The Russel home

[Esme Russel]

Esme was not surprised by Vinnie's little emotional outburst - she was expecting it. "Stay right here... okay?" She whispered as she hugged him tightly for about two and a half minutes to try and soothe him before she freaked him out with stuff that he certainly wouldn't want to see but there was no other options! He was going to stay with this man no matter what she said or did so she wanted him to prepare himself. "Okay... so you're going to stay with him because he loves you well I want to tell you all of the benefits to being in this relationship long-term." She smiled as if this was really going to be fun for both of them. She took about fifteen minutes in the basement to find the police report filed when she was thirteen against her then boyfriend - Jackson Parrish. "Okay...this what your future holds... Okay read the witness statements about how he tried to throw me out out of the backseat of the car because that's like a ride, right?" She was obviously being sarcastic.

"He loves you so let's discuss the benefits that your abuser wants you to experience through this relationship. You think hate cutting your hair? That's okay! The stress can cause it to thin and fall out or if he grabs you by it then he could take handfuls out at a time. You'll become an expert at make up because you'll need to learn to cover the bruises. Want more attention? Your family and friends may worry for your well-being but that's okay because you have Cooper. The best part of all is that it's like a game, right? His abuse keeps life exciting and keeps you on your toes." She was talking like one of those cheesy salesmen on television like she was selling an abusive relationship to him.

"Do you feel like a bad liar? That will also improve because you have to have some reason for the bloody lips and if a bruise ever shows and best of all, you might marry him! Maybe adopt a child and that kid can watch daddy smack you around like a ragdoll and he will have an increased chance of being an abuser himself or if it's a girl then she has a higher chance of being abused." She knew it was snarky but she didn't know what else to do.

[Vinnie Giovanetti]

Vinnie didn't really think she was going to help. She'd already switched the perspective on him once, so he expected her to do it again. And he was right. Within fifteen minutes, she was shoving papers into his face about her past relationship with some abusive kid. "Its not like that," he tried, but she spoke over him.

"Esme no," and "Es its not like that," and "He loves me!" But she kept going. This visit was turning out to be a bad decision. Completely lost, Vinnie sunk to the floor and put his face into his knees. He wrapped his hands back around his head and cried, pushing his eyes against his jeans. He didn't even care that it hurt.

When she stopped, so did he. It got really quiet as he sat there, curled up in a ball, completely silent. He'd stopped crying, he'd stopped heaving. He was just shaking now as he sat. "He's not abusing me," he said after a minute. He looked up. "I love him, Esme. You forced it out of me last night and its the truth. I love him. He just got mad."

[Esme Russel]

Esme didn't mean to upset him this badly! She just wanted him to have all of the facts about the potential for risk in his relationship with Cooper. (Thank God that it wasn't Cooper her brother now!) She didn't want him to be involved with someone who was hurting him but she also didn't want to risk losing his friendship and pushing him closer to his boyfriend because he didn't feel like he could go to her in fear of her reacting poorly like she had done with this piece of information. She couldn't imagine how terrified that he had to be of Cooper if he was so willing to defend his obvious bad behavior. She pursed her lips as she moved down onto the floor beside Vinnie. "Okay.. You're staying with him and I'll just have to accept that but if he hurts you again then let me know, okay? We don't have to go to the police or anything but you can come here and stay if things ever get intense, okay? I don't want you to feel like you have nowhere to go because you do.. You can always come here."

She wrapped her thin arms around one of his and rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes focused on the counter in front of her. "Look, how about if you try some more brownies and we can talk about the good things that Cooper does for you? Because I know that he probably has some sort of a good side to him but I just haven't heard about it yet." She stood up wearily and reached for a brownie on a stick. It was coated in white chocolate and had sprinkles so she was hoping that it would be a hit with him but she would understand if it simply wasn't his thing. "Um, this was hardest to make because the first batch of brownies had five different kinds of chocolate and were way too heavy."

She didn't want to be a bad person and just focus on the negative things; how would that get world peace for anyone? All that she wanted was a little bit of world peace! "I could teach you how to bake if you'd like?"

[Vinnie Giovanetti]

Vinnie put his head atop Esme's when she sat beside him. He was so lost. But he laughed a little when she said he should say all the nice things about Cooper. Anything cute he ever did, all the sweet gestures were popping into his head. He chuckled as he remembered how just yesterday Cooper had sat on his lap and refused to move until he got a kiss. There was a buzz in his pocket as Esme stood and grabbed a brownie. A text. From Cooper.

Where'd you go? I'm so sorry if I hurt you, Vinnie.

Vinnie smiled softly at the text and let out a shallow huff. He texted back that he was at Esme's and that he'd be home soon. After taking the brownie from Esme, he showed her the text. "See? He does care," he said softly. "You really wanna know all the cute stuff he's done?" he asked, sort of hoping she'd say yes. He pushed himself up from the ground, but was still shaking a bit. He steadied himself against the counter.

"He's really not so bad. At all. Boys hit each other when they're mad," he tried to make her smile, maybe see things his way.

[Esme Russel]

Esme was trying to think of Cooper as a decent human being and boyfriend but all that she could think about was how he had hit this precious person next to her. "Yeah... Tell me all of the cute things that he does that make up for the fact that he hits you." She couldn't possibly imagine being with Jonathan if he was hitting her even if she was hitting back! But she also needed to realize that it'd be different if it was a woman against a man and not two equally strong men fighting. She wanted to be nice about the relationship but she really didn't understand how it was possibly okay to abuse your partner.

"Sorry ... I'll stop and be more open minded about this." She nodded as if she was also trying to convince herself that she could be open about this. Vinnie reminded her in some tiny way of Hudson but it seemed like everyone lately reminded her of him. It wasn't that she felt that overwhelming urge to be with him like the old days or even that she regret marrying Jonathan because he legitimately made her the happiest that she had ever been but she did regret hurting someone who clearly cared for her. She knew that they weren't soulmates and she knew that their breakup was what led to her conceiving the new baby in her uterus so how could she regret that?

"Do you feel safe? Like he would protect you from all harm?" She was only asking because she felt like feeling safe with the person you're dating was extremely important.

[Vinnie Giovanetti]

Vinnie smiled when Esme said to tell her everything about Cooper that made up for hitting him. He couldn't take her seriously anymore. And he was suddenly starting to get much happier. He just needed to cry, hit rock bottom, and practically break down. Now that that was over.. things were looking brighter.

Before he could start with the cutesy stories, though, she'd asked another question. Safe? Did Cooper make him feel safe? "Well I dunno, man," he said, his brow furrowed as he tried to put himself in a dangerous situation where Coop might help. "I mean.. I think I could stand up for myself. But I don't doubt he'd pistol whip a kid if I was in trouble. He'd beat 'em down for sure." Vinnie smiled at the thought of Cooper hitting someone for his sake. He couldn't help but see him just cat fighting like a little girl. He really was such a gentle person... which kind of hurt Vinnie thinking about the fact that this really was the first time he'd ever seen him so angry.

"You ever talked to Coop other than online?" he asked, turning to look at Esme and taking the brownie-on-a-stick from her.

[Esme Russel]

Esme knew the feeling of knowing that someone wouldn't hesitate to defend her if something happened. She knew that Cooper, Dallas, Jonathan, possibly Jett and Danny.. Maybe even Wyatt if she was in serious danger. Hell, most everyone that she was friends with would likely defend her life if it was absolutely needed because most people generally liked her as a person or at least enough that they didn't want her to be dead well she wanted to believe that at least. "I want you to be with someone who makes you happy, Vinnie and if Cooper does that then .... I'll have to get to know him better, I suppose." Was it that simple? Really? She was just going to agree to get to know Cooper better despite the fact that he believed that he was just as abusive as Chase had been to her? She let out a heavy sigh and tried to think of a way to act more accepting towards the whole situation but she didn't know how to. She strongly believed that there was no possible excuse for another human to ever lay their hands on another but maybe she was seeing this in a black and white way and there really was some sort of grey area when it came to domestic abuse.

She had tried to smile when he showed her the text message from Cooper but she had experience with the after abuse apologies. "You are unbelievably gorgeous, Reynolds and don't let anyone make you feel otherwise", how could she forget such sweet words? How could she forget the fact that he had been lying to her? She knew that Vinnie's situation was different than her's or at least she hoped that it was because if he was going through what she went through then she wanted him to go and report the bastard immediately especially since he lived with him.

"I do.. I want to hear cutesy stories about Cooper and all of the adorable things that he says and does for you.. I want to know how he treats you in public and how he treats you in private well.." She paused and realized that saying that could open the door to awkward sexual stories. She wasn't homophobic but since becoming pregnant again, it made her slightly nauseous to hear anyone's[/u] sexual stories.

[Vinnie Giovanetti]

Vinnie smiled and clasped his hand over his wrist when she said she wanted to hear cutesy stories. "You don't know what you're getting into," he said with a slight chuckle before lifting the brownie to his mouth and taking a bite. After the bite, he held the brownie out before him and looked up to think. "Y'know the other night on the chat when he wouldn't do the dishes? And then he was sitting on me? Okay so he ninja rolled across the ground, humming the Mission Impossible theme, then karate kicked the air, jumped into my lap and laid on his back like a fucking puppy staring up at me and told me he wouldn't move until I kissed him," he paused as he thought about it. "So I kissed him and he stayed there. For ten more minutes. Then just slid off and did the dishes." He laughed. It all seemed so cute to him. He wasn't sure if this was one of those 'had to be there stories' but he thought it was pretty damn adorable.

"Oh ah when we first met.. when we first met, I'd been invited to his apartment for a film festival. Y'know Bo Costello? Well his brother Andie had been invited and was told to bring friends.. so he asked Bo and Bo asked me. So we went and shit and I met Coop and all and he was real cool. He offered me a beer right away.. then said 'you look cranked. bong's on the table, brah' and walked away," he couldn't help but laugh. "At the end of the night he told me I could come back any time I wanted because I seemed like a pretty cool dude. So I texted him the next day, asking about like the movies we'd watched and stuff, and he told me to come over and I could borrow them. And I just kept visiting him. Rests history, I guess," he shrugged and looked to Esme. It was clear he was so happy. A smile was spread from ear to ear as his eyes fell heavy in remembrance. He honestly hadn't lost the lust he'd felt the first time he'd really liked Cooper. The first time he really looked at Cooper.

"I just really love him, Esme. A lot. This is the first time I've ever seen him mad like this," he took a deep breath. "If he does it.. if he does it again, I'll tell you. I promise." He held out his pinky and grasped hers. "For real, bro. I just.. I just don't believe that he's like this. This isn't something that he is. I can feel it, y'know? In here," he tapped his chest, right over his heart. It was cliche, and he knew it, but it was true. No matter how cliche, it was truer than true. He loved the man.

"I guess I should probably get going. I told him I'd be home soon and if he wants to rattle off excuses.. I wanna hear before he falls asleep," Vinnie said as he grabbed one of the containers of brownies. "I'll give your tuperware back," he said with a smile.

[Esme Russel]

Esme was really trying to be nice about the whole thing but she was having trouble getting over the fact that this poor guy next to her was being abused by his boyfriend in a similar way that she had been when she was with Chase. She was extremely judgmental when it came to matters of abuse and she knew that it would only serve to push Vinnie away. Bo Costello? "Yeah, I know the loser.. He's dating my older sister, Beatrice. What a jackass! Did you know that they broke up after dating for like a month and then he asked her back out? I mean.. She took him back even though he gave her a fish for crying out loud!" She forgot about the point at hand and went on a small rant about how much that she disliked her older sister's boyfriend, "And we all know that he's still obsessed with Carol! And he is so going to dump her the second that the next hot piece of ass walks by and I don't want her to get hurt just because she has already gotten hurt before and that's sort of my fault but it's also sort of not because I was still kind of a selfish whore then." She stopped before going off again and remembered that this wasn't a conversation about how much of a loser that Bo was.. It was about what kind of a person that Cooper was.

"Look.. I'm not going to tell you that you should dump him but I am going to tell you that you should be careful just in case." It was all that she felt like she could do, really... She had to find out for herself that Chase wasn't the perfect guy that he claimed and that meant ignoring her friends telling her so many times. They'd warned her over and over that he was just going to keep hitting her and all that really did was push her closer to him because she felt sympathy for him.. He was poor and misjudged! So, she wasn't going to go all 'dump him or he'll kill you'. She was going to pretend that she actually liked this guy. "Hey... How about if you and Cooper and Jon and I go on a double date sometime? Or you two could come by for dinner one of these nights?"

What was supportive? "I can make his favorite dinner and everything if you tell me what it is and if he has any sort of allergies that I should look out for. I mean.. I'm allergic to walnuts so I can make anything as long as it doesn't include those." She was really.. really allergic to walnuts. "I'll try and get to know him, okay? I'm sure that he's a lovely guy who just had an angry moment."