t.w! mentions of abuse & bruises.

enchanted
chapter 3, isaiah to the rescue again.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Eve sat on Rory's bed after getting a call to meet her at her house. The brunette grabbed the blonde's chin, turning her face to get a better look at the red mark under her eye. "You need to tell your dad or at least Freya so she can tell him, Ro. This is getting out of hand now," Eve placed her hand on Rory's leg while Finn went to go get a cold compress.

"I can't. I've told Esme, that's as far as I'm going. If he kills me then you lot know who it was," she shrugged, flinching when Eve pressed the cold cloth on her eye.

"Sorry," the girl apologised. 

"He won't hurt them or us. We won't let him," Finn told her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Rory turned to look at him, "You don't know what he's capable of and I don't want to find out how far he'll go to hurt me. The threats are enough to scare me."

"Enough to make you start drinking," Eve pointed out with a raised brow.

"Yeah that too," she looked down, taking the cloth off her face. "I'll be fine, you go to school and I'll go see my dad at work."

"How are you going to explain the black eye?" Eve asked, looking at Finn who was looking at Rory with the same confused expression.

"Blame Finn, say we were play fighting and he hit me by accident," she shrugged. 

"Oh thanks," he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah let me tell him the truth then, oh by the way before you ask the black eye yeah funny story I laughed at something that wasn't actually supposed to be funny and my boyfriend punched me because I didn't stop," she rolled her eyes. "That would go down so well wouldn't it?"

Finn nodded, "Right, yeah."

"So you'll take the blame?" Rory asked, looking at him.

"On one condition," he nodded.

"What?"

"You tell him soon or I will."

"I will."

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Rory had her head down whilst she walked across the street to steal Polly's sunglasses and hten Finn and Rory walked Eve to school where Lottie was meeting her. "Everyone's looking you because your walking with sunglasses on when it's not even sunny or warm," Eve deadpanned.

"Yeah well it's either this or one of the random blinders on the way seeing my eye and telling my dad or Tommy or even Arthur," Rory deadpanned back, side eying the girl from behind Polly's sunglasses.

As the trio turned around the corner a body bumped into Rory. "Sorry, couldn't see you!" she apologised, looking up to make eye contact with Louise.

"You'd be able to see me walking if you weren't wearing sunglasses," Louise placed her hands on the girl's shoulders to stabilise her. "Actually why are you wearing sunglasses? It's not even sunny."

"Headache, it's too bright," she smiled but the woman didn't believe her and saw straight through her fake smile.

"Right," the woman nodded slowly. "Are you going to see your dad?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Where you going?"

"To see Lily and Meg," she replied. "Want to come?"

"I'll go see her in a bit. Said I'd go see my dad first."

"Okay well I don't want to keep you any longer and I'll see you soon," the woman kissed the girl's forehead.

"Bye," Rory waved.

Finn turned to look at the girl,"Who are Lily and Meg?"

"Lou's sisters. Are we going or not? Lottie will only wait so long before she gets bored," Rory replied and began making her way back to the school.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

"I didn't know you knew Louise's sisters," Finn broke the silence.

The girl hummed, "Yep."

Finn opened the doors to the betting shop for the girl to walk through, moving her by the shoulders to avoid her walking into anything. "Why are you wearing sunglasses?" John asked as the girl sat opposite him at his desk.

"We were play fighting and I accidentally elbowed her and gave her a black eye," Finn told him, giving Rory a small smile and closing the office door.

"Right well take the glasses off you look fucking stupid," John told her, watching her take the glasses off as Esme walked into the office. The woman smiled at her daughter until she saw the black eye which made her smile drop and her grab her face to get a better look at her eye.

"What happened?"

"Finn elbowed her. You know how they are," John told her while reading his paper, oblivious to the conversation the two were having with their eyes and facial expressions.

Esme stood Rory up and took her to the kitchen where the girl refused to make eye contact with her. "When did this happen?"

"This morning," she muttered, getting a glass of water.

"When?"

"After you went to work and I didn't go to school he came over and wouldn't leave. He said something I don't even know what he said but I laughed and it turns out whatever it was wasn't even funny and he thought instead of telling me to either shut up or stop laughing he punched me," she shrugged. "Then I told him to get out and rang Eve and Finn."

Esme pulled the girl into a hug, "You need to tell your dad now."

A new voice entered the kitchen, "Tell him what?" The mother and daughter turned to look at Robert who was looking at Rory rather than Esme and her harsh glare.

"Tell him that you gave her a black eye and that you are the reason she's been covered in bruises," Esme snapped, gripping onto Rory tighter. "She'll tell him then he'll tell the rest of the blinders who will kill you before you get the chance to hurt any more of my kids."

John watched as Esme was snapping at Robert and the way she stood in front of Rory who was holding Esme's hand tightly. The blonde made his way to the kitchen just as the extremely heated conversation was over and Robert bumped his shoulder on the way past. "What was that about?" he asked.

"They broke up and he didn't take it very well," Esme told him, stroking her thumb over Rory's knuckles.

"Come on," John told Rory, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. "I'll walk you home."

The walk was silent until John broke it. "Ro, I know you go to Esme when it's girl stuff but you know you can tell me anything right?"

"Can this wait until we get home?" she asked. "People talk." The man nodded and unlocked the door, motioning for her to go in first.

The man placed a cup of tea in front of the girl and sat beside her on the sofa. Rory laid her head on John's shoulder. "Did you and Lilian ever break up or did she just leave?" she asked, looking up at him.

He let out a sigh, "She told me she was leaving and then just disappeared and then showed up again with you." John sat in silence as the memories of the day Lilian left replayed in his mind.

March 1910
John stood in front of the distraught, angry girl who was sat on the bench by the cut. "Are you going to tell me what's happened? You're worrying me, Lily," John asked, kneeling in front of her.

"It's my dad," she replied.

John sighed. "What has he done now?" he asked.

"I'm leaving, John. I'm sorry but my dad he's taking me back to London and I have no choice but to go with him. I'm so sorry. I love you and I don't want to go," Lilian sobbed, grabbing his hand with one hand and wiping her tears with the other.

It was no secret that Billy Davis didn't like the Shelby's, but it confused everyone why he didn't like John. John was different. If it was Tommy or Arthur, they would understand but John? It made no sense.

John was on the verge of tears, "Say no. Tell him no and you're staying with me. I'll convince Pol to let you stay with us. Please, stay, stay here. I promise we'll make it work. You can't leave me."

"I want to stay, I really do. I don't want to leave but he won't let me stay. He just won't allow it and I hate that he can't accept you for you and not judge you based on your last name," she replied.

John stared at the floor then looked up at her, "So you're sitting there and telling me your dad is taking you away somewhere, somewhere where you're not happy than letting you stay here with me where you're happy purely based on my last name? All because I'm a Shelby?" he asked confused.

She nodded, "Yes and I'm so sorry, I love you and he just refuses to accept it."

John sat beside her, looking at her, "It's not your fault your dad's a prick and I love you too."

"Why does everyone hate us because of our last name?" she asked, sipping her tea.

"Probably because we blind people," he shrugged. "Since when were you bothered about people not liking you?"

"I'm not, I'm just asking," she shrugged.

"Why are you asking anyway?"

"Promise me you wont get mad?" she asked, holding out her pinky which he grabbed.

"I promise." He nodded while entwining his pinky with hers.

"He hates me but I don't know why, I never did anything wrong," she told him as she traced the rim of the cup.

John looked down at her, "Why do you think he hates you?"

"Because he hurts me, he threaten's me and he gave me a black eye," she whispered.

"What?" he asked, not wanting to her to repeat her words.

"You promised you wouldn't get mad and I've broken up with him. He can't hurt me anymore."

He clenched his jaw but he promised he wouldn't get mad. "Why didn't you tell me when it first happened?"

"Because he said it was an accident and that it wouldn't happen again and I believed him and it didn't happen again. Until it did and then he started threatening to go after Katie, Alice, Eve, Finn, Freya and Isaiah and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything did happen to them so I stayed," she told him, wiping her tears as quickly as they fell.

John pulled the girl into a hug, "I'm not mad, Ro. Could never be mad at you. Ever."

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Neither John or Esme knew what to do with the new information that Rory had revealed to them but what they did know was that he couldn't hurt her anymore. John knocked on Rory's bedroom door.

"Come in," she called.

"Are you coming to work with your mum, going to school or staying here?" he asked her, while fastening the buttons on his shirt.

"I'll stay here and then I'll then go see mum," she smiled, pulling the brush through her hair.

"Go and tell your mum what you're doing then," he kissed her head. "I don't want you going anywhere by yourself, take your brothers and your gun."

The girl nodded with a smile, "I'll be fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Once John and Esme had left Rory grabbed her gun from her bedside drawer and made sure it was loaded before she went downstairs to say bye to Louise so she could take the younger kids to school. "Do you want me to walk with you or are you okay?" Louise asked, pulling the girl into a side hug.

"No, I'll be fine I've got my gun."

"I'm walking you," James insisted.

"No. you're going to school. I'm fine," she told him and gave him a pointed look.

"I don't want to leave you."

"We'll tough you're going to school where I know you're all safe and no one can get to you,"

James gave the girl a worried look, "What about you? What are we going to do if you're not safe?"

"You've got mum and dad. J, I'm fine I promise nothing is going to happen to me. I'm going to see Eve and then I'm going to the betting shop where all the blinders are and Robert can't get to me anymore, okay?" The blonde girl held out her pinky. "I promise I'm fine."

The boy didn't look convinced but he intertwined their pinky's anyway and watched as she left to go to Eve's.

"She's not going Eve's is she?" James turned to ask Louise.

"Probably not, follow her see where she goes but take your cap and make sure you're both safe!" she called as he rushed out of the door.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Rory turned down the street to way of Lilian's instead of Eve's since she promised the woman that she'd go see her. James followed her up the stairs to the red door that she opened and turned back since she felt someone following her. "James what did I tell you?"

"Go to school," he muttered, looking down.

"So why are you not at school?"

"Why are you here? Whose house is this?" James ignored her questions and asked more questions.

"Go to school."

The boy huffed before leaving the girl outside the red door and went to school in a hurry to tell Freya where Rory was to go check on her after Freya was finished with school even though the younger blonde swore she'd meet her half way after school.

The girl opened the door and entered the flat, "Lily?"

"One sec!" the woman called.

The girl walked further into the flat and hung her coat up and took her shoes off, making her way to the sofa to wait for the redhead.

"Sorry," the woman apologised while she made her way further into the living room, placing a kiss on the girl's head. "What happened?" she gently grabbed the girl's face to get a better look at her black eye.

"Robert but he can't hurt me anymore," she shrugged.

"Does your mum and dad know about this?"

"Yeah I mean it's pretty hard to miss," she chuckled but there wasn't any humour behind it.

Lilian took a good look at the girl with a sad smile, "Are you okay?"

"Do you want the honest truth or the answer I give to everyone?" she asked, her head falling on the woman's shoulder.

The woman thought about her answer for a few seconds, "Honest answer."

"I'm scared. I don't know what he's really capable of," she shrugged, while avoiding the look the woman was giving her.

"He can't hurt you anymore. No body will let him hurt you again," Lilian squeezed her shoulder.

"I hope you're right," she whispered.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Rory had left Lilian's since she promised her dad she'd go see Esme at the shop which is where she found herself sitting at the woman's desk doing her school work. The door opened, Rory not looking up since she assumed it was either Freya, Lottie or one of the blinders. Since she didn't look up she missed the way Esme's face fell as Robert got closer to the girl's desk.

"Tommy said I had to walk you to the school to meet Freya and Lottie." The boy's voice made the girl blink out of her concentration and slowly look up and then to Esme as they shared a panicked look.

The girl cleared her throat, "I don't need anyone to walk me anywhere, Uncle Tom gave me a gun."

"He told me to walk you to meet Eve."

"And I'm telling you that I don't need you to walk me anywhere I've got a gun," she told him harshly, tapping her pencil on the book as she spoke. "So you can go and I apologise that you've wasted your time." She gave him a sarcastic smile which he huffed at before walking away and slamming the door as he went. Lizzie and Esme both looked at the girl who let out a shaky sigh before getting on with her work.

"Why didn't you go with him?" Linda asked. Rory rolling her eyes at the sound of the woman's voice.

"Because Tommy gave me a gun and I don't need him to walk me anymore. I'm a big girl I can handle myself."

"You shouldn't start a sentence with because."

"And you shouldn't open your mouth about things you don't know the details too but yet here you are so I guess we both do things we shouldn't," she shrugged and slammed the drawer shut.

Esme flinched at the noise, looking up at the girl who was making her way around the desk, "Where are you going now?"

"To meet Frey like I said I was going to this morning," she reminded the woman.

"Oh yeah okay. Be careful," she pointed her finger.

"I will," the girl hugged the woman who placed a kiss on her head before she left.

Rory had set off towards the school and past Eve's house where Louis walked out and acknowledged the girl before going back inside and telling Eve he'd just seen her.

The boy had knocked on his sister's bedroom door knowing that Finn was there too. "Come in," Eve called and looked at the door, waiting for him to enter.

"I've just seen Rory walk past the house," he began earning questioning looks from the two of them. "And she was by herself but that weird blinder started following her and I don't know if she knows he's there."

"So instead of following them you thought you'd come and tell us?" Eve asked, pulling her coat on and throwing Finn's coat at him.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" he asked, following his sister and her boyfriend.

Louis slammed the door shut looking at the two teens in front of him confused. "Why are you so worried?" he asked. "This is Rory we're talking about," he let out a small chuckle which he covered with a cough when he saw the looks they were giving him. "What have I missed?"

Eve and Finn shared a look before looking back at the eldest Miller. "What?" he asked, his face falling slightly when he realised it was something serious.

"Did you see the black eye?" Eve asked, watching her brother nod.

Louis face flashed with realisation, "He gave her it didn't he?"

"Yeah," they nodded. "She broke up with him-"

"And that's why he was following her," Louis finished Eve's sentence. "So what do we do?"

"You go follow where they were going, she said she was meeting Frey at school so go that way. Me and Eve will go find Isaiah and Michael and we'll find her," Finn instructed them and the three went their separate ways.

Finn went to find his brothers while Eve went to get Isaiah and Michael. The girl made her way down the street, pushing past people and quietly apologising, ignoring their complaints and walking faster.

When she got the house she let out a deep breath before knocking on the door. Isaiah opened the door, confusingly looking at the girl. "You're not Finn," he stated.

"Well done, captain fucking obvious," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"It's Rory," she replied, watching as Isaiah moved to grab his jacket and cap while throwing Michael's at him. 

"Where are they?" he asked, looking at the girl.

"Lou said she walking to the school to meet Frey and he was following her," she replied and Isaiah set off running.

"And he still denies being in love with her?" Michael asked.

Evelyn hummed, "I don't how he can still deny it, that's the fastest I've ever seen him run when anyone's ever mentioned Rory's name."

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Finn had been shouted at by Arthur before they set off running to Rory.

"You've known he's the reason she's been covered in bruises and just didn't tell anyone?" Arthur asked.

"I know it wasn't the brightest of ideas I've ever had but she was the one who told us not to get involved," Finn told him, catching his breath.

"Us? who else knows?" Arthur asked confused following Finn out of the door.

"Uhm, me, Isaiah and Evelyn."

"And none of you thought to tell us?" he asked.

"She didn't want us to get involved anymore that what me, Isaiah and Evelyn had already done. He threatened us, Katie and Alice and everyone knows how protective she is over her siblings, she treats Flo and Henry like her own kids and she didn't want us to get hurt," he reasoned but it fell on deaf ears.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Isaiah got to Rory first and he had to stop and stare at her for a second before looking around for Robert who was long gone and rushing over to Rory who was passed out on the floor and blood pouring from her nose, which somehow was not broken, and stab wound to her side.

Two more sets of footsteps approached the alley where Isaiah was panicking and checking Rory's pulse.

"Where the fuck is he?" Arthur asked, pure anger in his voice.

"I-I don't know he wasn't here when I got here," he stuttered and Finn's face paled.

"Where's Evelyn and Michael?" Isaiah asked. 

Evelyn gasped at the sight of her best friend, "What the fuck did he do?"

"Stabbed her and knocked her out," Isaiah replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world which it was.

Evelyn had now sat down on the floor placing Rory's head on her lap and stroked her hair. "Is she going to die?" she asked Arthur who was stood frozen.

"She has a pulse but a weak one," Isaiah said loud enough for them all to hear making Arthur blink from his trance.

"Finn, you go find a phone any phone whether it be someone's house phone and ring an ambulance and John. Michael go with him and if you see Frey let her know. Isaiah, you go-"

"No, I'm staying. I'm staying with her" he argued and Arthur didn't have the time to argue back so let him stay.

"Eve, keep checking her pulse tell me if it gets any weaker," he instructed and she nodded.

Isaiah sat next to Evelyn, watching and waiting for what felt like hours until Finn and Michael came running back.

"John's on his way, he'll be 5 minutes and the ambulance is 20 minutes away," Finn told his brother.

"She won't make 20 minutes, her pulse is getting weaker," Evelyn replied panicking.

"She won't need to when John gets here, please tell me he's bringing the car," Arthur said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

Finn nodded, "He is and I think Esme is coming with him."

"Good, she'll need her," Isaiah replied without looking up from Rory's frail looking figure while putting pressure on her side to attempt to stop the bleeding.

No one said anything and just looked towards Rory until they heard a car and two doors slam shut followed by footsteps.

Esme's figure came first and knelt down next to Rory despite her pregnancy she still got as close as to her eldest daughter as she could while John just stared at her.

"I know that none of us have seen her like this before but she's literally got a gash in her side and she's losing a lot of blood and there is only so much pressure Isaiah can put on it before he cries so can you drive her to the hospital please?!" Evelyn asked not wanting to lose Rory.

John nodded, not saying any words and picked her up from the floor carrying her to the car and laid her so her head was resting on Esme's lap.

When they got to the hospital John ran inside with her and then him, Esme, Finn, Isaiah, Michael and Arthur all waited while she was being stitched up and checked over again. Freya had got off the phone to Finn and ran to the hospital with Lottie hot on her heels, confused.

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

Esme sat on one side of Rory's bed holding  her hand and Isaiah sat on the opposite side with his hand millimetres away from hers while Finn, Evelyn, Michael, Freya, Lottie and John stood at the bottom of her bed while Arthur had gone out.

Rory woke up and blinked, adjusting to light having gone from the darkness of the alley to a hospital room.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Freya asked.

"What was the point, you and Lots were more interested on school and I didn't want to ruin that, Ada lives in London and Tommy's grieving and disappeared and I did tell someone I told mum and Eve well she figured it out," Rory told her.

"That's not true," Freya replied. "I noticed but you refused to say anything."

"Because he threatened you lot as well as me" Rory told her. "Where's my dad?"

"He said he'll back soon" Evelyn replied.

"He better not kill him," Rory said.

"He won't," Finn told her.

She didn't look convinced and looked slightly at Isaiah. Esme took that as the hint for them to go. "I'll go and get you some clothes because you hate hospital clothes and you lot can come help me," she told Evelyn, Michael, Freya, Lottie and Finn and squeezed Rory's hand before they walked out.

"Are you okay?" she asked Isaiah once they had gone.

He laughed a humourless laugh, "You've been stabbed and knocked out and you're asked me if I'm okay? Are you okay?"

"I don't know, I've nearly died before, did me or Finn ever tell you about that time we went skating on the canal because it had frozen over and I fell through and nearly drowned and Arthur saved me but I've surprisingly never been stabbed before," she told him. "You can sit next to me you know I won't break." She moved over so he could sit next to her on the bed.

"That's the second time I've found you," he told her.

"Well, now you can see you've seen me at worst can't get any worse than that," she chuckled not actually finding the situation funny she just didn't know how to react.

"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered and it was so quiet that if the room hadn't been silent she would have missed it.

"It would take a lot more than Robert to kill me, I am a Shelby after all," she told him squeezing his hand and he turned his hand around so they were holding hands.

"I know but you still scared me, again," he told her looking at her, watching her put her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

After a while Rory had fallen asleep on Isaiah's shoulder while he admired her. John came in and looked them. "Tease her all you want but she's not eleven anymore, John she argues back even more now," Isaiah told him referring back to the time he and Michael had gotten into a fight at The Marquis of Lorne and Rory cleaned his hand.

"Tell me about it," he replied rolling his eyes. "Is she okay?"

"She's alive, not herself but she hasn't been herself since Sabini but she can handle it," Isaiah told him. 

John nodded, "You can go if you want, we're here now."

"Can I stay?" he asked and Arthur looked at their hands and then to John who had already told him he could stay.

"When are you going to admit you're in love with her?" Arthur asked.

"To her face? Never. When she's asleep? Yes," he told them.

"She feels the same you know, she only got with Robert because she thought you didn't feel the same way," John told him but he didn't believe him.

"It's true she's been in love with you since she was eleven," Arthur said stroking her head and kissing her forehead before sitting on the chair next to her bed and John sat next to her.

Isaiah once again didn't believe Arthur and turned his attention back to the sleeping girl who still had a tight grip on his hand not wanting to let go.

As John and Arthur fell asleep Isaiah looked at the doorway to see a ginger woman. "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt her, I swear. I'm Lilian I don't know if you've heard of me or not I just want to check on her," she told the alarmed boy who stared at her before realising she had the same eyes as Rory so calmed down.

"She'll be fine, I think," he told her quietly not wanting to wake Rory, John or Arthur up.

"Please don't tell John I was here," she pleaded with the teen who hesitated to answer. "I won't but only because-".

"Because you're in love with her and don't want to hurt her?" she asked sneaking around Arthur to kiss Rory's forehead and she pulled away she saw the necklace, the same one that belonged to Lilian and her mum and smiled slightly.

"Something like that, yeah" Isaiah answered, "What are you looking at?"

"Her necklace, my necklace she kept it," she smiled.

"She never takes it off and if you don't want to get caught I'd leave now because there's going to be some blinders showing up soon and they tell Tommy everything," he warned her and she nodded.

"Thank you, look after her. She'll need someone like you just like she needed Esme."

"I will," he promised her and she left to go back to her apartment.