Forfeit || CLOSED (aqua-canalis)
She was frightened of him.
In the years they had spent together, Piper was never afraid of him. Sure, she was afraid of getting pregnant or of the DUP catching her, but she was never afraid of him. He promised to protect her and to love her… but one day, that changed.
He had started using again and she warned him against using his own stash. They were so deep in debt already that, if they lost what little amount of heroin they could sell, they’d die on the streets.
The fighting followed, Piper constantly leaving, only to come back to him in a rage. There were many times when he was so close to hitting her, but he didn’t. He’d just punch the wall nearest her head and storm out, only to return sometime the next day.
At one point, he wanted her to whore herself out and.. she agreed. Anything to make him happy… to keep them alive for another day. Every night she’d come home, put down what little money she did get on their table, and go to lock herself in the bathroom. There were times when she’d be bloody and beaten, and she would sit in that bathroom and sob. He didn’t care. She knew he didn’t care. She could die, but as long as she got some sort of money, he wouldn’t notice.
This wasn’t the Brent she fell for…
Every night she would come home, no hi, no hello just straight to the bathroom every night after the stack of cash was left on their nightstand. At first he was worried and he would softly knock on the door when he was sober enough to get up and ask her through the door if she was okay. She’s either give him a really weak yes or remain silent, not letting him come inside and not getting out until he was fast asleep or so far gone he wouldn’t have noticed if she actually did come at all. In the morning when he would wake up and out of that haze Piper would already be gone.
But as time went on his interest began to falter and whatever she did in the bathroom was no longer his problem. He got was he wanted and that meant he was going to be happy, after all that’s where his priorities stood now. This night she walked in, sporting a black eye from yesterday as she tossed the money on the nightstand and headed for the bathroom, Brent grabbed her by the wrist, “What’s wrong?” he asked the emotion in his eyes nearly completely devoid, after looking at her face completely after months he almost felt a twinge of regret.
“This isn’t as much money as it usually is.” The man said beginning to get angry, “What the fuck happened? You fucked something up, didn’t you?” Because of one dumb mistake his girlfriend made they wouldn’t be short on cash when he needed it the most. “Whatever stunt you pulled…” He had begun to grit his teeth trying to contain his rage and keep from hitting her, “You better make up for it tomorrow night or we’re royally fucked.” Brent let her go with a push telling her to go run to the bathroom and do whatever she did, but to get it over with quickly.
Even after she locked the door behind her he complained about her, loud enough for their neighbors could hear and just at the right volume to make her feel guilty and most importantly, humiliated her. If she didn’t like the feeling then she won’t make the same mistake as that, he didn’t have to hit her to keep her in line. He just had to make sure she’d never want to.
