Perfection is everything

Chapter 6

(Dipper pov)

I carefully iron out all of James' freshly dried clothes and hang them in his closet, using a small ruler from my pocket to measure each hanger of clothes making sure that all of them are exactly 6 inches apart just the way it should be. I do this for all of his shoes on the closet floor as well. I close the closet door as I put the ruler back in his desk and head back downstairs just as I hear his key in the lock.

I stand in the center of the room as he comes in the house, pushing his suitcase on the couch as he walks over to me and firmly grabbing my chin he turns my head side to side looking for any flaws. When he's satisfied he lets go. "Your cold gone?"

"Yes, I am perfectly all better now."

"Good." He walks into the kitchen and I am just about to breath a sigh of relief until I hear his voice again. "Mason, come in here now." Gulping nervously I slowly enter the kitchen and see him holding an empty shake can that I had forgotten to take care of. "Care to explain this?"

"I-I'm sorry, I was just so occupied with making everything perfect for your arrival that-"

"You know my rules, Mason, I truly don't understand what is so hard to understand." He walks towards me as I slowly back away.

"You're right, th-they aren't hard to follow, I-I'm just some stupid idiot who can't do anything. James, please, just.....just don't punish me again...I-I can't take it....."

"Aren't I good enough for you?"

"Of course you are, James that isn't what I meant-"

"I work, so hard to support us both. But everytime I come home you do nothing but sit on your fucking ass and give me excuse after fucking excuse. You think I like being away for so long or working all the fucking time?"

"N-No! Of course not! James-"

He slaps me hard knocking me to the ground. "Don't fucking raise your voice at me."

"I-I'm s-sorry....." I try to get up but he just kicks me back onto the ground.

"Stay on the fucking ground like the fucking dog you are." He growls at me.

Tears stinging my eyes from fear I try frantically to scoot back away from him as he just advances on me.

He grabs the front of my shirt forcing me up and shoving me hard against the wall making me cry out in pain. I look up at him and he raises his hand again but before he can bring it down we hear a knock on the front door. He gives me a warning glare before he shoves me towards the door.

As I open it I'm surprised to see Bill standing there in a cop uniform and I can tell that he's surprised to see me too. Remembering that James is carefully watching me from behind so I can't let him know that not only I cheated on him, but I cheated on him with a cop.

"C-Can I help you, officer?"

"A neighbor called in a noise complaint."

"That's nothing. Just a small argument with my husband is all, no harm no foul."

"But the neighbor also said it wasn't the first time she's called because of a noise complaint, said she hears yelling from your complex at least once every week and has called it in over a dozen times but the station never sent anyone over to check it out."

"Oh....that....u-um....."

I nearly jump out of my skin as James wraps an arm around my shoulders. From anyone else it would feel safe and comforting, but right now it makes me feel threatened and trapped with no escape. "Is there a problem officer?"

"No, no sir. Just trying to understand if there is a reason for so many noise complaints."

"We have just been having some minor disagreements more than lately. My work is stressing me out more than I would like to admit."

He goes to close the door but Bill keeps his palm on the door making it stay open as he looks directly at me. "Are you sure everything is okay?"

Too scared to talk I just give a small nod of my head. He doesn't look convinced but he leaves and James shuts the door."......is it okay if I head to the store real quick? I need to pick up a few things for dinner tonight."

He hums in thought, resting his chin on my head. "Alright, but I'm not giving you any money for  it and be back soon or else." He lets go of me and I pull my shoes on quickly leaving.

I hug my arms to myself as I walk to the store, a cop car pulling up beside me and the window rolling down, Bill in the drivers seat. "Dipper, could you please get in the car so we can talk real quick?"

"No. You lied to me."

"I never lied to you."

"You knew how dangerous my situation is and you fucking failed to mention anything about you being a cop."

".....okay I did fail to mention that, but if you would please just listen-"

"No! This.....we were a mistake so please just let me get back to my life."

I continue walking away, hearing him get out of his car and grabs my arms making me look at him. "Dipper just please listen to me."

I struggle trying to get out of his grip. "Get the hell off of me!"

"15 calls. That is how many times your neighbor has called the police, each time insisting more and more that something is not right. She called 7 times saying she heard you screaming for help but still no one came."

"What did you fucking expect? No one cares. Especially once she tells them it's her gay neighbors that the yells and screams are coming from. No body fucking cares for people like me."

"I fucking care, you fucking idiot!" He gives me a hard shake, it making me stop struggling thinking he will hurt me just like James has done a million times before. His eyes widen realizing this as he lets go of me. "I....I'm sorry.....Dipper, if you come to the station with me to make an official statement then I can arrest James for the things he did."

"Isn't what I told you at your place enough?"

"No, because those are things you told me in confidence. I would need you to come to the station and make an official statement that can be used in a court of law."

"I can't. If he knows that I do that he will kill me. If he even knows that I had sex with you, he will do something even worse than death."

"We can make sure he doesn't find out."

"He always does. I'm sorry Bill, but it's best if you just please leave me alone from now on." I leave him standing there as I walk the rest of the way to the store.