Chapter 7

"He did that to you, didn't he?"

Paul words rang in her ears as Stephanie pushed back the hard lump in her throat.

His question was a bolt out of the blue and she could feel the panic gripping her chest. Stephanie had never imagined that he would ever figure out what was going on. She thought she'd hidden it well. Obviously, she had been completely mistaken. Paul had taken the time to put the pieces together and realise the truth. The only problem was she wasn't ready to face that truth, not now and maybe not ever.

Paul's brown eyes watched her intently as he waited patiently for her answer. She could see the concern etched clearly on his face and Stephanie knew he cared about her. He'd more than proved that last night and deep down, she knew she could trust him. If she told him about Jonathan, she knew it wouldn't go any further unless she wanted it to. But that was the problem. She didn't want it to. She didn't want anyone to know her secret. God knows, she was far too ashamed.

"Please Steph, talk to me. I just want to help you."

She felt Paul grip her hand even tighter as his eyes focused on her, pleading with her to let him in. The gentle tone of his voice overwhelmed her and hot tears sprung to her eyes. Stephanie blinked them back furiously determined she wasn't going to break down and cry. She had to stay strong if she was to convince Paul that nothing was going on with Jonathan.

And at that simple thought of her husband, Stephanie felt her stomach twist into knots. God, Jonathan would be here soon. Why had she even contemplated telling Paul the truth? She couldn't, not now because once she told him, there was no going back and she knew he would confront her husband. Paul would go after Jonathan and all hell would break loose. Not only that Jonathan would realise she'd told him about the beatings. He'd come after her and who knew what he would do to her this time. It had gotten to the point where she was genuinely starting to fear for her life. His beatings were getting more and more severe every time and if he found out that Paul knew the truth, there was every chance that Jonathan could kill her.

"Please. Just tell me what's going on." Paul urged her.

Her mind made up, Stephanie let out a shaky, calming breath. She had no other choice. She had to lie to Paul. She had to do the one thing she had never wanted to do. He had become such a good friend to her, one of her best friends.

Ignoring the wave of guilt in her chest, Stephanie ducked her head, avoiding Paul's careful stare as she slowly shook her head. She silently begged for his forgiveness before eventually finding her voice.

"I fell down the stairs, Paul. I told you that."

Stephanie pulled her hand away abruptly and walked across to the sofa. She still refused to look in his direction as she sat down, crossing one foot over the other.

Paul watched her, feeling confused and a little bit angry. Because it was obvious Stephanie was lying. He knew it. She knew it. He just didn't understand why and why she was even trying to cover up for her husband. Because he fucking despised men like Jonathan. They were nothing but gutless, spineless bastards and he could never imagine even laying one finger on a woman, especially a woman he loved.

Paul slowly made his way towards the sofa where Stephanie was sitting. She didn't even look up when he stood in front of her. Instead she gazed down at her hands as her long fingers twisted together nervously. Her body language only confirmed the truth to him. That's why he wasn't going to give up. Stephanie was going to admit it to him whether she wanted to or not.

"You're lying to me." he told her simply.

"I'm not. It's the truth."

"I don't believe you."

"That's not my problem, Paul." Stephanie said, still deliberately avoiding eye contact with him.

Paul clenched his fists tightly as he felt his concern turn to total frustration with her. Why the hell was she playing this game? Why was she protecting that scum of a husband? It was obvious she was making up stories to cover for him. How he wished he could grab her and shake some sense into her but he needed to stay in control. Shouting at Stephanie was not going to make her admit the truth so he had to be calm and rational about this. He needed to get through to her and get Stephanie to open up to him somehow.

Letting out a slow calming breath, Paul brushed his hand through his hair and after a moment's hesitation, he knelt down beside her. His hand rested gently on her leg. Still Stephanie refused to look at him but he carried on undeterred.

"Look Steph, I know you're scared. God only knows what you've been through."

Paul paused and licked his lips, feeling his gut burn as he remembered her bruising.

"But you've got to open up to me. You've got to tell me what's wrong so I can try and help you."

Stephanie finally lifted her head to look at him and straight away he saw the stubborn determination on her face. The same McMahon stubbornness that told him she wasn't going to make this easy for him.

"I don't need your help, Paul." she shot back. "There's nothing going on so why don't you just drop it?"

"Because I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can."

Paul shook his head firmly. Despite his frustration with her, his expression was soft and tender. He could hear the fear in her voice. He could see it in her eyes.

"I can't, Steph. What if something happened to you, huh? I could never forgive myself. Not when I knew there was something I could have done to stop it."

His hand squeezed her leg softly as his brown eyes pleaded with her once more. Stephanie swallowed hard as the voices in her head screamed at her to tell him. Paul sounded so sincere and she could tell he was genuinely worried about her. She felt touched by that. He was such a sweet and lovely guy and she knew she should tell him the truth because he deserved it. But she was so scared. She couldn't handle the repercussions of telling Paul about Jonathan. She wasn't strong enough to cope. Jonathan had chipped away at her piece by piece and she just didn't have the strength to stand up to him. Not any more. He had left her so frightened and horribly weak.

"I care about you, Steph." Paul said, softly.

Stephanie's lips trembled with her smile as she placed her hand on top of his. "I know you do."

"Then tell me what's going on."

His concern began to overwhelm her and her blue eyes began to burn with her tears as she slowly shook her head.

"I can't." she whimpered.

"Yes, you can." Paul stressed as he watched the tears roll down her face. He could feel his heart breaking for her as he reached up to tenderly brush them away.

"You can't keep letting him hurt you like this, Stephanie."

"Please Paul. Please just drop it."

Her blue eyes were desperate but he shook his head.

"No."

Her face crumpled as she choked back a sob.

"You have to, Paul. Please. Just do it for my sake."

"For your sake?" he repeated, completely bewildered. "Steph, your husband is physically abusing you. Am I'm supposed to turn a blind eye and just let that happen to you?"

"He's not abusing me." she shot back feebly.

"Oh yes he is." Paul growled angrily. "So why don't you stop covering for him. Why won't you come right out and just admit the truth?"

"Because I can't, Paul. Okay? I just can't!"

As her strangled sobbing filled the room, Paul felt incredibly guilty for pushing the issue and immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Stephanie didn't put up a fight as she fell into him and cried. He could feel her body trembling with her frightened breaths and tears and closing his eyes, his big hand rubbed her back, trying his best to soothe her. He felt horrible seeing her break down like this, knowing he was the cause of it, but he had no choice. Although Stephanie hadn't openly admitted it was happening, there was no doubt in his mind that Jonathan was beating Stephanie. And judging from her bruises, those beatings were severe. Christ, he felt sick to his stomach every time he thought about it. God knows how long this had been going on which begged the question why the fuck hadn't he noticed something sooner? The signs must have been there. He had to have been blind not to notice them or just too wrapped up in his own worries not to care. He was supposed to be her friend after all. He had let her down badly but one thing was for sure, he wasn't going to let her down again. Stephanie wasn't going to go through this alone, not if he had anything to say about it.

"I'm so scared." she whispered into his chest.

Paul sighed softly as his heart went out to her. "I know you are. But you don't have to be afraid any more. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

He felt Stephanie lift her head and pull away. Her big blue eyes were so sad as they looked back at him. She looked defeated and broken. His hand rubbed her arm reassuringly as his facial expression softened.

"I know the truth, Stephanie." he told her. "There's no point in trying to hide it anymore."

She said nothing and she didn't have to. Her silence told him all he needed to know.

"How long has it been happening?" he asked.

Stephanie immediately shut him off, shaking her head abruptly. "I don't want to talk about it."

She saw the hurt that flickered in his deep brown orbs and feeling a stab of guilt, she immediately reached for his hand and took it in hers. She noticed his skin felt hot against her chilled fingers.

"It's just that it's too painful, Paul." she explained. "And I can't handle it. Not right now."

He nodded, showing her he understood.

"You do know you can't tell anyone else about this, don't you."

She watched Paul's face flicker with his stunned disbelief and she gripped hold of his hand tightly, needing him to understand.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone, Paul."

His brown eyes stared at her incredulously. "You can't be serious."

"I am serious. I'm deadly serious."

Paul let out a snort of indignation as his hand shook her off and he leant away from her. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you do this."

"You have to. There's no other choice."

He saw Stephanie stare back at him defiantly. Paul shook his head, unable to believe his ears. The woman was nuts if she thought he was going to agree to this.

"Of course there's a choice, Steph. Leave him. Pack your bags and leave him."

Her soft sigh echoed around the four walls and her voice was small when she eventually replied. "I can't. I just don't have the strength."

"Of course you do."

The anger flashed in her eyes as she glared back at him, knowing he wouldn't understand. No-one would.

"No, Paul. I really don't." she told him. "And that's what he's done to me, you see. Every time Jonathan hit me, he took away that little bit of self-respect and pride. Piece by piece it's disappeared. He's broken my spirit, Paul. He's made me weak."

Paul's hand lifted to grip her shoulders and his brown eyes wore a stern expression as they looked directly into hers. "Then don't let him, Steph. Stand up to him. Leave him."

Stephanie smiled sadly. "You make it sound so easy."

"It is."

"It's not. I told you. I don't have the strength."

"You don't have to. I can be strong enough for the both of us."

Stephanie just looked at him for a moment, genuinely touched by his obvious intention to help her but she couldn't allow it. "This isn't your fight, Paul. I'm not your problem."

"But you're not a problem, Steph. You're a friend."

Stephanie's hand reached up to tenderly touch his face. Her thumb traced his beard lightly. "And you're a friend to me too. A good friend."

Her hand lingered as she looked firmly into his eyes.

"And a friend that I know I can trust to keep this to himself."

Paul slowly shook his head. "I don't know if I can do that."

"Please, Paul. For me?" she pleaded.

He looked away. He wasn't going to make any promises he was determined not to keep.

"Please understand. I'm just not ready."

He whipped his head back up frustrated by her reluctance and unable to control his anger any longer. "And when will you be ready Steph? Will it be the next time you're lying bloody and beaten? Or maybe it will be the one time he goes too far."

As his harsh words hung in the air between them, Paul tried not to feel guilty as he watched another tear roll down Stephanie's cheek.

"I-I just need time, Paul. I mean, I can't just up and leave."

"And why not?"

"I've nowhere to go. Where will I stay?"

"You could stay with me."

Stephanie snorted. "I'm sure Joanie would love that one."

Paul scowled and shook his head. "Forget Joanie. This isn't about her. This is about you. You need to get away from Jonathan, Stephanie."

"I know." she whispered.

Paul felt his shoulders slump with his relief at those two little words knowing he had finally gotten through to her. He rubbed her arm softly. "Good. And when you do, I'll be there for you. You're not going through this alone, Stephanie. I'm going to be with you every step of the way. I promise."

She nodded at him gratefully. "I will do it, Paul. I just need a little time."

"Just promise me you'll do it soon?"

"I will."

She looked deep into his eyes as she laid out her condition.

"Just please don't say anything to anyone, Paul. And that includes my parents."

His mouth automatically parted to protest but she placed her finger over his lip, silencing him.

"They can't find out. At least until I've left Jonathan. If he has any idea that I'm leaving him, he'll do everything he can to stop me. Do you understand?"

He nodded his head suddenly unable to do anything else. He lost his voice as the true realisation of the danger Stephanie was in hit him like a tonne of bricks.

"I'm probably going to need your help." she said, timidly.

Paul smiled solemnly. "Yeah well you were getting it whether you wanted it or not."

"I'm scared to death."

His expression softened as he took her in his arms. "I'm going to be there, Steph. I'm going to make sure he doesn't hurt you again. Just do it soon, alright?"

Stephanie nodded against his chest and as Paul held her close, she closed her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe and protected and determined to go through with this. Paul had helped her make the decision she should have made a long time ago. She had never had the courage before but Paul had given her that courage. He had given her the strength that Jonathan had tried so hard to destroy. So it was up to her now. She needed to find the right time to make her move and leave him. It wasn't going to be easy but with Paul by her side supporting her, she knew she could do it. She had to. She had no other choice.