Death Do Us Part

6 - Come Back, Please

Mistie's eyes reluctantly opened as the warm sun beamed rays of light through the holes of the barn she'd taken shelter in the night prior. As she looked up at the sky through those holes, she sniffled a few times before sneezing, her nose beginning to run.
"Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to run away when it was supposed to rain," the familiar voice caused Mistie to flinch a little as she whirled around. Her eyes welled with tears again as she instantly ran to Ed, who held open his arms for her to fall into and as the mare wept into his shirt, he stroked her hair. After a short time and a wet spot had been created on Ed's shirt, Mistie looked up and sniffled before asking, "How'd you find me?"
"Well... The police sort of showed up at my door and asked me about you, so I decided to go through our old messages to see if there were any clues as to your whereabouts," Ed held up his phone, showing her the text:
10:52 PM: There's actually this really cute spot my parents use to take me when I was young! It's by an old barn about 20 to 25 minutes from the side of the road. We should totally have a date there some time ;)
Mistie reread her own message from one of the many nights they'd talked. She blushed and swallowed hard before opening her mouth only to be interrupted by Ed's lips. The kiss was soft, and caring, and it lured Mistie into the warmth and happiness only he ever made her feel.
"Mistie, what's bugging you so bad that you had to run away? You know my door is always open for you," Ed frowned after pulling away from her lips. That's when she noticed his own eyes were welling up a bit... He was worried about me? She thought to herself as her lip quivered. Looking down, Mistie forced herself away from his arms and breathed a heavy sigh.
"My birth mother has been showing up at our place as of late, and I'm just so tired of her trying to act like things are okay with what she did to dad, and they keep arguing..." She trailed off, getting lost in her thoughts again while Ed pulled her back into him, resting his head on top of hers.
"Mistie, I love you. Your father loves you too. Why worry us like that over something easily remedied by a simple restraining order?" Ed's gaze was soft as he looked at the small mare in his arms. With a shrug, Mistie nuzzled into Ed as they swayed back and forth gently, "Come back, please. To my place and we'll get you out of those wet clothes," Ed said with a small wink as his cheeks grew slightly red.

It took some convincing but Mistie ended up going back to Ed's place and her father as well as police were informed. Ed actually invited Mistie's father over to talk about some ways to stop his ex-wife from showing up entirely, now that it was very apparent that the situation was getting to Mistie on another level. Arrangements were made for Mistie to begin staying with Ed until her mother had been either contained or scared off with the restraining order and Ed even took her under his wing in forensic science, which Mistie was ecstatic over, although he had to dive into the more complex stuff because she already knew the vast majority of the basics. Mistie never failed to impress Ed everyday, with the brains and the beauty but lacking the self confidence on some days.
Eventually, an argeement had been made between Mistie's mother, her father as well as her. She clearly showed zero interest in getting to know her mother after knowing what really happened and the fact that she'd choosen drugs over her own family and Mistie would never forgive her for cheating on dear ol' dad. Mistie made damn sure that her mother knew it too.
"This is the life you have chosen, bitch. I want absolutely nothing to do with you," Mistie's voice didn't hide the anger and disappointment she had for her mother.
"I got caught up in some bad stuff, I know that and I want to change, I miss my little gir-"
"I don't want to hear any of it. Just stay away from dad and stay away from me," and without another word, Mistie left her father to deal with the scum. She really didn't care for her mother. She grew up without one, and she was fine. The look in her mother's eyes when Mistie had told her she never wanted to see her hurt a little bit, because maybe her mother had meant it. Maybe she could change and be decent. Or maybe she'd go back to her old ways and that was a risk Mistie didn't want. She didn't want her using dad again and as far as she was concerned, she didn't deserve the chance.
"I'm proud of you, Mist," Ed would tell her every night before she fell asleep, snuggled up against him in his bed although he wouldn't stay for long. Ed was dedicated to his job and very rarely slept.
"Thank you, Eddie... For everything you've done for me," Mistie would lean up and kiss him before nuzzling down and closing her eyes, actually happy for the first time in years.