Viper

Chapter 11: Promises

Tom POV

TW: Mentions of Self Harm

Later that evening

Halfway through the second movie of the night, Raven falls asleep with her head in my lap and her feet in Bill's. Her breathing shallows as I softly caress the side of her head, playing with the ends of her fringe. I stare down at her covered forearm, poking out from under her side, realizing she fell asleep before she could tell me what's been going on. I decide to keep it to myself so as not to make Bill worry about her.

As the movie ends, I hear Nate stumbling up the stairs and into his and Raven's apartment next door. I check the time on the stove and realize that it's almost three-thirty in the morning. I can tell he's pretty hammered by the way he slams the door, making the wall that separates us vibrate. Raven jolts awake to the sound of the door, almost headbutting me in the chin. "Woah, what's wrong?" I ask as she stares at the wall blankly. She rubs her face in her hands and sighs as Bill sits up. "Sorry, Nate likes for me to be awake when he comes home." she says as she lets out a yawn.

Bill gives me a confused look, making me shrug as Raven leans back down against my shoulder. "Do you want to stay here tonight?" I ask her as she begins to fall back asleep. I feel her nod against my shoulder and I gesture for Bill to meet me in my room with my head. He nods and stands up from the couch, heading down the hallway. I gently get up and help Rae get settled on the couch, pulling the blanket over her as she shifts to a comfortable position. "Goodnight, Meine Liebe," I whisper to her, leaning down and gently pecking her cheek. "Goodnight Tommy," she whispers half asleep, leaning up with her eyes closed and kisses me back, her lips landing on mine.

She turns onto her side, as I quickly stand up and walk down the hall to my room where Bill waits for me. He stands up from the edge of my bed and waits for me to say something. I take a second to think and finally find the right words. "She uh, she's cutting..." I finally say. His face drops as he looks out into the living room where she sleeps. "Are you sure? I-I mean did you see them?" he asks in a panic.

I nod and raise my still-shaking hand up to my mouth, wiping the sweat from my upper lip. "That's not the worst part," I say, making Bill's eyes widen. "This isn't a new thing, from what I saw, it looks like she's been doing it for weeks," I say, staring indignantly at Bill. His eyes start to water and his breathing quickens as he realizes he's going through what he did with me all over again. "I'm gonna talk to her in the morning and see what's going on. I won't let it get that far, I promise." I assure him.

He gives me a quick nod and shakes his anxiety out of his hands as he sits down on my bed. When I had my overdose, Bill wouldn't let me out of his sight for six months before he could trust me to be on my own again. I sit down next to him and look down at my hands. "She kissed me." I say, giving a half smile. He looks at me with a shocked expression and raises his eyebrow. "She did?" he asks with a smirk. I nod with a small frown. "Well, sorta, she was half asleep and I think she was going for my cheek." I mumble, gently touching my fingertips to my face as I speak.

Bill shakes me by the arm excitedly and grins. "Do you think she wants to be with you?" he asks in a hopeful tone. I think for a moment and eventually shake my head. "I don't know. I just don't want to be the one to make the first move, you know, just in case she doesn't feel that way about me." I say with a weak smile. I would never do anything to make her uncomfortable, even if it kills me to not kiss her every time I see her. She has no idea how much I want to be the one she falls asleep with every night, or how much I want to be faultlessly loved by her.

Bill nods and stands up, heading to his room. Before he shuts my door, he turns back around to face me. "Do whatever you need to save her, she's very important to me." He says bluntly as he stares back at me with sadness in his eyes. I look at him, my eyes not straying from his, and stand up. "I'd never let anything happen to her. I love her, Bill." I say softly. He nods again and shuts the door before shuffling to his room.

The Next Morning

Raven POV

The morning light shining through the curtains assaults my eyes as I start to wake up. I sit up and stretch, rubbing the sleep off my eyes as I swing my legs over the end of the couch. "Ouch." I hear Tom say from the floor, fully waking me up. I quickly pull my feet back up on the couch and look down at the floor. Tom sits up, rubbing the side of his head with his hand, and looks up at me with sleepy eyes. "Oh, sorry Tommy. What are you doing down there?" I ask as I yawn.

He smirks at me and rests his back against the coffee table with his knees up to his chest. "I just didn't want you to be alone. I um, really want to know what's going on with you." he says quietly. My face grows hot as I was hoping he'd forget about it. I pull my hair out from my ponytail and shake it out as I sigh. "It's just Nate. We've been fighting a lot lately. I just can't deal with the drinking." I say, not entirely lying.

He takes my hand in his and gives me a frown as he rolls my sleeve up. "I can't tell you how much my heart broke when I saw these," he says, lightly grazing each cut. A sudden wave of guilt washes over me as his fingers trace each line. I should have never done something like this. I didn't even think about what it would do to him and Bill. I hang my head in shame and start to cry. Tom quickly sits up on the couch with me and wraps his arms around my shoulders, hugging me tightly. "I'm sorry, Tommy..." I say through sniffles.

He gently caresses my arm and kisses my temple, making my heart race. "Hey, it's okay Doll, I promise I'm not mad at you. I just don't want you hurting yourself. Will you stop? For me?" He asks as he wipes my tears away. I quickly nod as Tom pulls me closer to him. I rest my head on his chest, hearing his heart pound as he holds me.

Bill staggers down the hall and into the living room, finding me in Tom's arms. He gives Tom a curious look, making Tom shake his head at him. Bill sits down next to me on the couch and yawns, glancing down at Tom's hand caressing my forearm. I watch as he refrains from reacting, making me wonder if Tom told him about it last night. He gives Tom another look, gesturing to my arm with his eyes, waiting for some form of answer. Tom smiles at him, confirming that what Bill was asking about was taken care of.

A knock on the door startles the three of us as Tom gets up to make himself some coffee. He walks over to the door and looks out the peephole, sighing to himself. He quickly grabs a shirt from the duffel bag he left in the kitchen and opens the door. "Hey man." he says as Nate steps through the door, his eyes landing on me sitting on the couch. I stealthily roll my sleeves down as he steps over to me. "Hey, babe. How come you didn't come home last night?" he asks, making himself comfortable on the couch next to me.

As if Bill could see the disgust on my face, he answers for me. "Oh, we were watching movies last night and she fell asleep out here. I didn't want to wake her up and make her go home." he says, covering for me. Nate nods at Bill's excuse and stands up, gesturing for me to get up and follow him back home. As I stand up, Tom gives me a worried glance as I walk through the living room. I give him a smile and walk out the door, following Nate back down the hall to our place. 

Nate grips onto my shoulder as we walk through our door, spinning me around to make me look at him. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you better think about what will happen if you try to leave." he growls at me. I give a quick nod as my bottom lip starts to quiver. He lets go of me and heads out the door to go to "work", leaving me to sit on the couch. I guess this is my life now, stuck in a dead relationship with someone who abuses me in every way he can. I don't know how it ever came to this.