight. then I muster up the courage to respond. "I can't do that," I tell him firmly. I don't care what he does to me, I'm not letting him violate me like that.
he gets up from his chair now, making me take a few steps back from the table. his eyes are hard, pinned onto me as he comes closer. I reciprocate by moving further backwards until I feel my back hit the counter. I notice harley watching us like a hawk, looking like she's about to attack.
she must smell my fear.
andrew's face comes very close to mine, and just when I'm about to knee him in the balls, he starts laughing.
why is he laughing?
my eyebrows knit together in confusion. what's so funny about any of this?
"I meant take off your shirt upstairs, sweetheart," he explains. "you know, in your bedroom." he starts chuckling again, his voice breathy as it fans my hair. his eyes meet mine again, crinkled at the corners while he smiles in disbelief. "god, what do you think I am? some kinda pervert?"
well, yeah.
he finally starts walking away, still laughing to himself here and there. I exhale a deep breath, feeling the tension from my body releasing itself. he doesn't seem to realize the amount of stress his behavior caused me. or the amount of stress that would cause any female. for all I knew, I was about to get sexually assaulted.
I glance back at harley, and she's also let down her guard. her eyes are still following andrew around the room, though. like she doesn't trust him either.
fuck, I love that dog.
"my point is," andrew suddenly starts talking again. "you get everything you want. your life—it's easy. so when we ask for something so simple in return, for you to just obey us. it's not that hard to accomplish." he turn around to pin his eyes on me. "you should want to repay us by being a good girl. you owe us."
I listen to his ridiculous words, again using up all of my energy to keep my mouth shut. he acts so high and mighty like he's earned anything from me. in reality, he doesn't deserve shit.
"anyway, glad we had this little chat." he gives me a pleased smile, one that makes my stomach turn, as if none of this ever happened. "now go change that shirt."
his obsession over my shirt weirds me out. the way he's so adamant about me not wearing it—why? because it came from a guy? that's so idiotic.
I don't bother asking, just relieved to finally get to leave. without hesitation, I turn around to go back to my bedroom, but he stops me one more time.
"one last thing, dollface," he calls out. his demeaning nicknames for me irk me. but still, I pause to listen to what else he has to say. but I don't meet his eyes. he walks in front of me, then suddenly grabs my face with one hand, jerking it up to force me to look at him.
"don't you ever come home dressed in some boy's clothes again. you got that?" his voice is dead serious and strict. demanding authority. he's trying to make sure I know my place.
I bite the inside of my cheek and nod. then I get a hold of his wrist, pushing his arm way so he lets go of me. he finally lets me leave. I jog upstairs to lock myself in the bathroom the rest of the day, praying to god that shitbag gets everything coming to him.
they always do.
______
35 votes + 15 comments for next chapter
kinda intense chapter. just wanted to show more of evie's home life and relationship with andrew.
any characters you guys want more involved so far??
btw next chapter will be back to the scheduled programming. hint hint: it involves quite a bit of teasing... hehe
vote and comment, loves!!
- lexi