A/N: Hi! Thanks to all who left feedback, it is definitely encouraging! This chapter is all set in the present (Now) and I'm working on a Then chapter. Thanks for reading and let me know what you like or dislike, prompts welcome!
Now: 2016
Eve woke up, grimacing as she stretched in the front seat of the car. She rubbed her face and looked around.
"Eve."
"Is it morning? What day is it? Still Tuesday?"
"It's 3pm. Wednesday. You haven't been taking care of yourself," Annalise said tightly, clearly displeased.
"What?"
"You've been asleep for almost ten hours. Since Virginia. I kept checking if you were breathing. Obviously you needed the rest. What's going on, Eve?"
"I'm fine," Eve sighed, reaching for her water bottle.
"I was just tired. This is stressful, you know?"
"I'm sorry that I bring so much stress into your life. Maybe you should-"
"Annalise!"
"What?"
Eve glanced at the green highway exit sign again.
"I know where we're going now. Did you...Do they know we are coming?"
"Not yet," Annalise replied with a sigh.
"You could have asked me, you know. I am a grown woman and I might have an opinion or an idea of my own. And knock off that other bullshit. You're in my life because I want it that way. I'm a big girl. My eyes are wide open. So just stop it. Okay?"
Annalise pulled the car over, sensing that Eve was near tears.
"Okay. Calm down," she said quietly, putting her hand over Eve's pale one.
"Don't tell me to c-"
"Please don't be angry with me, Eve. I'm just doing everything I can think of to keep you safe. You're too important to me. I lived through Sam's death but I can't survive yours, too. Alright?"
Eve swallowed hard at that, keeping her gaze on the floor.
"Alright," she said quietly, squeezing Annalise's hand back.
"You ready for this?"
"Me? Pshhht. I was born ready!" Eve insisted.
"Remember that time we were two hours late to Al's?"
Annalise offered an olive branch in the form of a shared memory. Both women laughed and the mood in the car lightened almost visibly.
"If I recall correctly, I think that was your fault, Annie. I was ready to go and then you ruined my makeup and got my dress all wrinkled."
"That was your fault. You looked way to beautiful to take out.
Had to mark my territory a little first."
"Oh my god, I forgot about the hickeys!" Eve crowed.
Annalise blushed deeply, her skin glowing with the happy memories.
"There were no hickeys," she asserted.
"Annalise! There most certainly were. You're incorrigible!"
"You've called me worse."
"I didn't say I didn't like it."
They laughed again and got out of the car to stretch and switch places, Eve driving the last leg so that Annalise could close her eyes and get a few hours of rest.
Six hours later:
"Oh my Lord! Anna Mae? Who else you got out there?"
Ophelia Harkness stepped off her porch, squinting through the dark Memphis night at her daughter's car.
"Ready or not..." Annalise said teasingly.
"Here we come!" Eve added with a grin, opening the driver's side door.
"EVIE? Is that you?! Come here to Mama, girl. Look. At. You! Skinny as ever! You look just the same."
"As do you, Mrs. Harkness. How are you?"
"You call me Mama or Ophelia, and you know that. I know you know that. It may have been awhile but looks like nothing has changed. Oh, Anna Mae!" Ophelia broke off to hug her daughter.
"Did you bring this little girl down here for me to fatten her up?"
"Yes, Mama. I'm sorry I didn't call ahead..."
"It's your home! You don't have to call! I'm so happy y'all are here. Come on in. Are you hungry? I'll fix y'all a snack and then you gonna tell Mama what's wrong."
Ophelia turned and walked inside, making a beeline for the kitchen.
"No flies on her," Annalise said dryly.
"I'm glad we are here," Eve said reassuringly, knowing this had to be hard for Annalise, knowing she did this for her.
"You are?"
"Well I would prefer not to be stalked and have my life threatened, of course. But I would also prefer being with you anywhere to being at home without you."
The tall woman smiled sincerely, showing she wasn't asking for anything, and headed for the screen door.
"Eve. Wait."
"What is it?" She asked, turning to face Annalise, putting a hand discreetly on her lover's hip.
"I love you," Annalise whispered, "I just...wanted to say so before we go in there."
"I love you, too," Eve smiled wide, her eyes beginning to well.
"Yeah?"
"Always," Eve said reassuringly, "Now come on. I have to pee and I want to see if there is any cobbler! I'm starving!"
Annalise laughed. Eve was hungry which meant she was happy, and that was good. Annalise was worried she would be nervous about coming back here, which is why she hadn't told her of their destination sooner.
"Go on in and find Mama in the kitchen. I'll get our bags."
Eve nodded and complied, the screen door banging shut behind her.
The women all met in the kitchen and Annalise rested her palms on the counter, thanking a god she no longer believed in for their safe delivery.
"Where's your husband?" Annalise asked her mother.
Ophelia narrowed her eyes slightly and Eve deliberately kept her gaze focused on the container she was opening, smiling delightedly at the contents.
"Your father will sleep somewhere else. I already tex-message him."
"Oh. Well. Thank you, Mama. But...can you ask him to come over. Please?"
Her mother raised an eyebrow but remained silent, giving her daughter a long look before she nodded while simultaneously snaking her arm out and smacking Eve's hand with the wooden spoon she constantly wielded, a comforting reminder of Anna Mae's childhood.
"Ow!" Eve gasped, more in surprise than pain.
"Child, get away from that cold peach cobbler! Sit down and let me heat it up proper for you."
Eve grinned and sat down in the breakfast nook as Ophelia placed two empty bowls on the table and pushed Annalise towards one.
Annalise glanced at her mother's back and then took Eve's hand and rubbed the red spot left by the spoon, apologizing with her eyes. Eve simply smiled and shook her head.
"Thank you, Mama," Annalise said, exhausted and almost teary with relief.
Home. Safe. Mama. Eve.
They ate all of Ophelia's famous cobbler, much to the older woman's satisfaction. They heard the screen door bang shut.
"That will be your father now."
"Mama, why don't you take Eve upstairs to fix our room."
There was a long silence and Annalise held her mother's gaze.
"Are you sure, Annie? I can-"
"Eve. Go. Please."
The brunette nodded and headed for the stairs, pausing to squeeze Annalise's hand encouragingly.
"You bring trouble home with you? Your mama told me to get here double quick."
Annalise swallowed at her father's opening words, watching him carefully, the night inky and black behind him.
"Hello to you, too. I'm..." Annalise gritted her teeth.
"I'm sorry to ask," she continued, "I just need your help."
"You ain't needed my help since you were this high, Anna Mae," her father said, his hand gesturing low to the ground.
"Annalise," she corrected quietly.
"Riiiiiight," he said slowly.
"Daddy, I-"
Her voice broke and her father's head snapped upwards. She hadn't said that word in decades. Daddy.
"If you can do this for me, I'll forgive you for...for everything. I just-I need-"
"I didn't ask for your forgiveness, little girl."
Annalise stilled, her eyes darkening.
"What?" she spat dangerously.
"Simmer, child. I ain't asked for your forgiveness. 'Cause I don't deserve it. Okay? Now tell me what you need and it's done."
The two locked eyes for a long moment before Annalise glanced towards the stairs, her old reflexes kicking in as she listened intently for any sign of Eve or Mama. They were laughing and the sound made Annalise and her father smile, identical mouths quirking up, before their faces grew sober again.
"Here," she said, reaching into one of the bags Frank had brought her. "You might have to use this."
Her father accepted the gun calmly.
"Hmm. Let's go talk on the porch, Miss Annalise."
Eve and Ophelia worked together, swiftly making the bed with fresh sheets.
"So. Evie. Her husband's dead. She doesn't seem too broke up over it. Are y'all...together again? Or still? You can tell Mama."
Eve blushed.
"What?" Ophelia asked. "You don't think I know? I knew twenty years ago when she brought you home from Harvard and I know now. I'm old, not blind."
"I don't...I don't know what we are, exactly."
"But you love her," Ophelia prompted.
"Oh yeah, I love her," Eve confirmed.
"She treating you right?"
"Mmmhmm. You're...okay with the idea? Of us?"
"Evie. I see the way she looks at you. I don't think there is any choice in this. I know she can be hard sometimes. It's not her fault. That's my fault, you hear?"
Eve paused for a beat before answering.
"It wasn't your fault, Ophelia. Men like him...they always find a way to get what they want," Eve said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself as a chill ran through her.
The older woman stood up straight in surprise. A heavy silence passed, storm clouds so thick in the air that you could almost taste them heavy on your tongue, before she spoke.
"She tells you everything, huh?"
"I don't think even God himself knows everything about our Annie," Eve smiled kindly, finally earning a smile in return.
"You're a good girl, Eve. Stick with it, right? And you call me if she needs a talkin' to."
"Yes ma'am."
"Alright then. Oh! Y'all can get married now, praise Obama! You think you might like to get married?"
"I don't know what the future holds, Ophelia. If I should get that lucky, you'll be the first to know, I promise."
Ophelia gave her an appraising look and Eve blushed slightly.
"I'm sorry. Where are my manners gone to? You must be tired. Let me get you some fresh towels."
"Thank you, Ophelia."
Ophelia snapped the dishrag she kept in her apron at the younger woman.
"You relax now. I'll send her up when she's done talking to her Daddy. You both look exhausted. Don't lawyers ever take days off?"
Eve laughed and obeyed Annalise's mother, suddenly feeling every inch of the miles they had traveled to get here, every anxiety about their safety, about Annalise. She reached for the words tumbling through her mind, pulling apart her lover's sentences. What really happened to Sam? Oh, Annalise. You're not the only one with secrets.
Eve slipped into the bed, smiling at the old posters on the wall. She could hear Annalise and her father talking downstairs but couldn't make out what they were saying. She tried to stay awake but after fifteen minutes, as their voices grew more distant, she felt herself being pulled into sleep. She hastily scribbled a note and placed it on Annalise's pillow.
Philadelphia:
Nate stepped out of the shower and grabbed his ringing phone.
"Yeah?"
"Nate?"
"Who's this?"
"It's Bonnie."
"Hey, Bonnie. Everything okay?"
"No. I can't get Annalise. She texted Frank that they arrived but isn't picking up now."
"What's going on?"
"We got a fix on Phillip."
"We?"
"Well, Oliver did. Phillip is on the move. Looks like he is in Deleware. He's heading south, Nate. What do we do?"
"You don't do anything. You sit tight."
"And you?"
"I'm going to the airport."
"Isn't she going to be mad? She's with... I mean, is that a good idea?"
"I don't give a shit, Bonnie. I'm getting ready now. You call me if there is anything else, okay? And you all lock the doors and stay there tonight. No exceptions. Nobody goes out. Got it?"
"Okay but-"
Nate hung up the phone and dressed quickly as he dialed Eve and Annalise alternately, his mouth setting into a grim line when he was unable to get a response from either woman.
He picked up his go bag and slung it over his shoulder. She's gonna be so pissed.
