2 broke girls and the reality check

Present

Deke runs behind Caroline as she tries to escape into the bedroom and grabs a fistful of her hair. Her neck snaps backwards violently and for a brief moment Deke is fearful that he may have killed her.

"Let go of me you fucking weirdo!" Caroline screams after the initial shock wears off. She flails her arms and legs in a desperate attempt at loosening herself from Deke's grip, but he is too strong for her.

"Listen here you filthy little bitch," Deke retorts, drawing her in closer to him until they are touching back to chest, "you don't know what you're talking about."

Caroline is tempted to say something back but figures it wiser to remain silent; plus, the large forearm that Deke has wrapped around her neck is becoming tighter and tighter literally taking the words out of her mouth. In her nightmares, it is a hairy, lightly browned anaconda, squeezing her esophagus and making it harder for her to breathe. Her arms instinctively go up to the brown snake and try to pry it away from her neck- but it's to no avail. Soon she is seeing floaters, translucent black spots clouding her entire field of vision.

"Please," Caroline manages to squeak out. She can feel herself slowly losing consciousness. Her legs squirm and wriggle beneath her, then go weak. Her bladder follows and a stream of warm urine drips down her legs.

For a millisecond Deke tightens his grip, but in a rare moment of clarity he laxes his arm and a weakened Caroline is able to wriggle herself free. She slowly turns around. Little by little her vision returns to normal and her breathing becomes regular. Her eyes briefly scout around the near vicinity looking for something to pick up and throw, or a blunt object to hit Deke with. She spots a rolling pin, white and powdery from hours of rolling fondant, but is unsure that she will be able to reach it before Deke takes hold of her again.

Suddenly another thought comes to Caroline's mind, one that could change the whole dynamic of Deke's relationship with Max, or, even more importantly, Max's relationship with herself: If Deke was psychotic enough to attack her, was he also the culprit behind Han's attack?

"No... no... It can't be," Caroline stammers, backing up slowly.

"Shut up bitch," Deke growls sinisterly. He doesn't know for sure, but he thinks that Caroline is finally putting the pieces together. His top lip raises up, giving his face an animalistic quality as if he is snarling, "I told you that you don't know what you're talking about. And if you tell Max anything about this bullshit. I promise you, I will choke you in your sleep you dumb whore! Do you hear me!"

Caroline is stupefied, frozen dead in her tracks once again. When he begins to bark though, Caroline realizes how truly desperate of a situation she is in. This whole time, Deke has been losing his mind. And Max and herself had just been too blind to see it. Caroline had wanted so badly to believe that Deke's marriage to Max was the right thing. She had wanted to believe in love and second chances. And of a fate better than simply slaving at the diner and then coming home to an empty bed, that she had totally overlooked the signs that had been there all along.

Confronting him about attacking Han would have to be a job left for the police. That is, if she were ever able to make it to them. At the rate that things were going now, there was no guarantee that Deke wouldn't just kill her right here and right now. What do I do, she thought as his barks grew louder, drowning out the sounds of her own heartbeat and the wailing of the ambulances in the street, What in the hell do I do now?