burning red • joe burrow

001

trigger warning: abuse

tara butler wasn't lucky in the boyfriend department to say the least. yes, she does have a boyfriend. but let's just say he isn't the kindest.

they've been dating for a total of 3 years, but around a year and a half ago, he completely changed.

he started hitting tara, hard. at random times whenever he felt like it. when he was drunk, when a sports game wasn't going his way, tara didn't make him dinner. tara has been letting it slide for a while, both of her parents died in a car accident a year ago.

finn was the only person she had. she couldn't leave him and he knew that. well, not the only person she had.

her best, and only friend, joe burrow was in her life. but with her living in los angeles and him living in cincinnati, she couldn't talk to him.

finn completely controls her life. who she talks to, what she wears, where she goes. everything was controlled by finn. like he was a puppeteer and she was the puppet.

tara recently found out the news that joe was drafted into the nfl, by the cincinnati bengals. this was his dream. she just wishes she could be there to watch him experience it.

tara heard the door knob rattle and immediately stood up and scurried over to the door. she took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever mood finn could be in when he walked in.

"hi, finn." tara said once he opened the door. she took his keys from him and hung them up.

"would you just shut up already?" finn said. "god, you are the most annoying person i've ever met. no wonder no one else would date you."

"aren't we dating?" tara asked. she immediately regretted the words she said just as quickly as they came out of her mouth.

"what did you say to me?" finn said through his teeth, walking towards tara. with every step he took forward, she took a step back.

until she was up against the wall and his hand grasped her throat. "i'm only dating you because i pity you. don't forget that. you're worthless. it's not i like i love you anyways." finn said with a chuckle. almost as if he thought it was funny.

"i can't breathe." tara managed to mutter out. he dropped his hand and she fell to the floor. this one would definitely leave marks.

"this is cold." finn said taking a bite of the dinner tara made for him. "you can't even do one thing right!"

he slammed his hand down on the table. then he proceeded to push the plate off of the table making the food fall on the floor and the glass shatter. tara flinched.

"don't flinch at me." finn said slapping tara, leaving a burn on her skin.

"clean this up. make yourself useful." finn said gesturing towards the glass and food. the mess he made on the floor.

"hello." finn said snapping. "that means now, tara. god. just when i thought you couldn't get any more stupid."

"sorry." tara said quickly before cleaning up the food on the floor.

while tara was cleaning up the mess, she was thinking about the earlier times in their relationship, when they were happier.

this only lasted for about 11 months though. one day, he came home in the middle of the night and it was like a switch flipped in his brain.

to this day, tara has never known why he came him in the middle of the night or why he started hitting her.

but then, it made sense.

he was cheating on her.

the work trips to random cities, the phone calls at 3 in the morning, not coming home until well after he finished working, the "work" dinners, the business meetings. they were all lies.

it's not like tara could leave him. yes she has a car, and a job but where would she stay? what if he found her and hurt her?

the conflicting in her mind ended when she realized. she couldn't leave him. she would have to stay with a cheater.

• • •

tara hasn't brought up anything to finn about him cheating. she was afraid of what he might do.
but tara was trapped and she needed to get out.

"finn?" tara said once she heard the door open. it was another night where he came home late. she decided to stay up this time.

he stopped in his tracks when she heard him call his name. his button up wasn't buttoned, his belt was halfway off, a girl was on his side, kissing him and playing with his hair.

"tara?" finn said. "what are you going up?"

tara stood there still. looking between the girl and finn. "i knew you were cheating. but you are bringing them to our house?" tara said.

"my house. tara. it's my house." finn said. the girl was standing next to him now.

"it's not just your house. i pay the rent." tara said.

"it's my house now. get out." finn said. he didn't have the right to be mad at her. he was the one who was cheating.

tara went upstairs, grabbed all of her belongings and left. her job was stable enough she was able to book a motel for the night.

she had 12 hours to figure out where she was going to go. it's not like she had any friends to call.

until she remembered. she could call joe.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

that's chapter 1 :)

the bengals made the playoffs!!! hopefully they can have a super bowl run again!!