𝘚𝘖 𝘉𝘈𝘋, 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘵

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 5

Evelyn had trouble staying asleep. Every now and then, she would wake up to herself sweating, but found the smell of Mike on his bed comforting. She was able to get herself to sleep every time, except once.  

Evelyn arose from the bed, a scream ripping from her mouth. Sweating and not being able to breathe, she knew she was in a panic attack. Mike ran from the couch and into his room. He threw the door open, but silently enough to not wake Abby or startle the frightened girl anymore than she already was. 

"Evie, honey what's wrong?" Mike made his way over to the girl and sat next to her. Evelyn started to scratch her left arm, something she did when she was far into the attack. Mike took notice and knew what was wrong. He pulled his bestfriend into him and began to rub small circles on her back. "It's okay Evelyn, I'm here for you. I'll always be right here."

Evelyn leaned into his chest. The nightmares were common after she had experienced something traumatic. They would usually come right after her mom or Andre decided to lay their hand on her. Hence, the traumatic part. 

The girl's breathing was slowing down, becoming more regular. Evelyn was so grateful for Mike. He always knew what to do, even if he didn't. Whatever he did seemed to calm her. In the end, she just needed him. 

"I'm sorry Mike, I didn't mean to wake you. Is Abby still asleep?" Evelyn said with a quiet voice.  Mike looked over at the alarm clock, it read 3:27. "I believe so, when I came in here, I didn't hear anything from her room. I'll go make sure." 

Mike stood from the bed and was about to make his way to his sisters room. But, Evelyn shot her hand out to grab his. Mike's body buzzed from her touch. He loved it. He turned his body to her as she looked up at him between her eyelashes and asked "Can you come back and stay the rest of the night with me?" 

The man before her let a little small shine through as he answered "Of course. Anything you need." Mike pressed a small kiss to her knuckles and left the room.

Evelyn felt like she couldn't breathe all over again. Did that really just happen?  Meanwhile, on the way to his sisters room, Mike couldn't get the smile off his face. He was just so happy. 

He opened the door to his sisters room to find her still asleep. He walked over and planted a soft kiss to her head. Mike didn't know if he was doing this parenting thing right. All he knew, was that he would do anything and everything for her. He left the room, shutting the door quietly. 

Evelyn was laying in the bed when Mike came back into the room. The man crawled into the bed, pulling the covers over him. Evelyn wasted no time to put her head on his chest, snuggling into him. Mike instantly wrapped his arms around her, pulling their bodies togethers. 

"Thank you." Evelyn whispered out. Why? She didn't know. She was just thankful for him. Mike kissed her head softly and said, "Get some sleep sweet girl." The girl melted into him. This is what she missed. What she was longing for. 

The two adults fell into a comforting sleep, their bodies entangled with one another. They both need this. 

Evelyn wakes up to her head in the crook of Mike's neck, his scent flooding her nose. Moving her head slightly, she saw that the man was still asleep. Then she looked at the clock and see that it read 8:15 AM. She rested her head back on his chest to feel his chest move up and down with his breathing. 

After a couple minutes, Evelyn could fell Mike stir in his sleep. The man looked over to where the girl was laying and saw her day dreaming. "Good morning Evie." Mike said with a rasp in his morning voice. The girl on his chest had butterflies erupted in her stomach. That was hot. 

Evelyn looked up at him and smiled, "Good morning Mike." Mike pulled her closer, he didn't want to leave the bed. Evelyn let out a fit of giggles as he did so. The quiet didn't last too long. 

"Evie, I don't want to push you, but I have questions." Mike said as he tightened his hold on her. Evelyn knew she couldn't keep him out much longer, and she didn't want to. "Go ahead. We can go question for question." she whispered. 

Mike didn't want to start with the mark on her check even though he was mainly concerned about it. So he asked the question he wanted to know from the begging. "Where have you been?"

Evelyn didn't know how to word it. Everywhere, no where. I left one abuser to live with the next. She didn't want to lie, so she told him, everything. Taking a deep breath, she started "Well, you met Ness. I've been with him for the past year. Before that, I was with my boyfriend at the time, Andre." She cringed saying his name. Meanwhile, Mike was shocked to hear she had a boyfriend. Not because she wasn't pretty, she was beautiful, but because he always thought they would be together from day one. 

"Before you ask, he's the one who gave me the cut. I left his place one night from the abuse he gave me and lived with Ness. We ran into each other at a gas station. He wanted me to go back, threatened Ness's car. I know, it seems stupid that I put a car over my life, but Ness saved me. I took his car, I wouldn't let it be damaged. Long story short, I left the car, he pushed me up the building wall and pulled is pocket knife out and left me with this." She ran her fingers lightly over her still healing cut. 

Mike was trying his absolute hardest to stay calm. Who the fuck was Andre and where does he stay? Mike made small circles on the girls hip to help stay calm and to encourage her to continue. "I kicked him in the balls, drove to Ness's place and packed. That's when I came here." Mike felt a sense of pride. She came back to him because she knew that she was safe with him. 

"Evie, I'm so sorry." The man didn't know what else to say. He couldn't tell her that he wanted to show up at his place and kick the shit out of him. He couldn't tell her that this Andre had a whole planned death made up by him. So he stuck with the most "normal" thing he could say, sorry.

Evelyn looked at him, gave a small and then sat up. The warmness that left them sadden them both. "It's okay, now, since I answered two, I'll ask two." Evelyn didn't want to hurt him by bringing it up, but she wanted to know. "Where are your our parents? Has it just been you and Abby for awhile?" 

Evelyn noticed the changed of energy in the home when she walked in last night. Mike looked over at her with a straight face. He knew the question was going to be asked, just like she knew he was going to ask about her face. "My mom died two years ago and dad left. Said he couldn't handle the loss of her. It's been me and Abby since then. Your mom... she moved a couple months before my mother died. She found somebody after you left, and then up and left." 

Evelyn didn't know what she else she expected. Of course she didn't look for me. Why would she? She didn't want me in the first place. "I'm sorry Mike, your mom was lovely. I'm also very sorry for leaving. I couldn't stay. If I had told you, you would have tried to help, and I didn't want to be a burden." Evelyn moved towards him to pull him into a hug, her arms going around her neck and his wrapping around her waist. 

"Evie, you are not a burden. I get you wanted to figure it out on your own, but I just wanted you safe." Mike pulled her closer, he couldn't get enough of her in his arms. He missed it, he loved it. He wouldn't let her go again. They both sat in each others embrace, soaking in the silence. The silence however, wouldn't last for much longer. 

𝗔𝗡: hi my loves! i hope you enjoyed. one more chapter before the movie scenes! i don't know if many people know this, but the character ness is matpat! anyways, eat something, drink some water, and take care of yourselves. i'm proud of you, mwah!