Prue picks now to walk out of the bathroom, skipping out with a smile on her face. She pauses when she sees Patrick beside me. I instantly don’t like her reaction. My fist ball up. I’m starting to think a night in jail for beating his ass doesn’t sound so bad.
“Prue!” he says her name. “Long time no see!”
Her lips turn back into a smile. A fake one, but I doubt he can tell or cares.
“Patrick,” she says, walking up to us.
“You know him?” I ask.
“Uh. Yeah, kind of. Cameron’s band went on tour with him a few times.”
“If you tell me you fucked him, I may kill myself.”
“No,” she says. “I didn’t fuck him.”
“Oh. Did you and Charles break up?” Patrick asks.
“I…” I watch as the mention of the name Charles make her eyes dim. I didn’t bother to learn her prick of an ex’s name. Judging by her reaction, I can assume that’s who Patrick is talking about.
“Patrick, you have ten seconds to get as far as fucking possible from me before I beat the shit out of you.” I keep my eyes on Prue. “And if you ever, and I mean ever, come near Prue again, I will cut your tiny fucking dick off and make you eat it, okay?”
“Jesus. You are worse than…”
“Finish that sentence and I will end up in jail and you in the hospital.”
“Okay then. Good night,” he says.
I wait until I feel him walk away, before moving closer to Prue.
“Did he ever hurt you?” I ask, cupping her face and searching her eyes. “Ever lay a finger on you?” She shakes her head, as tears threaten to spill from her eyes. I push her out of the way of people exiting the bathroom. “You can tell me,” I say softly. “I know how that jerk is.”
“He kissed me once,” she says softly. “While Char… my ex watched. He kind of liked to see me uncomfortable.” She pauses. “I guess the signs were there for a while.”
I watch as she pieces it all together. I sigh, pulling her tightly against me. This night took a very unpleasant turn.
“Can we go now?”
“Yes,” I say. “Let me just close out my tab.”
I drag her with me to the bar. I fear if I let her out of my sight, she will bolt. I know her flight and fight response is all fucked up. After everything she has been through, it’s expected. Now as her mind starts to slip into the dark places it’s bound to come out in full force. My only hope is to get her home and try to distract her there, before she freaks out and tries to push me away again.
When we are outside, I keep my hand around her waist as I smoke a cigarette waiting for our car to show up.
“You don’t have to stay the night with me,” she says softly. She keeps some space between us but allows me to touch her.
“I do fucking too,” I say, bending down to put out my cigarette. “I’m not blind, Prue. I know a downward spiral when I see one.”
“I’m sorry,” she says after a moment. “I know you wanted to have a fun night. I keep ruining things for everyone around me. I should’ve just gone to the stupid party with him and just left you…”
“Prue, stop,” I say, moving in front of her. “Look at me.” Her head lifts, but her eyes stay pinned to the ground. “Look. At. Me,” I repeat myself, this time her eyes snap up to mine. “If I didn’t want to be around you, I wouldn’t, okay? Do you really think me, the giant fucking asshole, would do anything I didn’t want to?”
“You just want to fuck me. Once you fuck me, you’ll never talk to me again.”
“Not true. I mean I’m not saying I’ll be your fucking boyfriend, but I’d like to think we could be friends.”
She laughs. “Highly unlikely.”
“Well, that’s just mean,” I say, happy to hear her laugh, but not pleased with the reason. “I can be friends with a girl.”
