Never Be Enough- The Greatest Showman

Chapter One

Evalynn sat in the alleyway shivering. It was snowing, and all she had was a thin black cloak and some close she managed to steal from someone so protect her from the cold. She listened to everyone talking about how this snow was unexpected and how it wasn't supposed to snow till next winter, but all she could think about was getting through the next few days. She longed to be back in the orphanage with the other girls. Sitting by the fire drinking hot chocolate. But she knew even if she hadn't ran out, she wouldn't have been able to stay once she turned 18.

Six months. It had been six months since she left. She thought her dad would have found her by now, but she guessed that she was lucky. Or he simply forgot about her. Whatever the reason, she was grateful. She had only run into Philip once more since that first night.

Evalynn was walking by all the stores, looking at all the food. If only she had money. She was wearing the new clothes she stole so she didn't get as many weird looks from everyone as she walked around. She was looking at the ground as she walked back towards the alleyways when she bumped into someone. The apology got caught in her throat when she realized it was Philip who she ran into.

He chuckled. "Running into me again I see."

She blushed and ducked her head. "I'm sorry, I seem to be making a habit of it."

He smiled. "It's alright. I saw you looking at all the food. Would you like to go to dinner?"

She was baffled. "Oh. Um, I would love too, but I don't have any money-"

"Don't worry about it. I'll pay." He held out his hand for her to take and she took it.

She was brought back to reality, by someone grabbing her arm and slamming her against a wall. She hit so hard that the air got knocked out of her lungs and she started coughing and trying to catch her breath. He looked up and was face to face with her dad.

"Let me go." She growled.

He chuckled. "Why would I do that?"

She started to panic. She could tell he was drunk so she pushed him away. It took him by surprise and before he could recover she slipped away and ran down the alleyway into the open street. She heard him running close behind her, but she didn't want to look back. She could hear him getting closer and started running faster, and she turned down a street. She ran a few steps before she crashed into someone.

'Ive got to stop doing that' she thought. She stood up and watched the man she ran into stand up.

"Sorry." She said. She saw that he was okay and tried to run off but he grabbed her wrist.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't need to run."

She glanced around. It was eerily quiet.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." She tried to pull away again but the man started talking again.

"May I ask why a young girl like yourself is running through the streets?" He said, taking in her appearance.

She took it as an opportunity to take in his too. He was tall. About 6'3, he had light brown eyes, and brown hair.

"Well, uh. I'm late and need to get home. Sorry for running into you."

"EVALYNN!" She heard her dad yell and cringed. She tried to run off again but the man grabbed her arm again and kept her in place.

Her dad approached them. "Give me my daughter back." The man noticed the other mans speech was slurred as he took in his appearance.

"Why should I? She's obviously uncomfortable around you." He saw the fear in the girls eyes grow and wanted to let go of her arm, but he didn't want her to run off.

"She's my daughter that's why. Now give her back before I call the police."

"I mean you can do that. But if she's over 18 then you can't take her against her will."

Her dad walked up to them. "I'll just take her then. You've obviously misread the situation."

The man put his free arm across her dad's chest. "I'd like to see you try."

The two men stared at each other for a few seconds and then her dad gave up.

"Fine, but this isn't the last time you'll see me." He said to Evalynn.

He walked away and then the man let go of her arm.

"I'm sorry about grabbing you. I just didn't want you to run off so I could make sure you're okay."

Evalynn met his eyes. "It's okay."

He chuckled. "I'm Phineas Taylor Barnum." He said sticking out his hand.

"I'm Evalynn Taylor." They shook hands.

"May I ask what all that was about?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

The adrenaline was wearing off and she felt the pain in the back of her head and shivered against the cold.

"Well, I guess there's no point in lying now. That was my dad. But I don't live with him. He abandoned me when I was a kid." She paused. "He wants me to stay with him now I guess."

"Is there anywhere I can take you? You shouldn't be spending the nights outside in this weather."

She sighed. "Not really. I don't have a place to stay." She looked down at the ground.

"Stay with us." P.T. said.

Evalynn snapped her head up. "What?"

"Come stay with me and my family. We have an extra bed." He said. The girl reminded him so much of himself when he was a kid. He didn't want her to have to live the life he lived before he ran off with Charity.

"I couldn't. I don't want to intrude on your lives."

"Please. Just for the night. And if you hate it you won't have to come back."

She wanted to say no. She knew she should. How was she supposed to know if she could trust him? They only just met. But he did protect her from her father.

"Fine. I'll go."

"Alright then, let's go on then."

Phineas led Evalynn to the apartment that he shared with his wife and kids. They walked up all the stairs and eventually stopped at one of the doors. Phineas unlocked it and stepped inside.

Helen and Caroline were first to notice so they came running up to him and hugged him.

"Hello Phin. How was your day?" Charity asked.

"It was quite unusual actually." He smirked.

"Why is that?" She asked, curiosity written all over her face.

Phineas stepped aside so Charity could see Evalynn.

"Oh. Hello!" She said with a warm smile.

"Hi. I'm sorry to intrude on you like this-"

"I found her running away from someone. She has no place to stay. I figured we could let her stay here for a while."

Evalynn was preparing herself for the worst. She wouldn't be surprised if Charity didn't want her to stay with them. Especially with their two daughters.

Charity and Phineas seemed to be communicating without actually talking.

"Well, we can make room for another person. You can have the extra room. Come on." Charity said motioning her towards one of the doors.

"Are you sure? Cause I can leave if it's too much."

Charity chuckled. "Yes. Now this will be your room, and I don't have clothes for you right now, but we can go get some tomorrow. How does that sound?"

Evalynn smiled. "That sounds amazing."

"Also, we're having dinner in a little bit. Just soup and bread. I'll make sure to set a spot at the table for you." Charity added.

She walked off and left Evalynn standing in the Barnums spare bedroom.

She decided to stay the night, and that she would stay here till she had enough money to get her own place.