Chapter 50 - Eleanor

Don't test a wastelander.

C allahan left with Boone, Bonnie, Soda, and Cherry the next morning. We spent the entire day fighting, Callahan and I. He was trying to convince me this was what was best, but I refused to agree with him. I was being abandoned so he could run off with a group of renegades.

It felt like I were back in the bunker again. He, my Daddy, got to have all the fun, while I had to be proper and stay put. I wasn't going to listen to him. Not anymore. The moment he took off on his own motorcycle with the others, he gave up his right to boss me around.

I stayed in my room, plotting. Riot left me alone, spending his day in the junk yard. He'd brought out those things that had ambushed me and Cal the other night. They were gruesome looking beasts. He called them Hogdogs.

He passed by my room in the evening, pausing to knock on my door.

"Cherry made some stew before she left. It's warmed up on the stove. You might wanna eat."

"Thank you." I called through the door, with no intention of eating. I waited silently as he took off down the hall toward the shower. When I heard the water squeak on, I leaped up, adjusted my backpack, and ripped my door open.

Quickly I hurried down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as I could. I opened and shut the front door softly and looked around, finding only one mode of transportation left: Riot's motorcycle.

I didn't have time to dwell on things. I still didn't have any clothes. I was wearing another one of Riot's long shirts and my Young Lady Mary Jane's. I'd burn myself if I took the bike, but, what options did I have? I took a step toward it and froze when I heard a click.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you, Young Lady."

I gripped my backpack straps tight and turned slowly to face him.

Riot stood in the doorway, his hair and body soaking wet, in nothing but a pair of loose boxer-briefs and a gun in his gloved hand. His eyes bore dangerous holes in me. "I suggest you take your pretty ass back inside."

"Why? So I can sit and waste my life away while Callahan goes and lives a life full of adventure?"

"No, so you don't get eaten by a bearbie. If you want to run off, you can do it in the fucking daylight. Now get in here so I can finish my shower."

"What's a bearbie?" I followed him back inside. He didn't lower his pistol. Instead, he directed me back upstairs. "Where are we going?" I asked, looking back at him, but continuing to walk.

"It's clear I can't trust you not to do something foolish. So now, you get to stay with me at all times. I need to shower, so you're going to join me."

I was pushed into the bathroom and he shoved me down onto the closed toilet. For a home in the wastelands, Heathen Heights was surprisingly modern. The water worked, and they had a way to heat things to cook food. Bonnie had explained places like this were rare.

"Consider yourself lucky to be staying back with Riot. Shitting in a hole and fighting for water isn't as fun as you'd think."

I put my elbow on my knee and rested my chin in my hand. "This is stupid."

"I agree, but if you don't want to stay put, then I have little choice. Now, unless you're interested in seeing all of me, I'd suggest you close your pretty eyes." Riot set his gun on a shelf I couldn't reach and then put his hands on his hips. The glove still on his hand.

"Are you going to take the glove off?" I smirked.

"I'll take my underwear off before I remove the glove. Are you going to look away or not?"

I closed my eyes and heard the rustle of him removing his underwear. He turned the water back on and climbed back into the tub.

He didn't have a curtain, and I flinched as water got everywhere, including my face and the rest of my front. I kept my eyes closed and tried to let my mind go blank as I waited for him to finish. Finally, he turned the shower off and stepped out. He brushed past me, his hairy, wet thigh touching my arms. I flinched back, and my eyes popped open. I quickly shut them again, but it was too late. I'd seen far too much. I blushed.

Wow.

"Why are you making that sour face?" he asked. "You don't like to get wet?"

"What?" I opened my eyes and stood.

"You're soaked. Sorry about that. Maybe next time don't try to run off in the dead of night."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, sir."

"Hey, you don't have to give me a title." He smirked. "I'm not going to make you call me Daddy."

I glared at him, and he laughed. "Come on. I want to get dressed and lay down." He grabbed the pistol, and I noticed he'd slid the glove back on. What was he hiding? I followed him out and tried to go to my room, but he pulled on my backpack. "Nuh uh. I told you, you lost the privilege of privacy. You're staying with me."

"That's not fair!" I exclaimed.

"I agree. I enjoy my alone time too. But," he looked me up and down and raised an eyebrow. "You probably need dry clothes. Come on, before I lose my patience."

The gun in his hand, a constant reminder that I had little choice in things, made me slump my shoulders and go into his room. I dropped my backpack on the floor.

He tossed me a fresh shirt and turned his back toward me. "Go ahead and change. I won't watch you, but you can watch me if you want." He snickered. I blushed, but quickly traded out shirts. I looked up just as Riot dropped his towel. I wanted to look away, but my eyes were glued to the ink on his skin.

His back was peppered with art. A scorpion on his right shoulder blade, a heart with ribbon on his left. A spider, swirled around its web in a pretty design that went toward his front. I was entranced, and my eyes slid lower, memorizing it all. He slid on a new pair of boxers and turned. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes?"

"You have a lot of tattoos."

"I do," he chuckled. "They are fun."

He laid down on his bed and put his arms behind his head, and yawned. "Sometime this week I'll take you back to Sketchy Shit. Maybe we can break your cherry."

I stood there, taking in his words. The idea of going back to the tattoo parlor was the first thing that made me even kind of excited since I'd seen the two kiss. I sat down on the floor, cross legged.

"I'd like that. Can we go tomorrow?"

"Maybe. If you're a good girl. I have some stuff to do, but maybe you can help a little and I can get it done early."

The room grew quiet, and Riot closed his eyes. I waited until I thought he was asleep before trying to stand, but he caught me.

"Nice try. You can sit like that all night, or I can move over and you can lay down. Get a little sleep, and we can start in the junkyard early in the morning."

I was hesitant. I tried to think of another way out, but there wasn't one. His gun sat just within arms reach. Would he really shoot me?

Did I want to risk it?

With great reluctance, I joined him on the bed. I kicked my shoes off and curled myself into a ball, trying to lay as far as I could away from him.

"You're angry," he said from behind me.

"Callahan abandoned me because of you," I snapped.

How could he be so dense? Callahan had been mine before he came along. It hadn't even taken a day for him to forget about me in favor of someone better.

"He didn't abandon you."

"What do you call having sex with someone else?" I rolled to face Riot. "Or is that just another day for you?"

"I mean," he propped himself up on his elbow. "Yes, kind of. I don't take sex as seriously as you do, clearly. I doubt Callahan does either, otherwise he wouldn't have done it."

"You're so smug." I was disgusted. "How does it feel, knowing that my heart is completely shattered?"

The smile slid off his face. "Not good. Eleanor, I'm sorry. That was never my intent."

"What was your intent then? Because you two didn't wait long to get naked with each other."

"I- I'm not entirely sure," he admitted. "I've always lived my life with the motto that if the mood strikes you, to go for it. I was horny, he was too, so I blew him. It wasn't done to be malicious."

"Did you even think about who you'd be hurting?"

He blinked.

"No."

"Well, there you go. That's why I'm angry." I turned back around and wiped a tear away. I refused to let him see my heart break in real time.