Bishop

"I think you should go for it! I bet a dude like that knows how to make it good for you, especially if he knows you've never been with a guy before. I bet he'd make sure it was good."

"I think he'd probably just get his and go back home," Sabina snorted.

"Nah, that's not his way. You can tell, he's like... super detail oriented. He noticed every single thing about you today and he was watching you, like... a lot. He listened to me talk, but his eyes didn't leave you, you know?"

Sabina shrugged, then got up and grabbed her pajamas. "I need to get some sleep, I'm still kind of out of it," she mumbled.

Shannon got up and hugged her, then went to her own room.

Bishop watched Sabina change for bed and get in it then hesitated before pulling out her sketchbook.

Zooming in, he watched as she sketched him again, this time with more hair on his chest and even a little happy trail down to the camo pants she drew on him.

He didn't know why it made him so happy that she was drawing him, but his heart was completely warm watching her.

When she flipped the page and started another sketch, this one of him in the nude, he found himself grinning outright. Especially when she drew in the piercing and tattoos.

Propping the sketchbook up, she pulled out her vibrator and he watched as she got herself off to his sketch. A minute in, he leaned back and stroked himself as he watched her, thrilled to know it had been him she'd been coming to every night.

When she finally passed out, he brought his laptop to bed with him and watched her as she slept, then fell asleep next to her.

It was Shannon's voice that woke him in the morning, making him scowl and blink as he looked at the camera feed.

"... can call an UBER and go shopping!" Shannon was saying.

"Ugh, no! Anyway, you need money for that! Shopping and UBERing and everything," Sabina grumped, still curled up in bed.

"I have money! I'll take care of everything, ok? AND I'll take you to breakfast!"

"Just a little more sleep?" Sabina pleaded.

"Oh, hey! That sketch is hot! You think he looks like that under his clothes? All tatted and pierced and shit?"

Sabina scrambled up and slammed her sketchbook closed, looking half sick. "I don't know! I just... you know. Military guys get tattoos, right?"

"Yeah, he's probably got a 'Semper Fi' somewhere on his body, never knew a marine that didn't," Shannon giggled. "Where do you think it is? I'm betting his bicep!"

"No way! He's not that basic! If he has that, it's on his back or something... or somewhere less pedestrian."

"Like his ass cheeks? Semper and Fi?" Shannone laughed again.

"Ugh! I forgot how juvenile your sense of humor is when you've had too little sleep!"

Shannon only laughed and pulled Sabina out of bed. "Come on! I'll order the UBER! Unless you wanna ask your boyfriend if he'll take us?"

"Shut up! Anyway, I don't think he drives either, I've never seen him leave that house ever, and I've never seen a car."

"He doesn't go get groceries or anything?"

"No, he has them delivered every Tuesday."

"So you've been watching him?"

"I just happened to notice is all. I can see the street up between our houses from my painting nook and I always notice when the delivery car pulls up. I can see them unloading, you know? I watch because I get deliveries sometimes so I pay attention. That's all."

"Do you watch him flex as he carries in all those groceries?"

"I can't see him from where I am, they drop off at his front door, I just see the delivery guy going back and forth is all."

"And you never see him like, working out or anything inside?"

"No, there's never lights on in the house, ever. I think he must live in the basement or something."

"Maybe we should go knock, see if he wants to join us!"

"Let it go, Shan, ok? Please? I'll get dressed and we can go do whatever you want, just no more about him, alright?"

"Sorry, Bean? I shouldn't tease so much, I can tell you have a crush on him is all, and I've just never seen you like that. You've always just sort of shut guys down and not bothered at all, but..."

"School was different and everyone knew it! I was coming back here and they all had their own ideas and plans. Guys just wanted to have fun with no strings and I wasn't into that... When I finally let Stav pressure me into going on a date with one of his sleazebag friends... I just... I don't know. I don't really want to mess with any boys right now?"

"Guess it's a good thing he's a man, then?" Shannon teased lightly. "It's cool, Bean, I'll let it go. Hey, wear that blue dress, ok? I brought mine and we can match! Hurry up!" she called, hurrying to the guest room to change.

Bishop watched Sabina as she looked at the closed sketchbook a long moment, then opened it to her last sketch and ran light fingers over the drawing of him. Closing the book with a sigh, she got up and showered, then dressed, but she stayed melancholy.

When they were almost ready to leave, Bishop grabbed some junk mail from the table next to the door, then hurried out to his mailbox and was there when they came out.

He pretended not to notice them, sorting through his mail as he stood at the mailbox, but he noticed both of them watching.

Shannon hesitated getting into the UBER and Sabina pushed on her from behind, but Shannon spoke up. "Hey! Bishop!"

Bishop looked up at them, his eyes quickly going to Sabina in the little blue dress, taking her in openly. "Heading out?" he asked Sabina, ignoring the fact that Shannon had called out to him.

"Umm... yeah," Sabina answered softly, her cheeks pink as she looked down at her shoes quickly.

"Wanna come with?" Shannon asked with a grin. "I'd treat you to lunch as a thanks for helping us out yesterday."

"If and when Sabina and I go out to eat together, it won't be with someone else," Bishop told Shannon a bit coldly, then looked Sabina over again as she looked up at him in surprise. "When do you have your house to yourself again?" he asked her.

She scowled. "My guest can stay as long as she likes!"

"Didn't say she couldn't," he growled, perturbed that she had sniped at him. Why was she being a bitch if she had such a crush on him?!? "Asked when you would be alone!"

"Don't worry about it," she shot back, still angry as she darted into the car, Shannon following her in confusion.

Bishop was furious as he stormed back inside the house and went up to his office to transfer to the audio feed of her phone.

"... just can't deal," Sabina was saying, but the sound was muffled like she had her phone in her purse or back pocket.

"Just saying I don't think he meant to come off as rude, you know? I think he's just, you know, used to being alone and shit. He doesn't know how to talk to girls. He likes you, though? He said he wanted to take you to dinner and..."

"I don't want to talk about him anymore!" Sabina cried, sounding frustrated. "Can we just go have a nice day and not talk about him, please?"

"Sure, Bean. Sorry. I didn't plan that, though? Him being out there?"

"You shouldn't have invited him! Now he thinks I like him or something!"

"Bean... he already knew you liked him and he knows he likes you. He's got a whole confidence thing, you know? Like you and him is just a forgone conclusion that he's waiting for you to see."

"Was that dude prior military?" a male voice asked, the driver, Bishop was guessing.

"Yeah," Shannon agreed quickly.

"He looked it. Both my sisters married military dudes, man, I guess my mom too? I was an Army brat and got moved around a lot. I can tell you this... there are two types of military dudes. Ones that want to meet you on Friday and marry you on Monday and ones who just want to get as much action as they can with their uniforms. My guess is that guy was a big time user from the way he looked, you can spot them a mile off. Probably still has his old uniforms from his 4 years of active duty he did back in the day and gets them out to take pics to put up on all them swipe right dating sites! Probably has a new chick every few hours, even living in his moms basement."

"He lives there alone," Sabina defended immediately. "And he's a retired Marine. He was in more than 4 years."

"You sure about that?" the man chuckled. "Dudes like him usually lie a lot. Have you been in his house? I'm betting it's his parents house and he just does all their errands for them. Why would he live there in a place like that all alone? It's an older folks or big family community, you know?"

"She lives..." Shannon began.

"Shut up," Sabina hissed. "He knows I live next to him!" she tried to cover for her friends near fuck up, telling the male driver she lived there alone. "I've never been in his house and I don't really care! I don't care if he lives there with 80 people, all I know is I don't want to talk about him any more!"

"Sure, Bean," Shannon told her gently.

"Of course... mark my words, though, kid. Don't let a guy like that take advantage of you. If he..."

"She's 22, just like me," Shannon told the guy coldly.

"Sure, ok. Still, he's way older than you, especially if he really is retired. Marines... especially lifers, they are pretty much all fucked in the head. Never met one that wasn't and I've known a LOT of military men. Steer clear of him and don't let him get you alone! Story after story from every chick I knew who dated a marine, they think 'no' don't apply to them. We had this one neighbor who..."

"Sorry, mister, her and I are trying to talk if you don't mind," Shannon cut in, sounding derisive.

"Sorry... you did choose the conversation option, though, so I was going with what you picked. If you had picked the silent ride, I would have gone with that!"

"I guess I misunderstood. I didn't want to have to stay quiet in your car, I wanted to talk with my friend while you minded your own business."

The man didn't answer.

Bishop sat and listened to them talking the rest of the afternoon into the evening and night, but they never spoke about him again. They talked about their families, the work and 'Con's' Sabina had lined up, and just about everything else, but not him. Shannon was constantly pointing out cute boys to Sabina, but she changed the subject every single time.

It was the car ride home that Shannon finally asked about something Bishop was interested in hearing.

"Bean... you know you can talk to me, right?"

"Of course," Sabina told her, the good humor draining from her tone like she knew something bad was coming.

"You haven't really told me about what happened? With you and Stavos and his friend?"

"There's not much more to say? He pushed and pushed to go on a date right after I got home... Stav started in too, saying he really liked me. I thought I would just get them both off my back because I still had almost a month until I could move to my new house. Nana was still looking for the right one, she said, and she was adamant about picking it out even though she'd said I could before college... anyway... He just... we saw a movie. Went dutch for dinner and the tickets, but he got popcorn and offered me some. We shared it... when we got home, he started trying to get me to do things... I said no and he said I owed him, he'd basically paid for our date. He tried to push the issue and I told him to get out, went to Stav and told him to get his friend away from me... Stav was drunk, though, and fighting with his girlfriend at the time. He hit me a few times, called me a cock tease... Held me down for his friend and even groped me through my bra... I fought them both, managed to get away and out to Stav's car. His friend came after me and pinned me over it, got my clothes off me and pawed on me some more, trying to get his... thing in me... but I got hold of the keys and raked them across his face and got to the neighbors. Called the police, had them both arrested. When I got home the next day from the hospital with eleven stitches in my arm and a broken nose, dad was home. He made me drop charges so Stav could come home and told me I was overreacting and I'd made a big mess over nothing. Made him have to come home to bail Stav out and get in touch with a lawyer and all that. He never came to the hospital where I was... just went straight to the police station where Stav was. Granted... I didn't call him, Stave did, but still. It was all so fucked up. I tried to tell him what happened and he told me he didn't have time for my women's lib nonsense. As soon as he got Stav home, he left again. Stav gave me hell and that's all the real reason I didn't put up any fight at all on this house. She knew it, too. She knew I wouldn't say anything, I just wanted to leave. I never should have made the deal. I should have just gotten a job and left... I knew it was too good to be true!"

"Bean... I'm so sorry all of that happened to you! You should have called me! You could have come and stayed with us!"

"You told me our parent's hadn't talked since they were basically kids, not after Nana disowned your mom as a niece for dating your dad."

"Fuck that bitter, racist old bitch! You and I are closer than that, Bean! You coulda come stayed with us! Mom would have loved that! She talks about wanting to meet you in person and how the universe had to have completely aligned in a huge way for us to be roommates like we were and go to the same college even! Both of us out of state!"

"Our grandparents went there, it's not too far of a reach," Sabina offered thoughtfully. "But we've said before how weird it was that it happened like it did. Both of us having roommates that turned out to have peanut allergies so they switched us so they could room together... you seeing that brief picture of my dad and nana on my laptop and knowing who they were... it was all surreal."

"It was," Shannon agreed. "So, that guy... did you have to drop charges on him too?"

"Yeah."

"Did he... like, you know... penetrate?"

"No! No, he didn't seem to know his way around very well and I was fighting... He touched me a couple times, but never... you know. Not even with his finger. It was just scary and pissed me off a lot... I still have nightmares, though. What could have happened. What probably should have happened? He wasn't a huge dude, I actually think that's why he wanted to go out with me so bad, but he was still bigger than me. Stav isn't huge either, but... together especially... I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to get away, I just fought like mad and kicked and screamed. Stav was afraid I would wake nana, he was more focused on trying to keep me quiet."

"Jesus. Have you seen him or Stav since you moved?"

"No... no, I told Stav if he ever tried to show up I would shoot him in the face. Told him I had a gun and since he'd already been arrested for assaulting me, they would believe me. I didn't give him my new phone number either, but dad gave it to him."

Bishop noticed headlights light up her little shed as someone pulled into her drive, then he heard car doors from the speaker as the girls thanked the driver and got out. As soon as they were inside, he switched to the camera feed and watched Sabina kick off her shoes and sit down tiredly as Shannon started going through her bags.

Zooming in, he searched her face and his heart ached for the pain he saw there. The memories haunting her eyes as she stared through the kitchen table while her friend chattered about where they were going to wear their new dresses the next evening.

Finally, her friend noticed that she wasn't hearing a word she said.

"Bean? Bean? Sabina? SABINA!"

Sabina jerked and blinked at her friend, looking out of it and confused, then hugged herself.

"You good?"

"Sure," Sabina agreed quickly, looking around. "I have some ice cream, you want some?"

"I was asking what kinds of clubs there were here? Bars? Places we could wear these tomorrow?"

Bishop felt rage well up, thinking of her going out and meeting men or possibly hooking up.

No. That wasn't her way.

"Oh... I don't know. I've never really looked in town much? I have things delivered from the grocery store and doordash anything else I need... umm... I could look up places on my phone? Hold on. Ummm... not sure how up to it I'm going to feel, Shan? You know clubbing was never my thing, you always went with Tinley and Sophie."

"I'm going to take you out and we're going to have FUN! Come on! You might love it! If you don't, we're a phone call away from leaving, right? Think I'm going to rent a car for the rest of my stay, though! This UBER thing here in this town is the most hit or miss thing ever. Can't believe that woman had her kid with her? That was fucked up."

"I can look and see if there's a car rental place nearby," Sabina mumbled as she looked on her phone for local bars.

"Hey! Do you think Bishop has a car? One he'd let me borrow?"

"Doubt it... never seen a car there. There are only two bars in town and they both kind of look like dive bars? But tomorrow night is ladie's night at this one and they have karaoke?"

"THAT! We're doing that! That sounds like a blast! Should we see if he wants to go?"

"Thought we weren't going to talk about him anymore?" Sabina grumped.

Shannon laughed, sitting down next to Sabina. "That was just while we were out. We're home now! So we totally should!"

"He wouldn't go!"

"Maybe he would if we asked him to be our DD and mention taking care of you and everything while you get drunk! Bet he would then, he'd be all about protecting you!"

"I told you, he doesn't have a car. I know that's what you're angling at."

"So I'll rent one and ask him tomorrow to be our DD! Wanna wager on if he says yes or not?"

"He won't."

"So that's a yes?I say he will, you say he won't?"

"I don't want to bet."

"If you're so sure he'll say no, then what's the big deal?"

"He won't, the last thing he wants to do is babysit me. He thinks I'm a kid, Shan."

"He does NOT see a kid when he looks at you, Bean, not at all! He sees someone he wants to get his hands on! Ok, so here's the deal! I ask him after my rental car arrives, ok? He says no, we stay home and watch movies instead of going to the bar."

"Really?" Sabina asked, perking up.

"Really. But he says yes? You have to kiss him before the end of the night and agree to a date with him!"

"I can't just kiss him!"

"He'll probably just kiss you!"

"I can't, no!"

"I thought you were sure he'd say no?"

"He will say no, I've never seen him go anywhere ever. He doesn't seem like the bar type and the last thing he'd want to do is babysit two drunk girls at a shitty bar."

"So it's a bet, then? He says no, we stay home."

"Alright," Sabina sat up, looking at her friend, feeling confident. "It's a bet."

"But like I said, I get to ask him!" Shannon laughed. "As soon as the rental place drops off my car!"

Sabina shrugged a shoulder, then got up and started up to her room. "I'm going to shower, then wind down with a movie. Meet in my room in 20?"

"Done!" Shannon laughed.

Feeling amused, Bishop watched Sabina shower, his heart aching as she sobbed under the running water. She was so broken! Her friend was right there across the hall and she looked like she felt completely alone. She didn't look that shattered even when she was all alone.

Like her solitude was an armor. Having someone there broke down her walls and she seemed to be hurting from it.

More than anything, he wished he could go to her and hold her. Let her know that she never had to be alone again and no one would ever hurt her or abandon her again.

When Shannon came in, they curled up in Sabina's bed and watched a scary movie and Bishop watched with them, but mostly he watched her. Watched how her eyes would look through the screen and worry and stress would creep into her features.