Eve wakes up in darkness.
She gasps and quickly sits upright, momentarily forgetting where she was, alarmed at waking up somewhere unfamiliar. Then she remembers as the cool air hits her bare chest.
She'd stayed the night with Chris last night. She'd stayed the night with Chris last night. What would happen if Paul were to discover her gone in the morning? What lie could she possibly come up with to save her ass from getting another horrific beating? Eve knew that she had to get out of there somehow, but it almost seemed impossible. She felt so trapped...
Eve didn't know what time it was; the thick blackout curtains in Chris's bedroom made the room dark no matter what time of day it was. Eve feels a hand gently grasp onto hers.
"You okay, baby?" She hears Chris ask, softly.
Eve exhales, "Yeah," She says, "Just...had a bad dream."
"Awww, c'mere."
Eve gives a small smile, then lays back down facing Chris; she was just barely able to make out his form in the darkness. She nuzzles herself into his chest as Chris wraps his arms around her and holds her tightly. He lightly strokes her hair and kisses her forehead.
"I've got you. You're safe with me, okay?"
Eve nods. She believed him.
x
Eve wakes up a few hours later in the same darkness, only this time she could just barely make out a small slit of sunlight peaking out from behind the curtains.
Eve then feels a light kiss on her shoulder behind her and she smiles, "Good morning," She whispers.
"Good morning," Chris repeats, "Happy New Year."
Eve gives a small laugh, "Happy New Year."
Chris leaves a trail of kisses all along her shoulder, neck and eventually her ear. He gives a small hum, then nuzzles himself into her neck.
"Did you end up sleeping okay?"
Eve nods, "Yeah, I did," She says, "What time is it?"
"I checked a few minutes ago and it was around 9:30."
Eve sighs, "So the morning came after all. I was hoping last night wouldn't end."
"Well, there will be many more nights like that to come."
Eve musters a smile and nods.
"Hey, I know you're scared, but we'll figure this out," Chris continues.
"I know, and thank you. I just have to survive until the offices at school open up again."
"So are you just gonna be as much of a fake goodie-goodie around your dad as you can until then?"
"I guess so."
"I swear to God, if he lays a finger on you - "
"I'll let you know if I don't feel safe," Eve cuts Chris off.
"Promise?" Chris asks, "I need you to be honest with me about this stuff."
Eve nods, "I promise."
x
It was a weird mix of emotions being both terrified and on cloud nine. On the one hand, Eve had no idea what her future with her father or with Chris would hold, and she was extremely scared to find out. All she knew was that she had to get out and away from Paul as soon as humanly possible. On the other hand, Eve now had someone as amazing as Chris that wanted to help her. Eve still wasn't quite sure what the nature of their relationship was yet, but the fact that he clearly cared about her very deeply - and the fact that he could make her orgasm - filled Eve's stomach with butterflies.
Eve feared that Paul would question her whereabouts on New Year's, but he ended up being too hung over to notice that she had been gone - thankfully. For the next week, Eve remained as complacent and obedient to Paul as she could, if only for the fact that her future was at stake. Eve couldn't have Paul become even a little suspicious that she was plotting to find a way to leave him. Still, she found time to sneak out of the house to "work" so that she could meet up with Chris, plan for the future, feel loved and validated, and usually end up taking her clothes off.
When January 6th finally arrived, it was like a breath of fresh air. Eve awoke and happily got ready and did everything that Paul asked of her that morning, because she knew that this was the day where she could officially begin her plan to get away from him. When Eve finally got some free time, she'd told her father that she was going to take her camera out and get some photography done. However, she actually ended up walking all the way to her school so that she could talk to someone in the financial aid office.
Chris knew that today was Eve's big day, and told her that he wanted to know every possible detail about what she learned so that he could help her plan on getting away. Eve clutched her phone in her coat pocket, ready to call or text him at any moment if she needed anything.
Campus was mostly empty due to the fact that classes wouldn't start for another week and a half or so, but all of the office buildings were open again and students were allowed to come in if they needed to discuss anything with anyone who worked for the university. Eve walks into the building and goes up to the front desk.
Once Eve tells the secretary what she needs, she's pointed toward someone that she can talk to about her loans, how she could go about paying them off after graduation, and so on. She explained that her father was currently paying for them and had paid for her undergraduate tuition as well, but that she wanted to start paying for everything.
"Alright, let's see," The administrator says, typing Eve's name into the computer, "Hmmm...That's weird. Your full name is Eve Lawrence, right? Eve isn't short for anything?"
"No, my name is Eve Lawrence."
"Hmmm, let me try typing it in again."
The administrator refreshes the page and types Eve's name into the computer again. He furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Eve asks.
x
Chris answers his phone, which was connected to the Bluetooth in his car, "Hey, Eve. Everything okay?"
"Not really. Are you busy?"
"I was out running errands - I'm actually probably pretty close to you. Are you crying?"
"I hate my dad, I hate him."
"Okay, okay, I'm making my way to you, I'm gonna come pick you up, okay? What happened?"
There's a long pause as Eve remains silent on the other line.
"Eve?"
"I'm on a scholarship," Eve says, "And I didn't know it until just now."
Chris's eyes widen, "What?"
"That's what the financial aid office told me. I'm still in a little bit of debt, but not nearly as much as my dad had me thinking. They were able to look up my financial aid records from undergrad too...I was on a full ride scholarship during undergrad, Chris; the only money that I owe now is from my Master's, and it's an amount that I could probably pay off myself in just a couple years. My dad was lying to me about paying this insurmountable about of tuition money!"
"To keep you with him in hopes that he could groom you into what he wanted."
"I just can't believe this..."
"I'm almost to the school. Where are you?"
Chris finds Eve and pulls over so that she can get in the car. The minute she does, she throws her arms around Chris and begins sobbing.
"Shhhhh, it's okay," Chris soothes.
"I could have gotten out such a long time ago!"
Eve sits back and puts her hands over her face as Chris drives off.
"I can't believe this. I just cannot believe this."
"Just try to look on the bright side. Now you have the perfect excuse to get out! Have all of your financial aid shit transferred to you instead of your dad, and you're basically home free."
"But where do I go? It could take weeks, even months for me to get an apartment."
"Well..."
Chris pauses, wanting to say what was on his mind eloquently, but he finally decides to get straight to he point and just blurt it out.
"Come stay with me for a little while."
Eve's eyes widen, "What?!"
"Okay, so maybe it's a little fast, but - "
"A little fast?"
"But us going fast is better than you having to stay with your dad another day."
Eve pauses, considering what he was saying.
"Are you sure about this?" Eve asks.
"Look, fuck whatever 'rules' there are about when it is and isn't the right time to do something like this. There are people who do everything 'right' and end up leaving each other thirty years later, and then there are people who spontaneously get married in Vegas and live happily ever after. I guess what I'm saying is...fuck fast, fuck rules; I want you with me."
Eve softens and gives a small smile, "I suppose just because something isn't right for others doesn't mean it can't be right for us...but is moving in with each other a week after getting back together what's right?"
"It could be," Chris says, "I'm not saying there won't be challenges or difficulties along the way, but...nothing compared to what you've had to deal with until now."
Eve pauses, letting the gravity of what this could mean really sink in. She takes a deep breath, then takes Chris's hand.
"Okay."
Chris raises his eyebrows, "Okay?"
Eve nods, "Okay. Let's do this."
Chris smiles and squeezes Eve's hand, "We're gonna make this work, I promise," He says, "How do you wanna do this?"
X
That night.
"How long do you think he'll be gone?"
"At least a couple hours," Eve assures as she unlocks her front door.
"He really goes all out at the bar, huh?"
"Unfortunately."
They walk into the house. Just to make sure they're alone, Eve calls:
"Dad? Are you here?"
No answer.
Eve motions for Chris to follow her. They walk into Eve's bedroom and she turns on the light. There really wasn't much to the room; there was a bed, a closet, a dresser, and an easel along with various art supplies in the corner.
"So this is where the magic happens, huh?" Chris asks.
"I suppose," Eve says, "I don't need to bring everything in here with me; just my art supplies and some clothes. I want to be out of here as soon as humanly possible."
"How are you gonna tell your dad you're leaving?"
"I'm gonna write him a note and then block his phone number," Eve says, "Let's get started; I want to be out of here as soon as possible."
Eve opens her closet and begins packing up the clothes she wore the most often. Chris starts to gather her art supplies. They attempt to make some small talk to alleviate the stress of the situation, but they were both tense and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
Suddenly, they hear the front door open.
"Eve?"
Eve and Chris both gasp. Eve turns to Chris.
"Stay in here," She whispers.
Eve slowly opens the door and slips out of it before closing it behind her. Chris walks up to the door and presses his ear up against it, listening intently.
"Hi, Dad," Eve says, "You're home early."
"There was a gas leak at the bar, so they had to send everyone home."
"Oh, shoot, that's too bad."
"It's fine, I suppose. I'll just spend my evening here. With you."
"You don't sound very happy about that."
Paul pauses, then he very slowly makes his way towards Eve, stumbling slightly along the way.
"Are you drunk already?" Eve asks.
"Lose the attitude, Eve, I'm not in the mood."
"You never are."
"I'd stop back-talking right now if I were you."
Eve could feel herself beginning to cower, but she swallows it down and instead says:
"Or what?"
Paul grits his teeth in frustration. He raises his hand, Eve closes her eyes in preparation for the impact...
But it never comes.
Eve opens her eyes to see that before he could hit her face, Paul's hand had been stopped...by Chris.
"That's quite enough," Chris says.
Paul's eyes widen in surprise. He yanks his hand out of Chris's grip and takes a few steps back.
"You..." Paul starts, "What are you doing in my house?!"
"I'm leaving," Eve says.
Paul looks to Eve, "You're what?"
"I know about the scholarship," Eve says, "I know you've been lying to me."
Paul freezes where he stands.
"And I know that you've been hitting her," Chris adds, "So she's going to be coming to stay with me, where she'll be safe."
Paul's face twists in anger; he starts towards Chris, "How dare you - "
Eve steps in front of Chris, "Let us go peacefully or I'll tell the entire congregation, the entire town what you've done to me."
Paul snorts, "And do you really think they'll believe you?"
"Is that a risk you're willing to take?" Eve asks.
Paul pauses.
"Let me pack my things, let me leave, and promise to not try to find me or hunt me down after I leave. If you can do that...I won't say a word to anyone."
Chris's eyes widen, "Eve - "
"The beatings, the drunken nights, using the church offering money to buy booze...no one will know about any of it if you just let me go. And the protests are going to stop too."
The room falls silent. Paul looks back and forth between Chris and Eve a couple times, then he sighs and shakes his head before making eye contact with Eve again.
"What a disappointment you turned out to be."
Paul walks back to the front door and grabs his coat, "I'm gonna go find another bar. I'll come back in a couple of hours. When I do, I want both of you gone."
With that, Paul opens the door and walks out of the house.
Eve gives a huge exhale in relief. Chris puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"I can't believe that worked."
"Are you really not gonna tell anyone?"
"Well," Eve says, "We'll have to see if he keeps his end of the deal. If he tries to find me or get me back, we go on social media and tell the world. He knows you have a big following and that a lot of people could potentially know the shit he's done to me. Telling him we'll keep our mouths shut might be the only way to keep him from hunting me down at your house while you're gone on tour."
Chris doesn't say anything, unsure of whether or not to disagree.
"Come on, help me finish packing," Eve says, gesturing for Chris to follow her back into her room, "I want to get out of here as soon as humanly possible."
A/N: Hmmmm, is not telling anyone about Paul the right thing to do? Is ANY of this the right thing to do? Let me know!
xoxo, Scissorhands