Shay was quiet as she sat in front of the woman whom she was trying to rent a room from in the medium sized house in a small Texas boondox town. She quietly held out the renter's application, her head down as she quietly sat in front of the other woman, who looked a tad bit older. Shay was unable to look directly at her for too long, and hadn't looked her in the eye once since she had got here. She had picked up the application at the city hall where all the renters in the town posted applications and ads for rooms and/or houses available. In this case, it had been an ad for a room in a house with a woman. Shay quietly sat and looked down as she twisted the ends of her long brown hair that had a bit of a curl to it. She also had a fairly large bruise over her left eye, deep and purple. "Uh... Uh." She whispered, staring quietly at the floor, looking nervous. She couldn't afford to mess this up. The application.... Well, it looked a little bit bare. Originally, the woman across from her had put in the Ad that she expected a credit score report, a list of references, as well as a background check from any potential applicant who tried to rent the house. However, all Shay had put down was her name, date of birth, and a couple other pieces of information, nothing too personal. She hadn't even included her social security number in the application at any point. It seemed that she had no proof of who she actually was, just a thin sheet of paper that had her name on it to turn in. "I'm sorry that I can't provide all of the things you asked for in your Ad." She whispered, looking down. "I promise, I.... I can pay the rent on time. I can pay the first months rent and security deposit in cash right now." She whispered quietly, to try to put the woman at ease since there was no credit score. "I... I don't cause any trouble at all... I've never been arrested, I don't drink or smoke... I stay to myself and quiet." She whispered, hoping that her word would be taken for it. She had her small duffel bag on her right now... And provided this woman would accept her application, she could move into the room immediately. She.... She barely had enough money to pay the first months rent and the security deposit. She couldn't afford another bus ticket to try to move farther. She was already four states away from her ex-husband.

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Bea looked over the woman in front of her. She had long brown hair and kept her head down. Bea though she saw an edge of a bruise on the woman's face, but it may have been the poor lighting in the livingroom. The woman's voice was cautious and soft. Like Jonah's.... Her heart clenched at the thought of her son. Only a few months ago, she had had her son with her. Her husband, too. They had all filled the house, they had made it lively. They had made it theirs. One night, Marcus and Jonah were coming home from the supermarket, and some drunkard went flying through the intersection. The large pickup had smashed the family car, killing both Marcus and Jonah. Bea felt her throat start to become tight just thinking about her son. Her quiet little boy. He had been 17 when the accident occurred, but Jonah could've been 80 and Bea would still think of him as her little boy, forever a child in her eyes. But he'll never get to be 80.... Bea pushed away the heartbreaking thought. She needed to focus on the possible-tenant. Bea overlooked the application the woman - Shay, she learned her name was - had. Nothing but her name, birthdate, and a few other pieces of information were laid out on the paper. Bea sighed softly as she looked over the paper. She chewed her lip as she thought over her choices. She could decline the woman tenant-ship, as she didn't full out the required information. But something was telling her not to decline Shay. A part of her wanted to invite Shay in, no matter the information or lack-there-of provided. Bea's pale blue eyes flickered from the paper in her hand, to Shay, back to the paper. Finally, Bea opened her mouth. "M'aam, you have yourself a room. So long as you don't cause any trouble, I have no problem with you staying with me." Bea wasn't quite sure if it was the way Shay's shyness reminded her of Jonah, or if it was the quiet honesty that ran through her voice, but either way the choice was made ; Shay was welcomed.

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Shay was quiet, letting out a sigh of relief as she looked down at the ground. "Th...Thank you. Thank you so much." She whispered quietly as she looked down with a sigh of relief. "H...Here. Here is the two hundred for the room, and the extra hundred for the deposit." She whispered, taking out her wallet and quietly pulling out a thick wad of money. "It's... It's a mix of bills, but I counted it three times to make sure it was right before I came. You can recount it as well if you'd like." She said quietly, handing Bea a thick wad of cash... 300 dollars in fives and ones, maybe a couple tens. Shay had saved up her money to escape with change from the grocery store and money that had been lost in the washing machine. Not a lot of tens, twenties, or hundreds to come by. "Sorry the bills are so small." She said in quiet apology as she handed the money over. She hoped it didn't raise any suspicion. "Th...Thank you so much for accepting me ma'am. I promise not to cause any trouble. I promise." She whispered quietly as she looked down, saying a quiet prayer of thanks that she'd been granted a room from the kind woman in front of her. "M...May I go unpack, or do you have any questions to ask me?" She whispered respectfully.

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Bea accepted the large wad of cash. She glanced at it - she could spot a few ones under the five dollar bill at the top of the stack. Is this whole stack small bills? Bea placed the cash in the puse by her side, and stood up. She shook her head at Shay's question. "I don't have any questions. Here, let me show you to your room," she headed toward the archway in the wall, and walked into the kitchen. "This is the kitchen," she explained as she walked through and made her way to the hall. I don't know why I said that. I'm sure she knows what a kitchen is. Bea paused at the first door on the right. "This is the batgroom ; feel free to make it your own. My room has a bathroom off of it that I use, so don't feel like you have to keep your things out of it." Bea started walking again, her dark brown ponytail swaying slightly with each step. She passed a closed door. Jonah. Her heart twisted again. She stopped at the next door, and opened it to reveal an average-sized bedroom. "This is your room. I'm sorry it's not bigger..." Bea trailed off and turned to the last door down the hall. "That's my room down there. Just come knocking if you need anything." I hope I'm not forgetting anything...

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Shay was quiet as she nodded her head when she had been shown where everything was in the house. She was quiet, keeping her head low and nodding every now and again to show that she was in fact listening while she was being given the tour of the house. "Yes ma'am. Thank you so much..." She whispered as she quietly came inside the room, placing her duffel on the full sized bed that was there. The room had much better lightning than the living room. It could now be seen clearly, the purple mark on her face was large and round, a black eye. She hesitated a little bit, but then looked up. "Is there any rules to the house?" She asked quietly as she looked at the woman nervously. "I just need to know things I'm allowed to do and things I'm not." She whispered shakily. That was a bit strange.

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Bea's eyebrows raised at the sight of Shay's face - there had in fact been a bruise. The mother in her wanted to rush in to help her, but Shay was a grown woman. If she wanted help she could simply ask. On top of that, they hardly knew eachother. Bea felt as though Shay would be a little more than freaked out if Bea started bothering her with questions. She shook her head. "Not many rules, no. Just, dont go into that first bedroom, the one right past the bathroom. Dinner is usually around 6, if you care to join. I always cook too much for myself, so don't feel like you're intruding!" Bea finished with a smile. "Well, I'll leave you to unpack, and I'll go start on dinner." Bea turned to leave, then turned back as she remembered something. "Oh, and I don't want you to feel like you have to call me ma'am - just plain old Bea is fine." With that final note, Bea left the hallway and moved to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. She was trying to teach herself to only cook for one person, but it was hard after so many years of cooking for three.

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"Yes ma'- I mean, Bea. Thank you again." She whispered quietly as she started to unpack her small duffelbag. It didn't have many things in it. Just... A little old photograph book, and some clothes and toilitries. Essentials really. She had packed extremely light when she left. The escape had been planned.... This one had been planned perfectly to ensure success. She hadn't left a trail this time for him to follow... And she was almost sure that she was safe this time. She was free. She quietly stroked at her own cheek and sighed to herself quietly, quickly putting her things away in the dresser that had been provided. This place.... This place was going to be safe. She kept telling herself that, so she would stay calm and not freak out.... She had to try to be normal that way she wouldn't get kicked out. Normalcy was the key to ensuring she wouldn't have to go back to him, ever again. She silently sat on the bed when she looked up at the ceiling, thankful that some higher power had made it to where she got accepted into this lovely home. It was going to be hard to get a job and come up with enough for rent, but she would figure it out somehow... She would have to. But, things were going to be okay.

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Bea took out a small frying pan, a pot, and a glass pan from the cubbords. She moved to the fridge and removed tomatoes, cheese, and a package of ground beef. She filled the pot with water and put it on the stove to boil. She heated up the frying pan and threw the ground beef in there, along with some seasoning. Soon the beef was browned, and the heat was shut off of it. The water had begun to boil, so Bea poured in the pasta. She then moved to the cutting board to cut up the tomatoes. She grated the cheese next to the pile of tomatoes, and soon a pile of cheese sat next to the tomatoes. Bea opened up a jar of what she liked to call her 'secret sauce' - really it was just an ordinary jar of pasta sauce. Before long, the pasta was ready. She strained it and began to line the glass pan with lasagna. Lasagna, beef, tomatoes, cheese, sauce. Rinse and repeat. She topped off the lasagna with more cheese before placing the pan in the oven and setting the timer. Bea made herself busy with washing the cutting board, pot, and pan. She left them out on the dish drier, then turned to wipe down the table. She set out one place setting, then went back to grab another. Just incase Shay wants any... The timer went off, and Bea hustled to shut it off. She pulled the pan out of the oven, and a wave of heat and lasagna scent met her face. She smiled as she placed the pan on the stove to cool, moving back dwn the hall, Bea knocked on the doorway of Shay's room. "Excuse me, Shay?" She called out. "I have lasagna ready, if you'd like some."

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Shay looked up quietly at Bea when she entered the room, startled at the sudden knocking. She seemed to go white for a minute, before seeing it was just Bea, and she sighed in relief, looking down a little and nodding. "I... I'd love some, if that's okay." She whispered quietly, standing up and making her way towards the kitchen with Bea. Shay was very thin, only looking to weigh maybe 115 pounds even though she was almost 5'8. She had never been allowed to eat very much. She could hear her husband's voice ringing in her ears. No one wants a fat bitch for a wife followed by an ugly snarl and a smack across her face for serving herself an average size plate instead of the small saucer plates in their cabinet. She followed Bea quietly to the kitchen and nervously rubbed her hands together. She saw a large plate in the place where she assumed she'd be sitting, and she looked a little panicked at first as she stared at it. But... She knew normal people ate off of normal sized plates, and this would be a start to being normal. However, when she started to cut herself off a piece of lasanya, it was.... Well, incredibly small. Only enough to where in would fill maybe 3/4 of a saucer sized plate. She then quietly sat down. "Si...Since you cooked, I can do the dishes after we eat." She offered Bea, not wanting to force her into all of the work of making a dinner.

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Bea looked over Shay's plate. That's hardly enough to eat, but I don't want to seem like I'm forcing her to eat... The tiny piece of lasagna hardly took up a fourth of the plate. Bea said nothing, but moved to plate her own meal. She took a hearty chunk of the lasagna - it was one of her favorite meals. You can never have enough lasagna! Well, there was that one time where she ate a whole lasagna by herself...but that was the only exception. Bea sat down with her plate, and shook off Shay's offer. "You've just arrived. Give yourself some time to settle in before doing housework. I don't mind doing the dishes. I just want you to sit and enjoy your meal." Another twist of her heart. How many times had she told Jonah and Marcus to sit and enjoy their meals? How many times had they all sat here and enjoyed their dinner? Enjoyed eachother's company? Not enough times, that's for sure. Bea picked up her fork and slowly started eating her lasagna. Before long, she had finished her piece and went back to the pan for extras. "Feel free to help youself," she invited Shay. "There's more than enough for the two of us."

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In the time that it had taken Bea to finish her chunk of lasanya, Shay had only managed to eat half of her small slice. She looked up quietly, seeing Bea looking at her like she was crazy for not eating more. She looked down a little bit.... It seemed she had serious problems with food. The lasanya was so.... so good. She wanted to eat more, but she seemed a bit afraid to. She quietly got up and slowly walked over to the stove, putting another piece, about the size of the one she'd gotten the first time, on her plate. She then quietly shuffled back to the table and sat back down, trying to finish what was left of her first piece. "Th... This is very very good. Thank you." She whispered, looking up at Bea. "I... I really don't mind about dishes though. I'd feel truly awful making you do the cooking and the cleaning up." She insisted gently, slowly starting on her second piece, her hand resting softly on her stomach as she ate the rest of her food. "I really don't mind. I'm used to house work. It.... It would honestly feel strange for me to let someone else clean my dishes." she said, trying to give a half hearted attempt at a giggle. "I'd really... Really be happy to. I promise."

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Bea smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad you like it!" She said cheerfully. She suddenly had a flash back, to when she had tried something new for supper. She had read a recipe for roasted cauliflower in a magazine she had picked up during her hair appointment. She remembered Jonah turning to her, his mouth full of the cauliflower, and managed to mutter "This is great, mom!" Around theach food. Marcus had laughed, and turned to Bea. "Really, hun, this is great!" Bea was pulled out of her memory, and only caught the last half of what Shay was saying. It was eno mug for her to get the jist on what Shay was saying. Bea shook her head in response. "I'll take up your offer some other day, but not today. I wouldn't be a good host if I let you clean your first day in." She gave a small chuckle. "Really, Shay, please don't stress yourself."

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"o...Okay, Bea. S...Sorry for asking twice." She whispered by habit, looking down a little bit as she paused from eating. She was used to getting in deep trouble when she asked anything more than once. She could remember... One time, it was in a grocery store. He had come along with her for god knows why, and she has asked him twice about something or what not.... She thought it was something about what kind of poptarts he wanted.... Something like that. She had only asked twice to make sure that she had gotten the right ones, and he had hit her hard across the face, right there in the store, in front of all those people. Are you really that stupid, that I have to tell you fucking twice what type of pastry to get, you dumb bitch? She could hear the hissing in her ear like it had just happened and suddenly she was gripping the table, her nails digging into it slightly as she tensed up and looked down. She quietly finished her last bite of lasanya and quietly put the plate in the sink, looking white like a ghost. "Th...Thank you for dinner, Bea." She whispered quietly.

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Bea titled her head slightly at Shay's appology. "It's nothing to be sorry for," she replied, but she wasn't sure that she had heard her. She seemed to be off in thought. I wonder if I looked like that a few minutes ago... Bea's eyes widened as Shay suddenly gripped the table, but said nothing about it. Bea replied with a quick, "No problem." as Shay left the kitchen. She lifted herself from the chair, and placed her plate in the sink. Scraped the lasagna into a tubbaware container, and placed it in the fridge on the top shelf. Moving back to the sink, she grabbed the pan on her way and added that to the small pile of dishes. She squirted a generous amount of soap on the pan before beginning to scrub the sauce out of the pan. As she scrubbed, her mind wandered. Shay looked rather pale when she left...I hope she's alright. I want to ask her, but it would be prying a bit, wouldn't it? Well, whatever it is, she'll tell me if she wants me to know. Soon she had finished the dishes. She plopped them in the drier, and put away the now-dry frying pan and pot. Before leaving the kitchen, she placed a dish towel over the top of the glass pan. Bea shut off lights as she made her way down the hallway, but left the bathroom one on. She stopped by the outside of Shay's room. "Goodnight, Shay. Remember, if you need anything, I'll be in my room." Bea walked down the hall and entered her room.

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(What if Bea turns on the evening news in her room and sees Shay on it as a missing person? It would raise questions and force Shay to tell Bea why she's hiding)


Shay was quiet as she looked at Bea in her doorway. She quietly tried her best to smile at her. "T... thank you for being so kind, Bea. I.... I can't thank you enough for all thst you are doing for me. Thank you so so much." She whispered quietly as she watched Bea leave to her room. Shay quietly lay down I'm the bed and turned on the small tv that was in the room. She just wanted to watch some law and order, and make herself relax for a little while. It had been a stressful day, and she was tired... she only hoped her little scene of weakness in the kitchen wouldn't cause problems in the morning

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