A few hours later, the door opened, and Abel shuffled in anxiously. He looked a little beat up, his brows furrowed when he saw her. He stayed by the door. "O.."
She was curled up when he entered, but when she heard him speak, her head jerked up. She looked mostly unharmed, except for the red welt across her cheek, but she tried to stand up when he entered and was yanked back down, her wrists raw and bleeding from pulling on the handcuffs. She whimpered but looked up at him. “Abel. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?
He looked incredibly pained to see her this way, and took a slow, shaky breath. "Listen, I.." he faltered. "I betrayed you. I'm the reason we're here."
She watched him, shaking her head. “You’re not a good actor, Abes,” she told him, sounding false. “You would never do that. You wouldn’t do that to me.”
She didn’t seem to believe it, squinting at him. “No. Why would you have betrayed me? That doesn’t make sense,” she told him flatly. “You’re not making sense.” She tugged on the chains, looking a little unfocused. “You know me, Abel. You know that I’d rather die that be in these cuffs like this. You know me well enough. You wouldn’t have done this to me.” She had tears in her eyes and she seemed to be avoiding eye contact, but she looked up suddenly. “What do they have over you right now? Are you making some sort of deal?”
He looked at her worriedly, his eyes searching her face before he looked down in embarrassment. "N-No.. Nothing."
“Stop lying to me, Abel,” she said, her voice sharpening. She paused before she slumped, leaning back against the wall. Her voice grew softer. “Please. Please stop. Please say it was a lie or a weird joke. Eve is putting you up to this, I know she is.” She shook her head. “I’m so frightened and I don’t think I could do this without you. Please tell me you’re lying to me.”
He whimpered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can't.. I can't say anything. They'll hurt y.." he stopped. "I can't."
She paused, going over this last sentence for a moment before she seemed to realize something. She sat forward suddenly, her eyes flickering up to him. “I can handle it, Abel,” she said to him, sounding almost frantic. “I can handle what they throw at me. If I know you’re there, I can handle it. Please, just tell me the truth.” She hesitated, pulling at her cuffs instinctively. “I’m capable, Abel. I can handle it.”
He looked back, kneeling to her and resting his hand on her jaw, slipping something over her ear and hiding it behind her hair as he spoke. "Please hang in there. I've said too much already. They're using you against me," he said. The door opened and Eve entered, looking angry. She grabbed him by the back of the collar and began dragging him out. "Just trust me!"
She seemed frantic when he was pulled away from her and began to thrash against her cuffs again, even bracing her feet against the wall to try and give herself some power. “No! Let him go! Let him go! Abel!”
She hesitated before turning her face towards the wall and raising her cuffed hands to her face, subtly taking out what Abel tucked behind her ear.
She looked up as they entered, squinting at them, balling her hands into fists. “Where did they take him?”
