Author's Notes: I don't know what color Fox's eyes are, so I just said that they're blue. This is the second chappy. Hope you enjoy! :)
Theresa sat on the bench at the park, her hair covering the bruise on the side of her head. She sat there just staring out into space, wondering when she became this way. Ethan didn't love her. She could tell. He just wanted her because he could run over her. He could never run over Gwen like this, that's why he left her. That's why he wanted Theresa. Because she loved him so much that she would do anything for him. Even accept his abuse. He knew she loved him that much.
But it wasn't love anymore. It was something else. Like need. It was need. She needed him because without him, she had no guidance. She had nothing to live for. But rapidly, that was changing. Because with him, with this feeling of need, she was slowly dying. She still had nothing to live for. And Lord knew she wasn't ready to die, but she was sitting there, staying with Ethan, letting herself die.
Tears formed in her eyes as she stared out at the little children playing on the slide. She wanted children. Ethan did too. But she didn't want children with him because if her kids had to watch her husband verbally and physically abuse her, she would never forgive herself for bringing them into a life like that.
She stifled a cry, putting her glove-covered hand over her mouth. She hated her life. She hated it with every fiber of her being. Because she was trapped, scared and numb. And she never wanted to be that way. What had turned out as a simple crush on Ethan Crane had turned out to be the most worst thing she'd ever pursued. It ruined her entire life.
"Resa, you okay?" Fox sat next to her with his brows knitted in concern.
"Mmmhmm." She answered quickly, nodding but shielding her face from him.
"No, you're not." He whispered to her. Trying to be playful, he bumped her shoulder with his. "Tell me what's wrong." He knew what was wrong.
She laughed humorlessly. "What's always wrong with me?" Her voice hiccupped. "Ethan."
Fox watched her, simply heartbroken. "Theresa, why don't you leave him?" He whispered.
She shrugged and shook her head. "Because maybe one day he'll change. Because I've worked too hard for him." She threw him her rehearsed excuses that she was starting to not believe.
"But he's hurting you." He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Theresa, he hits you."
"And I let him hit me, Fox. I let him do what he does. So in a way, maybe I deserve it." She muttered the last part, knowing Fox was about to disagree.
"You don't deserve it, Theresa. Hell, if you want to talk about what someone deserves, Ethan deserves to be beat with-"
"Fox, that wouldn't help." She looked up at her friend. "It won't ever help."
With his brows knitting in confusion. "What kind of a hold does he have on you?"
Theresa looked away from him, hoping he couldn't see the answer in the flash that had passed her eyes. "I love him." She said evenly, trying to force emotion into the words. "I do." A sob moved through her throat, trying to break past her lips.
"I don't think you do, Theresa. I think you used to love him. I think that the love you had for Ethan has diminished. I think you're just confused." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, constricting inwardly when she flinched at his touch before relaxing into it.
She buried her face in his chest and let her emotions go. "Fox, I hate this." She whimpered breathlessly. "I would leave if I could. I really would…"
"Then why don't you?" Fox had to struggle to keep his anger for Ethan out of his voice so she wouldn't think it was directed to her. "Just leave him, Theresa."
"I can't." She whispered into his chest, her body relaxing. Stiffening.
~~~~
Fox and Theresa walked into the Crane Mansion, Theresa was softly sniffling, but it didn't look as if she had been crying. Because she hadn't cried that much. It was scary to Fox. First she was crying, barely able to speak, and then she just laid there as if she felt nothing. As if there was nothing more to sob over. It was like she was all cried out.
Fox watched as she slowly took off her coat, taking her gloves off after she threw her coat on the back of a chair in the living room. Her jaw line was faintly set firmly, and she pushed the hair that was hanging in her face behind her ear.
"Are you alright, Resa?" Fox asked with concern. This wasn't her normal behavior.
"Mmmhmm." She answered looking over at him with a short smile.
He was about to say something else, but Ethan's filthy form descended the stairs. "Theresa, where have you been?" He stopped right in front of her.
"Out." She answered simply, staring back into his eyes with a hard glare.
"Out where?" He asked back.
"Ethan, leave her alone." Fox came up, standing next to Theresa.
"Foxworth, stay out of this." Ethan said his name that way simply to piss him off.
"No, I won't stay out of this. Not this time, Ethan." He set his jaw. "You're going to stop hurting her."
"Fox, don't piss me off." Ethan threatened.
"If you don't touch her then I won't piss you off. But I'm tired of you doing things to hurt her." Fox stepped up to Ethan, ready to bash his face in, but a delicate hand stopped him.
"Fox, don't." Theresa said softly. Too softly. "It's okay. Ethan isn't going to hurt me anymore."
"Are you sure about that Theresa?" Fox asked looking down at her with his brows furrowed. He was confused by her behavior.
"Yes. I'm sure." She smiled softly at him, her eyes not sparkling like they usually did. "I'm going upstairs." Without looking at Ethan, she silently marched up the stairs.
Ethan shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm going out." He grabbed his coat from the closet near the door and walked out.
Fox just sighed with a shake of his head and went upstairs. Ethan was going out to cheat. He did that a lot lately. And Theresa knew it. Fox knew it too. But Theresa overlooked it, so Fox just followed her lead. He hated overlooking it, but he had to. It was for Theresa.
~~~~~~
"Theresa?" Nicholas Foxworth Crane whispered into the dark room. "Are you awake?" He tried again. He knew Ethan wasn't home, so he was allowed to come in.
In response, he heard nothing but the quiet. And the faint sound of the shower running. Getting that swirling feeling in his stomach, the one that he got when something was wrong, he put a hand on his hard toned stomach and slowly paced towards the bathroom door. If she was still in the shower, that meant she had been in there for two and a half hours. That didn't sound logical.
When he got to the door, he cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "Theresa?"
But he was scared when she didn't answer.
He took a deep breath and knocked again. "Theresa?"
Nobody answered again, so he panicked.
Fox grabbed the knob and pried the door open by fiercely bumping his shoulder against it. When he opened it, the first thing that managed to catch his eye was the blood. Then he noticed the open gash in which the blood was seeping from. And there was a razor, that had opened the gash. And that razor was connected to her other hand, which had an identical wrist to the slit one that he'd spotted at first.
Then Fox looked at her face.
It was plain. Emotionless. But tears ran down her emotionless face. And her damp hair framed her face in wavy tendrils.
He finally snapped back to reality.
"Theresa, w-what are you doing?" His voice was shaky as he grabbed a towel from the sink and fell to his knees in front of her where she sat on the toilet with a towel wrapped around her body, knotted at the top of her breast.
"I don't want to live anymore." She said steadily as he struggled to pry the razor from her hand. "Fox, stop."
"No." He said sternly, taking the razor from her and throwing it in the trash next to the toilet. "Theresa, what the hell is this?" He pressed the towel to her cuts and looked up at her harshly. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Maybe he was mad because she was trying to leave him, but he was extremely angry that she was hurting herself. Fox hated seeing her hurt.
"I don't want to live anymore." She repeated in the same tone as before, humid tears plummeting down her cheeks.
"And why not?" Fox's hands shook as he pressed the piece of white cloth to her wrists. "Why not, Theresa?"
"Because…I'm not living anyway." Theresa's voice finally showed a mince of sentiment. "I'm just a dead body, walking around, taking orders and being beat by a-a…a pigheaded Crane." Her bottom lip quivered.
"Leave him, Theresa. Please. If this is what he causes you to do, just leave him. He isn't worth this." His eyes were hungry for hers, but she wouldn't look at him. "Why won't you just leave him?"
She closed her eyes and let new tears make their way to her chin. "Because he'll kill me." Theresa admitted. "He told me that he'll kill me."
"I'll kill him first." Fox promised looking at her pale face. "If he lays another hand on you, so help me God, he'll regret it for the rest of his life." He stood up and went to the mirror cabinets, opening them and pulling out some alcohol and cotton balls. "This is going to sting a little." He hurriedly poured a little alcohol on the cotton balls and then pressed it to her wounds, expecting her to flinch or hiss in pain. But she did nothing. "It doesn't hurt?" He asked amazed.
Theresa shrugged softly. "I don't know." She whispered as he tended to her wounds.
Fox ran his hand through his hair. "Is this what you meant when you said Ethan wouldn't hurt you anymore?"
Her brown eyes locked with his, but she said nothing. She knew he could see the answer in her eyes. Before he could say anything, she just shook her head and put her hand over his hand that was putting the wet cotton to her open slash. "It'll be okay." She took the cotton from him and sat it on the sink next to her. "I just want to go to sleep."
Reluctantly, he let her take the cotton balls away from him as he held her hand. Fox stared concentrated on the gashes on her arms. "Resa, never again. Okay." He looked up at her, his brows knitted seriously. "Okay?"
She looked into his blue eyes and slowly nodded. "Okay." Theresa quietly agreed.
Fox swallowed hard and stood up. "Do you need help?" He asked, not knowing what it was that she would possibly need help for.
Theresa shook her head and stood up. "Could you…not tell Ethan about this?" She asked hopefully, looking up at his blue eyes.
Fox nodded slowly, feeling awkward, like this was some bad nightmare. "Only if you never do this again."
"Okay." She cleared her throat and then slowly reached up to wrap her arms securely around his neck.
He was caught off caught with the hug, but immediately returned it by slipping his arms around her waist tightly. He brushed his lips against her temple and sighed, closing his eyes and reveling in the moment. She smelled so good, felt so soft.
Theresa smiled softly as she backed away and looked in Fox's eyes. He was her best friend and she didn't know what she would have done without him. She would probably be dead without him. "Thank you." She whispered staring in his eyes.
"No problem, Theresa." He pushed a piece of her hair out of her face.
She looked at him one last time before walking into her room, out of the bathroom, leaving Fox behind.
~~~
Fox lay with his arms pillowing the back of his head as he stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't even see it in the dark, so he was staring up at the black. But his mind was anything but black. His mind was Theresa. She was really cutting herself. That was really blood. What was he supposed to do? It was all just registering to him now. He had been in shock when he found her, but now, it was all coming to him.
Theresa had been trying to kill herself because of Ethan.
His mind kept repeating that notion. It was something so unspeakable, his mind had to say it for him. What if he hadn't of been worried about her and went up to check on her? Where would she be? Halfway to heaven is probably where she would be because there was no way God could look at her and send her elsewhere. It just wasn't possible.
His door cracked open and he knew who it was. He could feel her. He could feel her emotions radiating off of her like heat. What she had tried to do was just now registering in her mind to. He could feel her crying.
"Resa?" He asked softly, knowing it was her but not being able to find anything better to say.
She sniffled and closed the door. "Yeah."
He sighed in pain from the hurt in her voice and pulled the covers back. "Come on."
Theresa slowly marched to the bed and laid down, her back facing Fox. She tried to hold in her sobs, but it was impossible. "Ethan's not coming back tonight." She told him something he already knew.
"I know." His voice was soaked with sympathy as he slipped his arm around her waist. "I know, Resa."
She turned in his arms so that she was facing him. "Why…why would he do this to me?"
Fox just drew her closer as she cried. He didn't know why Ethan would do what he did to Theresa. The dumbest man in the world wouldn't mistreat Theresa. She was too full of love. Or she used to be before Ethan destroyed her. But she was the most beautiful, angelic woman in the world, and Fox would die to have someone like her. He'd die a thousand times to have her. She was too good to be going through this.
His other hand that wasn't wrapped around her waist as he stroked the strands of hair out of her face. He could hear her breath evening out which meant she was going to sleep. He was tired of Ethan treating her this way. He had to stop this. He had to get her away from his evil half brother. And that's was what he was going to do.
~~~~
Yea, I know…poor Theresa. But remember, this is a happy fic…I think. :/ I'm not sure. Anyway, don't forget to R/R
Theresa sat on the bench at the park, her hair covering the bruise on the side of her head. She sat there just staring out into space, wondering when she became this way. Ethan didn't love her. She could tell. He just wanted her because he could run over her. He could never run over Gwen like this, that's why he left her. That's why he wanted Theresa. Because she loved him so much that she would do anything for him. Even accept his abuse. He knew she loved him that much.
But it wasn't love anymore. It was something else. Like need. It was need. She needed him because without him, she had no guidance. She had nothing to live for. But rapidly, that was changing. Because with him, with this feeling of need, she was slowly dying. She still had nothing to live for. And Lord knew she wasn't ready to die, but she was sitting there, staying with Ethan, letting herself die.
Tears formed in her eyes as she stared out at the little children playing on the slide. She wanted children. Ethan did too. But she didn't want children with him because if her kids had to watch her husband verbally and physically abuse her, she would never forgive herself for bringing them into a life like that.
She stifled a cry, putting her glove-covered hand over her mouth. She hated her life. She hated it with every fiber of her being. Because she was trapped, scared and numb. And she never wanted to be that way. What had turned out as a simple crush on Ethan Crane had turned out to be the most worst thing she'd ever pursued. It ruined her entire life.
"Resa, you okay?" Fox sat next to her with his brows knitted in concern.
"Mmmhmm." She answered quickly, nodding but shielding her face from him.
"No, you're not." He whispered to her. Trying to be playful, he bumped her shoulder with his. "Tell me what's wrong." He knew what was wrong.
She laughed humorlessly. "What's always wrong with me?" Her voice hiccupped. "Ethan."
Fox watched her, simply heartbroken. "Theresa, why don't you leave him?" He whispered.
She shrugged and shook her head. "Because maybe one day he'll change. Because I've worked too hard for him." She threw him her rehearsed excuses that she was starting to not believe.
"But he's hurting you." He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Theresa, he hits you."
"And I let him hit me, Fox. I let him do what he does. So in a way, maybe I deserve it." She muttered the last part, knowing Fox was about to disagree.
"You don't deserve it, Theresa. Hell, if you want to talk about what someone deserves, Ethan deserves to be beat with-"
"Fox, that wouldn't help." She looked up at her friend. "It won't ever help."
With his brows knitting in confusion. "What kind of a hold does he have on you?"
Theresa looked away from him, hoping he couldn't see the answer in the flash that had passed her eyes. "I love him." She said evenly, trying to force emotion into the words. "I do." A sob moved through her throat, trying to break past her lips.
"I don't think you do, Theresa. I think you used to love him. I think that the love you had for Ethan has diminished. I think you're just confused." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, constricting inwardly when she flinched at his touch before relaxing into it.
She buried her face in his chest and let her emotions go. "Fox, I hate this." She whimpered breathlessly. "I would leave if I could. I really would…"
"Then why don't you?" Fox had to struggle to keep his anger for Ethan out of his voice so she wouldn't think it was directed to her. "Just leave him, Theresa."
"I can't." She whispered into his chest, her body relaxing. Stiffening.
~~~~
Fox and Theresa walked into the Crane Mansion, Theresa was softly sniffling, but it didn't look as if she had been crying. Because she hadn't cried that much. It was scary to Fox. First she was crying, barely able to speak, and then she just laid there as if she felt nothing. As if there was nothing more to sob over. It was like she was all cried out.
Fox watched as she slowly took off her coat, taking her gloves off after she threw her coat on the back of a chair in the living room. Her jaw line was faintly set firmly, and she pushed the hair that was hanging in her face behind her ear.
"Are you alright, Resa?" Fox asked with concern. This wasn't her normal behavior.
"Mmmhmm." She answered looking over at him with a short smile.
He was about to say something else, but Ethan's filthy form descended the stairs. "Theresa, where have you been?" He stopped right in front of her.
"Out." She answered simply, staring back into his eyes with a hard glare.
"Out where?" He asked back.
"Ethan, leave her alone." Fox came up, standing next to Theresa.
"Foxworth, stay out of this." Ethan said his name that way simply to piss him off.
"No, I won't stay out of this. Not this time, Ethan." He set his jaw. "You're going to stop hurting her."
"Fox, don't piss me off." Ethan threatened.
"If you don't touch her then I won't piss you off. But I'm tired of you doing things to hurt her." Fox stepped up to Ethan, ready to bash his face in, but a delicate hand stopped him.
"Fox, don't." Theresa said softly. Too softly. "It's okay. Ethan isn't going to hurt me anymore."
"Are you sure about that Theresa?" Fox asked looking down at her with his brows furrowed. He was confused by her behavior.
"Yes. I'm sure." She smiled softly at him, her eyes not sparkling like they usually did. "I'm going upstairs." Without looking at Ethan, she silently marched up the stairs.
Ethan shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm going out." He grabbed his coat from the closet near the door and walked out.
Fox just sighed with a shake of his head and went upstairs. Ethan was going out to cheat. He did that a lot lately. And Theresa knew it. Fox knew it too. But Theresa overlooked it, so Fox just followed her lead. He hated overlooking it, but he had to. It was for Theresa.
~~~~~~
"Theresa?" Nicholas Foxworth Crane whispered into the dark room. "Are you awake?" He tried again. He knew Ethan wasn't home, so he was allowed to come in.
In response, he heard nothing but the quiet. And the faint sound of the shower running. Getting that swirling feeling in his stomach, the one that he got when something was wrong, he put a hand on his hard toned stomach and slowly paced towards the bathroom door. If she was still in the shower, that meant she had been in there for two and a half hours. That didn't sound logical.
When he got to the door, he cleared his throat and knocked on the door. "Theresa?"
But he was scared when she didn't answer.
He took a deep breath and knocked again. "Theresa?"
Nobody answered again, so he panicked.
Fox grabbed the knob and pried the door open by fiercely bumping his shoulder against it. When he opened it, the first thing that managed to catch his eye was the blood. Then he noticed the open gash in which the blood was seeping from. And there was a razor, that had opened the gash. And that razor was connected to her other hand, which had an identical wrist to the slit one that he'd spotted at first.
Then Fox looked at her face.
It was plain. Emotionless. But tears ran down her emotionless face. And her damp hair framed her face in wavy tendrils.
He finally snapped back to reality.
"Theresa, w-what are you doing?" His voice was shaky as he grabbed a towel from the sink and fell to his knees in front of her where she sat on the toilet with a towel wrapped around her body, knotted at the top of her breast.
"I don't want to live anymore." She said steadily as he struggled to pry the razor from her hand. "Fox, stop."
"No." He said sternly, taking the razor from her and throwing it in the trash next to the toilet. "Theresa, what the hell is this?" He pressed the towel to her cuts and looked up at her harshly. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Maybe he was mad because she was trying to leave him, but he was extremely angry that she was hurting herself. Fox hated seeing her hurt.
"I don't want to live anymore." She repeated in the same tone as before, humid tears plummeting down her cheeks.
"And why not?" Fox's hands shook as he pressed the piece of white cloth to her wrists. "Why not, Theresa?"
"Because…I'm not living anyway." Theresa's voice finally showed a mince of sentiment. "I'm just a dead body, walking around, taking orders and being beat by a-a…a pigheaded Crane." Her bottom lip quivered.
"Leave him, Theresa. Please. If this is what he causes you to do, just leave him. He isn't worth this." His eyes were hungry for hers, but she wouldn't look at him. "Why won't you just leave him?"
She closed her eyes and let new tears make their way to her chin. "Because he'll kill me." Theresa admitted. "He told me that he'll kill me."
"I'll kill him first." Fox promised looking at her pale face. "If he lays another hand on you, so help me God, he'll regret it for the rest of his life." He stood up and went to the mirror cabinets, opening them and pulling out some alcohol and cotton balls. "This is going to sting a little." He hurriedly poured a little alcohol on the cotton balls and then pressed it to her wounds, expecting her to flinch or hiss in pain. But she did nothing. "It doesn't hurt?" He asked amazed.
Theresa shrugged softly. "I don't know." She whispered as he tended to her wounds.
Fox ran his hand through his hair. "Is this what you meant when you said Ethan wouldn't hurt you anymore?"
Her brown eyes locked with his, but she said nothing. She knew he could see the answer in her eyes. Before he could say anything, she just shook her head and put her hand over his hand that was putting the wet cotton to her open slash. "It'll be okay." She took the cotton from him and sat it on the sink next to her. "I just want to go to sleep."
Reluctantly, he let her take the cotton balls away from him as he held her hand. Fox stared concentrated on the gashes on her arms. "Resa, never again. Okay." He looked up at her, his brows knitted seriously. "Okay?"
She looked into his blue eyes and slowly nodded. "Okay." Theresa quietly agreed.
Fox swallowed hard and stood up. "Do you need help?" He asked, not knowing what it was that she would possibly need help for.
Theresa shook her head and stood up. "Could you…not tell Ethan about this?" She asked hopefully, looking up at his blue eyes.
Fox nodded slowly, feeling awkward, like this was some bad nightmare. "Only if you never do this again."
"Okay." She cleared her throat and then slowly reached up to wrap her arms securely around his neck.
He was caught off caught with the hug, but immediately returned it by slipping his arms around her waist tightly. He brushed his lips against her temple and sighed, closing his eyes and reveling in the moment. She smelled so good, felt so soft.
Theresa smiled softly as she backed away and looked in Fox's eyes. He was her best friend and she didn't know what she would have done without him. She would probably be dead without him. "Thank you." She whispered staring in his eyes.
"No problem, Theresa." He pushed a piece of her hair out of her face.
She looked at him one last time before walking into her room, out of the bathroom, leaving Fox behind.
~~~
Fox lay with his arms pillowing the back of his head as he stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't even see it in the dark, so he was staring up at the black. But his mind was anything but black. His mind was Theresa. She was really cutting herself. That was really blood. What was he supposed to do? It was all just registering to him now. He had been in shock when he found her, but now, it was all coming to him.
Theresa had been trying to kill herself because of Ethan.
His mind kept repeating that notion. It was something so unspeakable, his mind had to say it for him. What if he hadn't of been worried about her and went up to check on her? Where would she be? Halfway to heaven is probably where she would be because there was no way God could look at her and send her elsewhere. It just wasn't possible.
His door cracked open and he knew who it was. He could feel her. He could feel her emotions radiating off of her like heat. What she had tried to do was just now registering in her mind to. He could feel her crying.
"Resa?" He asked softly, knowing it was her but not being able to find anything better to say.
She sniffled and closed the door. "Yeah."
He sighed in pain from the hurt in her voice and pulled the covers back. "Come on."
Theresa slowly marched to the bed and laid down, her back facing Fox. She tried to hold in her sobs, but it was impossible. "Ethan's not coming back tonight." She told him something he already knew.
"I know." His voice was soaked with sympathy as he slipped his arm around her waist. "I know, Resa."
She turned in his arms so that she was facing him. "Why…why would he do this to me?"
Fox just drew her closer as she cried. He didn't know why Ethan would do what he did to Theresa. The dumbest man in the world wouldn't mistreat Theresa. She was too full of love. Or she used to be before Ethan destroyed her. But she was the most beautiful, angelic woman in the world, and Fox would die to have someone like her. He'd die a thousand times to have her. She was too good to be going through this.
His other hand that wasn't wrapped around her waist as he stroked the strands of hair out of her face. He could hear her breath evening out which meant she was going to sleep. He was tired of Ethan treating her this way. He had to stop this. He had to get her away from his evil half brother. And that's was what he was going to do.
~~~~
Yea, I know…poor Theresa. But remember, this is a happy fic…I think. :/ I'm not sure. Anyway, don't forget to R/R