Nichol's Advice (eight years prior to X-Men)
Matthew and Lily began dating after the end of the school year. Although both Thomas and Matthew picked up more hours at the store, Matthew enjoyed having the extra time.
He spent the first couple weeks following Lily around different gardens, green houses, and parks. Lily absolutely loved the plants, and Matthew learned more about flowers, weeds, grasses, trees, and vines than he cared to learn in a lifetime. But he loved seeing her excited. Occasionally she would display her mutant abilities. Matthew soon discovered that the extent of her control over plants was quite extensive. She could make them do almost anything she wanted them to do.
One day in a park she displayed her power by creating a flower of a species that didn't previously exist.
"Wow, what kind of flower is that?"
"I don't know. I just made it."
"What do you mean?"
"It doesn't belong to any previous species of flower. I just created a new species of flower."
"You can do that!"
"Sure, I can change the biochemistry of plants, even down to their DNA; creating new species."
"Wow! Do you realize how powerful your gift is?"
"I suppose so. But, hey, when a person discovers a new species he gets the right to name it."
"Well, I'd name it the 'Lily,' but that's already taken."
"You could name it the 'Matthew.'"
"Are you kidding? That sounds terrible!"
"How about the 'Napoleon'?"
"Now that has a ring to it."
Matthew took his prize 'Napoleon' flower home with him that evening. As he entered the door he saw Nichol at the kitchen counter heating up some leftovers.
"When I suppose that confirms it," she said as she points to the flower.
"Confirms what?"
"What Thomas told me. You have a girlfriend."
"Ah, yeah I guess I do."
"What's her name?"
"Lily."
"Is she a nice girl?"
"The nicest I've met."
"Good, maybe I'll get to meet her."
"Now you do sound like a mom."
"Sorry, I can't help it."
"You've been working on your GED studies I see."
"Yeah, Thomas has been helping me with the algebra. But don't you go changing the subject. What do you do with this Lily?"
"Mostly whatever she wants. She loves gardens, greenhouses, anyplace where there are a lot of plants."
"What will you do after you've visited them all? This is a city after all."
"I don't know. Visit them again I guess. You're a woman. What would you have me do?"
Nichol's face suddenly turned serious. "I don't know if I'm the right person to ask, Matthew."
"I'm sorry."
But Nichol turned her head and stared into empty space. "I've had a tough life, Matthew, and men have not treated me well. Honestly you and Thomas were the first men to treat me well. Imagine that! Only fourteen year old boys knew how to treat a lady. I guess my advice to you is that no matter what you do with Lily, always treat her like a lady deserves, and never anything less than that."
"That's what I plan to do."
"I know, Matthew. You seem to know the value of a woman."
"So I should always open the door for her, carry her things…"
"It's not just about that, Matthew. You need to treat her like she's more important than anything else. She's not just there for your enjoyment, but rather that you're there for hers. Don't be demanding on her to do what you want when you want, don't expect her to please you all the time. And don't have sex."
"What?" The last part caught him off guard. Matthew hadn't given a lot of thought to sex, but it had crossed his mind. He didn't think he needed it now, but maybe in the future…he thought. "I don't get it; what do you mean?"
Nichol sighed, "Take it from someone who knows about this: Sex is supposed to be an expression of love, but most of the time it's just a way for one person to use another for his or her own selfish pleasure. Why do you think I was able to do the work I used to do? Never fall into that trap. The best thing is to wait before you do such a thing."
"Wait until what? Till I get married?"
"Until you're sure that you have the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. So, yeah, I guess marriage is a good indicator of that."
"What about you? Are you thinking of getting married sometime?"
Nichol was surprised at the question. It took her a second before she could answer. "No, Matthew, I don't think I'll ever get married."
"Why not?"
"I'm damaged goods, Matthew. I just don't think it's a good idea anymore."
"What if a guy thinks it's a good idea?"
"What guy would think that?"
"One who knows how to treat a woman."
"Oh, Matthew, you are an optimist! Tell you what. If you agree to treat this Lily right, then I will not completely give up hope for myself."
"Sounds like a deal."
The Summer of Love
Matthew took Nichol's advice seriously, and he really enjoyed his summer. He spent a lot of time with Lily. They went to parks and gardens. Matthew convinced her to go to a baseball game. It was a great summer.
Thomas tried to get more hours at work. When that failed he took up a summer martial arts course. He and Matthew didn't spend too much time together that summer.
But the summer went fast. And soon the start of the school year was around the corner. Although Matthew was excited to be a senior and enter his final year, but he was not looking forward to losing all his extra time.
On one of the last weekends before the summer was over, Matthew and Lily were sitting on a blanket in a park. The night was drawing near.
"I have to get home, Matthew."
"I know."
She leaned against him. Matthew decide now was a good time to give her his gift.
"Remember that flower you made for me?"
"The Napoleon flower?"
"Yes, that one. Well, I was thinking what I could give you in return, and I thought why not a flower for you."
"You got me flowers?"
"No, just one."
"What kind on flower could you have found?" She noticed him reaching in his pocket. "You didn't put a flower in your pocket did you?!"
"Maybe. Close your eyes."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes, Yes."
"Okay, but it better be good."
Matthew got a bit nervous. He had been practicing this before, but would he be able to do it under pressure? He cupped his hands and formed metal. Slowly he began shaping the metal.
"Can I open yet?"
"No, not yet. This takes some time."
"Please don't tell me you're searching the ground for a flower."
"Of course not."
Now the metal was beginning to take its shape. It looked like a bud of a flower not yet bloomed. He held it in his hands and raised it before Lily.
"Okay open."
Lily opened her eyes and saw the metal in his hands. "What is…?" As she was speaking the metal began to move, the bud opened, and turned into an intricate flower in his hands. Lily's eyes grew wider as it opened.
Did it work? Does she like it?
"Wow, Matthew, I didn't know you could do such intricate metal work."
"I can make the metal do whatever I want as long as I'm touching it. Here take it." He put his fingers beneath the flower and suddenly gave the flower a stem. Lily took it by the stem and marveled at it. She likes it!
"Matthew it's beautiful." She kept rotating it and looking at different angles. "You could always do this?"
"Well, it took a lot of planning, practice, and a lot of failed attempts. I've been working on it half the summer."
"I love it." She lean up against him and kissed him on the lips.
Matthew enjoyed the kiss. It was all worth it. But he also remembered Nichol's advice. "I suppose I better get you home."
"Okay."
Back to School
School started again in the fall. Matthew always enjoyed school, but this year he had more on his plate. He found that splitting time between school, work, and Lily was difficult.
On the plus side he and Thomas got in fewer fights. With no upperclassmen to pick on them, they were the big dogs now, and thus unchallengeable. There was also less room for the jealous boyfriend to pick a fight now that Matthew had a girlfriend.
By this time Lily and Matthew were a known couple. This did attract some unwanted attention, but it wasn't bad. At lease the twin girls have stopped trying to hook up with Thomas and I.
One day after advanced math Matthew and Lily were walking together.
"Isn't it a bit warm for a sweater?"
"Yeah it's a bit warm, but I liked the sweater. Don't you?"
"I like anything you wear."
"It makes me look good?"
"You make it look good."
They got to her locker. As Lily put her books on the top shelf her sweater lifted a bit, and Matthew could see the skin above her waist. It was a bit blue.
"Is that a bruise on your side?"
"No." The answer came very quickly, almost defensively. Lily grabbed her next books and walked away.
This really bugged Matthew. We talk about everything. School, work, mutant abilities; what else is there to talk about? But Matthew knew what else. They never talked about their families. Matthew was okay with that since he wasn't ready to talk about his family. But now too many things were adding together. She always nervous about getting home, she never lets me meet her family, and now she has a bruise on her side and probably more on her arms.
He didn't see Lily again that day, but he thought of her constantly. His lack of attention in class was apparent to a few teachers, one of which decided he deserved detention. That didn't bother him. He needed time to think.
Who am I to ask her about it? It's not my concern. But what if he is as bad as my father? What if he hurts her? These thoughts tortured him.
Finally the next day came. Matthew had figured out a strategy. Again Lily wore a sweater, but Matthew just pretended not to notice. At the end of the day Matthew spoke to Lily. "Can I take you to the park?"
"I would rather not right now."
"I would really like to take you to a park today."
"Okay."
The park was not far. Since the summer was over the park was nearly empty. They sat in the grass. "Lily, I want to tell you about my parents."
"I thought you just had a mother."
"Nichol is not my mother. Thomas and I hired her to pretend to be our mother so we could go to school."
"What?"
"Our father was a bad man. He spoke harshly with our mother, and he often hit her."
"You're making this up!"
There was a sore spot. I was right. "No, Lily. Look at me; I am not making this up. My father beat my mother. He came home from work and would abuse her all night. Now, Lily, I need to know: Where did you get that bruise?"
"What are you implying?! You bring me here, you talk of your father, and then you accuse mine."
"Did your father give you that bruise and the ones on your arms?"
"I don't have…"
"Lily…Did your father do this?"
The pause seemed to be felt throughout the whole park. Finally she spoke, "Yes, he did."
Matthew was silent. Lily was agitated. Then she started speaking again. "My father loves me; he really does. He is a good dad. But he gets drunk. And when he's drunk he gets mad. And very rarely does he hit me."
"What about your mother?"
"My mother left us."
"She died or just let home?"
"Both."
"Do you feel safe when he's drunk?"
"No, but what am I supposed to do? Run away from home like you?"
"That's not exactly what happened."
"What happened?"
Matthew paused. He didn't know how she would react, but he had decided earlier to be completely honest with Lily. "He got increasingly violent as time went on, until one night he was hitting Mother so hard that I thought he was going to kill her. Thomas and I defended her, we used our mutant abilities to fight him, and…we ended up killing him."
"You killed him?!"
"Not on propose, it was self-defense. He fell from the second floor onto a glass coffee table."
"What about your mother?"
"She called us murders. So did the cops. Thomas and I ran. We are wanted for murder back in Chicago. Lily, I'm a fugitive of the law. Fitzpatrick is not my real last name. My name is actually Matthew Macarthur. Thomas and I hid in Chicago for two years and now in Detroit for the past three. And this all happened because my father was violent."
"My father would never knowingly hurt me."
"But what if he's drunk? Would he hurt you then?"
Lily broke into tears. "I don't know. I always tell myself he wouldn't, but on the nights he's drunk he scares me…really scares me. But Matthew, he's my dad; what can I do?"
"Let me show you where I live. If you ever need a place to stay, we will take you in."
She nodded in her tears and then lean her head on his shoulder. Both of them laid down and stayed there silently.
Thomas had finished his school work for the day and was getting ready for work when Matthew came in the door. Matthew had been strange yesterday, but now he looked even worse as he silently walked to the living room and flopped on the couch.
"Metalloy, what's wrong?"
"Lily's father hurt her."
Thomas was stunned for a bit. "How do you know?"
"She told me."
"Just like that?"
"No, I saw her bruises and then had to convince her to tell me about it."
"How?"
"By telling her about our father."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know, Alloy, I don't know." Thomas could hear the despair in his voice. "She really does love her father, and he's not a cold hearted man like our father. He's just a drunk."
"You can give her an invitation to stay here whenever she wants," said Nichol as she entered from the kitchen. She had clearly been listening. "I've seen girls in danger before, and I would gladly open my door to any that needed help."
"I already told her where we live."
"Then just stay close to her. Let her know you're there for her, and us too if she needs it."
"I will."
Lily's Dilemma
Lily had been thinking a lot lately. The bruises that Matthew had seen were from the worse beating from her father yet. He was beginning to suspect that she had a boyfriend, and he was not happy about it. She had pleaded with him, but he had grabbed her by the arm and thrown her into a table. She had never been so scared. And then Matthew had to call me out on it.
She was also shocked to hear his story. He ended up killing his own father. I could never do that, not to my Daddy.
She was in school the next day. She tried to avoid Matthew. It's not that she didn't want to see him. Rather she just didn't want to think about any of it. She avoided him for two whole days. Once he started walking towards her deliberately, but she ducked into a different hallway.
But in avoiding Matthew she ran into the next worse thing. On the third day she decided to hide in one of the supply rooms. She was heading to a corner when someone else in the room spoke up.
"Lily." She turned to see Thomas emerge from the corner.
"Thomas?!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."
"What are you doing here?"
"It's a quiet place to study." He did indeed have a stack of books. "I heard that Matthew told you about our father."
"Yes, he did."
"I also heard a bit about your father."
"Matthew told you about that?"
"Yes, and it is destroying him."
"What?"
"Lily, Matthew likes you…he really likes you, and it pains him greatly to see you in pain. He wants so badly to help, but he does know how. You need to talk with him."
"I don't want to."
"Lily, this is real. You can't keep pretending like this isn't happening. You may very well be in danger at home. What are you going to do about that?"
"I don't know!" Thomas just looked at her. "I suppose I will just try to survive the year. Then I can leave after graduation."
"Can you make it that long?"
"Maybe…maybe not. Matthew offered safe shelter if not."
"That goes for me and Nichol too. We are here for you if you need it."
"Why would you two help me?"
"Because you're Metalloy's girl, or maybe it's because Nichol and I both have reasons for not wanting to see a girl in the grip of a dangerous man."
"Well, thank you, I guess. I do appreciate it."
"If you appreciate it then stop avoiding Matthew. Don't cut yourself off from the only support you have."
"That's not what I'm doing…" Thomas gave her a look of disappointment. "You're right, okay, I'll stop avoiding him."
"Good, then I'll leave you to this room."
"No, I'll leave. After all this was where I came to hide from Matthew."
Broken Father; Broken Glass
The school year continued like normal for the next couple of months, bringing them into December. But the whole time a cloud loomed over their minds. Lily was to turn eighteen half way through January. This was her countdown. If she could make it until eighteen she would have the option of leaving her home.
As she thought of the possibility of leaving home it also made her sad. She would be leaving him all alone. Lily knew her father was not a healthy man. She shuddered to think what would happen to him if she left. But what will happen to me if I don't.
And so her senior year dragged on. She reduced the time she was spending with Matthew. Things were not as fun anymore anyway. But whenever he would get a chance he would give her a shoulder hug or a smile or some sign of support. That meant more to her than any date. Even Thomas would give a nod. These guys are incredible. I think they would go to war for me.
But the ticking clock of her father seemed to be dangerously counting down. Lily seriously wondered if she could make it through the winter break without the relief of being at school.
Then one night her father climbed the stairs to her room, holding a beer bottle and clearly drunk. "Lily, you're going to tell me who this boyfriend of yours is, and you're going to tell me now!"
Lily had been weighting the idea of telling her father about Matthew for the whole school year. She didn't know how to best do it, so she simply didn't. She decided to continue that now. "I don't have…"
He hit her across the face. Lily fell off her bed. Before she could get up she was yanked up by her left arm. Her father grabbed her other arm and shook her violently. "Don't lie to your father! Tell me now! Who is your boyfriend?!"
He shook her more and then threw her into her dresser. Her head hit the handle of the drawer. It hurt a lot. Her father stood before her. Feeling a bit dizzy and extremely frighten Lily began to panic. He's too far gone. What do I do? He might kill me.
The realization of her possible death made her think quickly. To continue to lie would only make him angrier. The only thing she could think to do was to come clean and tell him the truth. God, please let this work.
"I do have a boyfriend. His name is Matthew. He is a really nice boy. He treats me well, and I love him."
Her father paused, but Lily could not read his face. Did it work? He stood for a bit longer, and then anger returned to his face.
"You've been lying to me all this time!" He grabbed her again and threw her towards the door. "You liar! You're just like your mother!" He grabbed his beer bottle for another drink.
"Please, I'm sorry. I'm just so afraid."
Then he did something horrible. He hit Lily across the face with the beer bottle. Lily heard the bottle break, she felt the splash of the little bit of beer still in the bottle, and she felt the broken glass cut into her face.
The force of the blow pushed her out the door of her room, but she didn't know that. She tried to get up and run, but she tripped and fell down the stairs. At the bottom she was dazed for a bit, but there was only one thought on her mind. Run! I have to run!
Lily managed to get to her feet. The blood from her face obscured her vision, but she still managed to get out of the house. She ran out onto the street. And she ran. Her father's voice was behind her. "Lily, I'm sorry. Come back! I'm sorry! Please! Come back!"
But she kept running. She couldn't go back, not now, not ever.
Lily's Safe Haven
Matthew was at home studying a bit of chemistry. Without his regular study sessions with Lily, he found that he needed to put in extra work to keep his grades up. But it was exhausting. He got up from his books to take a break.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Thomas looked up at him from his books. He shrugged, but the look of concern was clear. Nobody ever visited them.
Matthew went to open the door, but Nichol shooed him away. She walked over and looked out the peephole. She backed up suddenly.
"Matthew, get over her now." Nichol immediately opened the door and literally caught the girl who fell inside.
"Lily!" Matthew ran over to her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Thomas drop his books and stand up.
Lily looked like she was in shock. She had bruises on her arms, and blood was coming out of a wound on her face just above her eye. She looked up at Matthew, "I'm scared, Matthew, I'm scared."
"Matthew, help me get her to a chair," said Nichol.
Matthew took one of Lily's arms over his shoulder and helped Nichol carry her to the living room area. Thomas had already turned a chair around and pushed it towards them. They set Lily in the chair Matthew knelt beside the chair and reached out his hand to check the wound on her head.
"Don't touch that wound!" said Nichol who was running to the kitchen. She returned with a damp cloth. "Let me look at it first." Nichol knelt in front of Lily. Lily must have been in shock because she hardly reacted to the woman in front of her until Nichol's fingers hit a sensitive spot on her head.
"Ow."
"Easy, hold on…I got it." Nichol pulled a small fragment of something from Lily's head wound.
"What is it?" asked Matthew.
"A piece of glass, bear bottle from the looks of it. I shouldn't do anything more. We need to get her to a hospital."
"And I think Metalloy and I need to visit her father," Thomas said firmly.
"No!" Despite her shock, Lily's answer was firm.
"Okay, we won't go," Matthew nodded, "but let's get you to the hospital."
"No! No hospital."
"You've been bleeding from the head for who knows how long," Nichol answered in a reasoning voice. "And there might be other pieces of glass. I'm not a doctor or a nurse."
"If we go to the hospital, there will be cops, and I don't want to answer their questions."
"The cops will only try and help you," Nichol continued to reason.
"No, they won't help me. They will just go and arrest my dad."
"Maybe that's what has to be done. If they do that then the cops will keep you safe," Matthew tried to reason.
"You keep me safe!"
Every protective instinct in Matthew activated. Part of his mind was still telling him that she needed a hospital, but another part melted at her plea for help. He simply didn't have the power to say no to such a request.
Nichol tried to reason further, "It's just not a good…"
Lily still looking at Matthew interrupted, "You promised to help me and open your door to me." Lily then looked at Nichol and Thomas, "You all did. Are you pulling back your offer?"
Thomas shuffled his feet a bit. But Nichol simply looked at Lily, and then nodded understandingly to Lily. "Okay, we will help. I'm going to clean this wound. It's not going to be pleasant, but I need you to hold still. Matthew is going to stay right where he is. Thomas, I need some sort of heavy duty tweezers."
Thomas cupped his hands and focused for a bit. When he opened his hands a perfectly formed large set of tweezers was in his hand. He gave them to Nichol.
"Good. Get me the kitchen flashlight now; then go into my room and find my first aid kit. It is under my bed."
Thomas fetched the flashlight, then disappeared into Nichol's room. By the time he had returned with the first aid kit, Nichol was already removing pieces of glass from Lily's head wound. She found a total of two more before she was satisfied. Lily stayed still the whole time, but Matthew could feel her grip on his hand tighten when she felt pain.
Then Nichol opened the first aid kit. "Wow, that's a well stocked first aid kit," commented Matthew. It had dozens of bandages, rubbing alcohol, tape and wrap, and even a set of tweezers.
"Hey!" said Thomas as he spotted the tweezers.
Nichol smiled, "I figured you could make a better set."
"Why do you have all this?" Matthew asked.
"My former line of work occasionally called for such materials," said Nichol as she began to wash away the excess blood from the wound. "I have treated a few other women who have had similar injuries." She smiled at Lily, "They too didn't want to go to the hospital. This is going to hurt quite a bit."
Then Nichol applied the rubbing alcohol. This time Lily's pain was obvious. Her grip on Matthew's hand was tight enough to set off his warning sense, and she did all she could in order not to scream. Then Nichol applied butterfly bandages to the wound followed by a larger bandage and finished by wrapping it tight around her head.
"These butterfly bandages will help close the wound, but they are not nearly effective as stitches. You are going to have a scare there; unfortunately there is no way around that."
"Thank you, so much."
"What do we do now?" asked Thomas.
"We get her some food and water." Thomas went to the refrigerator. "After that you need some rest." Nichol said to Lily. "You can stay with me in my room, and if you want to talk I am here. Believe it or not I may know a thing or two about situations like yours."
Matthew saw the look that Lily gave Nichol. It was one of great gratitude. Then she looked at Matthew. She was about to say something when she burst into tears. And there she cried as she was held between Matthew and Nichol.
Author's note
Domestic violence is a very serious issue. While I use it as character back story, I by no means take it lightly. In fact I feel I have an ethical obligation to write this author's note.
Domestic violence is an epidemic in our world. It never gets better when ignored. It has a strong tendency to escalate, and sadly it all too often ends in death.
If you are experiencing any form of domestic violence (physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual) do not imitate the characters in this story when they avoid the police and hospitals. Get help immediately! Either go to a hospital or contact law enforcement!
If anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence help them to contact the appropriate authorities. If that person is a minor or a vulnerable adult it is your responsibility to contact the police. Not doing so may even be punishable by law in some places and some situations.
If you are residing in the United States the following number is the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233. The people answering this number can guide and advise you through any domestic violence situation.
Taking the right actions in the presence of domestic violence can prevent much pain, psychological damage, and even save lives. Thank you for your attention.
