Once upon a time, there was a boy named Marlon who fell in love with a girl named Cat. Like her name suggests, she had claws --- sharp ones. But the thing about cats with sharp claws is that as much as they hiss and scratch, they still enjoy being s...
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*This chapter mentions: abuse and non-consensual sex
"No more white picket fences, no more lace veils or vows" -ZZ Ward, Last Love Song
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I hadn't called an official Bloody Marys meeting in what felt like forever, not since I had to tell the girls that Camila was back and they had to move out temporarily.
Instead of the usual, casual living room setting, we were sitting at the dining table. I always felt like we were in a board meeting when we did that, even if we had liquor and snacks, like now.
"P is overreacting," said Eve, folding her arms across her chest.
"Eve," said Fish, "you can't go to the fucking cops."
"I have to." Eve turned to me. "You, of all people, have to understand."
"He was abusing you, Evie," said Jude, "and you didn't tell us. Your sisters."
"Yes, but he didn't deserve to die!"
"You told Pussy that he beat your eye closed once!" Jessa yelled at her, ignoring Jude's gentle reminder that she didn't have to scream. "That you had to make up period cramps to avoid seeing us for a week! He was a shithead, Eve!"
"I know that," Eve replied, her voice considerably lower. "But how am I any different from him? How does taking a human life make me a better human? You guys don't understand." She paused, turning to me. "Or maybe only you do, P. Taking someone's life sticks with you like a bad smell. I've tried to move forward, pretend it didn't happen, but I can't do that anymore. I feel...I feel like a fraud."
We were going around in fucking circles and I was getting tired of it. I needed a smoke.
"Don't you dare try to take a smoke break right now," said Monroe, throwing me a dirty look.
Fucking hell. "I wasn't," I mumbled, looking away. I cleared my throat. "I thought I could talk sense to Eve, but it's clear that that's not going to happen."
Eve looked miffed. "I'm talking sense, Pussy!"
"No, you're not!" Stevie stood abruptly, making us all look at her. "Eve, murder's never right. We know that. But do you know what? You did something that I used to find so hard. You defended yourself. My ex was a monster. Probably still is...and I wish I had had the guts to defend myself against him, instead of running away, because he's probably doing the same shit to another woman that he did to me. I live every day regretting that."
I glanced at Eve, but it was impossible to tell what she would say next. Stevie's ex-boyfriend had been a real piece of work, the kind who beat his girlfriend senseless when she was five-months pregnant. She'd finally gotten away, but Eve... Eve had snapped and reacted.
