Disclaimer: Totally forgot about this, but obviously I don't own anything but the plot, otherwise this would be a script and not fanfiction :)
She doesn't leave the house.
It's been two days and she can't bring herself to step past the threshold of her own house. But she also can't stand being in it, alone. Her mom and Sam are the only ones she can bear being around. The don't press her anymore, and Sam is trying so hard to keep them both sane. Molly keeps insisting that she call Keifer and let him know she's okay. Kristina feels nauseated by the very thought.
He calls incessantly, the tiny pink phone always buzzing through the silence. She only bothered to hear the first message he left, saying how sorry he was, before shoving it into the bottom of her hamper. She hates doing laundry, she knows this way she won't have to think about it for awhile and Molly isn't likely to look for it there.
She knows Molly means well, it doesn't stop the fury that burns through Kristina's every limb every time Molly even mentions him. Which is all the time, going so far as to tell Kristina that she's being cruel to Keifer. Kristina can't bring herself to break all the illusions the younger girl has about love and life.
Sam gave her a make-up lesson today. She doesn't want to think about how her older sister learned these tricks, or how similar their lives have suddenly become. She can tell what her condition does to Sam, the memories it brings back to life behind her sisters sad eyes. Like a movie you can't believe ever happened. Kristina is grateful Sam has Jason now, he protects her and loves her the way Kristina knows she deserves.
Eventually Sam leaves, and she's in the house all alone. Kristina can't really say what compelled her to do it, but after Sam leaves she grabs her crutches and hops around the house- locking every door and window in series of echoing snaps.
It doesn't help. She still feels exposed. She's still afraid Keifer will come back. He always does... she thinks, and it's all she can take.
She goes to her room in a hurry, throwing on her long red coat over her clothes and pocketing the can of mace Alexis left on her nightstand that morning before leaving for work. She can't stay here, she just needs to be in some comfortable company and she'll be fine. She just can't stay there, in the house where she was raped.
Kristina practically runs out the door, trying to lock the door behind her quickly. She drops the keys and suddenly she's panicking. Her hands shake as she tries to push the key back into the lock without breaking it in the process. Finally the door locks and she spins around to run. She forgets about her cast and quickly finds herself tumbling into someone's arms.
.
.
.
.
.
She stiffens as he catches her, the second before she looks to see it's he who caught her- Ethan felt fear shaking her every limb. He sees the relief in her eyes and can't help the pity and anguish that puts a firm grip on him. She thought you were her attacker... a little voice in his head explains.
"Ethan?" She breathes his name in confusion as she tries to set herself right, grabbing the forgotten crutches leaning against the door frame. "What are you doing here?"
"What- oh, um..." He picks a crumpled bag off the porch, the one he'd dropped carelessly in his effort to catch her. "I was getting some coffee at Kelly's and Mike asked me to bring this to you."
"What is it?"
She watches as Ethan opens the bag, allowing the aromas of all her favorite foods flutter under her nose. "Comfort food." There's a moment of silence as she let's Mike's gesture warm her heart. "Where were you going?"
"I um, was just going out."
"You can't drive like that, and it would be a pretty long walk to anywhere from here." He points out, a little suspicious- curious if she's lying to him and why.
"I know." She admits sheepishly. "I just couldn't stay in there."
Ethan understands, what it must be like for her now, to have to live in the house she was raped and beaten in.
"I can take you, wherever you'd like to go." He knows this may not be the best idea he's ever had. The first time around his sympathy for Kristina got him into more trouble than he'd ever like to be in again. But the words are out before he can think about any of it, hanging over them, too late to be taken back.
She wants to tell that she doesn't need his pity, that she doesn't want his concern. But it doesn't quite come out that way. "You don't need too. I'm sure Sam will be by eventually." It's all a lie. Kristina doesn't want to trap him in her life like she was trying to before. She realizes how much she hurts the people around her, even without meaning to. She doesn't even want to dream up what kind of hell might come to Ethan along the road, because of her. The possibilities seemed infinite.
He's quiet again, simply staring at her. She's giving him an easy out, by all means he should take it. Save himself while he can, before this goes only God knows where. "It's a nice day and I don't have to be back at the casino until late. How 'bout the park?" She has to stop herself from falling into his words, the way he speaks kind of hypnotizes her. But she's learned that older men are dangerous and she's already lost more than she can handle. What she needs is a friend.
"The park sounds nice."
.
.
.
.
.
They're sitting on a hill in a remote part of the park. Trees encircle them, hiding them like a wonderful secret. She abandoned her coat when they'd arrived and let Ethan help her precariously up the barely steep hill. The warmth of the sun and contrasting cool breeze was all she needed. It felt cleansing, and for once today she wasn't afraid.
Fear was definitely the last emotion she was feeling at that moment.
He watches the way she lies on the grass, arms spread out like a child making snow angels. His fascination lasts only a moment, before it can take him to dangerous places. Plopping down next to her, the bag from Mike in hand, he says, "I don't think I've ever really been here before."
Her eyes are closed, like she's sleeping. But he can tell that she's remembering, and the memories are good by the slight smile on her face. "I used to always come here as a kid. When my mom was still married to Rick and we were all a real family. Molly on the way and everything."
He's never heard of Rick, or known that her mother had ever been married. But it's the way Kristina's voice prickles around the mysterious man's name, it's obvious he's another man who tainted some part of her life. Ethan wants to ask but decides it probably isn't important just yet.
"Kind of reminds me of the reefs back home." He says pulling out the back of cookies first.
"How so?" She asks imperiously, all joking and curiosity.
"The weather I guess. It's always like this back there. The ocean is clear as this sky, it doesn't get any better than that. And there's just these amazing colors wherever you look." He presses a cookie into her open palm thats resting on the grass.
"I'd like to go there someday." She says dreamily, picturing it behind her closed eyelids and taking a tiny bite of the large cookie.
"You will. And when you do, you'll go scuba diving. I was working a con on this old bastard and his gold-digging fiancé. Went diving around their yacht, best sight I've ever seen." She laughs and he thinks it's a wonderful sound. Pushing the thought away he lays down parallel to her body, a foot or two of grass and tiny flowers between them. He watches the clouds as they each pull random items from the bag. Picking each piece apart between them.
"Do you ever travel?" He asks, his curiosity genuine.
"No, not in a long time. My mom took me to France with her when I was seven. It was overrated." He can tell the sadness is creeping back over her, so he tries to chase it away.
"You were young, Paris is meant for people in between."
"In between what?" A small gust of wind comes at the moment, blowing the comforting scent of his soap against her sore face.
"Experiences. You have to have had some adventures, Paris isn't a place you just jump into."
There's a pause of silence as she thinks about it, mulling over his words. "Tell me where else I should go."
He pauses. Fingering through the catalog of his memories for a place she's like. "Lisbon. You look like a girl who could appreciate Lisbon."
"In Portugal?"
"Yup. Maybe after that, Paris."
"I always wanted to go to Florence..." She admits a little meekly, twisting her fingers in her lap and her eyes on the clouds.
"I've never been there." He says a little incredulously, a laugh gently shakes in his chest. "There aren't a lot of places I haven't been."
"I want to go to Greece too."
"I've been there. Don't take cars, put on a pair of hiking boots and just walk. It's better that way."
"I'll remember that..." The air between them is light and unburdened, she doesn't feel the need to fill the silence. And she isn't afraid of him either, like she is of most of the men in her life. She thinks about Keifer and her hand unconsciously lifts to touch her bruised face. It was a ghost of a touch, but the dull pain comes anyway making her wince and hiss lowly.
Ethan hears her sharp intake of breath. Sitting up straight he looks over to her worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I'm just a little sore." Kristina shakes her head absentmindedly, moving to sit up as well. He helps her up, remembering the fractured rib Lucky told him about. "Do you think I'm a coward?" She asks abruptly and he's obviously taken aback by the look she sees on his face.
"Why would I think that?" He asks finally.
"For not telling Lucky, or anyone, who did this... For me wanting to protect him."
He tries to step lightly. "I don't think you're a coward, Kristina."
"Then what do you think?" She says insistingly. He doesn't answer and her eyes fall downcast, long brown hair falling like a curtain over her shoulder. She's surprised when he tilts her chin up to look at him, tucking the strands of hair back behind her ear.
"I think you should tell me. I think you should have faith in everyone around you that wants to help." A tear slides down her face, unbidden and silent. He wipes it away with his thumb, the rough texture of it sliding over her cheek in contrasting gentleness. "I wish you'd tell me." He whispers.
She takes a deep breath. This is it, what he's asking her to do, take the plunge into everything she can't control all over again.
A/N: HOPE YOU ENJOYED. KEEP READING AND REVIEWING PLEASE!