"What are you looking at?" Vee craned her head as she backtracked down the sidewalk, Iron Man snuffling along at her heel while she approached Eli. The boy had stopped seemingly-mid-stride, his eyes rooted down on a small patch of moss clinging to the crumbling concrete that formed the base of a building they'd just walked past. She had looked over her shoulder to see him crouching, staring intently at the tiny patch of greenery amid the gray, and when he did not seem to hear her say his name, she'd doubled back to see what was so enthralling.

"A frog." He finally answered as she drew near enough to see it, a tiny green frog nestled amid the dewdrops clinging to the moss. She leaned down to see it better, the tiny throat of the amphibian pulsing as it sat otherwise motionless. She wondered what they looked like to its eyes, a couple of wide-eyed giants looming overhead, gazing down at the little oasis it had found amidst the harsh city streets. Iron Man was oblivious, simply sniffing around the edge of the sidewalk without paying any mind to what his people were so enthralled by.

"Good eye, Eli." Vee reached over with her free hand to ruffle Eli's hair, before straightening up again. "Come on, we're almost home. Then I'll make some lunch, hm?"

"Okay." The boy nodded, smiling up at her before he glanced back at the frog. "Bye, froggy." He giggled a bit before moving to follow his mother again, jogging briefly to bring himself up level with her and allowing him to scritch Iron Man's back fondly as the dog plodded along between them. "Can I walk him?"

"Let's get off the main road first. Just in case." Vee trusted the dog and his training, but he was still big and strong and this street was full of potential distractions; pigeons pecking around in the alleys, stray cats occasionally darting by, that sort of thing. She adjusted her hold on the leash as they made their way down the block, approaching the corner that would lead them back around to the front side of the apartment complex in whose shadow they currently walked.

A rust-fringed car rattled past, churning out bitter-smelling exhaust that told her it was in dire need of some maintenance, and she watched as it turned to round that corner they were approaching. And she felt her blood turn to ice in her veins as her eyes drifting to the window, catching just a brief, hazy glimpse of the driver and passenger sitting behind the dirty pane. No, it couldn't be—

"Mom?" Eli queried, now the one to pause and look back as Vee's stride halted abruptly, even Iron Man grunting in apparent confusion as he looked up at the woman holding the other end of his leash. Vee blinked hard once, twice, then shook her head to clear her thoughts. No, she was just paranoid. Seeing things. The odds of Ryan being in this exact part of town were ridiculously low. She hadn't heard anything from his end in months, after all; it wouldn't make any sense for him to show up now.

"Nothing, baby." She forced the tremble out of her voice, disguising it by clearing her throat. "Let's just keep going." She picked up the pace again, Eli's arms swinging as he walked alongside her, his eyes on the sidewalk as he dodged the cracks and seams in the concrete. They neared the corner and Vee could feel her heartbeat thrumming in staccato against her ribs, a tightness in her throat that threatened to choke her out as they came to the bend in the sidewalk. She almost expected that he would be there, standing just out of sight waiting for them to walk right into him.

The corner came, they rounded it, and there was nothing there. Vee felt a brief surge of relief, but the nerves refused to quiet fully as they reached the mouth of the complex parking lot and headed in. Her eyes swept, scanning the parked cars restlessly, fervently taking stock of those that she'd come to recognize in their time living here, when she heard a car start up, an engine growling reluctantly to live, and she saw the battered vehicle pull out of a parking spot up ahead, wheeling just a bit too sharply around to face them.

"Eli, go upstairs now." Vee's words rushed out and she pushed the boy toward the stairs, a bit harder than she meant to; he stumbled and looked up at her in confusion, but any question he might've wanted to voice died on his lips when he saw the look on her face. For Vee was sure her expression no longer fit the mask of nonchalance she'd been trying to maintain. Iron Man's claws scrabbled on the concrete steps as they raced up to the second level, the sound of her ragged breaths as she struggled not to panic and the pounding of her heart in her ears almost—but not quite—drowning out the sound of the engine rumbling up to the base of the stairway. This wasn't even the right building, but the walkways around the upper levels reached across in select spots. They weren't far from their door, they just had to be faster than—

"Vee!" The voice that barked from downstairs sent a chill down her spine. Eli stumbled a bit in surprise, and his eyes were wide and glittering with fear as he looked up at her. "Is that—"

"Go inside!" Vee pushed Iron Man's leash into Eli's hand, hissing through her teeth. "Go in and lock the door, right now!" She waved him off, tearing her gaze away from the tears that filled Eli's bright blue eyes as she heard him run, his sneakers slapping the concrete walkway in tandem with Iron Man's heavy padding steps. Vee turned around, looking back down the stairwell as Ryan came into view, his brow furrowed over eyes that were a bit too bloodshot, whether from sleep deprivation or who-knows-what substance, she didn't know and she didn't care.

Ryan Wallace had been handsome once. When they had met, Vee had been only sixteen, and Ryan nearly thirty. She liked to think she should've known better, looking back, but she had been angry and depressed, mourning her father's still-recent death and fighting against the stepmother who had never cared to understand her before, and certainly didn't in the wake of his demise. It had been all too easy for her to fall for Ryan, who called her beautiful, complimented her art, and gave her all the attention she craved.

But then, as it so often happened, she'd come to learn, the truth had eventually made its way out. His devoted attention turned possessive and jealous. His affectionate touches left her with bruises and a vaguely sick feeling. His compliments turned snide, reminders that she was worthless. Just an unloved orphan who didn't belong anywhere, except at his side. As long as she kept him happy. And even that was unattainable, as it became clear the only things he really loved were the various poisons he took.

Vee didn't recognize him anymore. Even his eyes, which lived in Eli's skull, looked wrong—the once-clear blue of his irises was hazy, his pupils too contracted even in the darkened stairwell as he stared up at her. He hadn't shaved in a few days at least, judging by the dark golden stubble that patchily covered his cheeks and chin. His hair was greasy, combed back from his face and laying too flat against his skull, making him look like he was perpetually sweaty. But even at her elevated position, looking down at the ruin that drugs and alcohol had left of the man, she felt herself quaking with fear. "Go away, Ryan." She forced herself to speak, though her mouth was desperately dry. "I don't want to see you."

"Is that any way to say hello? I don't talk to you for months and this is what I get?" He sneered, raising his arms indignantly and letting them slap back down against his sides, his eyes narrowed as he glared up at her. He paced there on the landing below, like a starving wolf watching a squirrel hide in the trees above. "I thought you'd have cooled off by now, Vee." His mouth twisted in a way that seemed like he was trying to pout, to draw some sympathy from her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"I don't want to see you." She repeated more firmly, her fists clenching at her sides. "You shouldn't be here. This is private property."

"I'm here to see my son. Ain't a man got a right to that?"

"Not when he puts his son in the hospital." Her voice shook, with rage as much as fear now as she stared at him. It still kept her up sometimes, remembering the look of utter shock and pain in Eli's face when she'd rushed him to the emergency room, cradling his broken wrist. How heartbroken and confused he was that his father would hurt him so badly. Until that point, Ryan's hands had only ever laid on Vee, and she had been willing to suffer that. But something had woken up in her when Eli got involved, and for the last three years they had been trying to be normal. Eli learning to be a regular kid, and Vee…well, Vee just trying to put herself together again. Which, considering the events of the last couple days, seemed to be a much more complicated affair than she had anticipated.

Ryan took a step up the stairs, his eyes never leaving her. "I told you that was an accident. You just had to kick up such a fuckin' fuss about it." His lip curled as he took another step. "I've been cooperatin'. You wanted a divorce so bad, I gave you one. I just wanna see my fuckin' son, Vee."

"He doesn't want to see you either." She seethed, fighting every muscle that urged her to bolt. He had found the complex, but perhaps he didn't know the apartment. If she held her ground, he'd either back off on his own or someone would come investigate the commotion and chase him away. She couldn't let him find out where exactly they were living.

"You're a lying bitch." He lunged up the steps after her, but while she staggered back against the railing, she did not run, even when he grabbed her arm with cruel, bruising fingers and brought his face close enough she could smell the stink of cigarettes and alcohol on his breath and clothes, see the veins in his bloodshot eyes pulsing with rage. "I'm done playin' games, Vee! You're gonna let me see my son, or I'm taking your ass back to court. You think I won't?"

"You don't have anything!" She turned her head away, fighting the urge to gag. "I don't have to do shit; the judge gave me full custody and you know it!"

"Yeah, but the judge didn't know about the hospital stays, did he?" Ryan's tone turned sickly and Vee's stomach did a flip. She knew what he was referring to. One of the few memories from her youth that remained unfortunately intact. In the years after they had left Woodwill, Debbie had insisted on sending Vee to "therapy", to deal with whatever issues she was convinced the girl was suffering with. These "therapy" programs were run by Debbie's church, and needless to say they hadn't helped. Vee had only grown more sullen and rebellious, until they had insisted she be committed to a psychiatric facility.

The first time it happened, her father finally put his foot down and said it would never happen again. But then he died a year later, and in the two years between that and Vee leaving the house to move in with Ryan, Debbie had gotten her committed twice more. It had been an ugly period of her life, one she had hoped to someday be able to forget and leave behind. One that she had hoped Ryan might have forgotten, between all his binge-drinking and drug-fueled benders.

Ryan, whose mouth curled into a cruel smile as he realized that he'd struck the right nerve, tightened his grip on her arm. "Yeah, you didn't count on that, did you? I got hospital records. Unstable behavior, they say. Violent mood swings."

"That's all bullshit though." She finally found her voice again, trying to pull away from his grip.

"Judge don't need to know that, hm? Of course, there's still a way we can put all this behind us, if you wanna stop fighting and be a good girl." Ryan growled, and she recoiled as he leaned in closer, close enough his breath heated her cheek. Her heart quickened in her chest til it felt like a caged hummingbird, and her vision narrowed. For a terrible moment she was afraid she might pass out right there, left at his mercy. Poor Eli, locked away in the apartment, would be so confused, so frightened if she didn't get back to him soon. And if he decided to come out looking, Ryan would get ahold of him and—

She moved before she even really finished formulating the idea. Her knee came up, connecting solidly with Ryan's groin and drawing a choking sound from his throat. His hand fell from her arm as he reflexively grabbed at himself, doubling over while Vee scrambled free of his looming presence. He screamed some slurred epithet at her back, but she didn't even spare a glance as she bolted down the walkway and around the corner, across the little bridge linking the building blocks together. She skidded to a halt as she reached the door of her apartment, hastily banging her hand against it. "Eli! Eli, baby, open up please!" She didn't want to raise her voice, didn't want Ryan to figure out where she'd gone. Her eyes darted back the way she'd come, terrified he would come lurching around the corner any moment.

But then the door clicked unlocked and opened, Eli's tear-streaked face staring up at her, and she swept him into her arms as she stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind her. Iron Man woofed and grumbled, bouncing around them as she leaned back against the door, hugging her son tight. He was almost too big for her to hold like this, but adrenaline made him seem light as a feather as he anchored his arms around her neck and sniffled against her collar. "It's okay." She breathed, closing her eyes as she willed her heartbeat to slow back down. "It's okay, I'm okay. We're okay." She repeated the word enough it started to lose meaning, at least for her. Eli seemed comforted though, and that was enough. Iron Man growled suddenly, and Vee heard footsteps stomping along the walkway outside. She hastily stepped away from the door, locking it quickly before retreating a safe distance and shushing the dog, who bristled as he stared at the locked entry. The footsteps stomped past, frighteningly close, and then they paused. Vee held her breath and Eli whimpered into her neck, squeezing hard enough she had to adjust herself to avoid being strangled on accident by the fearful boy's grip.

The footsteps lingered, then stomped back away again, Ryan's muffled cursing thankfully mostly-inaudible through the walls. Still, Vee held Eli long after those footsteps were gone, waiting until she was sure he wouldn't be hanging around. Then she moved to the couch and sat down, letting Eli curl into her lap. "It's okay. He's gone." She sighed, letting out the breath she'd involuntarily been holding way too long.

"Are you sure?" Eli's voice was very small as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and sniffing as he peered at her warily. His eyes drifted to her bare bicep, where marks were starting to show already, and she quickly redirected his focus back to her face, smoothing a hand across his brow to push his unruly hair away. "It's okay." She repeated yet again. "What's important is that we're both safe. He's not gonna get you, I promise." She was glad her voice sounded more confident than her heart felt, the nagging fear that she was telling an unknowing lie gnawing at the back of her mind.

"Okay." Eli mumbled, and he flopped back into her arms to hug her again, Vee sighing softly as she embraced her son. Iron Man came plodding over and hauled himself up on the couch after them, leaning in to snuffle and lick at both of their faces until Eli couldn't help but giggle, pushing him away playfully. Vee smiled, the two of them rewarding the dog by scratching his broad chest, and Eli sighed quietly before he looked back at his mother. "…I wanna go back to the woods-house. He can't find us there, can he?"

Vee blinked, looking back at him for a moment, and the gnawing stopped as she pondered his words. Despite her other, unrelated reservations about the subject of the forest cottage, he had a point. And even if Ryan had given up now…he knew they were here somewhere. Maybe he didn't know which door exactly yet, but he was close enough that it wouldn't take him long.

She chewed her lip, looking away. She wasn't sure she could miss work. But then, they had said if she had a legitimate crisis, they would be accomodating. And this felt like a crisis…

"…No, he won't." She finally spoke, leaning in to press a quick kiss to his forehead. "…Let's pack up some stuff. We can leave in an hour."