Past and Promises

Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate hearing from readers and I'm happy y'all are enjoying the story so far!

Note: Some very brief reference to near sexual assault and references to stalking/harassment. I just like to give a heads up! Also, I probably should have said this before, but FFXV (including settings and characters) belong to Square Enix, not me!

Evie felt much better the next time she woke up. Her chest felt sore when she breathed in, and she had a slight cough, but otherwise she felt good. What day is it? She vaguely remembered talking to Cor, though she didn't know how long ago that was. She looked over to her left and saw a small bedside table that had more than a few vases with flowers and cards from her friends here.

A door on her right opened suddenly and a nurse came in to check her vital signs. The nurse smiled when she realized that Evie was awake.

"Good afternoon, Miss James!" She greeted, "I am so happy to see you awake and looking better."

"Thank you," Evie replied, sounding hoarse, "How long have I been here?"

"Two days," the nurse answered while taking her blood pressure.

"Two days?" Evie repeated, astonished. She had been out for two days!

"Yes, ma'am, and you've had quite a few visitors in and out. Even the young Prince and that friend of his came by to check on you."

"Oh," Evie was still trying to process everything that had happened over the last week. She hoped Cor wasn't angry that she had been gone so long. She still needed to talk to him about other recent events.

The nurse told her that she would be back shortly and left the room. Fifteen minutes later, the door opened again, but it wasn't the nurse. It was Cor.

"Hey, Evie," he said, sitting next to her.

"Hey," she greeted, feeling awkward. She wanted to talk to him, but wasn't sure where to start.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," she replied, "Just a little sore."

Cor nodded and they were silent for a bit. He was looking down at his hands as if considering a topic of conversation.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there, Evie." She looked at him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asked. He looked up at her and she saw dark circles under his eyes.

"If I had been with you Tuesday morning, you wouldn't have ended up being as sick. I would have brought you in sooner."

"It's no one's fault but my own, Cor," she admitted, "Ignis repeatedly asked me if I was okay, and even Nyx had offered to bring me here earlier that morning, but I was stubborn. I didn't want to believe I was sick, and I didn't want to further disappoint you."

"Disappoint me?"

"You were already mad at me because of the day before," she explained, "I wanted to make that right before anything else."

"Evie," Cor sighed, "I wasn't disappointed in you then and I'm not now. I was worried for your safety. In both cases." Cor sighed again and looked as if he wanted to say more, but he remained silent.

"Still, I should tell you the truth about it, in case it concerns others around me. I don't believe it will, but I should let you be the judge of that."

Cor brought his eyes to hers, encouraging her to continue. She took a breath before beginning her story.

"My brother and I were good friends with Hank when we were kids, especially after our parents were killed. As we got older, Hank and my brother started helping hunters and even going on their own hunts for monster and demon pests. One day, another guy named Jason joined them and they all became fast friends. I should say we all became friends, because a year later, Jason and I were dating." Evie felt a bit childish and embarrassed letting the Marshal in on all this, but she continued.

"But things started changing. As time went on, about another year and a half, my brother started noticing that someone was stealing gil and other stuff from him and some of the other hunters. He had a suspicion that it was Hank, because he was always around and acting weird when something was taken. Though he hated to accuse one of his best friends of stealing, he told me and Jason about it. Jason got really upset. It turns out that Jason and Hank had grown to be closer friends than either of them were with my brother." Cor had his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands as he listened intently. Evie sighed and kept going.

"It gets worse. About six months after my brother accused Hank of stealing, I found out that Jason was cheating on me. He had been for some time, actually, with my friend Emily. I felt so stupid for never even suspecting anything. I broke up with him on the spot and moved out of the apartment we shared to stay with my brother, until I could figure out a better living situation. Jason was angry that I left, even though he was at fault, and he started harassing me with mean and threatening phone calls and text messages. I did my best to ignore them, but it was constant. About two weeks after we broke up, Hank came over with wine and a movie to 'be a good friend.' I didn't want anything, but I had a glass anyway, so as not to be rude. I started to feel pretty loopy, which is strange after one glass for me, and I went to lay down. I must have passed out or fell asleep because I wasn't aware of anything else until I felt something or someone on top of me. It was Hank and he was holding me down. I was able to fight back and somehow get him off of me before anything crazy happened. My brother still wasn't home from his hunt, so I just ran as fast and as far away as I could, before blacking out again from whatever Hank had given me. The only other thing I remember is waking up behind the power plant." Evie looked up at Cor, still having more to say, but wasn't sure if she should continue. He had a very serious, almost deadly look on his face, but he stayed quiet.

"I found out later, from Emily of all people, that Jason had put Hank up to the task of trying to...sleep with me, so that I would somehow feel guilty and go back to Jason. I guess he thought if I did something wrong or stupid, it would force me to excuse him from his wrongs, which shows you how twisted his mind is. The only reason Emily told me was because she felt bad about her own betrayal and because she believed the two might try something else. I never got to tell my brother about anything that happened because he went missing a few days later. I tried to stay and hope for the best. After awhile, he was declared dead and I was still getting mean, nasty, and threatening texts from Jason. He and Hank had taken to following me around and stalking me. Also, I had strong suspicions that my brother was right about Hank and that the two of them had decided to take matters into their own hands. I began to wonder if I was next, so I decided to leave Lestallum and finally change my phone number." Evie ended her story and pulled the blankets over her, feeling a sudden chill from the bad memories.

Cor never took his eyes off of her, but was obviously deep in thought. Evie was scared that her history was disgusting to him. That now he would look at her differently than he had.

"Why were you afraid to tell me all of this?" He asked suddenly.

"I was afraid you would think poorly of me," she answered quickly before losing her courage to be so honest, "I thought...I thought you would be angry. And I didn't want to lose what good opinion you had of me."

"None of what happened in that story was your fault, Evie," he reminded her, "and I am angry, but not at you."

Evie stayed quiet, looking down at her hands. Cor reached over and used his hand to gently lift her chin up so her eyes met his.

"If they try to make any contact with you again, I want to know of it," he stated, his voice harsher than before, "and I will deal with them myself." Cor's eyes sparkled in the dim light that was above them. She knew he was dead serious and she nodded slowly. "Promise me, Evie."

"I promise," she replied softly.

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Cor went to a meeting that afternoon, then came back to the infirmary to help Evie get home. She was sitting on the side of the bed waiting for him. He led her to the Regalia, helped her in, then drove as she gave him directions. He walked her up the stairs to her apartment and waited as she opened her door.

"Would you like to come in for a minute?" She asked as she stepped over the threshold. The question seemed to surprise him.

"I...sure," he answered, entering after her.

She offered him something to drink and showed him around her small apartment, which thankfully was pretty clean. Afterward, she awkwardly walked him back to the front door and they stood there for a moment as if waiting for the other to say or do something.

"I should get back," he ended the awkwardness, "promised Gladio, I'd help him with something."

"Oh, okay," she replied, feeling shy all of a sudden. Her gaze moved from his eyes to his lips, her mind going places she really wished it wouldn't. "Thank you for driving me home, Cor."

He loved it when she said his name. Shit. Stop it. He looked down at his feet to mentally reset himself.

"Anytime," he said, looking back at her, "I want you to stay home the next few days and finish recovering."

She knew better than to argue, so she nodded.

"Text or call me if you need anything," he added. She nodded again as he opened the door to leave. "Have a good night, Evie."

"You, too, sir." she smiled and blushed as she watched him go. After deciding to order pizza she went to lay on her bed and answer all the texts she had received while in the infirmary. Nyx, Gladio, Ignis, Monica, Noctis, and Prompto amongst a few others had texted to check up on her. She was texting Prompto back when her phone vibrated with another text from an unknown number.

"I hope you are feeling better, Vee," it read. Evie felt her heart start to race. Only two people ever called her that. Her brother and Jason.