Work Text:
Elle hisses as she dabs the antiseptic wipe against her calf, watching blood bead up from the long scrape. Her hands shake slightly as she tries to clean the wound, bits of gravel still embedded in her skin from when she fell while running. The bathroom counter is littered with first aid supplies she'd frantically grabbed from under the sink.
"It's fine," she whispers to herself. "Everything's fine."
The front door clicks open in the distance. Elle quickly pulls her sweatpants back down over the wound, shoving the bloody tissues and first aid kit under the sink. She hadn't expected Foster home for another hour – the shoot was supposed to run late today.
"Baby?" Foster's voice carries through their apartment. "You home?"
"In here!" Elle calls back, trying to keep her voice steady. "Just freshening up!"
She can hear Foster moving through their home, the familiar sound of keys hitting the bowl by the door, shoes being kicked off. Elle takes a deep breath, forcing herself to stop trembling before opening the bathroom door. In and out. In and out. In and-
"You're home early-" Elle starts, but stops when she sees Foster frowning at something. Her eyes focused on something passed her.
"Is that blood?" Foster points to a small red droplet on the hallway floor that Elle must have missed. Her eyes snap up to Elle's face, searching. "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Elle steps back, trying to wave it off. "I just ran into a poll while at work today. Clumsy me." Elle felt the lie as soon as it left her mouth. Internally-she winced.
"Elle, as clumsy as you are," Foster's voice is quiet, controlled. “You and I both know a poll wouldn’t give you a cut.”
Elle doesn’t say anything and Fosters eyes widen in realization.
“Elle,” Her voice drowning in emotion, “Did you-”
“No! Thats not it - I swear-.”
Foster eyes carry her emotion as she looks at Elle. Then what? The tears Elle's been holding back all afternoon suddenly feel too heavy. She blinks rapidly, but one escapes anyway. Foster steps forward, reaching for her.
"Show me."
Elle's hands tremble slightly as she rolls up her sweatpants, revealing the poorly cleaned scrape. Foster inhales sharply at the sight.
"I didn't want you to worry," Elle whispers.
"What really happened?" Foster guides her to sit on the closed toilet lid, kneeling to examine the wound. "There's gravel everywhere in this. You wouldn’t lie about falling.”
Elle takes a shuddering breath. "I was walking home from the cafe. This group of people- they recognized me from those photos that came out last week. The ones from the premiere? Where you-" She swallows hard, pausing before finding her voice."They started following me, asking about you, getting angry when I wouldn't answer their questions. Said I was ruining your image. That you deserved better. I tried to walk faster but they kept following, so I ran. I- I fell turning the corner by Marshall Street."
"Stop." Foster's voice breaks. "Just- stop."
Elle falls silent, watching as Foster stands and begins to pace the small bathroom, running her hands through her hair in that way she does when she's trying not to cry. When she finally turns back to Elle, there are tears in her eyes.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"You were filming. I didn't want to-"
"To what? Bother me?" Foster kneels again, taking Elle's hands. "Baby, nothing is more important to me than you. Nothing."
“Babe, its just a cut. Your over-reacting. I’m over reacting-”
“Elle. Your not over reacting, your allowed to feel the way you feel, okay?” Foster began leading her to the bathroom. “This. It shouldn’t happen. You remember what happened with-. I just- It
shouldn’t happen
okay? It’s not fair to you or anyone. God, What the
fuck
is wrong with some people.”
Foster reaches under the sink, pulling out the first aid kit Elle had hastily shoved away. With gentle hands, she begins properly cleaning the wound.
"I know it hurts," she murmurs when Elle flinches, "but we need to get all this gravel out."
"It's not that bad," Elle tries, but Foster just gives her a look.
"You ran until you fell because people were chasing you. Because of me. Because of who I am." Foster's voice is thick with emotion as she carefully picks out pieces of gravel. "And then you tried to hide it? Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
Elle hadn't thought about it that way. She'd been so focused on protecting Foster from guilt, from worry, from the weight of it all that she hadn't considered how finding out like this would feel.
"I'm sorry," Elle whispers, finally letting herself cry properly. "I'm so sorry. I just- I hate being a problem for you."
"A problem?" Foster looks up from bandaging Elle's leg, eyes fierce. "Elle, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. These people who think they have any right to chase you down the street? They're the problem." She finishes taping the gauze and cups Elle's face with both hands. "I don't care about my image. I care about you."
"But your career-"
"Can go to hell if it means choosing between it and you." Foster's voice is firm now, certain. “Next time, you have to call me, no matter what.”
"Foster-"
"No. You ran until you fell today because people were chasing you. That's-" Foster's voice catches. "I can't. I can't have you afraid to walk down the street. Please, just let me keep you safe."
Elle nods, leaning into Foster's touch. "Okay."
"Good." Foster stands, helping Elle up carefully. "Now, you're going to sit on the couch with your leg elevated while I order dinner. Then we're going to talk about any other incidents you might have been hiding from me."
Despite everything, Elle feels a small smile form. "So bossy."
"Only when it comes to protecting what matters most to me." Foster's eyes are still worried, still angry, but there's love there too. So much love it makes Elle's chest ache.
Elle lets Foster guide her to the couch, knowing there's no point arguing when she gets like this. And maybe, she thinks as Foster tucks a pillow under her injured leg and presses a gentle kiss to her forehead, maybe it's okay to let someone else be strong sometimes.
"I love you," she says softly, watching Foster dig through their takeout menus.
Foster looks up, eyes softening. "I love you too. More than any career, any image, any fucking thing in this world."
And Elle believes her, leg throbbing and heart healing all at once.