-1CHAPTER FIVE
Ignoring the pain in his muscles, Michael ran over to Kevin and picked the little boy up in his arms. Then, to Lauren's utter shock, he quickly placed the child in a coat closet near the kitchenette and locked the door behind him.
"Michael! What are you…" Lauren bit back a scream as he clasped his hand over her mouth forcefully and dragged her down the hallway towards his bedroom. They made it inside the room just as the apartment door flung open.
"Why is that goddamn tv on?!" Lauren heard a man bellow loudly as Michael silently closed the door to his bedroom and locked it quickly.
"Who is that?" Lauren whispered nervously, Michael still had one arm wrapped around her waist as they both pressed their ears against the door to listen.
"Tom. My miserable excuse for a step-father." Michael hissed, his hatred of the man evident on his face. They both listened intently as Tom unlocked the closet door and whipped it open angrily.
"Boy, was that you I heard making noise in here?" Tom demanded to know and Lauren could just imagine how terrified poor Kevin must be. She wanted to open the door and give the creep a piece of her mind, but Michael's arm tightened around her protectively.
"Yes, daddy. I'm sorry." they heard Kevin answer his father softly, lying to protect their cover. Lauren cringed as she heard the loud slap of Tom's hand making contact with the little boy's face.
"I don't want you to be sorry, I want you to be quiet!" Tom said domineeringly. Lauren felt angry tears well up in her eyes. What kind of father could beat his own child like that? She clung tightly to Michael and he rested his chin atop her head, slowly running his hand up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her.
"Now, go make yourself useful and get me a beer. Then I want you in that room of yours and if I hear so much as a peep outta ya, I'm throwin' you back in that closet. Understand?" They heard Tom ask the child threateningly.
"Yes, daddy." Kevin sobbed as he scurried off into the kitchen to get his father what he had asked for.
"Damn kids," they heard Tom mutter to himself as he plopped down on the couch and grabbed the beer out of Kevin's tiny hand before popping it open. "I should have made your whore of a mother get an abortion when I still had the chance." Lauren tensed up at that, remembering an instance in her own childhood that still haunted her to this day. "Now go on, get outta here!" They heard Kevin in the hallway and Lauren felt Michael sigh in relief as the little boy closed the door to his own bedroom across the hall. They both jumped a little when all of a sudden the sound of loud voices filled the tiny apartment. Tom was watching Happy Days.
"He's in a good mood today." Michael declared exhaustedly, pulling away from her and limping further into the small bedroom. Lauren looked around the room for the first time. It was beyond small, barely large enough to hold the twin bed and chipped wooden dresser that was pressed up against the far wall beside the room's only window. There were a few posters hung up on the on the wall; Red Wings, Farah Fawcett, and a large map of the world was pinned up beside his bed. Lauren was amused to note that his room was positively immaculate.
"This is how he acts when he's in a good mood?" She asked him incredulously. Michael slowly eased himself down onto the bed before looking up at her dejectedly.
"He let him out of the closet, didn't he." He said letting out a short, bitter laugh that tore at her heart.
"How can you live like this, Michael?" Lauren asked, sitting down beside him on the lumpy mattress.
"Not all of us are lucky enough to be born into perfect little rich families ya know." Michael snapped at her.
"Why do you do that?" Lauren asked sadly.
"Do what?" he shot back, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Get so defensive with me. You act as though I couldn't possibly understand anything that doesn't involve shopping sprees and my daddy's credit card."
"Well, it's true isn't it?" he looked at her accusingly. " We come from completely different worlds, Lauren. You have no idea what it's like to spend your days working at a job that you hate, getting crapped on by your boss only to come home and get beat up by your step father in hopes that maybe, just maybe he'll decide to take it out on you and not your poor, defenseless little brother." Michael explained, wiping angrily at the tears that threatened to spill down his face. Lauren bit her lip, overcome by the emotions raging inside her. She reached out to touch him, wanting so badly to comfort him as best she could, but he pulled away.
"Michael, I won't pretend to know what it's like to live in this kind of hell. But just because I can't relate to it, doesn't mean that I don't understand." Lauren admitted softly, folding her hands in her lap, her eyes focused on the wall in front of her. "I understand what it's like to feel trapped. I understand what it's like to wake up every morning and wish that you were somewhere else," She took a deep breath and glanced down at her hands nervously. "I understand that I've never felt as whole as I do when I'm with you."
Lauren could feel his eyes on her, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. She wasn't used to feeling so vulnerable, as though she had just placed her heart in his hands and was waiting to see if he would break it or put it in his pocket for safe keeping.
"You haven't asked me about Amber." Michael said finally, the change in subject coming as a welcome relief to Lauren. She wasn't ready to say any more, and obviously neither was he.
"I don't care about Amber." She shot back dismissively.
"You're trapped in a room with an attempted rapist and that doesn't bother you in the least?" He asked her in disbelief.
"It doesn't bother me because I know you could never do something like that" She responded, confidently.
"You don't know that." He reasoned.
"Yeah, I do. Just like I know you would never hurt me." She glared at him then, daring him to contradict her. He couldn't. Instead she watched as his eyes visibly softened and he offered her the briefest of smiles before gingerly laying his aching body down on the bed until he was fully reclined. Lauren saw that his eyes were closed and so she allowed herself to gaze at his half naked body. Even covered in bruises he looked positively delicious.
"So what really happened that night?" Lauren asked, laying down beside him on her side because there wasn't enough room on the small bed for both of them to spread out. Unless she were to lay on top of him. Or vice versa.
"Amber's prom date ditched her at the last minute, so she asked me to go with her instead." Michael started to explain and Lauren sensed that this wasn't going to be an easy story for him to tell. "I had no intention of going. I didn't have the money and I knew she only asked me because there was no one else."
"I'm sure that's not true." Lauren insisted.
"She told me she'd rather have Earl the janitor as her date, but he was working that night." Lauren laughed quietly at that and his eyes opened slowly to gaze up at her in amusement. "Here I am telling you about the worst night of my life and you're laughing your ass off. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Lauren said playfully, smiling down at him as she moved to place one of her hands in his hair, gently running her fingers through the silky strands because she couldn't think of a single reason not to. "Go on." She said, urging him to continue on with his story.
"As I was saying," he went on, closing his eyes again as she continued to play with his hair. "Amber only asked me to prom because she couldn't go alone, but she made it clear that nothing was going to happen between us. Then about half way through the night, Ryan, the guy who ditched her, showed up to the dance with another girl."
"Ouch." Lauren interjected.
"Yeah. So when Amber saw him, all of a sudden she was all over me, trying to make Ryan jealous of course. But he didn't seem to care, which only made Amber even more determined to get back at him." Michael's breath caught in his throat as Lauren began to trace his earlobe with the tip of her finger, stroking it gently. He found the gesture oddly comforting.
"So then she uh, she told me that she wanted to go upstairs to the hotel room that she and a bunch of friends had rented. It was still early, so she knew no one else would be up there yet. She was pretty drunk by this point, and I was just going to take her upstairs and put her to bed. But Amber had other plans." Lauren felt him tense up and knew that the hardest part of the story was yet to come.
"I laid her down on the bed and was about to leave when she pulled me down on top of her and started kissing me." He let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "I thought she wanted me, Lauren. I actually thought she wanted me. But just as we were about to, ya know," Now it was Lauren's turn tense up. She hated the thought of him with another woman, but forced herself to keep listening.
"All of a sudden the door to the room burst open and two of Amber's friends walked in. When she saw them, she started screaming at me to get off of her. I panicked and ran out of the room, never looking back. When I showed up at school the next day, there were all these rumors floating around that I had tried to rape Amber the night before. Someone spray painted 'Rapist' on my locker, my tires were slashed and at lunch, Ryan and his buddies beat the crap out of me behind the auditorium."
"Oh, Michael." Lauren said comfortingly, bending to place a kiss on his temple. "Did you try and clear your name?"
"It was my word against hers, I didn't stand a chance. I'm just lucky she didn't press charges," He sighed in frustration. " It was bad enough that I lost my scholarship."
"I'm so sorry," Lauren said sympathetically. "What school was it for?"
"Full scholarship to Harvard, pre-law."
"Holy shit, Michael! My dad had to buy the school a new library just to get me into community college!" Lauren exclaimed, trying to cheer him up. He turned his head towards her, grinning in amusement. She smiled back at him, reaching out with one hand to gently stroke his bruised cheek.
"I've never met anyone like you before, Lauren Fenmore." Michael said in admiration.
"Yeah, and you never will again." she boasted confidently, the timid smile on her face betraying the cocky remark.
"Then I guess it's too bad you'll be gone in four days." Michael said teasingly, but Lauren heard the note of sadness in his voice.
"We'd better make the most of our time together then, huh?" She said playfully, trying to ignore the almost paralyzing sense of loss she was feeling at the thought of having to leave him. She moved closer to him on the bed until their faces were mere inches apart. Closing his eyes once again, he brought his nose up against her own and began to nuzzle her gently until they were making out like Eskimos. Lauren was taken aback by how gentle and caring he was, considering the violent home life he had been raised in. Like a flower growing out of the concrete.
"Why does this feel so right?" Michael wondered out loud to himself, his hand had found its way underneath her shirt and was lazily tracing patterns on the small of her back. He felt a shiver run up her spine.
"I don't know," Lauren answered distractedly, placing open mouthed kisses along his jaw line. "But I never want it to end." She admitted quietly as her lips found his in a searing kiss. Lauren moaned softly into his mouth when she felt his hand cup her breast. Even through all the layers of clothing, his touch set her skin on fire. Slowly she moved her leg up to straddle his thighs, pushing against his chest to roll him onto his back when all of a sudden he tore his mouth away from her own and grimaced in pain.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I forgot." Lauren gasped, gazing down at his bruised chest sympathetically.
"I'm okay, I'm okay" Michael assured her through clenched teeth.
"No, you're not." She argued, slowly getting up from the bed.
"Where are you going?" He asked frantically, trying to ease himself into a sitting position. "You can't leave, he's still out there."
"Shhhh, just calm down. I'm not going anywhere." Lauren assured him as she began rooting through his drawers.
"Inspecting my wardrobe now, are you?" Michael asked teasingly. "Sorry, but I don't think you'll find anything from Fenmores in there."
"Just shut up and tell me where you keep the liniment ." Lauren said, trying to hide the smile on her face.
"I really don't think we're going to need any added lubrication…"
"For your back, Michael!" she exclaimed, shaking her head at him in exasperation.
"Bottom drawer." He informed her, taking the opportunity to admire her behind as she bent over to rummage through the drawer. She could feel his eyes on her and smiled in satisfaction, taking a magazine out of the drawer and wiping it at him over her shoulder.
"National Geographer, Michael?" She said incredulously. "I was expecting Playboy."
"Those are under the bed." He teased. She rolled her eyes at him and sauntered over to the bed, jar of liniment in her hand. He looked up at her seductively as she came to stand between his legs. She used her free hand to gently tug on his hair, tipping his head back and bending to capture his lips with her own in one swift motion. He groaned into her mouth, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him until she was practically in his lap. Lauren slowly ran her tongue along his lower lip before giving it a quick nip with her teeth and pulling away from him reluctantly.
"I want you." He pouted, leaning forward slightly to bury his face in her chest.
"I want you too. So much." She cooed down at him, running her fingers through his hair. "But I don't want to hurt you." Michael chuckled at that, looking up at her in amusement.
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" He teased. She just smiled and bent to give him a quick peck on the lips before easing out of his embrace slightly.
"You need to stop talking now." She ordered playfully as she opened the jar of liniment and placed a glob of the potent smelling gel in her palm. Bending to place the open jar on the bedside table, Lauren then brought her hands together to coat them both with the cold liniment before placing her hands on his chest. Slowly, she began to gently message the gel into his sore and battered muscles, watching his face intently for any signs of discomfort. He was gazing back at her, affection and lust dancing in his eyes.
"Thank you." He whispered softly.
"For what?" Lauren asked, her hands moving lower on his chest until she reached his bruised ribs.
"For taking care of me." He said simply and Lauren could tell no one had ever done this for him before.
"Always." She assured him, though she had no idea why she would say such a thing. Four days from now she would be on her way back to Genoa City and he'd be here in Detroit. They weren't in any position to be throwing out promises of forever. She pushed those thoughts aside and returned her focus to the task at hand. She marveled at how hot his skin was, the gel melting into his well toned chest as she continued to massage him. His hands were on her hips again, slowly wrapping around her slim waist to hold her to him possessively. She slid her hands up his slick chest until she reached his shoulders, working out the knots of tension she encountered.
"Ooo, that feels so good." Michael moaned in relief and Lauren felt her stomach do a little flip flop. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward and placed her forehead against his so that they were close enough to breathe each other's breath. She continued to touch him, the massage turning into a caress as she gently raked her nails along his collar bone seductively. She felt him shudder before he quickly pulled away from her and glanced towards the door. The phone was ringing.
"Oh, shit." Michael said, looking back at Lauren nervously. "What if that's Sinclair?"
"He wouldn't call your house, would he?" She asked incredulously. Lauren leapt out of Michael's embrace as the door to his room burst open.
"Why the hell aren't you at work!" Tom bellowed, glaring at Michael as he entered the small bedroom. Then he noticed Lauren standing by the dresser, looking like a deer caught in headlights. A lascivious grin spread across his face. "Well, well. Who have we got here?" He asked, walking towards her.
"You stay the hell away from her!" Michael threatened, getting up from the bed and grabbing hold of Tom's shoulder to pull him back. Tom turned towards him angrily and pushed him hard, causing Michael to stumble and fall to the floor by the foot of the bed.
"Awww, so the little twerp trying to act tough in front of his new girlfriend." Tom taunted Michael before turning his attention back to Lauren who glared at him angrily. "Now what's a hot young thing like you doing with a worthless piece of garbage like my step son here, huh? Why don't you come and spend some time with a real man?" He leered at her, taking a few more steps towards her.
"A real man would never beat his children." Lauren spat out in contempt, quickly brushing past the older man to get to Michael. She knelt down beside him and helped him up onto the bed.
"And a real woman would know her place and never talk to a man like that in his own home." Tom snarled at her, not used to having a woman talk back to him the way Lauren had done. "Now, get the hell out of here before I teach you some proper manners."
"Yeah, I'd like to see you try." She stood in front of Tom, daring him to hit her. She would look forward to explaining to her father how she had gotten a black eye. Fisher didn't know who he was dealing with.
"You little bitch!" he shouted, raising his hand to hit her when Michael rushed over to stand between them, his back to Tom.
"Lauren, go! Get out here now!" Michael exclaimed.
"I'm not leaving you here!" Lauren insisted.
"I can handle this! Just please, go." He begged her to leave, but she just glared back at him stubbornly. He placed his hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes pleadingly. "I'll be fine, I promise. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Lauren glanced between him and Tom who was standing behind Michael threateningly. She didn't want to leave him alone with Fisher, but she really didn't have a choice.
"Okay." She whispered to him reluctantly, fighting back tears. He offered her a reassuring smile before she grabbed her purse off the bed and headed out the door. She stood in the hallway for a moment, trying to compose herself. Than she heard Tom's voice bellow out from inside the bedroom.
"Don't you ever bring that nosey bitch around here again, you got that?!" She heard a loud thud against the wall and turned to go back into the bedroom to see if Michael was hurt when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It was Kevin. He had the door to his room open just enough for his tiny head to peek through. He looked up at Lauren sadly and shook his head, warning her not to go back into Michael's room. Lauren's heart broke. She wanted to take them both far, far away from this hell that they called home.
"I'll be back." Lauren mouthed silently to the scared little boy before turning around to flee from the apartment. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but Lauren was determined to save Michael and Kevin from their father. She cared too much about them not to.