Arc One [15]
Author: Cha Ma Mib
Title: Need
Rating: G
Word Count: 725
It's six days later when Eva finally comes and knocks on his motel door. Unlike him, she's put-together; with perfect hair and makeup. The only indicator of her emotional state is the dark circles under her eyes, the ones that can take weeks to fade. He, on the other hand, hasn't left the room since he arrived and has red pillow imprints on his face.
"I've come to rescue you," she says. "Let me in?"
She walks in and surveys the muted TV, the room service dishes on the windowsill and floor, and the unmade bed and half-bottle of scotch on the dresser, while he tries to organize his thoughts enough to say something to her. He doesn't know which emotion he wants to start with.
"So, is this what Marco put up with for two years?" she asks lightly but pointedly. He winces and sits back down on the bed.
She turns her car keys over and over in her hands before setting them on the bedside table. "Do you mind?" she asks gently as she sits down next to him and takes his hand in hers. He pulls it away, and she settles for a hand resting on his knee instead.
"How'd you find me?"
"Your license plate is legible to a certain bird in the family."
"Oh. Right." He doesn't meet her eyes. He can feel that they're boring into him without having to see the look on her face.
"How long were you planning on staying here?"
"I was going to come home, eventually," he says honestly. "Just…not yet."
He's relieved that she doesn't say anything to that, doesn't tell him about all the worry, doesn't elaborate on what his little indulgence is doing to her and Marco - it's already written clearly enough in the lines on her face.
"You should come home now."
He nods. There really isn't any arguing with that. "You knew, right?"
Eva doesn't say anything for a few moments. She picks her keys back up and starts fidgeting with them again. "I surmised. I didn't…I'm sorry."
It's shockingly little comfort to have her acknowledge her guilt. "Why?"
He notices that her hands are shaking, even as the keys jangle and twirl between her fingers. A quick glance up to her face tells him that she's no longer staring at him, but instead trying to fire her secret laser eye beams into the motel carpet. His first instinct is to reach to her, but for the moment he's too angry with her. "I don't lie to you, I mean, I do by omission sometimes, but…I'm selfish, Peter. When Nora asked me for permission to tell you, I couldn't tell her no, but I'm selfish. Let's leave it at that."
He nods again, and his head hurts with the motion. He feels her hand move from his knee to his shoulder.
"But I get the feeling this bender of yours wasn't really to punish us, was it? That was just collateral," she says, softly, as if the slightest increase in volume would crack him. She pulls him closer, and unwilling to resist, he leans into her. "If you're going to blame anyone, it should be me. Marco only hid it from us to protect us. And you…you're not at fault."
"I didn't know. I didn't even connect the dots. It was so obvious and I didn't know."
"I hate to break it to you, but you miss out on a lot of obvious things."
"Yeah? Clueless Peter just misses the whole world as it goes by, right? Clueless, oblivious Peter can't pick up on basic hints and - God, Eva, it's basic math. I was so stupid. The kid was verbal. I should have done the simple math."
"That's not the obvious thing I was talking about." She sighs. Her next words are brittle, delicate, shot through with the weakness in her voice. "I need you to come home."
Eva being so verbally vulnerable is something rare enough that he takes notice. He meets her gaze, sees the tears starting to ring her eyes.
"You lied to me." Her and everyone else in this twisted charade of a family. Everyone but his daughter.
Her mouth twitches into something between a smile and grimace. She stands up, walks over to the door and waits. "Please just come home."
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Title: Need
Rating: G
Word Count: 725
It's six days later when Eva finally comes and knocks on his motel door. Unlike him, she's put-together; with perfect hair and makeup. The only indicator of her emotional state is the dark circles under her eyes, the ones that can take weeks to fade. He, on the other hand, hasn't left the room since he arrived and has red pillow imprints on his face.
"I've come to rescue you," she says. "Let me in?"
She walks in and surveys the muted TV, the room service dishes on the windowsill and floor, and the unmade bed and half-bottle of scotch on the dresser, while he tries to organize his thoughts enough to say something to her. He doesn't know which emotion he wants to start with.
"So, is this what Marco put up with for two years?" she asks lightly but pointedly. He winces and sits back down on the bed.
She turns her car keys over and over in her hands before setting them on the bedside table. "Do you mind?" she asks gently as she sits down next to him and takes his hand in hers. He pulls it away, and she settles for a hand resting on his knee instead.
"How'd you find me?"
"Your license plate is legible to a certain bird in the family."
"Oh. Right." He doesn't meet her eyes. He can feel that they're boring into him without having to see the look on her face.
"How long were you planning on staying here?"
"I was going to come home, eventually," he says honestly. "Just…not yet."
He's relieved that she doesn't say anything to that, doesn't tell him about all the worry, doesn't elaborate on what his little indulgence is doing to her and Marco - it's already written clearly enough in the lines on her face.
"You should come home now."
He nods. There really isn't any arguing with that. "You knew, right?"
Eva doesn't say anything for a few moments. She picks her keys back up and starts fidgeting with them again. "I surmised. I didn't…I'm sorry."
It's shockingly little comfort to have her acknowledge her guilt. "Why?"
He notices that her hands are shaking, even as the keys jangle and twirl between her fingers. A quick glance up to her face tells him that she's no longer staring at him, but instead trying to fire her secret laser eye beams into the motel carpet. His first instinct is to reach to her, but for the moment he's too angry with her. "I don't lie to you, I mean, I do by omission sometimes, but…I'm selfish, Peter. When Nora asked me for permission to tell you, I couldn't tell her no, but I'm selfish. Let's leave it at that."
He nods again, and his head hurts with the motion. He feels her hand move from his knee to his shoulder.
"But I get the feeling this bender of yours wasn't really to punish us, was it? That was just collateral," she says, softly, as if the slightest increase in volume would crack him. She pulls him closer, and unwilling to resist, he leans into her. "If you're going to blame anyone, it should be me. Marco only hid it from us to protect us. And you…you're not at fault."
"I didn't know. I didn't even connect the dots. It was so obvious and I didn't know."
"I hate to break it to you, but you miss out on a lot of obvious things."
"Yeah? Clueless Peter just misses the whole world as it goes by, right? Clueless, oblivious Peter can't pick up on basic hints and - God, Eva, it's basic math. I was so stupid. The kid was verbal. I should have done the simple math."
"That's not the obvious thing I was talking about." She sighs. Her next words are brittle, delicate, shot through with the weakness in her voice. "I need you to come home."
Eva being so verbally vulnerable is something rare enough that he takes notice. He meets her gaze, sees the tears starting to ring her eyes.
"You lied to me." Her and everyone else in this twisted charade of a family. Everyone but his daughter.
Her mouth twitches into something between a smile and grimace. She stands up, walks over to the door and waits. "Please just come home."
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