The ran hit her in the face, the droplets hanging off of her green bangs as she stood still and looked over her shoulder. Her house-the one she shared with her ex Rob was all lit up and she could still hear him crashing around in his drunken rage.At 19 she knew that their relationship was all but over-it had been over for a year. She stood there, her trembling fingers moving to tuck some of her green and blue hair behind an ear and Shy-Anne jumped as she heard him scream after her and then the front door flew open.

Where could she go? He would find her at her parents house-not that they would let her hide out there anyways. He would go to where she worked and he knew most of her friends. Shy-Anne pulled out her phone, hovering over it so that her hood would cover the screen. She scrolled through all of her possibilities until finally she settled on one name. Rob would never guess that she would go to him, mostly because CC was usually on tour this time of year, but Shy-Anne knew he was home.

Pulling out her earphones from her pocket, Shy-Anne walked quickly down the sidewalk with the rain still pelting down against her. She thumbed through her options and smiling she chose an incredibly appropriate song and was soon lost in the melody of it all. She hated that she was having to run, but Rob wasn’t getting it through his head that they were done-over and that Shy-Anne was ready to move on. She looked up, the music playing in her ears and Shy-Anne smiled as she caught site of the moon. It was huge and bright and it shone in her bright eyes. She had escaped-hopefully for good and as she kept walking Shy-Anne only hoped that CC would at least let her stay the night.

Walking down the street, crossing over to the opposite side, Shy-Anne thought back on how she and CC had met. It had been a weird experience to say the least-she had been at an Imagine Dragons concert with Rob, it had been their last real date together, and he had been drunk out of his mind. He had started pushing her around like he always did and suddenly out of nowhere someone had come up from behind her, picked her up from around her waist and moved her to the other side of the crowd.

Shy-Anne remembered looking up and meeting those brown eyes…they were so kind and thoughtful. Suddenly her favorite song came over the system and Shy-Anne felt her heart leap as CC only smiled down at her and began to sing in her ear. She melted in that moment-Rob had never understood her love for this song, but in a matter of minutes CC had gotten it. They had hung out for the rest of the night and finally once the show was over he introduced himself. They had become fast friends and suddenly Shy-Anne had developed feelings.

Finally she had made it to his small house and Shy-Anne suddenly felt nervous. They hadn’t seen one another in a month since he’d been on tour and what if the chemistry wasn’t there anymore? Where was she supposed to go? Who could she turn to? She walked up the steps, her hand raised to knock and then she stopped as Shy-Anne looked down at herself. Her Pink Floyd shirt was sticking to her skin and her black and blue tights were sagging slightly from being wet.

She hadn’t thought about the rain when she had run out of the house in white shorts, but this was no time to think about what she was wearing. She stood there and after sucking in a deep breath, Shy-Anne knocked and noticed that within two seconds the porch light came on and she saw someone’s silhouette come up on the glass of the door. Suddenly the door was pulled open and he was standing in front of her. His chest was bare, his long black hair messy like he had been sleeping and he had a sleepy grin on his face as he looked down at her.


“Shy? Wha-what are you doing here?” He asked and Shy-Anne tried in vain to fight back her tears. Thankfully her face was already wet from the rain, but she knew he could tell that she had been crying.

“I-um-Can I stay here?” She asked, biting down on her lower lip and she felt her dolphin bites shift slightly as she tugged at her own lip. CC’s grin transformed into a soft smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder and led her inside. She had only been to his house a few times-he had made her dinner twice and both times it had been the most fun she’d ever had.

“S-sure. What happened to your place?” He asked as he shut the door behind her and then reached for her trembling hand to lead her into his living room. He had fallen asleep on the couch and as they entered the room CC reached down to pick up the blanket he had been sleeping under to wrap it around her shaking shoulders.

“Rob showed up…drunk…” She sobbed then and CC could say nothing as he just reached for her, his fingers tangling in her long green and blue hair as her head rested against his bare chest. He felt so warm and it was so nice being held this way by someone.

“Why? Why did you even let him in the house Shy?” CC asked, his voice mumbled as he rested his lips against the top of her head. He had such a connection with this girl-she was so broken and fragile that CC felt like she needed someone in her life to just hold her.

“H-he said he needed to get something that he left when he moved out. I-I didn’t realize he was as drunk as he was…” She stuttered and then the crying came once again as Shy-Anne remembered the look of pure hatred that had filled Rob’s eyes as he flew at her.

“Oh Shy…d-did he hurt you?” CC asked as he moved the two of them down so that they were sitting on his couch. Shy-Anne looked around her and she felt completely out of place…a mess of a girl in a perfect house.


The walls were painted a deep red with white crown molding and the floors were a shining hard wood that reflected the dim lighting that came from the ceiling. The couch they were sitting on was huge and L shaped, with the plush leather being soft against her skin. Before her, sitting over the marble fireplace was a huge flat screen television that was currently playing cartoons. In one corner was a large pool table, while the other corner of the room held CC’s drum kit and various studio equipment so that he could work on things at home.

She shivered as she felt his hand come to rest on the side of her face and soon Shy-Anne found herself looking into CC’s wide concern filled eyes. He looked into her eyes, seeing how sad she looked and suddenly his lips were against hers. It felt so good being like this with her and he had missed being around Shy-Anne while he had been on tour with the guys.

As he looked at the crying girl in his arms, CC felt his heart break. He remembered the first moment that he had seen her-her arm had been in Rob’s hands and he was pulling her towards the door and she obviously did not want to go with him. CC usually didn’t step in during moments like that, but something about her just fired him up. He had walked up to her, wrapped his lanky arms around her waist, picked her up and then as he set her down on the other side of himself, CC remembered looking at Rob and telling him he needed to find an elsewhere to be.

The two of them had enjoyed the show together and found that their favorite Imagine Dragons songs was one in the same. They had laughed and danced through the entire night and as he walked her to the bus stop-CC asked her out. He usually was too shy to ask girls out like that, but something about Shy-Anne made him feel different.


“N-no. I ran out of the house before he could get to me. But I’m scared to go back home…what if he’s still there?” She said and CC looked down at her. She looked terrified and he knew in that moment that he couldn’t let her go back there. Ever.

“You’re staying here. He, thankfully, doesn’t know where I live and even if he did show up-well I’d take care of it.” CC said as he stood up and Shy-Anne only smiled as she watched him walk away.

“I-I can’t stay here forever C. What about when you guys go on tour in a month? What happens then?” She asked after his retreating back and Shy-Anne only sighed as she leaned back against the couch and covered her eyes with her still trembling hands.

“You’ll just stay here Shy…don’t worry about when I’m gone. Mi casa es su casa…” He smirked down at her as he handed her a t-shirt and a huge pair of sweat pants. She was thankful for the dry clothes and Shy-Anne only stood as she let the blanket fall from her shoulders and reached for the pants.

“Do you even know what that means?” She asked and CC only smirked, keeping his eyes on her face as she stripped right in front of him and then sat back down on the couch.

“Yeah-my house is your house.” His smile was cheeky as CC sat down beside her and moved her legs so that they were resting in his lap. First thing in the morning he was going to go with her to the house she was renting and get her things. No ifs ands or buts.

“You sure you want someone with so many demons living in your house?” She was joking, but deep down Shy-Anne meant what she said. She had a lot of demons in her life and she was able to hide them all well, except when she someone looked deep into her eyes…she was an easy read that way.

“Shy-Anne…don’t fight this. You’re staying. Demons and all…” CC smiled at her as he stood up, turning off the television as he moved towards a small stereo that was sitting on a shelf.

“I dunno C…there are a lot of demons that you don’t know about.” She said and her eyes got misty as Shy-Anne thought over what exactly her demons consisted of.


She had grown up in a broken home, her mother having left her and her father when she was ten years old and it had been down hill from there. Shy-Anne had been teased all through middle school because of her situation and because of that she had taken solace in one thing-music. When she got to high school Shy-Anne was still teased, but not for her home life…for her appearance. She wasn’t blonde and perfect-she was her own person but people rarely ever understood that.

There was one person in her life who understood her-at least she thought he did and that person was Rob. They had been together since tenth grade, but his failing music career had caused his drinking to escalate until finally she’d escaped…right into CC’s arms. Sadly she thought that it may be too late for her to ever give herself to someone like that again.


“What are you doing?” Shy-Anne asked as CC turned back towards her from the stereo and reached down for her hands. He pulled her up, placing one hand on her hip as his other held hers up in the air.

“Getting rid of demons…” He smiled down at her and Shy-Anne could only smirk at him in return.

“How do you propose to do that” She asked and CC only smiled at her before his lips fell against hers as a familiar song came over the speaker system and the two of them began to sway slightly.

I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There’s nowhere we can hide
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide


“With love Shy-Anne…with love and patience.” He smiled at her once again and as she looked up in to his eyes, Shy-Anne felt some of her demons throw up a surrender and she knew…maybe her demons could be slayed after all.

Notes

Hope you liked it : )