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it's hot and sticky in the room, making it hard to breathe. Shea lies on the bed, her heart racing as she listens to Chris pace back and forth.
"why are you pacing so much? you're stressing me out." she says. he continues to pace, not looking at her.
but it's clear that something is bothering him. she sits up, worry growing in her chest. she reaches out to touch his arm, but he flinches away from her. "baby, what's wrong?" she asks, her voice soft and concerned. "you're scaring me." he stops pacing, taking a deep breath before turning to face her.
"You and Winter." he says, the words coming out in a rush. "What's the worse thing he's done?"
"Blow up your car." she whispers.
"That's it?" he asks, his voice filled with disbelief. "You're making it sound like he's some petty criminal."
"When I was 14 years old, I went to this school dance with my friends. And I had a lot of guys friends back then ... and he got into a fight with one of them over a joke they made to me. It was a pretty nasty joke, like ... really nasty. And Winter came over and just took him out. Like, literally. He beat him up so badly, he had to go to the hospital." she says, her voice trembling. "My friend was in a coma. And when he woke up, he like -- had no memory of anything. And his mom stopped him from talking to any of us. We were all scared."
"What did he do after that?" Chris asks, his voice tight.
"He left. We didn't see him. He was in New York, visiting. And ... the next day, we got into a huge argument over the phone and then ... I bumped into him, but it wasn't a coincidence. He planned it. And then ... my friend tried to step in and he stabbed her in the shoulder." Shea whispers. "And then he left again."
Chris frowns. "I don't understand why you're still defending him." he says, sitting down beside her. "He's dangerous, Shea."
"No, he's only dangerous when you piss him off. Which is why I told you to stop trying to fight him. He doesn't just fight people. He goes straight to violence." Shea says, tears welling up in her eyes.
"You told me he's hit you before, right?" Chris asks, his voice gentle. Shea nods, sniffling. "Why would you want to be with someone like that?" he continues. "Someone who hurts you?"
"... I was a kid. Who felt alone. And although he was super scary sometimes, he also ... was my shield, you know?" she says, wiping her tears. "He protected me from everyone and everything. But now I'm older. And I know better. And I know it was bad."
"Right time, wrong person?" Chris asks, tilting his head.
"Yeah ... wrong person." Shea whispers. "But I still care about him. I just wish I could make him understand that." She sighs, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry for telling you all of this. I shouldn't have put you in danger like that."
"Nah, tell me more about him." Chris insists.
"There's so much that happened. So much trauma and morbidity. I dunno. He just ... he was broken. And hurting. And he just ... went about it the wrong way." she says, staring off into the distance. "When he was a kid, his mom ... she was terrible to him. Chased him around, scared him, hit him ... left him to grow up on his own, so fast. He just ... harbored a lot of anger. And I was there. I saw it. And I wanted to help. But he didn't want it ... and I just had to leave him..." Shea trails off, tears beginning to fall again.
