Violent Things

Bates

My pretty girlshook so goddamn hard when we walked through the sliding glass doors that I was worried she would collapse at any given moment.

I tried to convince myself that I didn’t understand why, but I knew I did.

It was hard for her to put herself out there and even harder to feign happiness over it.

Just another day of fucking up the life of the woman I love,I admonished myself miserably.

When she let go of my hand, I glanced at her curiously. Hollis was making her way to a department store window, peering inside with her arms crossed over her chest.

“What’s up, babe?” I asked when I approached her.

“That’s pretty,” she replied softly.

I leaned down to look at her face then did my best to follow her line of sight. When I saw what I thought she was referring to, I grabbed her hand again and gave it a gentle tug.

“Come on, let’s go check it out,” I suggested as I half-dragged her into the store.

As soon as we crossed the threshold, Holls latched her body onto mine and I chuckled. She’d get used to going out and being among the common folk if it was the last thing I did.

My pretty girl reminded me of a hidden relic in a way. Impossible to find, harder to keep hold of, and not meant for just anyone to handle.

I just happened to be the one with the good fortune of finding her when I did.

“Which one were you looking at?” I asked as we made our way toward the racks of clothing.

She didn’t answer right away so I inhaled as quiet a breath as I could and told myself that she just needed a little bit of time to get used to this.

“Babe?”

When Hollis still didn’t answer, I looked down at her. Her face was turned to the left, her eyes boring holes into the mirror I hadn’t even realized we had stopped beside, and I understood her silence.

She never did like looking at herself no matter how much I did, and doing this had the huge potential of fucking up our outing.

I did the only thing I could.

I slipped an arm around her shoulders, spun her in a circle, grinning at her the entire time, then put myself between her and the mirror when she came to a stop.

“What about this one, Holls?” I asked as I pulled a white dress with little black stars adorning it off the rack. “Definitely not as sheer as the other one but think of how amazing you’ll look in it.”

“It’s pretty,” she agreed quietly.

“Pick another one.”

Hollis looked up at me and I smiled. “I picked this one, it’s your turn now. Grab something else.”

I watched her shaking hands as she slowly moved the hangers, picking through the options, and waited patiently. After a few go arounds, Hollis shook her head and glanced up at me.

“Wanna try another rack? We’re surrounded; I’m sure there’s something here you’ll love.”

She bit her lower lip and turned her eyes to the floor, and I turned mine up toward the ceiling of the store trying to find the patience to deal with this. This was definitely new when it came to her and I didn’t know how to deal with it, but I was going to do my best to make sure I handled it correctly.

“Besides me, of course,” I added slyly.

She smiled shyly at me before she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Just when I had lost all hope that this would be good for her, she proved me wrong again.

Hollis had always been funny like that.