A/N: DUUUUUUUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH...! I really don't know what to write here anymore...;
Enjoy!
XVIII
He sighed deeply as he turned on the shower, the hot streams of water beating the mud clear off of his body. He dunked his head into the streams, closing his eyes tightly.
"Say, this is a nice place you got, Blanchett!"
"Yeah, a really nice place."
"You mean it?"
--
The curly-haired woman smiled, taking off her cloak as she stepped through the doorway,
"Funny you should say that... I was thinking of selling it."
"Selling it!?"
The boy stepped up beside her, shaking his head,
"What for!? This place is enormous! It must've taken a long time for you to save up--"
"I inherited it."
He raised an eyebrow, frowning in confusion,
"Inherited? From who?"
She nodded shortly, lowering her head,
"My...my husband."
His heart stopped,
"Y-Your husband?"
--
He sighed deeply,
'She must've been talking about that Lector person. He was her husband? And she said she inherited it from him, so I guess that means...'
"She's a widow."
Pulling his hair back, he let the water beat him in the face. Three years. He lowered his head, slowly opening his eyes. It really had been three years...hadn't it?
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"Are you comfortable?"
Eve gasped as she turned around, finding Blanchett in the doorway. She smiled at the woman, sighing deeply,
"Yes. Thank you."
"Don't mention it! Any friend of Merry's is a friend of mine!"
A scowl flashed across the girl's face. Blanchett straightened, raising an eyebrow at her,
"Is something wrong?"
Eve shook her head quickly, waving it off,
"Huh? O-Oh! No. It's nothing, really..."
She then sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. The curly-haired woman frowned, stepping over and sitting down beside her,
"You sure?"
PAUSE.
"How long...?"
She stopped, lowering her hands to her lap. Blanchett raised an eyebrow at her,
"How long, what?"
"How long...have you and Merrick known each other?"
She straightened.
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"Me and Merry?"
He sighed as he dried his hair, catching himself in the full-length mirror nearby. Straightening, he blinked. He tried flexing his left bicep. Then his right. Then both. The boy sighed, slumping sadly,
"I look like a stick."
"Why, we've known each other since forever!"
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Eve raised an eyebrow at her,
"Since forever, huh?"
The woman politely nodded. The blonde scowled, a bead of sweat trailing down her face,
'She does know 'since forever' is an impossible time frame, right?'
"We met when he moved here with Maggie. He was 7, I think. The cutest little thing. Quiet as a mouse, though..."
She straightened, turning to the red head in surprise,
"Then, you know what happened to him?"
Blanchett blinked, placing both hands in her lap,
"Happened? What do you mean?"
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"There's a scar over his left eye."
One foot came down. Then the other. Smacking both fists against his chest, he set a deep scowl on his face, glaring in the mirror. After a moment or two, he let out a whimper and rubbed his chest sorely,
"Ow..."
And then the towel around his waist fell to the floor. His eyebrow twitched,
"How embarrassing."
"I was wondering if you knew anything about it."
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The woman sighed deeply, lowering her head,
"So...he hasn't told you, yet?"
Eve blinked, raising an eyebrow curiously,
"Told me what?"
Blanchett turned her gaze away from her, head bowed,
"His eye...he lost it when he was six."
The ruby-eyed girl straightened, her eyes wide as the woman continued,
"His father came home late one evening. Merry said he could smell the scotch on him before he even came through the door."
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"For no reason at all, that man just started beating the tar out of poor Merry with a broken bottle of booze..."
He finished tying the towel around his neck and stood up straight, letting out a loud roar of laughter. His laughter slowed as he looked into the mirror, and he slumped over, groaning,
"This is pathetic."
"And in a long, sweeping movement, he ripped a deep gash in Merry's face. It tore his eye clean out."
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The blonde shook her head in disbelief, her voice laced with concern,
"But what...what about his mother? Where was she? Why wasn't she there to protect him--?"
She stopped herself then, remembering back to when they had first met. The angel tattoo on his back...
"She came running out when she heard Merry screaming. She tried to fight him away, but she couldn't hold him off any more than Merry could. Merry watched him beat her to death."
Eve's eyes widened. He...he had seen it? He had seen his mother...? She lowered her gaze,
"How...how terrible."
"I know. And what's worse is those darned IBI agents haven't even caught the man!"
The blonde straightened, almost shouting as she spoke,
"You mean he's still out there!?"
"He sure is," Blanchett said, her voice softening as she continued,
"He ran off after he did it...left both of them for dead. Merry would've died, too, had it not been for the nice lady they lived next to. She heard all the commotion and came running over fast as she could. Called an ambulance. Saved his life..."
"Who was she?"
The auburn-haired girl shrugged, standing up from the bed then,
"Don't know, really. Merry told me a little bit about her. She had a nice family, he said. Her husband worked for the police or something...and they had a little baby girl that his mother always set him up on play dates with. Someone else would show up, too sometimes. I think he was another cop. Merry said he was a real loner type, but he was nice to talk to..."
Eve sighed, lowering her head sadly,
"A nice family..."
Blanchett blinked, raising an eyebrow as she placed both hands on her hips,
"Are you sure you're all right?"
The blonde nodded, offering her a strained smile,
"Oh, yes! I'm fine."
Sighing, the ruddy-haired woman turned, heading out the door,
"Listen, don't tell Merry I told you any of that...okay? It took him years to tell me anything, and I don't think you're close enough to him yet to know any of it."
She nodded, forcing another smile,
"Oh...of course. I won't say a word."
"Thanks. And listen, you both are welcomed to stay here as long as you need. If you need anything, just tell me, all right?"
"I will. Thank you, Miss Murphy."
"Oh, don't be silly," she offered Eve a warm smile,
"Just call me Blanchett."
The blonde blinked, nodding shortly,
"Right...Blanchett."
The woman then turned and left the room, Eve sighing deeply. Lowering her head, she frowned. Merrick. He was so much stronger than he let on. He'd been forced to watch his own mother die before his eyes. He'd been helpless to fight off his own father, who had killed her. It reminded her of that day, nearly seven years ago, when she and Sven had been attacked by Creed. She'd been forced to stand by while that man hurt Sven; almost killed him. The girl straightened and grabbed the beaten wallet that sat on her bedside table. Holding it close to her heart, she bowed her head, closing her eyes,
'Sven...'
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Blanchett smiled as she spotted Merrick sitting on the couch and she folded her arms,
"Done already?"
"Of course I am. What're you talking about?"
"Well, don't you usually play naked karate in front of the mirror after you take a shower?"
A cherry-red blush lit up his face, and he coughed, beginning to stammer,
"N-No! What gave you that idea?"
She giggled, sitting down beside him,
"Maggie told me. She said she walked in on you once. You were pretending to be some kind of superhero or something. She said it was adorable when you flexed your little butt muscles."
He scowled, trying his hardest to sink into the sofa,
"Okay, that's great. Can we stop talking, now?"
Groaning, he leaned his head back, sighing deeply,
"Well, it looks like you've done pretty well for yourself. So, did you score that acting scholarship or what?"
"No...I didn't take it."
He straightened, raising an eyebrow at her,
"Wh-What? What do you mean you didn't take it? I thought acting was your dream--!"
"Dreams aren't worth anything if you have no one to share them with."
The auburn-haired girl lowered her head, wringing her hands together in her lap.
"Blanchett?"
A tear splattered onto her hand,
"Why?"
The muddy-haired boy straightened, his body tensing,
"Wh-What's the matter?"
SLAP.
It was sudden. It was swift. And it stung. A lot.
He ran his fingers across the large, red blotch on his cheek, and looked to her, eyes wide,
"Blanchett--"
"Why didn't you come back!?"
Her eyes were filled with tears. Merrick immediately lowered his head, the girl's voice crackling as she continued,
"You promised...you promised you'd never leave me!! That you'd take me away from this place when we were old enough! That you would get me out of that hell hole of a house and we'd run away!! We were going to start a new life together! Didn't that mean anything to you!? Didn't I mean anything to you!?"
She gasped for breath, trying her hardest to keep her tears at a minimum. He kept his eye locked on the coffee table before him. A long silence reigned between them, Blanchett's hiccups becoming louder as time passed.
"I came after you."
He turned to her, his eye gleaming with sadness. Tears rolled freely down her delicate cheeks. Her whole body was shaking,
"After you left...I came after you."
Her shoulders began to shudder violently.
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Eve straightened as she began to hear the soft sound of sobbing drifting in from the other room. Frowning, she stood, laying the wallet down on her bed as she went to the door. She pressed her ear against it. The voices were too muffled. She couldn't hear anything. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the door knob and gently eased it open, peeking out into the next room. Sure enough, the voices had belonged to Merrick and Blanchett. They were sitting on the couch together...
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"You...you did?"
She nodded shortly, more tears sprinkling out onto her legs.
"The fire...it was so big. I tried to go in after you, but the police showed up, and I couldn't do anything to save you."
He lowered his head shamefully as her words became more broken and distorted by sobbing,
"Then the house exploded...and...the roof collapsed. I...I...I just knew you weren't..."
Blanchett trailed off, becoming over run with tears. The muddy-haired boy sighed deeply, his face hidden in shadow,
"I'm sorry."
Head bowed, he silently listened to her mournful cries, his heart becoming heavy. Closing his eye, he could see it yet, that burning house she talked about. It was like he was there again, speeding towards it, screaming out her name,
"MAGGIE!!"
He shuddered at the memory. Sighing, he turned to the weeping girl, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gasped, feeling his fingers slide gently under her chin. He lead her to him, tilting her head up slightly, and pressed his lips to hers.
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Eve's eyes widened as she watched the boy press his lips against Blanchett's. Pushing the door shut, she straightened, stepping back from it. She stared at it silently, as if waiting for it to do something. It didn't. Sighing deeply, she lowered her head, her bangs shadowing her eyes. Her fists clenched...
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He pulled away from her only when she ceased her crying. She hiccupped, a few tears gliding down her cheeks. With a smile, he gently brushed them away, placing his hands on her shoulders,
"You meant the world to me..."
Her wide eyes glistened as he spoke, her heart pounding wildly. He laughed a little,
"Or didn't you know that?"
Swallowing hard, she let out another cry, throwing herself into his chest. She held him tightly, her shoulders shuddering violently,
"I...I love you, Merry..."
His eyes widened...
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"...I always have."
Eve sat at the base of the door, her legs curled up tightly to her chest. Her forehead rested on her knees. Her face was buried in shadow. From those shadows escaped a single tear,
'Sven...please. Take me away from this place...'