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See, the thing is,” Rob says. He eyes me up and down, like he’s taking in every detail of my appearance. “I recall you owing me an apology.” He nods, a good-natured smile on his face, and it gives me chills. Rob is wearing a burgundy button-down shirt and a pair of business slacks. He’s handsome now but must have been absolutely striking in his youth. Yet, there’s something inherently repulsive about him, as if he’s let his tendency for being a vile human being taint any appeal left in him.
I force myself to meet his gaze. I will not let him see I’m afraid. I won’t let him catch onto any inkling of cowardice I have, especially since Theo isn’t here. From what I know of Rob, he has no qualms with violence. He beat Mildred so badly when she was pregnant that she lost her baby. And Theo’s never said so outright, but I have a gut feeling he too was a victim of his dad’s heavy hand. The thought of Rob hurting Theo makes me stand up straighter, anger flaring in my blood.
“And why is that?” I snap. I let the venom I feel towards this man flow freely. If I’m lucky, it will poison him. “Because unlike everyone else you interact with, I refuse to take your shit?”
Rob’s eyes harden, turning to ice within seconds. I feel like I’m standing on it, the thin ice of his eyes that’s about to crack, plunging me into the cold depths beneath the surface. “Careful.” His voice is low, dangerous. “You don’t want to talk to me like that.”
“What are you even doing here?” I ask, wanting nothing more than for him to leave. I send a quick text to Theo without glancing at my phone, trying to hide the motion as well as I can. A single word and nothing more.
Help.
“I’m looking for my son. Perhaps you’ve seen him,” says Rob.
“Sorry. He isn’t here. I’m not sure why you thought he would be.” I swallow, regretting sending that text and hoping to God Theo doesn’t come bursting in. Maybe if I can convince Rob he was never here, he’ll leave and look for him somewhere else. I try to slam the door in Rob’s face, but he catches the frame in his hand. He throws the front door wide open and steps inside the house.
“Elizabeth already told me everything. She’d do anything for money. Even me,” Rob says between his teeth. “You lying little bitch.” He moves a step closer, and as badly as I want to, I don’t step back in response.
“He was here,” I improvise, “but he left already. Last week, I think. I’m not sure where he went.”
Before I even know it’s coming, Rob’s hand whips out and slaps my cheek with so much force, I stagger back. The flash of pain is belated but once it hits, my entire face is on fire. “His things are still here!” he shouts, making me jump. “There are pictures of him and my wife on the wall! Don’t you lie to me!” Rob grabs my wrists in each of his hands, forcing me back against the wall. My heart feels like it’s about to fail. I’m panting, unable to hide how much his blow hurt, or how much I’m trying to hold it together in front of him.
“Leave me alone,” I say, my voice half a sob. “Fuck off, you disgusting prick.”
Something inside Rob snaps, and part of me wonders if I’m the first person in his entire life to talk to him like this. He snarls at me—actually snarls. “You’ve always been such a little bitch,” he growls. “Never knowing your place. I should have shown it to you when you mouthed off to me in my own house. I would have, if your mother hadn’t stopped me. But now, you’re going to learn to respect me.” His voice is calm, deadly, as if holding back every ounce of anger he has toward everyone, only so he can release it on me at the right time.
I spit in his face. “Burn in hell.”
Rob throws me onto the ground and kicks me in the stomach.
I can’t breathe.
It feels like my lungs have burst.
He takes both of my wrists in one of his hands, and my long, braided hair in the other, and drags me down the hall to Theo’s bedroom. I’m crying, sobbing, screaming for help, when he throws me on the bed and covers my mouth with one of his hands.
No, no, no, no, no.
Rob roughly begins to remove his belt, and for the moment, I’m five again, back in his horrendously wrong yellow bedroom.
I gag against his hand and bite down on his finger as hard as I possibly can. He roars, pulling his hand away from my mouth for a split second, and I use that tiny window of time to scream as loud as I possibly can. I expect to feel his hand clamp back down hard on my mouth, but instead, Rob is ripped right off me.
I hear the sound of flesh meeting bone, hard. I scramble up quickly to see two men in a heap on the floor. One of them is Theo, and his fist is pounding into Rob’s skull, hard and fast as lightning.
I blink, unable to believe what I’m seeing, as Rob’s face starts bleeding and Theo’s blows don’t cease. Rather, they come harder and harder, aimed at Rob’s nose, his jaw, his gut, his throat. Rob is helpless beneath his son, clearly unprepared to be attacked at this moment. Theo is leaner than his dad, and taller. Despite Rob being thicker, his age and out-of-shape body are clearly against him.
But if Theo doesn’t stop now, he’s going to kill his dad.
And sick as the man is, I can’t let him do it.
“Theo!” I scream, and he looks at me. The distraction costs him though, and Rob throws Theo off him and puts him in a chokehold.
I scream when Rob tightens his arm around Theo’s neck, causing Theo to gasp for air and claw at his dad’s arm.
My heart races. I grab the lamp off the table next to Theo’s bed and smash Rob over the head with it. Rob falls to the ground, allowing Theo to breathe.
Theo grabs the lamp and smashes it against his dad’s face until blood stains the carpet.
I wail and cover my eyes.
Rob begins to lose consciousness, but Theo starts kicking his dad’s bloody, weakened body. It takes me a moment to react. “Theo.” My voice sounds as breathless as I feel. “Theo, stop!”
Theo kicks his dad’s head in succession, each time sounding wetter and more sickening. I grab Theo’s arm and he stops instantly, broken from whatever murderous trance he’s in.
I grab his face, forcing his eyes to meet mine, and he reaches for me, pulling me against him. I feel the flex of his hard muscles as he wraps his arms around me. His breathing is hitched and labored, and he holds me like this for the longest of moments.
My sobs fill the room, and I press my mouth against Theo’s chest to mask them.
I try to breathe. I untangle myself from Theo and sit down on the bed I was forced onto only moments ago. My hands won’t stop shaking. Theo holds them in his, steadying them, and takes a good look at me.
“You’re hurt. Did he—”
“No.” I cut him off before his imagination can get carried away. “I’m fine.”
Theo exhales, but his eyes are dark with rage. He reaches up to touch my cheek, and by instinct I flinch. His fingers hover over my skin. “He hit you,” Theo growls. “That bastard.” His expression turns murderous as he looks at his father, nothing more than a bloody, unconscious heap, and I grip his hand before he can actually kill him.
“I’m fine,” I lie. “Really.”
“We should call the police,” Theo says, sounding resigned.
Suddenly it all hits me, what just happened, that Rob physically attacked me. That he would have continued to hurt me—in whatever way he wanted. The knowledge is crippling, so much so that I can hardly see straight. I can’t help it when I start crying, shaking uncontrollably. Theo pulls me against him, rubbing my back hesitantly, like he’s not sure I want to be touched. But I crave his touch so much right now. I want to erase the feeling of Rob’s violent hands on my skin. I bury myself further into Theo’s embrace. “Don’t tell my mom what you saw,” I whimper against his chest. “What your dad was going to do.”
“Why?”
“Please,” I repeat, sounding like a child, even to my own ears. “Don’t tell my mom. She’ll blame you.”
Rob is not a good man. And Theo was raised by him.
“Willow,” Theo says roughly. “You’ve been badly hurt. Stop thinking about me.”
I shudder.
“Come here.” Theo pulls me into a standing position and takes me to the couch. “I don’t want you anywhere near him right now,” he says when I’m sitting down, wrapped in a blanket. I have to admit, I do feel a little better now that I can’t see Rob’s mangled face anymore.
“Is he ... dead?” My voice sounds so small.
Theo’s eyes meet mine, and in them, there is so much darkness, so much pain. “I hope so.”
––––––––
I wake up in Theo’s bed to an assortment of voices emanating from the living room. I have no idea how I got back in his bed, but I’m willing to bet Theo carried me here. I rub my eyes and kick off his comforter, tiptoeing out of the room. I peek around the corner.
The cops are here, asking Theo questions. Ash and my mom are here too, their backs facing me and hiding me from Theo and the officers’ view.
“How did you get him off her again?” my mom asks, sounding incredulous.
“I removed him,” Theo says, leveling his gaze at my mom. “With my hands. Like I said before.”
My mom crosses her arms, like she doesn’t trust Theo. It’s almost enough for me to walk out there and defend him, but I want to see what happens next without her knowing I’m watching. I can practically feel the judgement radiating off her, just like I knew it would. It’s like the words she’s thinking are audible. This is your fault. If I hadn’t taken you in, this wouldn’t have happened. And then I hear the words she said aloud to me months ago, the words I haven’t been able to get out of my head since she spoke them.
As much as I care about Mildred’s son, be careful around him, Willow. Rob is not a good man. And Theo was raised by him.
But my mom had it all wrong. By being such a bad man, Rob taught Theo exactly what kind of man to avoid becoming. Theo is nothing like his dad. Theo is good and kind and brave. And no matter how long Rob spent raising him, Theo refused to let him taint the good in him.
“I can’t be here right now,” my mom says. “I can’t process what’s happening. I’m going outside to get some air.”
“You’re just going to leave?” Ash snaps. “Your daughter was physically attacked and you’re leaving because it’s too much for you?”
“Please,” the officer cuts in. “Let’s everyone calm down.”
“Bloody hell. Enough of this endless questioning. You can arrest me or not,” Theo says. “I don’t care. He was trying to force himself on Willow, and I stopped him before he could. Even if I killed him, I would do it again a million times over.”
The officer shifts on his feet. “I know the victim is resting, but it’s time to question her. We really need to hear her side of the story.”
“Don’t wake her.” Ash crosses her arms. “She’s in shock.”
I come out from around the corner. “It was self-defense,” I state. “Like Theo already said.”
The entire room faces me, wide-eyed. Theo moves toward me. “Willow—” he begins, but I hold up a hand.
“I’ll tell you whatever you need to know,” I say to the officer.
––––––––
The paramedics took Rob away and fixed Theo’s shoulder in a sling while I was sleeping. Apparently it hadn’t healed enough to withstand the force of the beating he gave his dad.
When the cops are eventually satisfied with how my story lines up with Theo’s, I go back to his room to lie down while they finish talking to him.
I shut my eyes, willing unconsciousness to take hold of me again, but it doesn’t. It’s time to face reality, and it’s much too soon.
Footsteps sound down the hall and Ash opens the door, wordlessly crawling into Theo’s bed with me. She combs my hair back into a braid with her fingers, and I shake silently with sobs. I can’t stop shaking. My tremors are so violent my teeth start chattering.
Ash wraps her arms around mine, shushing me gently. But I can’t calm myself.
I shiver. “Th-Theo—”
“He’ll be fine,” says Ash. “Trust me. The cops are just being redundant. Everything you said was the truth, right? And you didn’t leave anything out?” I nod to the best of my ability. “Then it will be fine.”
“You don’t know that.” I clear my throat against the thickness clouding it.
“Yes, I do.”
The door opens again, and this time it’s Theo. I reach for him, and he walks to the bed, taking me into the circle of his good arm immediately. Ash gets up, giving my hair a final pat. “I’ll be out there, babe. I want to talk to your mom and see if she’s okay. I think I was a little hard on her.” To Theo, she says, “I’m glad she has you. I’m going to have someone else to baby soon enough.” She seems to touch her stomach without realizing it, and then shuts the door quietly as she leaves.
Theo carefully gets into his bed with me, pulling the covers over us both. I rest my face against his chest, my slow tears blurring my vision. “Is your dad going to be okay?” I ask. My voice sounds so small, even to my own ears.
“Apparently he’s in a coma,” Theo says. “I don’t know if he still has a fighting chance.”
“You’re not going to jail, are you?”
Theo rubs my hair the same way Ash did moments ago. “I don’t think so. From what I understand, the damage I did to him is considered self-defense, since I was protecting you. But if I were to go to jail, I wouldn’t give a damn. No one puts their hands on you like that and lives to tell the tale.”
My heart throbs. I lean away from Theo’s chest to look at him. My eyes fill with tears. “I need to tell you something,” I say.
“What?” His brows pull together in concern.
I take a deep breath. “I love you.”
Theo’s eyes linger on mine. In them, I can see something breaking, like the last barrier between us, the final protective wall around his heart. “I love you, too.” He touches my face. “Is that what you needed to tell me?”
“Yes. Theodore,” I say. “I love you. I love you so much, and I’ve never even told you.”
Theo is motionless for a moment. Then he presses his forehead against mine. I can hear his unsteady breaths with him so close. He kisses me softly, first on the mouth, and then on each eyelid, making me close them.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers against my mouth. “I’m so sorry this happened.”
“Don’t be.” I blink past the moisture clouding my vision. “At first I thought this happened because I went out on a Friday. But even so, everything is going to be okay. You stopped your dad just in time. It’s almost like I used a ritual.”
“But if I hadn’t—” Theo breaks off, unable to finish his sentence. “If I’d been too late, if my father had actually hurt you the way he’d intended ... the thought brings me such fury I can’t see straight.”
I lightly touch his face. “But you did. And since your dad can’t hurt anyone now ...” I bite my lip. “Does that mean you won’t leave tomorrow?”
Theo nuzzles his face into my hair. “I won’t go anywhere until I have to, little Willow. I’ll stay right here with you.”
I smile, even though I know he can’t see it. And I’m glad, because it isn’t a happy smile. This moment, comforting as it is to be lying next to Theo, can’t last. And as it passes, I mourn it. I long for it before it’s even gone.