Casual Obsession ( A Jeff X Reader)

Chapter 5

Eliza was in a surprisingly good mood this morning and I managed to get out a few minutes early.

I walked over to Jeff, who was waiting in the side lot next to the store.

"Ready?" I asked, walking up to him.

He just nodded in response, still seemingly occupied with his own thoughts. We left the lot, walking side by side in silence for a few minutes.

"My place is about a 20ish minute walk from here," I said, trying to break the silence.

  He nodded. "So is that enough time for your long story?" His voice still had hints of that darker tone, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

I sighed, looking down. "I guess…" I felt a pit forming in my stomach as I thought back to 7 years ago. "I was 16 when me and Liam started dating. We were in high-school at the time and I thought I was hot shit for dating the senior boy that every girl in my grade had a thing for. The fact that he couldn't get a date with any girl in his own grade should've been a red flag in itself, but that's besides the point." Another sigh escaped my lips as I thought back at the stupidity of my younger self.

"My parents weren't the biggest fans of him at the start. They thought he was too old for me. He'd been held back a year and was 19 about to turn 20. But like with most people, he charmed his way right onto their good side. Especially my dad… He'd always wanted a "son" even if he'd denied it if I brought it up but I'm getting off track…" I stopped talking for a few moments to gather my thoughts and tried to calm the growing pit in my stomach at the memories filling in my mind. Memories I'd long since discarded, determined to never think of them again. To never think of him again.

"Anyway… we dated for 3 years. It was nice in the beginning. I mean he played the part of a loving boyfriend well enough, especially in public. Nobody saw him as anything but a kind smart young man… Things were different behind closed doors. It started off small, just a few off comments here and there and he'd say he was joking and I was just too sensitive. But it got worse and I believed him and he broke me down. I did whatever he told me to by my senior year. I wasn't allowed to have friends really,  especially guy friends. He got jealous… and when he did he'd…" I trailed off, my stomach lurching at the memories. It took all I had not to lose my lunch on the side of the road. It wasn't fear. He didn't get to have that power over me anymore. The thought of him shouldn't have caused me to shake. I'm not the scared 19 year old I was when I left him and filed the restraining order.

Jeff stared at me. I could feel his green eyes on me. I glanced up at him before quickly looking back down. There was a harshness to his eyes I hadn't seen since the night I almost hit him with my car. Even in the brief moment our eyes met they bore into me in a way that made me shiver. Though I got the feeling the harshness in them wasn't directed at me, but that could've just been hopeful thinking.

I sighed and continued. "I lost my place… Anyway we moved in together after I graduated and if I felt isolated before, it was worse after that. We both worked for my father's company. He'd actually been working there for a while before I started. My father had given him a job there when he graduated. I think he still works there actually."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "My father said he was happy with me as his daughter, and he was okay not having a son, but he took his side in all this... I spent 4 years of my life with that man verbally, physically, and sexualy abusing me, and when I finally broke, finally didn't care what would happen, what he'd do to me if I left, he took his side!!" My voice grew louder towards the end, and I couldn't help but yell as I continued, my fist clenching as my fear shifted to anger. "HE TOOK HIS SIDE!!! I WAS HIS DAUGHTER!! HIS CHILD!! THE ONE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT!!"

I stopped walking, taking a few deep breaths and trying to calm down before continuing. Sadness reentered my bitter tone. "And he helped him in the end… Told me I was lying! That I was trying to ruin this promising young man's life because he broke up with me… I broke up with him and I have this to prove it." I unzipped my f/c jacket, pulling the collar of my work shirt down and revealing the edge of the scar Liam had so graciously left me with that night. "He stabbed me… with a broken wine bottle. Doctors said if it was just an inch to the left I probably would've bleed out before the EMTS got there… and thanks to my father and his expensive lawyers, all Liam got was a slap on the wrist and 2 years parole… though him getting charged at least helped me get the restraining order in the first place… But now it's run out and he's looking for me… To do God only knows what." I sighed and went quite, hoping my rambling was coherent enough for Jeff to get the idea.

We walked in silence for a while after that, slowly approaching my home. My home. Oh God, did he know where I live?! Was that why I'd been feeling so on edge? Was he the one who followed me a few nights before?!

  "So, this is where you live?" Jeff's voice broke me out from my spiraling thoughts and what ifs. I hadn't even realized I had stopped and made my way up my porch steps. I was so lost in thought that my body was working on auto pilot.

"Yeah," I said, quickly looking at my front door. I had never realized how flimsy the old door looked until then, like a harsh wind would've been enough to cause it to fall in on itself.

"Not too shabby on the outside," He said in his normal tone but there was something else there. Buried beneath his normal tone was something else, something hash and cold similar to the tone he'd used in the station. He was mad, or at least I guessed that might be what it was.

"The inside's nicer if you want to see," I said without thinking. I didn't want to give Jeff the wrong idea, but I was scared to be alone.

Surprise took hold in those bright green orbs and he shrugged with a chuckle. "Sure, why not?" and with that, we were heading inside.