TW: Physical Abuse 

  "Now Miss Emerson I'm sure you're aware of our company policy on relationships." I was seating in my boss's office watching him pace back and forth in front of his large mahogany desk.
"Yes, I am. No dating coworkers. How does this pertain to me though?" I asked politely.
"Well, I've been recently informed by an anonymous source of your relationship with a man in the accounting department. His name is Aaron Wattson. Ring any bells?" Yeah, and it raises some red flags.
"Yes, it does." I sighed. "We've been together for about a month."
"Now you do understand we take workplace relationships very seriously here as more than a few marriages have been destroyed. So I'm afraid we'll have to fire you. You will be getting severance though." I leaned my head back.
"Where's your proof of this relationship ever occurring?" I asked. He slammed a small folder down. Inside was pictures of Aaron and me on dates. A picture of us from my finsta of which barely any of my friends have. A snapchat screenshot of Aaron and me on my couch from my private story. These were all things that a close friend would have access to, but no one else. Which meant this was most likely Dylan's doing.
"It's all there Wesley. We cannot allow you to continue working for us. As much as I hate to fire you, it is policy." I nodded and stood up.
"I'm sorry you cheated on your wife with the receptionist and now fire anyone who does the same because you're too scared she'll find out." I smiled and went to clean up my desk. I told one of my nearby coworkers how to do a few things and then left. I went straight home to cry. I didn't even get the chance because an angry Aaron showed up at my house soon after. I quickly texted Ethan something inconspicuous.
'Hey, can you get me a coffee and bring it to my house? I'm out of grounds and I'm too lazy to go out.' It sounded innocent enough. It should bring him by in about half an hour.
"Open up this fucking door!" Aaron shouted at my front door. I opened it and he immediately pinned my arms to the wall. "You've fucked up my career! You know that bitch?"
"Would you like anything to eat?" I asked calmly, slipped my hands out of his grip. Though it was quite painful I felt it necessary.
"No, I want to know what the fuck you did!" He yelled again.
"I didn't do anything. Dylan blackmailed me. She was the one who sent the pictures." I said.
"I know she blackmailed you. I was helping her out, but that doesn't change the fact that you got me fired." He said, quieter but still threatening.
"Why were you doing that?" I asked, my voice low.
"Because Dylan promised to pay me a hefty amount if I could ruin your life for her."
"But why? I didn't do anything to her."
"No, but she knew you were going to tell Alex about the cheating." Aaron laughed. "Let's just say Alex won't be dating anyone new anytime soon."
"What the fuck did you do?" I asked, a harsher tone taking over my voice.
"I didn't do anything. Not like you." He picked up the vase of flowers that I kept on my kitchen table. "You're just a little fuck up that can't do anything!"
"Please don't throw those." I pleaded quietly. He laughed and chucked them at the wall that I was standing against. I slumped down and covered my head. Flowers fell at my side and glass rained around me.
"You know a girl shouldn't drink." He said grabbing one of the empty beer bottles that were on my counter.
"It's only occasional," I whispered. He threw the bottle against the wall too. He then grabbed me by the collar.
"Stand up straight." He instructed. I tried to but his grip on me made it hard to move. He slapped me across the face. "Straight."
"I'm sorry." Tears streamed down my face. I prayed that Ethan would get there soon.
~Ethan~
Wes had asked me to grab her a coffee, so I did. I drove all the way to her house only to notice that her front door was wide open and another car was in the driveway. I ran inside, leaving the coffee in the car. I could hear yelling in the kitchen along with sobs and pleads. I ran full force at Aaron and knocked him over. Wes sat on the floor tears streaming down her face. She covered in cuts and a bruise was already forming on her cheek. I held Aaron in a chokehold but knew it wouldn't work for long.
"Wes, grab something that you can use as a weapon," I told her. She lifted herself off the floor and grabbed a pan from the stove. I adjusted my hold and he got out. Wes raised her pan and he staggered.
"Babe, you wouldn't really hit me, would you? I would never hit you." He said. Damn this man lies like it's easy.
"Well, you've already hit me. Ethan grab his arms!" I grabbed his arms and Wes hit him over the head with the pan. Aaron crumpled to the floor. I called the cops before assessing the damages on Wesley.
"How do you feel?" I asked her.
"Fan-fucking-tastic." She said sarcastically.
"I'm serious, tiger," I said.
"Tiger?" She questioned.
"You were literally just attacked. Can you please ignore that and focus on everything at hand?" She nodded and gave her one last once over. "It looks like you've just got some cuts and bruises. Shouldn't require going to the hospital."
"Should we do something with this?" She gestured at Aaron's unconscious body.
"I think we should leave it to them," I said as police sirens sounded. Two officers walked in.
"Who was the man we spoke with on the phone?" I raised a hand and one officer took me into the living room. She sat down on a chair and gestured for me to sit on the couch.
"I'm Officer Stock. Name?"
"Ethan Nestor," I stated. She wrote it down.
"What relation do you have to the victim?"
"Close friend."
"Childhood or recent?"
"Recent but we were very fast friends."
"Close friends as in cause her lover to go into a rage due to jealousy?" The officer asked. I shook my head.
"No there was another contributing factor. I'm just not sure what."
"Were you aware of any abuse going on between the victim and the aggressor?"
"I had suspected but she wouldn't listen when I tried to warn her."
"Did you try to intervene at any time?" I shook my head.
"Not until today. Of which I probably wouldn't have even been here to save her had she not texted me."
"May I see the text?" The officer asked. I found it and handed my phone to the officer. She looked pleased. "Clever girl. How'd she know that would get you over here?"
"It's just become something I do for her. I know her coffee order so sometimes she'll ask me to get her a coffee if I'm around."
"Where's the coffee you bought her?" The officer asked.
"In my car. Why?" She smiled.
"Bring it to her. I'm sure it will help her out a little." The officer picked up her note pad and walked back to her partner. I went outside and grabbed Wes's coffee. It was still warm. She was sitting at the table talking to the officers when I came back in. I placed the coffee next to her. She looked from the coffee cup to me and back again. She took a sip and smiled.
"Thank you, Ethan." Her voice was hoarse.
"Now we don't recommend you stay here tonight as your ex knows where you live. Do you have another place you could stay?" The other officer asked. Wes started to shake her head.
"She can stay with me." I offered.
"Is that okay with you?" The officer asked Wes. She nodded and stood up.
"I'm gonna go grab some of my stuff. I assume I won't be back for a bit." Wes walked off and the officers turned to me.
"You're certain that her ex doesn't know where you live?" Officer Stock asked me.
"Yes, I'm certain. I met Wesley after she and Dylan broke up."
"Which was when?"
"About three months ago."
"This seriously wasn't a dispute over cheating?" The other officer asked.
"No, it was not. Wesley and I are strictly friends. We've agreed to be nothing more for now." The officer wrote something down and stood up.
"We should be getting back to the station before he gets aggressive." The officers left and I was left to wait for Wes. She emerged with a duffle bag of stuff. She dropped it and ran to hug me.
"Thank you so much." She whispered.
"I would do it all again if I had to," I responded. She smiled and went to go grab Finny. I grabbed her bag and walked out to my car. She locked up her house and got in my car with her bird on her lap.
"We're gonna be staying with Ethan for a while." She said to her.
"Ethan!" Finny squawked. I laughed.
"Did you teach her that?" I asked. Wes shook her head.
"Nah she just picked it up I guess." I pulled into my driveway and opened my front door. Spencer jumped up at me and I scratched his ears.
"Hey, buddy. I've got someone for you to meet." Wes walked up with her birdcage only to be jumped on by a very good and very hyper boy.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a dog?" Wesley handed me the cage so she could get Spencer away from her.
"Do you not like dogs?" I asked.
"They're fine. Finny just doesn't really like dogs. She pecked the shit out of Dylan's mom's dog once." I put Finny on a higher up table and went to grab Spencer.
"Come on boy. Let's go get you some food." Wes went back out to the car to grab her bag and I went to put Spencer in a different room for now. And yes I did feed him.
"Uh, where should I leave my stuff for now?" Wes asked me.
"Well, I'm using my spare room as a recording room so I guess my room."
"Which is where?" Wes asked.
"Down the hall on the left," I stated. She returned shortly after. "Now to clean you up."
"I'm fine honestly." She tried to say.
"Wes, you're covered in glass and you have cuts everywhere. Get in the bathroom now." I instructed and pushed her into the bathroom. I turned on the tub. "Now strip or I'll do it for you."
"Pardon?" she said, exasperated. My face flushed upon realizing what I had said.
"Sorry. I'll just leave now."
"No, I do need help. My entire being hurts, to be honest with you." I walked back towards her. She raised her arms and I averted my eyes as I helped her take off her shirt. My face heated up anyway.
"Sorry," I whispered.
"You can look. It's fine." I realized just how bad the cuts on her arms were as I looked back. They covered her forearms from where she shielded her head from the glass. My face burned as my eyes passed over her chest. "What you never seen boobs before?"
"What?" I asked, flustered.
"Don't think I don't notice how much you're blushing Ethan," Wes said. It only caused me to flush a deeper shade of red. I ran a washcloth under the water and sat her down on the edge of the tub. I gently ran it over her arms to get any dried blood off.
"I can't tell whether or not there's any glass in there so you might as well just take a shower and I'll bandage you after." I turned to leave.
"Thank you again," Wes said.
"No problem. There are towels in the closet." I left to go make something for dinner. I ended up just throwing some stuff in an instant pot. Okay, it wasn't just some stuff it was a chicken pesto pasta dish that I like.
"Ethan!" Wesley called. I went back to the bathroom. She was sitting on the tub wrapped in a towel. "Can you wrap up my arms please?"
"Yeah of course." I found some gauze and carefully wrapped it around her arms. Once I finished she nodded in gratitude to me and went to my room to get dressed. I went back to the kitchen to finish up dinner. I set two bowls out on the table and waited for Wes.
"Did you make dinner?" She asked.
"Yes, I did." I put a decent serving of pasta in each bowl and set them back on the table. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Water is fine." We ate in silence and when we both finished I just silently grabbed our bowls and placed them in the sink. Wes stood up from the table. "I'm gonna go to bed."
"Already?" I looked at the clock and realized it was already ten. "Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"
"No, you can stay in your bed." We retreated back to my room. I changed and climbed into bed. It was so weird being in the same bed as Wes. It was even weirder when she cuddled against me. "Thank you again."
"No problem, tiger." She laughed at my nickname from her and drifted off to sleep, still snuggled against me.