#starshocker

;; starshocker

   Anger bubbled up in her, her teeth gritting and hands balling into fists.

      “--not surprising you think so, considering there hasn’t been a fucking conversation we’ve had in the last six months were I ain’t been mad as all hell.”

   Still, the statement softened her. She wished it hadn’t. Danny’s fatal charm was infectious, and she’d rather avoid it.

   With a loud, irritated sigh, she dropped her hands from her hips and beckoned him to come over for a make up kiss. There was no point in bickering over things with him -- especially when she knew she was right and could simply go ahead behind is back without telling him, and he would likely be too absorbed with himself to notice at all.

;; starshocker

   The last thing she needed that night was some skinny loser pestering her -- not after the tremendous blowout that had been the fight between her friends earlier. She’d just wanted to dance, but apparently it wasn’t going to happen.

   With a look of pure disdain, she straightened up from the bar, tall drink in her hand. Slowly, she looked him up and down, elbow leaning on the bar, one leg crossed over the other. Her dress was sparkly, her shoes were sparkly -- even her eyeshadow was sparkly. It was 1982. Fashion was not popular during that decade.

;; starshocker

      He was always covered in blood. He was always covered in blood. It wasn’t hers, this time, which was a refreshing change, she had to admit.

   Slowly, Charlie put down the lamp she’d picked up as a weapon. Normally, he wasn’t so damn quiet when he returned from God knows where. She’d panicked. Thankfully he’d made himself known soon enough.

            “--Danny, what have you done?”

   Hate him? What’d he done that he thought she’d hate him? Mind, he often panicked that she was going to hate him with the smallest things, but actual hate-able offenses were written off as not a big deal.

;; starshocker

      He wouldn’t ever understand.

   Charlie sighed, looking away from him. She’d been planning this trip for years. She was supposed to leave in the morning, and now he was getting clingy.

            “Because it’s just how it is. My family is            a part of who I am. You don’t have to like            it. You don’t have to be a part of it.

What about Arlenis Sosa or Sessilee Lopez?

;; starshocker // this

      Hastily, Charlie stumbled back, back against the door. Her hand rested on the knob. Danny might have been a cruel, bad-tempered man, but she was just as fast as he was cruel. She could get out and get to someone else before he could reach her.

               "I'm sorry. I didn't-- I didn't know how to               tell you, Danny. I didn't want to upset you.               Just-- just calm down, Danny, and we can               talk about it, okay? Like adults, Danny."

   These days, she only called him Danny when she wanted to calm him down. She'd known for a fortnight. Ten weeks. Ten tiny, fragile weeks. She wanted that baby, more than anything. A little girl, she thought, with his smile. Her brains, if the kid was lucky.

;; starshocker

   Charlie stared up at him, clutching hold of her face with both hands. It was already flushing with blood, beginning to bruise. Just slightly, her lower lip trembled. For a moment, she seemed like she was about to start bawling, instead of just crying silently like she was.

   Suddenly, her body jerked, her fist swung and connected right on his nose.

            "You know exactly what came over you."

   Finally, she let herself break down, crumpling, pulling her legs up to her chest. She sobbed softly. Now her knuckles hurt, as well as her face. Slowly, she just wrapped her arms around her knees, buried her face away behind her hair and legs, and cried. Her shoulders heaved with her sobs. She should have been used to it by now -- he'd repeatedly promised that he wouldn't hurt her again. He always did.