You're Always You

Chapter Forty-Four

Lydia Petrov

...

Richie was going to be... so mad...

Lydia knew that technically she was here with David, intentionally being kept away from Richie. She knew that David and Monica had told her that... that she was in an abusive situation. A part of Lydia... knew that. It... was hard to think about and took time for it to set in, but it was... true.

...Lydia thinks.

She didn't know. It was hard to face the fact that Richard might have not been good for her. That she wasn't safe there. But, with time, Lydia had hope that... it would get better. Somehow.

David had already assured her, multiple times, that she was safe. That he would keep her safe. Which... prompted Lydia to question if he still liked her. Lydia couldn't imagine why someone would be so... loyal and protective otherwise. She just couldn't.

Even Richard wasn't like this.

And him admitting that he liked her - or more as he implied...

Well, it made her want to kiss him. Lydia wanted to, but... she wasn't going to. She wasn't going to because no matter how much Richie might've been hurting her, Lydia was still with Richie. Lydia was still his girlfriend.

His girlfriend, who had just kissed another man. Been kissed by another man.

...And wanted to.

This was way different than when Lydia had kissed Jake in Beauty and the Beast. Richie was pissed about that. What would this be when he found out? Richie was so mad when she snuck out to go to the museum.

The museum sounded like a game compared to the wrath he would have finding out about this.

Therefore, Lydia shuffled herself away to David's bedroom and hid under the blankets. She pulled the blankets over her head and remained still in both fear of Richard's future actions and guilt for doing something like that to her.

...Even if he had been hurting her.

At some point, between a mix of silently crying and squeezing herself, Lydia ended up falling asleep. She didn't wake up until she heard a soft knock on her door, followed by the door pushing open slowly.

"Lydie?" David's voice came from the door, continuing to push open slowly. Lydia's eyes peered out from under the blanket, noticing the man carrying french toast and a glass of orange juice. Her favorite, just as they had talked about.

Though, looking at David, Lydia could feel guilt in her chest.

God, she was even sleeping in his bed...

"Hi..."

"You okay?" David said. He began to make his way over to Lydia, setting the french toast and orange juice down on the nightstand next to his bed.

Lydia's eyes dropped down somewhat, though she slid herself back somewhat to sit up in the bed. She hadn't even bothered to change into her pajamas last night when she had gone to bed. "...I'm sorry about last night. It... was a mistake. Just... forget about it." Lydia mumbled.

"No," David shook his head slowly. "You hesitated. I kissed you. I won't do it again, if you don't want me to." David told her.

The woman pressed her lips together and shook her head slowly, bringing her hands up to her face. "...You didn't do anything wrong," She murmured to assure him. "...But Richie would... he would be so mad if he knew I cheated on him..."

David let out a breath and sat himself down on the edge of the bed. "Honey, I'd stake my life that he's cheated on you dozens of times. Besides, you do not belong to him, not anymore. You have every right to move on."

Lydia hugged her arms to her torso somewhat. "...I never broke up with him..." She pointed out, mumbling softly.

...Even if she wanted to, Lydia wasn't certain how to approach that with him.

"Sweetheart..." David frowned softly and watched her. "I think moving all your stuff out made that pretty clear."

...

"...But still," Lydia mumbled, glancing down at the blankets somewhat.

"If you're scared of him, don't be." David said. He reached out his hand to place on top of Lydia's on the bed. "He can't hurt you anymore, Lydia. Not while I'm here."

Lydia nodded her head softly and turned her hand upside-down to squeeze his hand softly. "Thank you," Lydia murmured softly. "And... I'm sorry about last night..."

"Why are you sorry? I wanted that."

"...So did I," Lydia mumbled and shook her head somewhat, rubbing at her face. "...Still, I'm sorry. I"m not... sure I'm in any place to be doing... anything right now."

Lydia just figured out she was in an abusive relationship for twelve years. Jumping into another relationship so soon after, especially not really knowing David that well, it was... frightening.

"Okay. I'm... not gonna rush you."

* * * * *

As much as Lydia enjoyed the safety and comfort of David's apartment, she also knew that staying here all the time wasn't what she wanted. Sometime after lunch, Lydia ended up bringing up the fact that she was thinking about going out. Anywhere, really. She didn't care. The mall, on a walk, just... out.

Lydia also knew that he was working at the club tonight, unlike the past few days, so bringing it up beforehand was better than later.

...She had a feeling he wouldn't have been happy if she just snuck out.

Though, in the end, David seemed perfectly fine with the idea. His condition was just that he could go along as well. However, there was a moment where David stumbled over his words a few times. Saying that she wasn't... trapped here and that she couldn't not go out, he just wanted to keep her safe.

It was kind of cute, in a way. How hard he was trying to not be Richard.

David was fairly quick to get around, much like Lydia, and the pair ended up setting themselves on going to the mall. Lydia enjoyed all of the stores that the mall provided and David made a comment on being very familiar with the mall.

Therefore, that was where they decided to go.

"You know, there are so many fantastic stores here." Lydia commented, walking next to him while peering at the windows. "But my favorite store is surprisingly not a clothing store."

"The toy store," David commented, which had Lydia turning her head to look over at him with surprise.

"How'd you know?" Lydia said with a laugh. "Is that your favorite, too?"

David chuckled softly and shook his head. "....If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Lydia smiled up at him and shook his head. "You're one stubborn man," She commented, since it wasn't the first or last time he vaguely brought up a 'secret' he was keeping. Lydia would have continued walking and peering at more stores, if an arm didn't slither around her waist and squeeze at her ass.

"Bambi~!"