Christine smiled, "i like talking about this, its fine". She pulled her legs underneath herself to get a bit more comfy. "you'll never know something till you try it, i mean your father might come after you but he wouldnt hurt you.. right?" She looked at him questioning then realised wait maybe his father abuses him. Trying to encourage him a little she said, "you were the one that really got me thinking about what I wanted in my life and how much i didnt realise my Aunt bossed me" she paused before continuing, "i dont like how my aunt treats me so i'm going to try and stand up for myself now, because of you.. you helped me without realising it". She added, "Have you ever tried fighting for you own with him" she instantly regretted saying that, "what in the world are you thinking Chris, hitting his own father?!?" She scolded herself and looked down into her lap a bit embarrassed.

Keefe tried not to look shocked. +Yeah, okay haha, funny, no one likes talking about how their parents (or aunts) suck more than the most sucking parents and aunts ever+ he thought. As she continued he almost laughed. Wow. Well, then again, she didn't know his father. At her question he pulled up his sleeve a little to reveal still slightly red, not yet scars, but long wounds running down his arm. "That's probably the next best thing to slapping. He looooves his daggers. But what he loves even more than daggers are whips. He has this special one, a cat snake whip, with three ends, each sharp metal. They cut in raaaather deep. All sailors were usually pretty tough, so the bar for them was 40 lashes with a normal whip would kill them. Well, 13 lashes with the cat snake whip would kill them. Unless, of course, they had time to recover. Then it was just pain, pain, pain, pain, but no death." He explained, wincing slightly as he shifted. He still had too many new wounds. As she spoke he glanced at her. "I'm glad something I said may have helped you a little. Usually it's just rambling about problems." He snorted, running a hand through his hair again. At her last question he slowly looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "I have. Just a couple months ago, actually, and believe me, it didn't go as well as I had planned. I may have gotten a couple swings in but apparently I'm too much of a wimp to do any damage, and afterward it was another round of cat snake whipping for me, yaaaay." He sighed heavily. "Don't look at me wrong for saying this- yet- but the only way to get away is to kill him. My mom doesn't care about me or him or anyone so she would just leave, and I pretty much have enough money to pay the president to make something happen so I could probably bribe the police into saying the scene was an accident." His voice sounded sour. "I could never though." Keefe added before plucking one sad note on his guitar with a slight smile. "At least I have the things I do. Even if I think my life can't get any worse, it always can."

(just deleted the tab i was writing in ahhh start again 0.0)

(Awww poor you I hate it when that happens)

Christine smiled but that was soon wiped from her face. She looked at horror towards Keefe and his wounds. "how can someone be so cruel". She looked to keefe and asked, "this might sound strange but is there a reason your father does this, i mean no "normal" person would do something like this".

-

She looked at him bewildered, "having to put up with that much pain, I couldnt bear it if I were you" she looked up towards the sun and noticed it was almost down ,"crap my Aunt is going to be so mad if I dont get back, this would be my second night being out and she doesnt like that" she stood up and glanced at Keefe, "it was nice talking to you, dont loose hope". she smiled and followed the treeline keeping clear of the mansion. Once she was far enough around she glanced behind her to make sure Keefe wasnt following and ran to the nearby river and washed off her makeup before walking as fast as she could into town. She then raced up her road and into her driveway. If all was well she could sneak into the back door and go to her room from there. Reaching for the rusty railing she pulled herslef up and swung her legs over. Quietly opening the door she paused for a minute, heard nothing, and contined down the hall to her room. She walked over to her bed and sat down. She had a long time of thinking awaiting her.

Keefe fiddled with his sleeve as Christine spoke. "I don't fully know. I know he keeps me ALIVE because he wants a *legacy* so when he dies his money goes down the line, which obviously ain't gonna work because I will Give it all to a shelter or something. I know he hates me deeply for some reason. However, I think the main reason is that he's scared of me. Scared I'll retaliate and hurt him, so he does it first." He shrugged, not really knowing completely why. Cassius was a horrible person. "I also think his father abused him and he murdered his own father, soooo that doesn't help." He added with a small snort, glancing up at her. "That's why I come out here so much. Where no one can see me go through any struggle." He sighed at her comment, looking around at the trees- the one he had been leaning against, a big oak, was stained with his blood higher in the branches, from when he was younger and he ran out Here to get away. As Christine said she had to go he pushed himself to his feet. He offered a slight smile at her last words, but he knew it was too late. He had lost hope long ago. Hopefully though... he'd be able to help her. Make sure she got out okay. She deserved a life. Keefe wheeled around and started back towards the house with his guitar, hiding it back in the cubby and climbing up to his room. He had just gotten inside when he noticed, with a jolt, his father sitting on the bed. Cassius glared at him like eyes were lasers. "Where were you?" He demanded angrily, standing and stalking over to Keefe, at least 4 inches shorter. Keefe set his face in stone, his eyes turning steely. "I don't answer to you. I'm technically free at 18. You're lucky I come home every night." He growled, putting on an air of confidence. Cassius ground his teeth. "If you leave, I will hunt you down, and you will be punished worse than you ever have before." He hissed before leaving quickly. Keefe let his shoulders sag and locked his door before pulling his shirt off with a wince, going to a mirror to look at his scar covered body. The one scar on his forehead was the *slip up* of his father. They had gotten in a fight and his father had smashed a brick against his forehead- bad idea by the way- and it had cut his head all the way across in a weird pattern. It was the only thing marring his perfect face, but underneath he looked like a horror show. His chest, stomach, back, and upper arms were covered in various scars. His legs were almost just as bad. Keefe groaned and stumbled over to his bed, collapsing to stare at the ceiling.

Christine woke up with a fright, "one of those nightmares again" she mumbled to herself. Picking herslef up from bed she checked the window, it was still dark. Reaching for her coat, she opened she squeaky window and jumped out landing on two feet. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a match and struck it. Many homeless people populated the area and she picked her way through trying to find the river. She loved that river its gentle flow caused her to feel free. She carefully moved down stairs but was confronted with 3 "larger" men. Bridget always warned her not to go out as there were unsafe people out there. Did christine care to listen? No not anymore especially when all her Aunt wanted from her was money. For a split second she wished she had listened to Bridget. Too late now, "what do we have here" one of the men asked. Christine turned her head to find that she was surrounded on all corners. Reaching into her pockets she found the pepper spray she kept for safe-keeping. Spraying 2 of 3 of the guys she sprung between them and raced for the river. She kept running even past the water and race past town. She knew she wasnt supposed to be here but she ran into Keefe's secret area and sat down breaking into quiet sobs. She stayed there for awhile making sure Keefe or his dad wouldnt find her.

Keefe slowly opened his eyes, pain throbbing through some of his newer wounds as he rolled over in the small bed, a small groan escaping his lips. He glanced at a clock. "Shooee, it is only 5 am..." He mumbled. The sun was starting to rise, barely peeking over the horizon, and the light was dim. He rubbed a hand over his face and clambered out of bed, too tired to turn on a light. He opened his window silently, glancing back at the door before slipping out the window and climbing down the tree, each branch hurting his hands more than normal. He sighed, rubbing his bare shoulder before slowly walking into the forest. Somewhere Cassius couldn't find him. He trekked farther into the forest before stopping near the spot he usually rested. The tree on the outskirts of that was his normal abode, so he jumped into that, slowly pulling himself into the oak tree, near the blood stained bark. Keefe leaned back with a heavy sigh, his eye lids flitting down. He was safe here. Tired, he rested, but didn't let himself fall completely asleep.

Christine woke up not realising she had slept out in the woods. She was about to fall asleep again when she noticed Keefe nearby. She freaked out and whiped her face. She picked herself up and slowly walked further into the woods. She needed time to think.

She had never hit a man before and she knew that they would be after her. She couldn't go back home. She could only imagine what they would do to her.

Christine focused on making a plan, "i could just live out here for the rest of my life, tell no one i'm here, and just cease to exist. Uhhh. why does life have to be so hard". Instantly she thought of Keefe, he had it hard to harder than what she had. For once she felt that she could connect with someone. He understood her and she understood him. She wanted to be friends but nothing more, yet. But of course as usualy Bridget just had to wreck her life. Nothing more had been discussed of a wedding, but knowing her Aunt, everything would be planned out already. She frowned and picked up a small rock and studying it. It was perfect, round, and colourful. Placing the rock down, she sat down and dozed off.

(Oooo have the men somehow find her so Keefe can save her xD. I need drama. I'm a drama junkie lol)

-

Keefe let his head loll slightly, slipping in and out of sleep, but his eyes snapped open when he heard a slight gasp from someone. He glanced out of the tree, but he didn't see anything- well, wait that was a lie, he saw someone's back as they disappeared into the woods. The only people who knew where this spot was were him and Christine, so he assumed that was Christine, and he definitely didn't care if she was here. Hopefully she was just getting away from her aunt. Was she in trouble? Was her aunt after her? He suddenly grew worried, and even though most of him was like +You idiot, she won't want you creeping up on her to make sure she's okay, that's weird+ the small part that wanted to care about her as a friend, and just a friend, won over. He silently hopped out of the tree with a slight wince, determined not to let her see him because for 1: it'd be super awkward and 2: small detail, he was shirtless, and man he didn't even like girls in the first place no way was he getting close like that. Yuck. He mentally winced before creeping through the forest quietly, stopping in the dark brush as he saw Christine sleeping. Okay, so she was fine.