I managed to finish high school ahead of schedule, writing my GED test almost two years early and then deciding I wanted to be a nurse. Marv was nervous at first, until he reached out to an old army friend of his who assured him there would be no trace of my old life attached to who I was going to be once I left this property. So the day I walked away, the day I said thank you as a form of goodbye and took my first step off of this property in years… I became Rebecca Pierce, a woman without a traumatic past.
I was pulled back to the present when Trevor extended his arms, putting space between us.
“What… I can’t believe it's really you… I…. Does dad know you are coming?”
His features may have been less boyish and more chiseled, but I couldn't help but smile at the intense furrow on his brow, the same look he’d get when he would try to navigate something he and his dad decided was a girl thing.
“No he isn’t expecting me… I…” my voice broke off near the end andTrevor stood taller, scanning the property around the house. His green eyes went dark and he looked back down at me.
“Molly, what’s going on?”
I blew out a breath not sure how to explain everything that had happened in our time apart. When I had taken on a new identity, part of that was with the knowledge that I was letting go of the bad from my past but also the sliver of good I had found here.
Did I put them in danger coming back here?
Panic started to crawl up my throat and I stepped back from him, “I… I am sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have come.”
Trevor made a sort of growly sound and matched my step forward, “What the fuck Molly. I haven’t seen you... I thought I never would. Dad wouldn’t tell me a thing about where you went. I couldn’t even dig anything up and I fucking tried on my last deployment…”
He scrubbed his hand over his face, eyes flashing. “You can’t just show up and then disappear again.”
I wanted to pull away, protect myself, protect Trevor and Marvin. But his words were so honest. A tear fell and I tried to blink it away, tried to look away before he saw it.
But Trevor stepped closer, lifted my chin with his hand, his eyes so open and honest, “Molly what is going on? I can’t protect you if I don’t know…”
That was it… the dam opened and the tears poured out of me. Trevor didn’t hesitate, he wrapped me in his arms and guided me inside.
I couldn’t help but notice how little had changed since I was last here, it even smelled the same.
Trevor moved quickly, taking the bags from me and setting them on the floor and moving us to the living room and to the exact same couch we used to huddle on watching movies quietly on nights I couldn't sleep.
Trevor sat, still holding onto me and before I knew it I was cradled in his arms, feeling warm and safe. Like no time had passed. Like I was still that little girl terrified and he was there, patient and protective.
He didn’t ask any questions, he just held me. My head resting on his shoulder, listening to his steady breathing, the beat of his heart. Imust have dozed off, because the next thing I remember I heard a gruff voice I hadn’t heard in years. When my eyes opened, the light was different… the temperature is cooler.
I took a deep breath and stretched, then stood and followed the voices into the kitchen.
My eyes danced over the kitchen stuck in the past, and landed on Marvin… who was scowling at me.
He looked like time hadn’t been kind to him, his large frame looked thinner, greys had overpowered his beard and his usually close cropped hair looked a little wilder and unkempt.
We both seemed to be assessing each other, cataloging the changes.
Finally he broke the silence, “What trouble did you bring to my door this time?”
Well that settled it, he hadn't changed that much. Trevor moved to jump in and defend me, but Marvin was right. This probably wasn’t safe for them.
“I am sorry. I probably shouldn’t have come. Let me just grab my stuff and make a call and I will be out of your way. I will leave…”
Marvin grunted at the same time as Trevor stood, chair scraping back.
“The fuck you are,” Trevor growled. “You came here for a reason.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the tears, I didn’t want to cry in front of Marvin. I looked away and then took a deep breath.
“I… I came here because I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” I forced myself to look Marvin in the eyes, “This was the only place I could think that I would be safe.”
The room was silent, for a moment while Marvin once again decided my fate.