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You stand up and go ask a question at the Marvel panel. It’s the first time in weeks you’ve really had alone, walking up to the line to the microphone. You’ve been learning Romanian and practicing your speech for hours upon hours.
But then, you feel your boyfriend cut in at your shoulder, shoving the person behind you out of the way, his arm latching onto your bicep, tight and possessive.
When you get up to the microphone, you fake a cheerfulness that does not match the words about to come out of your mouth. You take a slow and shaky breath before starting.
“My question is for Sebastian…’ And then in Romanian, “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever seen and I’m trying to be brave now, please help me. I know it’s a lot to ask. He beats me, and I think he’s going to kill me, like he killed our baby. I can’t live like this anymore.”
Tears were pooling in your eyes but you kept a fake smile on your face. Sebastian’s eyes had grown wide, his right hand holding his side behind the table. His left finger moved quickly across the screen of his phone. Then he was looking you square in the eye, and responded in English with the same kind of false cheer you had used. He didn’t want your boyfriend to catch on after all.
“I can’t believe you learned all that for me, come here, that deserves a hug.” He stood and moved to the edge of the stage, beckoning you with his hand. His whole body radiating fear and tension.
You looked up at your boyfriend, and down to the hand on your arm.
“Please?” You asked sweetly and he relented, letting you go.
For the first time in over five years, you felt hope bloom in your chest.
Your gaze locked onto Sebastian’s and you had to force your feet into slow and steady steps, when all you wanted to do was run to your soul mate. Your hands were clenched into tight fists at your sides, your fingernails digging into the palms of your hands.
By the time you made it to him, you were shaking, your whole body trembling. Thankfully the stage was not so tall that he had to press his body to it to reach you. He sat crouched, waiting for you, his eyes flicking to your boyfriend and then to the side doors where a pair of security guards stepped in.
He nodded his head to your boyfriend just as he felt your hands in his.
“I’ve got you. No one is ever going to hurt you again.” And then he put your hands on the stage and his hands moved to your waist. You winced briefly, when he found the cracked rib. “Jump.”
And suddenly, all eyes were on the commotion behind you where your boyfriend was trying to wrestle his way out of the security guards hands.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? What did she tell you? She’s a liar!”
Sebastian put his hands on your cheeks and made you look at him.
“Look at me, okay? I’ve been waiting for you my whole life. Nothing he says is going to change the fact that he is never getting his hands on you again.”
You just shook your head, closing your eyes and letting the tears fall. You were convinced that no one else could ever want you. The years of physical, and emotional abuse having taken it’s toll on your self esteem and idea of self worth.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I will spend every single day of the rest of my life proving to you that you are worth so much more than whatever he told you.”
Finally, the doors of the hall closed again with your boyfriend on the other side. The moderator and the panel of actors whispered quietly to each other, while the hall of fans sat in near silent expectation.
“OH MY GOD!’ Someone screamed from the audience, “SHE SAID YOUR WORDS DIDN’T SHE?”
And that’s when the room exploded in chaos. You didn’t care though, you were too busy sobbing happily into Sebastian’s chest, your arms around his waist like a vice grip.
It wasn’t going to be easy, and you still had to go and press charges, but you’d left your abuser and found your soul mate.
Anthony Mackie just had to open his mouth and ruin the moment though,
“Well, how the hell are we supposed to follow that?”