The Cost Of Love (Bxb, Rape, Abuse)

Shelly

He did not have a peaceful night's sleep. He was wracked with one nightmare after another. The worst one came right before dawn, he dreamt that Eric had found him, beaten him and had taken him back to New Jersey to live the rest of his life as his personal slave. Austin heard a knocking, in his dream he was pounding the walls begging for freedom, but the sounds eventually drew him out of slumber. He got out of bed and stumbled over to the door, for a moment he forgot he was in a motel.

"Who is it?" Austin asked as fear started to set in.

"It's Mrs. Miller from the office."

"Okay just a second please." Austin said as he scrambled to put on a t-shirt. "Good morning Mrs. Miller, how are you?" Austin said as he opened the door.

"I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking. I wanted you to know that Shelly called and said that Mike is looking at your car first thing this morning. You can go over and see him in an hour or so."

"Oh thank you. She didn't have to do that for me." Austin said shock evident in his voice.

"That's how Shelly is. Takes things right into her heart, it's a wonder it's not filled up with all she carries with her. I'm going to head back to my daily chores, but is there anything you need before I go." Mrs. Miller said.

"I'm good, thank you." Austin said.

"If you need clean sheets or towels just let me know. I don't go into a guest's room unless they ask me to." She said as she turned and headed back toward the office.

"Oh do you know where I can get a cup of coffee?" Austin asked her.

"Sure do. There'll be a fresh pot in the office in about 10 minutes you get dressed and I'll have a cup with you." Mrs. Miller smiled.

When Austin went into the bathroom he got a good look at his face for the first time. The swelling in his lip and eye had gone down but they were purple and red, Austin got dressed and grabbed a fresh pack of Maverick menthol smokes from his bag and headed toward the office. When he arrived at the office Mrs. Miller had a jumbo cup with cream and sugar waiting for him. He poured himself some coffee and put in his cream and sugar. He noticed a nice picnic table out front of the office and thought that would be a nice place to have a morning smoke and coffee. He sat at the table and took that first mornings drag, he felt the warm southern sun shining down on him, and he loved it. The sky was a bright blue and the clouds looked like jumbo cotton balls.

"Here ya go, I hope you're hungry." Mrs. Miller said as she set down a huge plate of food.

"You didn't have to make this for me." Austin said as he looked at the great helping of scrambled eggs, toast, grits and sausage.

"I know but you look way to thin when you opened the door. The least I can do is give you some filling food and put a little meat on your bones." Mrs. Miller said as she sat down across from him. "Where are you coming from?"

"I'm heading down to Florida from New Jersey to visit my grandparents." Austin said as he took a bite of the sausage.

"Florida is nice this time of year. How long are you going for?" She asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm not really sure. I'm kinda trying to start over." Austin said as he finished his toast. He was hesitant to tell her more, he been isolated for so long even if freedom felt nice it was still unfamiliar. Before she could ask him anything more Shelly came into view jogging down the road.

"Mornin' Shelly, how are you doing? Cup of coffee?" Mrs. Miller offered.

"Thank you Miss Maddie, you know exactly what I need." Shelly replied.

"No problem, suppose caffeine isn't much of a vice, give me a few minutes and I'll bring it out to you." Mrs. Miller said as she headed back toward the office.

"Mornin' Austin, how're you doing?" Shelly asked as she took a seat at the table.

"I'm doing fine. Thanks again for your help last night." Austin said as he lit a smoke.

She waved her hand as if shooing him, "I only told you where the motel was I didn't perform a miracle."

"You kinda did. I didn't know where I was or what I was going to do when my car wouldn't start." Austin said as he took a drag. The woman had no idea how much her kindness meant to him.

"It was the least I could do; any decent body would've done the same. Did you see Mike at the garage yet?"

"No I haven't gotten over there yet. I was going to head there after I was done here."

"So what brings you to Levy? The only time people come here is when they're either lost or on the run." Shelly winked impishly. He noted her large brown eyes were kind, but appeared to study him.

"Um, I got lost coming off of the interstate. I'm on my way to Florida to see my grandparents." Austin said in a low voice.

"Sounds like a nice vacation, I'm sure you grandparents can't wait to see you."

"They don't know I'm coming... it's more of a restart on life than a vacation." He confessed.

"You're runnin' away from someone." Shelly said as she took a sip of coffee that Mrs. Miller had brought out.

"I never said I was running away from anyone." Austin said, berating himself for trusting this stranger. His heart began to pound in his chest.

Shelly's brown eyes bore into his emerald eyes. "Hun, you didn't have to say so, the black eye and busted lip tell me everythin'."

Austin lowered his head and tears began to form in his eyes.

"Look hun, I'm sorry for pryin'. It's just that you certainly aren't the type to get into bar fights. You struck me as alone and lost. I worried for you last night, I guess I figured I could help if you were hurtin' or in pain. My family's told me I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut." Shelly explained, upset she had caused Austin's distress.

Austin brought his head up, meeting her concerned gaze. "You don't need to apologize. You're right I am running away from someone. I'm so scared he'll find me."

"I know that you don't know me from Adam, but how about we walk and talk on over to Mike's. I'm a great listener. Sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger than someone you know." Shelly suggested.

"I don't want to bother..." He began to protest.

"You're not botherin' me. I offered to be a sounding board." She said with a smile.

"As long as you don't mind."

"I'll take these mugs in the office and we can be on our way." She said as she got up from the table.

Austin wondered if talking to her was a wise thing, but then again he was only going to be there a little longer then it was off to Florida. He had no identity anyone would want to assume, and if they were going to harvest his organs they would have drugged him and taken them already. When Shelly came back the two of them headed down the road towards the bar.

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Just encase you thought this was her pov it's not the whole story is 3rd person. This chapter was rightly named though because Shelly is a pinnacle part of Austin's story.

What are you thoughts on Shelly? Is she too pushy?