Ezra ran back to the car and pulled out our bags to bring them inside. I offered to help him and he gave me a look saying there was no way he was ever going to let that happen. Luanne opened the door for us and I stepped inside.

The house was clean, but the furniture was on the older side, which matched the exterior of the house. The light poured in the windows in all directions, making it feel warm and inviting. I could smell something baking in the oven and it smelled delicious. It had a sweet smell like some sort of pastry or dessert.

"Momma, it smells like heaven in here." Ezra said, lifting his nose and taking a deep breath. He gave me a goofy smile when I looked up at him.  There was a slight drawl in his voice I had never heard before.  It was adorable. 

"I'm making Grandma's Cherry pie. Your Uncle Charlie asked if I could make it tonight." She looked at me and rolled her eyes. "Older brothers."

I nodded, understanding exactly where she was coming from.

"I'm going to take Riley to get settled in and give her the tour. We'll be back down soon." Ezra said, pulling me towards the staircase.

"Ezra, you have about an hour before everyone gets here. Don't take too long." She smiled and looked over at me. I really hoped she didn't think we were going to go upstairs and fool around while we were waiting on company to arrive. We were in his Mom's house. That was the last thing I was thinking about. That would be disrespectful.

When I turned to look at her son, he was smiling wickedly back at me. The way his mouth pulled up at the corner let me know that was exactly what he was thinking. He was planning on giving me a tour, alright.

"Don't worry, Ma. We won't be long." He grabbed my arm while balancing the bags on his shoulders to usher me up the creaky stairs. I followed him, but his long stride had me practically running behind him to keep up. He turned the corner at the top of the stairs and headed for the last bedroom door on the left.

When he opened the door, I was surprised to see a decently large room with band posters plastered over the walls. Every single poster was framed. I laughed, remembering the first time I saw his framed poster collection. He was so weird.

In the corner of the room were two guitars propped up on stands. I hadn't seen these guitars before. How many guitars did one person need? He only had two hands, even though I swore he grew extra ones every time he was touching me.

He pushed the door closed and locked it before throwing the bags on a chair in the corner of the room. He crossed the room and pushed me back on the bed before slowly lowering himself on top of me. He moved to kiss my neck, tracing my jawline back to the spot just below my ear.

"Ezra, you heard your Mom. Your family will be here soon." I said, trying to keep my composure as his hands slid over my breasts and hips.

"This won't take long." He said, leaning over and biting my bottom lip. He stood up and pulled his t-shirt over his head and I leaned back up into him, my fingers automatically moved to the music notes at his waistband. He stood in front of me and I kissed his stomach just below his belly button and he moaned, pressing into my lips further.

He bent down, took the bottom of my shirt in his hands, and pulled it over my head. He looked down to where my breasts were spilling out of my light pink bra. His hands moved to the tops of my arms and his eyes went wide. He froze, which baffled me. I looked over and saw his fingers tracing the new finger-shaped bruises on my arms.

"Did I do that to you?" He asked with his voice breaking at the end.

"It's fine, Ezra, it was an accident. You didn't mean to." I said softly.

"It's not fine, Riley." He said, pulling his hair and stepping away from me. His voice had jumped an octave and was ringing out too loud in the quiet house.

"It's not a big deal." I said, trying to let him know I wasn't upset with him for what happened earlier today.

"Do you know how fucked up that sounds?" His voice grew louder. His Mom was going to hear him yelling if he didn't keep it down. I didn't want her to come running up the stairs to find us half-dressed and arguing.

"Please quiet down Ezra, it really is fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." I pulled him back to me and ran my fingertips over his stomach. I pressed my mouth back against his skin, tracing kisses down him lower. I tried to unbutton his pants, but he pushed me back again.

"Just because it doesn't hurt anymore doesn't make it alright. I put my hands on you and you are making excuses for me. You fucking sound like her." He said, pointing to his door. He was red and shaking. His rage rolled off him in waves and he was about to lose control again. 

Ezra bent down and picked his shirt up and pulled it over his head. He grabbed mine and threw it. It hit me in the face before I could react to catch it. One of the buttons caught my lip and I winced, rubbing the spot.

"Fuck!" He screamed when he realized what he just did.

"Ezra, please just calm down." I looked up, pleading with him to stop.

Ezra crouched dangerously close to my face and placed his arms on the bed surrounding me so I couldn't move. He stared into my eyes with nothing but hardness.  The acid began churning in my stomach as his eyes tore me apart.

"You shouldn't be with me, Riley. I am no better than my fucked-up junkie Father who beat his wife and child. I'm fucking sick. Riley, you can't save me." He growled low in my ear.

"Please, Ezra." I said, reaching out to touch his arm and he pulled it violently away from me. He crossed the room and threw open the door to leave. I pulled my shirt on over my head and watched him run out of the room. I got up and chased after him down the hall.

"Ezra, please come back. Don't leave." I called as quietly as I could so his Mom wouldn't hear.

He made it down the steps and was at the front door before I could get to the top of the staircase. I needed to stop him from going. I didn't want him to leave me.

"Ezra, I'm sorry." I apologized as I ran down the stairs towards him.  I tried to grab his hand and he turned on me and shoved me back into the wall.  My hand hit the edge of the table in the entryway and a crystal dish fell to the floor shattering all around us.

"Don't fucking try to stop me. Do you really want me to hurt you again?" He screamed in my face. His chest was rising and falling with his anger.

"Please, can't we just talk about this?"  I said trying to stay as calm as I could.

"You do, don't you? You just keep coming back for more. Want a black eye or how about a busted lip this time?"  He asked, seething down at me with his forehead pressed hard against mine.

"You won't hurt me." I said with my voice shaking.

"You don't sound so confident."

"Ezra, I love you." I said, trying to run my hands over his arms. He started to move towards me and I flinched.  I didn't mean to, but he still saw it. 

"Fuck!" He screamed and punched the wall next to my head.  He grabbed my arms and dug his fingers in my skin to hold me in place when I tried to move away from him. 

I was crying and scared. Not just scared for me but scared for him too. He was channeling all his anger at me. I heard a noise back near the stairs and looked up to see his Mom standing there holding a dish towel, watching the horror scene unfold in front of her eyes. Her light blue eyes had turned dark and she was frowning at her son.

"Ezra." Luanne said sternly. "Get out."