Young Guns

He Keeps Me Safe

- Chase Elliott -

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!"

"ME? YOU ARE THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH MY THINGS!"

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TO IF YOU WEREN'T COMING HOME AT STRANGE HOURS. MOST OF THE TIME IN MEN'S CLOTHING!"

"MOST OF MY FRIENDS ARE GUYS AND I HAVE TWO BROTHERS HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT I GOT MY SHIRT DIRTY AND BORROWED ONE?"

"BULLSHIT, IF THEY WERE YOUR BROTHERS SHIRTS THEY'D ALREADY BE BACK TO THEM."

"OKAY BUT JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK I'M CHEATING DOESN'T MEAN YOU MAKE A POINT OF SLEEPING WITH A GIRL. ESPECIALLY IN OUR BED WHEN YOU KNOW I'M GOING TO BE HOME SOON."

"GET OUT. GET THE FUCK OUT I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU RIGHT NOW YOU BITCH. YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH." He emphasizes his statement with a hard slap across Olivia's face. Almost instantly a handprint appears and tears well up in her eyes.

Aaron stalks out of the room, probably to go drink on the couch. Once he is out of the room Olivia begins grabbing things to pack. Clothes from the closet and toiletries out of the bathroom pile up on the bed. All the while she's texting a list of friends.

'Please call me.'

Pulling her duffel bag from the bottom of the closet she starts shoving her pile of clothes into it. On top of the clothes, she adds her toiletries. Midway through her phone starts ringing and she answers, not looking at who it is, voice shaking.

"Hello..."

"Liv are you okay?"

"Chase..." She can't bring herself to say anything else with tears in her voice as she chokes on her words.

"I'm coming to get you. We'll grab ice cream. We'll go for a drive. Whatever you need. I'll be there. Twenty minutes, max." A car door shuts in the background right before the engine revs to life.

"Can... can you stay on the phone with me?"

"Of course. Do you need me to keep talking or do you need to talk?"

"Both? I don't... I don't know. I know I can't deal with silence right now." She finishes putting her important things in her duffel bag. With that, she moves on to shove the rest of her clothes into a suitcase. Chase stays on the phone with her carrying the conversation and keeping her talking. What seems like minutes later, but is almost a half-hour, Chase pauses the conversation.

"I'm outside, do you want me to come in?"

"No... I'll be right out." She hangs up putting her phone in her back left pocket. Laying her suitcase at the base of her closet she checks the room for forgotten items. Once over finished she grabs her duffel bag then rushes out of the room and down the stairs.

She approaches the living room and peaks around the doorway to see Aaron staring at the TV. In his left hand a bottle of Wild Turkey, the right clutched in a fist as he swears at the TV. A baseball game on, his team most likely losing as they weren't doing so good this year.

She steals a breath and slips past the living room as quietly as possible. Once at the front door, she grabs her two pairs of shoes there in hand and slips out the door not putting them on. Once the door shuts she sprints down the walkway towards Chase's truck. Shoving her things into the back of his truck she slips up into the front seat and shuts the door.

"Go. Please go." She buckles her seat belt as Chase pulls away from the house. Finally, relief floods her as she feels safe. Pulling her feet up onto the seat and knees up to her chin she starts to cry. Not a soft cry, but a body racking sob that shook her whole being.