The Immaculate Misconception

Chapter 4

"Eve, honey, what happened?"

"I'm sorry, I just, I didn't - I didn't know who else to go to and -"

"No, no, it's okay, it's okay. I'm glad you came to me...What happened?"

Eve pulls her hair and begins to pace, "It's just...one of those days."

"Okay, what does that mean?"

Eve swallows, "My parents met twenty-something years ago today." She says, "On days like this that remind my dad of my mom, he goes home after the church service and gets really drunk and loud and I just needed to get away and you're like my only friend and -"

"Sshhh..." Chris soothes, hugging her again, "It's okay, you're with me now."

Eve exhales, "Thank you."

Chris nods and they break the embrace, "C'mon, let's head to my place."

Eve nods and they start walking.

"Was he bad? Your dad, I mean." Chris says.

"He always gets bad..."

Chris sighs, "Eve...your dad would never...hit you, would he?"

"What? N-No."

"Eve."

"He hasn't! My dad would never hit me."

"I'm not sure I believe you, but I'm not going to argue with you either. But if I ever find out he's hurting you -"

"Trust me, Chris. He isn't."

"Well if he ever does, or if you even feel like he might, you come to me or you call me or something, okay?"

"Okay."

Chris nods, "Anyway...When we get to my place, you wanna take a joyride?"

Eve gives a small smile, "I'd like that."

x

They let the roof of the convertable down, but this time the drive wasn't as...fun. Eve was just sort of...sitting there, off in her own little world. Her hair blew in her face and the wind blew the skirt of her dress up just slightly.

They stopped when they reached their spot on the hill. Chris unbuckled himself and climbed into the back seat. Eve looks back at him and gives him a 'What are you doing?' look.

"C'mere." Chris says.

Eve unbuckles herself and climbs into the back seat with Chris. She lays down her head on his leg. As she looked up, Eve could see the millions of stars that made up the sky.

Chris takes Eve's hand and kissed her knuckles.

"What are you doing?" Eve asks.

"You said you wanted someone to hold your hand and kiss you when you're stressed."

Eve's mouth falls open slightly, "I can't believe you remembered that."

"I only remember the things that are important." Chris says, squeezing her hand.

Eve keeps her eyes on the stars.

"How are you feeling?" Chris continues.

Eve sighs, "I don't know, I'm...I'm sad."

Chris suddenly smiles, "I bet I can fix that."

Eve laughs, "Oh, can you?" She asks, sitting up.

"Yup. One sec." Chris says, hopping up front again and opening the glove compartment where there were a ton of CDs. He digs through a minute until he finds what he's looking for: Marilyn Manson's 'The High End of Low' album. He puts the CD in and finds the right track. Eve listens as Chris turns the volume up and what sounds like an acoustic track begins playing.