A Little Trust Can Go a Long Way

Deciding to move to Pittsburgh was easy, but the actual move was difficult. The reason behind me moving there is Eric, who is now my ex-boyfriend. I honestly don't know how I made it through being with him; two months after we became a couple, he began abusing me physically and mentally. He would hit me for forgetting to make dinner, being late after coming home from work, talking to guys and basically, every time I would make a 'mistake'. He called me so many names under the sun that I don't know how it didn't destroy me. I can't believe that I put up with that for nearly a year and the fact he said that he loved me despite all of the agonizing, damaging, inside and out, abuse.

Now that I'm out of there and the state, which is miles upon miles away from the city I grew up in, I'm trying to start my life over, but I figure it's going to be hard, since I don't trust men anymore.

Thank you, Eric. Thank you so fucking much, you disgrace to society.

I don't plan on becoming friends with any guy or dating any guy. I can't risk anything; I don't want or need another Eric.

About a couple weeks after moving here, I have a one-bedroom apartment and a decent paying job. Things seem to be going well for once in about a year and I hope nothing jinxes that. On a beautiful Saturday in early December, I am starting my day at a Starbucks, which has recently become my haven. While I'm there, I chill for a while, drink a caramel macchiato or a hot chocolate and read. I have decided to make that a tradition, which I hoped wouldn't change. As I sat in my spot in the back against the wall, I sensed someone's presence, so I looked up from my Jane Austen novel and saw a guy with shortish black hair and warm brown eyes walking towards me. I went back to my book and tried my best to ignore him. He sat in the chair beside me and attempted to get my attention, which irritated me to the nth degree.

"Hi." he said in a Frenchnaccent.

"Hi." I said just to be polite.

"Why are you sitting here all by yourself?"

"Because I want to."

I sighed and went back to my book. I thought that would cause him to get up and walk away, but, unfortunately, it didn't.

"Why are you talking to me?" I asked, actually looking at him.

"It seemed like you needed someone to talk to."

Deep down, I wanted to break down and cry after he said that, but I couldn't because he's a complete stranger and this is a public place. I closed my book and put it back in my purse before speaking to him again.

"Maybe I need to, but I don't want to."

I picked up my belongings, got up and made my way out of the shop. He wasn't too far behind and I had a feeling that he wouldn't leave me alone for the rest of the day. I walked down the sidewalk and walked as fast as I could, trying to get away from him. I started to make my way across the street when someone pulled me back and caught me as a car was coming my way.

"Thanks." I said breathless.

"You're welcome."

It was that guy who has been bugging me today. After I dusted myself off, I took a deep breath and decided to talk to him.

What was the worst that could happen?

"I'm Lyric." I said reaching my hand out to shake his hand.

"Marc-Andre and that's a pretty name."

"Thanks. My mom is a free spirit and is a musician, so she decided to name me something unique."

He smiled and I could not help but crack a smile; it was infectious.

"I got you to smile."

"Shut up." I said while laughing.

"Are you doing anything else today?"

"Nope. I'm free."

"Good. Let's go do something."

After that day, we became friends and I slowly began to trust him. For me to trust Marc-Andre so fast, there must've been something about him that was different from any other guy I've met. He is the sweetest and funniest guy I have ever met and we're close, but I still haven't told him about my past and why I decided to make the move to where I'm living now. It's been two weeks and I know that I need to talk about it already. At the moment, it's raining cats and dogs outside, so as we're spending time at my apartment, I decided to bring up that topic.

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" he asked seriously.

"Remember when we met at Starbucks and you said that it seemed like I needed to talk?"

"Yeah and later on, you told me that it was something you weren't ready to talk about."

"Well, I'm ready to talk about it now."

"Alright." he said with a sigh.

"Where do I start? Oh...around a year ago, I started dating this guy named Eric. He was such a sweetheart for two months, but after that, everything went downhill. He abused me for so many things, which to him, were 'mistakes', but insisted that despite all of that, he loved me. Not only was the abuse physical, but emotional too. He would call me everything under the sun and to tell you the truth, I don't how I made it through that and for that long. My ex had nearly destroyed me and left me damaged. That is the reason behind me moving to Pittsburgh; I wanted to move as far away as possible from him and I ended up here. When I met you, I told myself that I would never get it into any type of relationship with a guy, whether it be a friendship or a romantic relationship. Obviously, that has changed." I said solemnly.

Only a few tears were running down my face, but I could feel more coming. I looked at him through my blurry eyes and noticed that he was angry and upset. Immediately, he pulled me into a hug where more tears soaked into his shirt. I definitely was right when I said that more tears were going to come, a lot more. When I finally stopped sobbing, I could breathe again, but my head was pounding. I rubbed my temples.

"I feel better now. It's great to finally get that off of my chest."

"I understand now why you wanted me to go away that day. I'm in disbelief that anyone would treat you that way. I can't even fathom it." he said shaking his head.

I sighed.

"I am so angry."

I kissed his cheek to see if he'd smile. He did, although it was a small smile. It made me so happy that he cared about me that much.

"One last thing. It took me a week until I completely trusted you. I never thought that would ever be possible for me to trust anyone. Thank you for being such a sweet, trustworthy and funny guy."

At this point, I had on the biggest smile. He blushed at the compliment.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" he asked.

"Absolutely. Let's watch something funny."

As we watched the movie, I stayed close to him and placed my head on his shoulder. The arm that snaked around my waist made me feel completely secure. I didn't ever want to move from this spot.

Another Two Weeks Later

After coming home from a long day at work, I was exhausted and decided to go lay down. Before I could do so, I heard my doorbell rang.

Weird. I just got home.

I opened the door to find my ex on the other side; I managed to slam the door in his face, but I couldn't lock it. I ran for my life and managed to text Marc about what was going on right at that moment as Eric chased me. I locked myself inside my bathroom and silently cried to myself.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." I heard from outside my door.

He banged on the door as loudly as possible. I became even more frightened. My phone vibrated, indicating that I had received a text from Marc.

Where are you now?

In my bathroom. He's banging on the door as we speak.

I'm only ten minutes away. Hold on.

K. Please hurry.

"Are you gonna open the fucking door, you skank?!"

"No." I said shakily.

"I can tell that you're still scared of me."

"Do you have a point?" I said getting an attitude.

He wasn't happy about that. He bust the door open and I screamed. I tried running away from him again, but this time, I was unsuccessful. He drug me by my hair, which was beyond painful, and we ended up in my kitchen. I didn't know why we were in there, but I was still scared nonetheless.

"W-why are we in h-here?"

"I'm hungry."

"Then, why the fuck am I in here?"

He picked me up and threw me onto the hardwood table in my living room. Yes. He is that strong. I had trouble getting up, but I began to crawl down the hall and into the guest bedroom; I slowly closed the door when I got in there. I'm surprised that he didn't even know that I was gone.

What a fucking idiot.

He was never the smartest person around though. I hoped that this would stall him, so it would give Marc-Andre some time.

"Come on Marc. I need you." I whispered to myself.

A couple of minutes later, Eric noticed that I was gone and came knocking. He didn't bother waiting this time; he busted through the door with a butcher knife from my kitchen in his hand.

"Don't fuck with me anymore or I will slit your throat. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's go."

He picked me up and we made the way out of the room. I heard the door being opened as we made it into the living room. My mouth formed into a smile once Marc walked in. Eric was shocked and even more pissed off, which I didn't think was humanly possible. He threw me against the table and I began to cry. I was in so much pain. Marc, who saw this, became enraged and prepared himself for battle.

"What the fuck makes you think that you can treat her like that?"

"She always makes mistakes. Who are you anyway? Her boyfriend?"

"You don't need to know that and no, not yet, anyway."

My ears perked up as I dialed 911. After making the call, I hung up and pulled myself up onto the couch.

Not yet? He likes me that way?

Although I was in immense pain, the fact that he felt the same way I did made it hurt it less. When he made that comment, Eric dropped the knife and attacked Marc, but unfortunately for my ex, he was ready for this and knew what to expect. A few punches went back and forth, then Eric lost his step and fell. Marc pinned his arms down.

"Let me tell you something. Lyric is one of the most amazing girls that I have ever met and doesn't deserve any of your hideous abuse; no woman does. I hope you rot in prison, you piece of scum." he said before slapping him across the face.

Eric began to open his mouth to say something but came up speechless. I silently laughed. Marc stayed that way until the police came. Once he could move, he ran over to me and hugged me; I cried in his arms again.

"Miss, can we speak with you?"

After making my statement, I headed to straight to the paramedics as Marc spoke to the officer. Surprisingly, I didn't have any broken bones; I just had bruised ribs.

Thank goodness.

When everyone was gone, Marc-Andre and I walked up my room where we collapsed onto my bed.

"I can't believe that he actually drove down and found out where I lived. He must've followed me home from work. Oh my God..." I groaned.

He turned to me and took my hand. I blushed.

"At least, he's never going to lay a hand on you again."

I smiled.

"Is it true that you want us to be more than friends?" I said looking into his eyes.

"Yes." he said with a smile creeping onto his face.

I moved toward him and we kissed.

"How long have you felt this way?" he asked.

"For a couple of days. You?"

"The same."

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I don't think I ever felt anything close to this when I was with Eric. The only two good months, sure, we liked each other, but it wasn't intense like this. I love this feeling! It's beyond amazing."

"I get what you mean." he said with a laugh.

"I'm just gonna ask this. Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Lyric. I wasn't going to leave you alone tonight."

"I should've known that." I said while laughing.

Eight Months Later

Marc-Andre and I are still together. My ex is serving his time in prison, leaving me happy, in love and with no worries for the first time in my life. It's now near the beginning of the hockey season aka the end of summer and we're heading up to his hometown for a while. I'm excited yet nervous about meeting his parents, but he always reassures me that they'll love me.

"Are you ready?" he asked while holding my hand.

"Yep. I'm ready. Let's do this!"

He laughed, then knocked on the door.

"Hi Mom." he said before letting go and giving her a hug.

"Hi honey. Who did you bring with you?"

"This is Lyric. She's my girlfriend."

She smiled and shook my hand.

"It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

I instantly received a hug from his mom. Walking into the living room, I saw his dad and his sister sitting there, waiting to greet us.

"Well, who's this lovely lady?" his dad asked.

"Lyric. My girlfriend."

"Welcome. Nice to meet you." he said while shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you too."

His sister came up and hugged me.

"Marylene."

"It's great to finally meet everyone." I said with a smile.

After spending time in the living room with his family for a couple hours, I fixed myself up in the bathroom right before dinner, but I was interrupted by my boyfriend who snuck up behind me and had his strong arms wrapped around my waist.

"Hi." I said, trying not to laugh.

"Hi. Almost ready?"

"Yes. I'll just be about a minute or two. I need to look perfect."

"Lyric, you looked perfect before you came in here."

"Stop being so sweet."

"That's gonna be hard. I love you."

"I love you, too."

We kissed and then he let me be for the time being. At dinner, I noticed Marc seemed a little nervous for some reason. I wondered if anyone else noticed.

"How long have you two been together, Lyric?" his dad asked.

"For eight months, but we were friends for a month before we got together."

"Where'd you two meet?" his mom asked, looking at him.

"At a Starbucks in Pittsburgh on a chilly December day."

"Aww..." I heard from his sister.

About ten minutes past and when dinner was almost over, I heard him and his chair move. I looked to see him down on one knee and I was speechless as tears threatened to come down.

"Lyric. We've made it through so much since that fateful December morning, and I know that we can make it through anything now. I love you way too much to let you go. Will you marry me?"

With a few tears running down my face, I answered.

"Yes!! Of course I will!!" I yelled.

He slipped the ring on, picked me up and spun us around while we kissed. The house was filled with pure joy and excitement afterward.

"How long were you planning this?"

"For a couple of months."

"Did everyone know?"

"No one knew but the guys."

"I'm surprised Max didn't say anything about it." I said with a laugh.

That comment made everyone laugh. It was too true.

"Holy crap. You're gonna be my sister-in-law! I can't wait till you two get married." she cheered and hugged me.

"I can't wait either." I said looking at my fiancé.

Fiancé.

That has a nice ring to it. Later that night as we laid in bed, I thought about how my parents' would react to the news; he only met them about three months ago.

"Whatcha thinking about?" he asked.

"My parents' reaction when I tell them that we're engaged."

We laughed.

"I need to be there when you tell them."

"Of course you're gonna be there when I tell them. I'm not doing this alone."

"Anything else?"

"I'm just thinking about the wedding. That's all, but that's not for quite a while."

"It doesn't hurt to think about it."

"No. It doesn't. It certainly doesn't."

I couldn't believe that in about a year or less, I wouldn't be Lyric Sienna Maynard ever again; instead, I would be Lyric Sienna Fleury, which has a beautiful ring to it. I smiled and slowly but gradually fell asleep in Marc-Andre's protective, yet loving arms.