Chapter 1.3

Chapter 1.3- Long Shot

‘Elena’ was secretly relieved when ‘Steve’ walked back in the door. She sighed as quietly as she could hoping he wouldn’t hear. When she had discovered herself alone in the miniscule house upon waking she had felt trapped, alone, and very frightened. In an attempt to calm her nerves, she had cleaned the bedroom, bathroom and had started in the living room.

“And where were you?” She asked, worry making her voice sharper than normal.

“Tryin’ not to drown, Princess,” was his ready reply.

“Seriously,” she shot back. “That is so uncalled for.”

                “Got any breakfast ready?” But was already near the fridge. “I think I could eat a whole cow.”

                Elena sighed. “There are leftovers in the fridge. Help yourself.”

                “Join me.” It was not a request. It wasn’t meant as one.

                Sitting at the small table put Elena far too close to Steve. Her body was already wobbly and woozy, she didn’t need to smell -

                “Fish,” Elena was disgusted for the first time ever by the stench. “I get you’ve got an aversion to water, but you’re going to have to get over it and take a bath.”

                “Smells like home, Princess-“

“-Not again-“

                “-and you know what they say about that… Princess?” But put delicate emphasis on the word. “They say that home is where the heart is.”

                Elena glared at him. Inside, however, she sympathized and yet again, she wanted to cry.

                It wasn’t until dishes were being put away that Steve finally registered something else.

                His eyes sometimes took a little bit to get information properly into his brain, at least that’s what his mother had always told him.

                He knew something looked different. Something was out of place, not right. Standing in the middle of the kitchen, his brain fought to puzzle it all out. He had never been sharp on details, wit was the only thing that had ever gotten him far. And right now, he needed those details that he struggled to recall.

                “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn’t the same,” he sang under his breath. He had remembered the song from a show he had watched as a child. Recently though, he used it to recall pictures in his mind. It was how he recalled details, the only way he could get them to pop out in his head.

                Elena heard his tune and just wondered if he was sane.

He spun, whipping his head around so quickly his neck ached.

                “New pajamas,” Steve stated. He was so glad he had finally arrived at a very likely conclusion. “You’ve got on new pajamas.”

                Elena looked at him a moment to make sure he really was just now noticing.

‘Is he dim?’ She thought incredulously.

“Yes, Steve,” She said flatly. “I got pajamas at the consignment store, too.”

“Aw,” he pretended to act hurt. “And here I was ready for a show every morning, Princess.”

“PlumbBob, stop that!”

“Not a problem!” Steve bounded forward. “I’m taking a shower, Princess.”

When she hissed he turned around, holding his hand to his mouth as though sipping an invisible teacup, pinky held high.

“And it’s ‘Do Not Disturb,’ Princess,” Steve said in a mocking falsetto. He then switched his tone to normal lowering his hand and putting on a roguish air. “Don’t want to you to get any ideas, if you know what I mean, Princess!”

He jumped behind the bathroom door, laughing, as a couch cushion whizzed through the air hitting the closed door with a loud ‘FLUMP.’

“Not even if you knock will I let you in!” he called from behind the door. “It’d spoil you for all the ‘nice’ men out there!”

                Elena had taken her frustration at Steve out on the kitchen counter, scrubbing it so hard she left a mark. Fuming to herself she went to gather laundry, shoving it all in the laundry bag with unwonted venom. She was so absorbed in her thoughts she hadn’t even remembered that Steve was in the house, much less in the shower.

                She barged in through the door stopping only when his startled squawk rang out.

                Elena smiled nervously as he stepped out of the shower, glaring hard at her. She honestly hadn’t meant to come in here. She just wanted the laundry.

                Her cheeks flamed as she blushed crimson. She wanted so very badly to look down, trying so so so very hard not to.

                Steve put his clothes on as quickly and deliberately as he could. He could hear the laughter in Elena’s breath behind him. His face and ears were hot, to his surprise, even the back of his neck had warmed as he blushed furiously.

                Finally, he stood and faced her. It took every ounce of his self-control to look her in the eye. All he wanted to go and do was hide under a rock.

                “Sorry!” Elena finally managed to squeak out to him, biting her lips to keep her laughter in.

                “Yeah,” he said in clipped tones. “Sorry. Go. Go away now. Shoo. Go away, please. I’d like to have at least a little privacy. Brushing my teeth is next. I’d rather you not watch that.” He brushed at the air with his hands in a shooing gesture.

                Elena swallowed hard and nodded at him. She couldn’t trust her voice right now. As steadily as she could she turned, taking the laundry with her.

                The moment she was fully in the living room he shut the bathroom door behind her and she doubled over in mirth, tripping over the couch as she tried to head to the bedroom with the laundry. She fell onto the bed in her laughter, feeling her stress melt away, a ray of hope peeking in.

                As her laughter died away, she realized she needed to make up to him for this. Looking down, there was a very pressing matter they hadn’t discussed and maybe this would be the best way to break the ice that was sure to follow such an episode.

                She called him into the bedroom once she heard him emerge from a half hour long toothbrushing session. She knew he was bound to avoid her, and she needed him right now. He was the only other person in town she had been brave enough to talk to, she was still too scared to go out in public.

                When he entered the room, he kept his eyes averted from her, a snag she hadn’t anticipated.

                “Steve, I really want to talk to you about something kind of big,” Elena really wished he would look at her. But Steve just stood staring at the swirls in the plaster on the walls, he didn’t respond.

                “Ok, I was really hoping to say this a little more gently, but as you won’t even look at me I’ll just say it,” she paused hoping he would at least glance at her. “I’m pregnant, Steve.”

                Immediately, his eyes snapped to the bulge in her nightdress. How did he miss that?

                Elena stood quietly, taking in his reaction, or lack of one anyway.

                Steve took a slow breath in. He was going to hurt her, but he had to know. She had turned from him sadly, thinking he was upset and angry with her. But in reality, he was confused.

                “So,” he drawled. “Are you goin’ to keep et?”

                “What?!” Elena had exploded, placing a hand between her and Steve, as though he posed a threat to her and her baby.

                “I did not hear that coming out of your mouth ‘Steve Sixkiller!’” Her emphasis on his alias hurt him almost as badly as his question had hurt her. “How dare you imply that I don’t want this child!”

                Steve raised his hands in self-defense, desperately trying to show he meant to harm.

                “No!” He shouted back. “’At’s not what I meant, ‘At’s not what I meant!”

                She stood glaring at him, he took this as a sign that she was willing to listen at least.

                “Elena,” he told her, trying to tame his drawl a little. It was always worse when he was stressed. “Elena, you and me, we’re just livin’ here together. I’m only workin’ part time, you aren’t doin’ anything. We could barely afford this tiny place and you’re plannin’ on bringin’ a baby into this?”

                Elena leveled her gaze at him, lifting one eyebrow, narrowing her eyes. She thought she could dimly see where he was going, but she wasn’t sure.

                “Where are we even goin’ to put a crib? Our knees knock at the table if we both eat there at the same time,” He said to her bluntly. “Ha! Put it? If we can even afford it! We’re not exactly growing simoleans on trees. Nor are we goin’ to be at this rate.”

                “And where is the father?” he pushed on, aware that she wasn’t really listening anymore. She had turned her head and had sunk into her thoughts. “He’s goin’ to want to know and, hell, I want to know. If you’re tellin’ him, shouldn’t he be here helpin’? And if you’re not aimin’ on tellin’ who he is even, are you goin’ to tell folks that I’m this kids Daddy? Thet ain’t right, Elena. Don’t you go puttin’ this on me.”

                Elena heard, very clearly, every word he said. She had also noticed his drawl and knew that he was as uncomfortable as she.

The questions he asked, she didn’t have those answers. When the test had come out positive, the only thing she had known was ‘run.’ She hadn’t thought further than that. She still hadn’t. Now, she was most likely in a worse situation that she had started in. ‘No,’ she thought, shaking her head a little. ‘It would have been worse.’

                Steve was right, she wasn’t ready for this. Not by a long shot. But she’d find a way to get it all to work out.

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                The moment Steve had left for the cemetery Elena had dressed as quickly as she could and headed out the door herself. She had an idea to make a little money. It might not be enough, but if she could pull it off, then maybe she could continue. It might even be like a job.

                The store was painful when she had come in the first time, buying her mother’s maternity clothes from the racks here. This time, it was worse. A make-up case her grandfather had given to her grandmother sat on the counter this time. Helen recognized the pattern on it. She had loved to play with it as a child when she had visited her father. He had told her he would give it to her when she came of age.

                “May I help you?” The man behind the counter had become impatient, waiting for a customer who wasn’t paying an ounce of attention.

                Unable to take her eyes off the case, she went ahead and began.

                “I would like to see if you would be willing to take several of my photographs and sell them.” Her words were rushed out of her eagerness for this to work.

                “I’d have to see them first… Miss?” The oily tone taken by the salesman grated on every nerve she had.

“Brewer. Miss Brewer,” Elena shot an icy glare at the man.

                He raised an eyebrow quizzically, but began negotiating with her over the price for the photos she had taken lately.

                Their transaction concluded she turned to wander around other fond memories now sitting for sale at the store.

                She had nearly run into the elderly green-skinned woman as she rounded a corner without looking. Elena had nearly gasped with surprise when she recognized her Aunt Peaches standing in front of her.

                “Hi!” Elena had chirped breathily at the older woman who merely stared.

                “Do I even know you?” She huffed, before walking off with her nose in the air.

                Elena felt a moment of utter bewilderment. Her own aunt didn’t recognize her with a different hair color. Here she was standing amidst things that she should be cherishing and using and living with and her own aunt passed her by without even knowing her. It was too much.

Elena turned her head away, where no one in the store could see her distress. Squaring her shoulders, her resolve was formed.

She’d come through this, if it was the last thing she ever did.

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Elena walking in on Steve was hilarious. She was autonomously cleaning the house and had gone into the bathroom to gather laundry. I just went to see what would happen. What was even better, she did it not once, but twice. I got her out of the bathroom the first time and left her alone for one moment to redirect Steve back into the shower. I get him happily bathing again, and check on her, and there she goes again! I wouldn’t have used it except in the story they are simply not gelling. So I used it as a moment where a wall gets broken allowing the two to be a little freer with each other.

I don’t mean for him to be an asshole, it’s just a façade really. Elena just happens to take it all seriously, very, very seriously. So it’s kind of fun to mess with her. He’s really good at pushing her buttons.