Desperate Lies

Chapter 18 (Trigger Warning)

A/N: Trigger warning for abuse and SPOILER ALERT trigger warning for miscarriage.

The house was right next to the church, so Eve and Paul simply walk over. It was strange - the house looked exactly the same, yet it felt so foreign to Eve now. So much in her life had changed since moving in with Chris; she was an entirely different person now than she was when she had lived here.

Paul leads Eve into the hallway where the ladder that lead into the attic could be pulled down from the ceiling. Paul brings the ladder down and the two of them climb up into the attic.

"I put most of your things in this corner over here," Paul explains.

Eve nods, then walks over to the corner Paul was referring to. She kneels down and starts looking through the boxes; old yearbooks, pieces of art that she'd made when she was younger, and even some old clothes. Eve wasn't  even aware that Paul had saved all of this.

"So...how have you been?" Paul asks, "You look so...different."

Eve snorts, "Yeah, I guess I do."

"I saw the pictures of you at the award show."

Eve turns to face Paul, "You've been watching me?"

"Well, I want to make sure you're doing okay. You've changed so much since you moved out, and - "

"Chris has nothing to do with that," Eve cuts Paul off, "I know what you're implying. I know I've lost a lot of weight, I know I've had some issues, but Chris has done nothing but take care of me all through that. He's good to me, better than you ever were. He loves me, and I love him."

Paul stiffens, as if he were trying really hard not to lose it. Eve was clearly not as afraid of him as she used to be.

"So then," Paul starts, "He is really who you intend to spend your life with?"

"That's the idea."

"When did you two start talking?"

"When he bought my painting at the farmer's market last summer," Eve says, "And we officially started dating a little over a year ago."

Paul sighs and shakes his head.

"I bet Mom would've liked him," Eve says before returning to the boxes.

Paul goes to say something, when his phone begins to ring. He looks at the caller ID, then huffs.

"I'm going to take this downstairs, I'll be back."

Eve nods, then Paul heads downstairs to answer his phone.

Eve sighs and looks around the attic. It had been so long since she'd been up here. Why had Paul decided to gather her old things together? Was he trying to make amends with her? Was he finally accepting that Eve had moved out despite how much he didn't like Chris? Was he trying to lure her back? Eve knew that he had to be careful; Paul was full of tricks.

After a few more minutes of looking through her old things and deciding which things she might want to take with her, Eve's eyes wander to the opposite corner of the attic.

Dozens of boxes labeled Erica.

Eve pauses, wondering if it was a good idea to look through these boxes. Paul had always been rather private about Erica, and Eve wasn't sure how Paul would react to Eve looking through her things. Then again, it was her mother; didn't Eve have the right to know more about her?

Against her better judgement, Eve walks across the attic to the boxes. She opens a random one and finds it to be full of notebooks; were these Erica's diaries?