burning red • joe burrow

003

trigger warning: abuse & fighting

tara checked into a hotel, which was much nicer than the motel. she felt bad joe was giving her all this money to her but at the same time, she had nothing else to do.

she was staying at the dream hollywood, joe was also staying in this hotel. they were currently in the lobby, waiting for valet so that they could get her car.

she was going to show him around la, since he has never been before.

her phone rang. she grabbed it out of her back pocket and answered it.

she quickly regretted her decision as she realized she was talking to finn.

"hello?" tara said plainly when she answered the phone. joe could tell by her tone who she was talking to.

"where are you?" finn said.

"nowhere that concerns you." tara said. finn didn't have any power over her anymore.

"i'm coming to get you." finn said. "you're mine. don't forget that."

"i'm not yours finn." tara said. "you're the one that cheated on me. so stay out of my life."

"you don't get to speak to me that way. i built you. you couldn't have done this without me." finn said.

"whatever, finn." tara said before hanging up the phone.

"i'm sorry." joe said. he couldn't hear what finn was saying, but he heard what tara said.

"there's this restaurant in the alleyway next door, they have good food." tara said.

"okay, let's go then." joe said. they walked out of the hotel, and walked the literal 30 seconds to the restaurant.

once the hostess seated them, joe stood up. "i'm gonna go to the bathroom, i'll be right back." he said.

tara took a sip of her water and looked around. then she saw finn angrily marching towards her.

how did he find where she was?

"finn?" tara said, she stood up. she didn't know what he was going to do.

"you thought you could hide from me?" finn said pushing her up against the wall, hands around her throat.

"let me go!" tara said, trying to break away from his grasp. no one was around.

"no!" finn said. he slapped her across the face.

"tara?" joe said running over. he pushed finn away.

while tara was catching her breath, finn pushed joe back. joe pushed finn back.

finn punched joe, right across the left side of his face. joe put his hand up to where he had been punched.

"finn! stop!" tara yelled trying to pull them apart.

"this is finn?" joe said, his eyes got darker. he look even more furious than he already was.

"get away from me!" finn yelled pushing tara away from him, making her fall on the floor.

joe punched finn in the face. once he started, he couldn't stop. he punched him over and over again.

"joe, stop." tara said. joe stopped and finn ran out of there.

"how often." joe asked, although it didn't sound like a question.

"what?" tara said. she didn't want to talk about this.

"how often does he hit you." joe said.

"joe, i." tara said shaking her head, she didn't want to tell him.

"say it, tara." joe said.

"everyday." tara said looking at her feet.

"why didn't you tell me." joe said. he didn't say it like it was a question.

"because, i didn't know how." tara said.

"tell me everything that happened." joe said, as they sat back down.

"there isn't much to tell." tara said shrugging her shoulders. "he just hits me when he gets mad."

"that isn't ok, tara. how long has he been doing this?" joe asked, he voice was filled with sympathy.

"about a year and a half." tara said. she was ashamed. he hit her and she let it happen.

"you're moving to cincinnati." joe said. he didn't ask her, it was like he made the decision himself.

"what about my job?" tara asked. "i don't have anywhere to live in cincinnati."

"you can get another job in cincinnati and until you do, i'll make sure you have what you need. and besides, you don't have anywhere to live here." joe said. he made a good point. "i also found you a couple of roommates."

"who are they?" tara asked.

"they are good friends of mine," joe said. "charlie, rory, and lily."

they all sounded like they were females, and for some reason, tara felt a stinging in her chest.

"how do you know them?" tara said. she didn't want to come off pushy or anything, but she felt the need to know.

"charlie is tee's girlfriend, rory is evan's girlfriend, and lily is rory's best friend. i met them through the guys, we all hang out from time to time." joe said.

"okay," tara said. "do they know i'm going to live with them?"

"yeah, i asked them first." joe said. "they're all good with it, they want to be good friends with you."

"thank you, joe." tara said. "for doing all of this. you really didn't have to."

"i'm just helping out a friend, i'm sure you would do it for me." joe said with a smile.

despite the fact that anyone else would take this as a compliment, tara couldn't help but feel that sting once more.

"well uh," joe said. "we didn't even order food."

"guess not, she would just go?" tara said with a laugh. "it feels wrong." she said as the pair stood up.

"it kind of does." joe said. "feels like a dine and dash."

"what do you know about a dine and dash?" tara said chuckling. she didn't know anything about doing it either.

"i grew up in athens, ohio for christ sake. never done it, but i've seen it countless times." joe said.

they walked the 30 seconds back to the hotel and took the elevator up to their floor.

"oh my god." tara said once she got into her room and looked at the window.

she immediately called joe. "yeah? is everything ok?" joe asked once he answered the phone. which was almost instantly.

it was a facetime so she turned the camera around. "it's the hollywood sign!" she said pointing to it.

"it's right there! like right there!" tara said with her jaw dropping. she's lived in la all this time, but has never seen it.

joe chuckled at her reaction from behind the screen.

"you live in la and have never seen it?" joe asked.

"no, like never!" tara said. she turned the camera back to her, but she was still looking at the sign.

joe was watching her watch the sign. he was falling more and more in love with her everyday, he just hasn't admitted it to himself yet.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

don't you love how blind they both are??