"you?" "me."

I take nervous steps up the stairs, praying Peter is still gone. I pull out my keys and fumble trying to find the right one. I finally unlock it and go to walk in, when I hear the blaring of the TV.

 Fuck. April.

I stop Keller in the doorway and tell him to wait a second.

I step cautiously into the living room, illuminated by the television alone.

“Hi, April,” I say nervously, nearly tripping over my words.

“Eleanore Mariah Vincent, where the hell have you been?” she yelled as I winced, knowing Keller heard her.

“I’ve been at work. I told you that.”

She rose from her chair, towering over me causing me to shrink back. She rose her hand and it landed on my cheek with a distasteful thwap. I felt the tears start to well up but I held them back as she started yelling again.

“You filthy liar, you were probably whoring around with Peter.”

“W-what?”

“I found his shirt in your damn room, you whore,” she said as she raised her hand and brought it down with more force than the last one. The sound echoed as I fell to the ground from the sheer force.

I heard the thudding of shoes running through the door and I look up and see Keller. April’s face twists like she had eaten a million lemons.

“So it wasn't Parker’s, it was his, huh?” Keller starts to pull me to my feet.

“April, no just stop please,” I screamed in response, the tears falling now.

Keller grabbed my arm and tried to rush me out when I am suddenly whipped back. The ripping sound of my shirt was the only sound for a second. I reach back and feel that the back of my shirt is stretched out and the sleeve slightly ripped at the seams.

“Keller, just go,” I hug him quickly and  whisper, “pull around the back, to the fire escape. If I’m not out in 10-15 minutes, leave and call the police.”

I pull away and he nods, glaring at April.

Once he leaves, April shoves me to the ground and kicks me in the ribs. I spit at the force of the kick. I crawl away into my room. I use the door handle to pull myself up. I stumble and clutch my stomach. I slam my door closed and lock it. I grab my duffel bag and start shoving as many pieces of clothing into it. I shove important things into my bag, including a picture of Uncle Isaiah and I. He is lifting me in the air in a flying pose. The smile on his face is radiant. I smile with tears in my eyes.

I finish packing my things. I look down the fire escape and see Keller standing by his car. I smile. I slam my window down and climb down the escape. Huh, fitting name. I throw my bags down first and then I jump down. I practically collapse at the jolts of pain. Keller crouches down and helps me stand.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" he asked, looking concernedly.

"No, not for now at least. When Peter gets home I'll stay with him."

"Stay with me for tonight, okay?"

I nod through the pain. I slip one of my hands from his arm into his hand.

He drives for a little bit and we arrive at a small house in a quiet neighbourhood. I smile looking at it. The house was two stories tall. A window on the second floor was dimly lit by what I assume is a candle. There is a beautiful garden in the front lawn, lit by a few solar powered lanterns. I smile and look back to him.

I take my backpack which has very little of my clothes in it, seeing as I'm only staying for a night. I follow Keller to the front porch and admire the quiet neighbourhood as he unlocks the door. I enter the quiet house behind him. He turns on the light switch and shows the small living room.

"Do you live here by yourself?" I asked curiously, running my fingers along the detailing on a bookshelf.

"Yeah, I got kicked out when I was 15," he said, placing his bag on a kitchen stool.

"Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm tired and sore," I reply weakly.

He scoffs jokingly, "yeah." I smile.

"Where can I lay down?"

He smiles, "This way, Miss Vincent."

I follow him to the second floor. He leads me to the bedroom at the end of the hall, the one whose window seemed lit by a candle. He opens the door and I find the source of the light, a small desk lamp, haphazardly left on. He turns on the overhead light and the room illuminates with a white glow.  The room appeared to be his, a backpack thrown haphazardly down onto a messy bed. He seemed to glide across the room and turn off the light, while simultaneously closing a notebook.

"Oh, Keller, I can't take your room. I can sleep on the couch. I-"

"No, you cannot. you're hurt. The couch will only make it worse," he said, cutting me off softly and sweetly.

"I don't want you sleeping on the couch in your own house."

"I will blow up an air mattress and sleep in here then."

I uncross my arms in feigned defeat. I am about to argue when I feel a soft head brush up against my hand. I look over and see a small siamese kitten. I melt and start petting her. The sudden presence of the cat cut all the tension from between me and Keller.

"She is such a cutie, whats her name?"

"Meredith, as in Meredith Stepien. It is the name of this actress from this silly thea-"

"StarKid! I love them. Meredith is amazing."

"You know StarKid? That's amazing."

I smile and laugh at myself and this situation. I place my hands on my forehead. I feel a slick spot near my hairline and pull my hand away. My hand is shiny with a red substance. I stand up and start to freak out.

"Hey, uh, where's your bathroom?"

"First door out to the righ- Oh my, god Elle are you okay?" he springs from where he was seated with Mer on his lap. He rushes over and leads me to the bathroom.

He hands me a towel and I press it against my head to stave off the bleeding. He wets a paper towel and removes my hand and the towel and wipes the blood away. I look in his eyes as he crouches down to my level where I'm sitting. He slows the dabbing and looks back into my dull green eyes with his bright blue ones. He pulls his face away from mine, rising and throwing away the now red paper towel in one swift move.

I change into shorts and my Midtown tank top. I search desperately for my sweater, sitting on the bed and sighing in defeat.

"You okay?" Keller said entering the room, walking in the little space left after the air mattress was blown up.

"Yeah, I just can't find my sweater. I could have sworn that I put it in my bag." I sigh.

He walks over to his dresser and pulls out a purple Champion sweatshirt and extends it to me. I reach for it and he pulls me carefully, into a hug. I wrap my arms around him in response. I breathe in the scent of his body-wash, orange creme. I smile and he pulls me closer, I wince at the pain in my stomach but remain in the hug.

"Thank you, Keller."

"It's nothing, Elle.¨

We pull out of the hug and I slide on the sweatshirt. It's a little big and the sleeves hang past my hands, probably from all the tugging he does absent-mindedly. I smile at the thought of him listening to a lecture from Stark and tugging on his sleeves and picking at the loose strings. I look up and our eyes lock. He walks to the door and turns off the light. I lay on his bed, that he freshly made with new sheets, though I insisted otherwise, he had said he just washed them. He had put the old sheets onto the air mattress. I smiled as he fought with the fitted sheet. I looked at him and asked if he needed help. He scoffed and says no, but I insisted. After finally getting the sheet on, I let him finish putting the rest of the sheets on himself.

As I lay in his bed, I stare at the remnants of glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. I grin and grab my phone. I aim the camera towards the ceiling and shoot. I take a few more shots and then check them out. The soft glow of the stars showed in the pictures. I saw tiny details that I hadn't noticed before. Small planets surrounded the stars. I smile and try to sleep.

At some point I got off the bed and laid by his side, taking my covers with me. His arm had been laid lazily over me, I pull the covers tighter and moved closer to him.