Against All Odds

Chapter 15

Lucas

The girl, who was actually the Harper everyone had kept mentioning, is currently lying in my arms, fast asleep. Her lips are parted slightly as she breaths deeply, calmly. Her presence is soothing and I can't help but stare. Its as though my eyes are stuck, unable to look away from her natural beauty. Subconsciously I move my free hand and brush a strand of her chocolate brown hair out of her face. Eve had fallen asleep after the film had finished but I still don't feel tired. It's almost like I've been waiting for this moment ever since I laid eyes on her through our windows.

In this moment, everything seems perfect.

Which of course means it has to be ruined. Dad barges into the house loudly, clearly drunk and off his head. Eve jumps slightly at the loud crashing downstairs, eyes fluttering open in confusion. When her eyes land on me, her jaw drops.

"It's my Dad." I mutter, wondering why she's so shocked. "Just keep quiet and hopefully he won't come upstairs."

"I slept in the same bed as another guy." Eve's eyes fill with slight fear and I hate that she feels this way about her relationship. Can't she see how unhealthy fear is? Guilt crosses her face and yet she doesn't move. "Why am I with Mike?"

I think she's talking to herself more than me so I don't reply, leaving her to mull things over in her mind.

My focus is on Dad. If he decides now would be a good time for a beating, Eve would be in danger. It's unlikely, seeing as he usually lets me recover before he beats me down again.

"You're Dad." Eve's eyes fill with complete and utter shock as her hand reaches out to touch my bruised face softly. Her touch doesn't hurt in the slightest. If anything it's soothing. "He did this?"
My whole body tenses.

How could she have guessed that? No one knows. It's not something I like to brag about. I shake my head, trying to deny the truth but I can see it in her eyes; she knows it's him.

"Fucking bully." She curses, seeming sad. "Is he going to come in now?"

"I-I don't think so, he normally waits after..." I begin, not used to talking about this. "After a big beating."

Eve bits her lip and I feel my heart beat begin to race. Her face is covered in a mixture of anger and sadness.

"Go to the police?" She suggests but I think she knows I'm going to say no.

"There's more to it than that." I shake my head, finding myself wanting to tell her everything. I don't though, simply because it would put her in danger. "It doesn't matter."

"Fuck off. Of course it matters." She moves onto her back, glaring at the ceiling and I'm surprised by her feistiness. "Look, I'll leave my window open. If you need to get out of your house, you have somewhere to go."

Her offer touches my heart in a way I can't explain. Someone putting themselves out there to help me is not what I'm used too.

"Won't your parents mind?" I question curiously and her expression flickers slightly.

"Uh...they won't notice." She explains, twisting her head towards me and I see sadness hidden deep inside her. Curious as I am, I let it slide when she hastily brings up her walls. "If it happens again, go into my room and stay there until I get back OK?"

My lips smile in genuine thanks as I nod in reply. Eve sighs, lifting her hand to rub her forehead, eyes shut. There's a moment of silence which only ends when Dad flings my door open.

"Get Up!" He stumbles into my room, completely out of it. My posture is immediately tense and I jump off the bed. Eve follows and I ensure to keep my body between hers and Dads. "Who's this? Finally got yourself a girl?"

"How about you turn around and leave us alone?" Eve tries to step around me, her comments making my eyes widen. How come she's not scared?

"What you just say?" Dad takes a step forward and almost falls, holding a hand against my wall to keep himself upright. "Got yourself a feisty one."

"I'm not his girl." She snaps, managing to slip past me and she faces my Dad in complete anger. "You're disgusting. People like you make me sick. You have a son and yet you treat him like shit! If my parents...I just...you just take Lucas for granted don't you? Use him as your punch bag when you feel angry instead of trying to sort out your issues. Damn, I hate people who don't deserve the children they have."

Dad mutters something under his breath that I can't hear. Honestly I'm shocked he hasn't punched her but I guess he does have some boundaries; hitting innocent teenage girls would be taking it a bit too far.

"He's your son, how can you hurt him?" Eve's voice is filled with disbelief and all I do is stand, watching the emotions flying around the room. "You're supposed to protect him from danger."

"I can't help it!" Dad flings his arms into the air and I flinch involuntarily but Eve just laughs incredulously.

"Of course you can! You choose to break your own son instead of get anger management classes or something!" She is almost shouting in his face and I'm pretty sure I see Dad wince ever so slightly. Malcom Jackson, the wanted drug dealer who's known and feared in the criminal world is currently being shouted at by an angry teenage girl, and so far he's done nothing but hang his head. "I won't pretend to know what your family has gone through because I don't even know you or Lucas. It's sad really because I doubt you'll even remember this in the morning."

"Shut up little girl, you're clueless." Dad snaps, changing in a millisecond as he clenches his fists.

"What? You're going to hit me now?" Eve taunts and I have to yank her back to avoid Dad's fist flying into her face. Yet she's still not scared. Dad's failed punch causes him to loose balance and, in his drunken state, he ends up face planting my floor. Eve snorts at the sight of Dad, passed out at our feet.

"What were you thinking?" I feel annoyed at the fearless way she'd confronted him.

"Sorry...it made me angry." Eve's eyes soften when she sees my expression.

"How could you egg him on like that?!" I search her face, trying to figure out this girl. She's unable to stand up to her boyfriend and yet she easily has a go at a man who's twice as strong as her. "What if he'd actually hurt you?"

"It would have been my own fault." She shrugs, nudging Dads snoring body with her foot. "Look, I am sorry. I just hate parents who treat their kids like shit."

I sit down on my bed, my body feeling extremely sore all of a sudden.

"I need a fag." I croak, reaching for my baccy tin with shaky hands. Eve comes and sits beside me, eyes focusing on her own hands. As I try and roll myself a fag, I can't stop my hands from shaking. I struggle on for a few seconds before Eve sighs deeply and takes the unrolled fag from me, completing it herself. "You smoke?"

"Used to, I quit." She explains briefly, not going into any detail and she hands the rollie back to me. I have to say her roll is perfect. Putting the fag between my lips I stare at the girl in front of me intently. She's holding my lighter, watching the flame flicker softly. The reflection in her eyes is full of warmth. Eve holds the flame forward and I let the end of the cigarette get engulfed in the fire, the feeling calming me down considerably.

As we sit in silence, I find myself feeling content in the first time in forever. In her company, I feel safe.

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Tense stuff. What do you think about Eve's reaction towards Lucas's Dad? Or her feelings about Mike...
They've finally met properly :)
Yay
Thanks for reading!
xxx