When Preston heard Eve's voice, he turned his head and smirked a bit, only tightening his grip on Rowan. Rowan didn't struggle against his hold; that could only end badly for him, and it was less humiliating to stand his ground than to struggle to free himself and lose.
"Eve~" Preston crooned. Rowan shuddered at the tone of his voice, looking disgusted. "My friend's been asking about you. Is this around where you're staying now?" He asked. Rowan looked a bit angry now.
"Hey, leave her out of this. Leave her alone. You shouldn't be friends with that guy anyway." He huffed. Preston ignored him.
Eve ignored the fear that shot through her at Preston's tone. Instead, she rose up to her full height and dropped her bag. With both her hands now free, her fingers curled into (hopefully) intimidating fists at her sides. "That is none of your business, jackass," she growled. "Let. Him. Go."
Preston snickered, clearly not intimidated by Eve at all. He was much bigger than her, after all, and could overpower her pretty easily if he wanted to. "Aw, you're going to try and protect him? Don't you hate this guy?" He tugged harder at Rowan's collar, pulling him up onto his toes. Rowan choked a bit and tried to move away enough to get his feet back on the ground. When Rowan tried to push him away with one hand, Preston grabbed it with his free one and twisted Rowan's hand back. Rowan grimaced and hissed in pain, trying a bit harder to free himself now.
"That doesn't matter!" Eve snapped. But the second Preston grabbed and twisted Rowan's hand, she couldn't think. The pain on Rowan's face fueled her as she rushed at Preston and grabbed his arm that was holding Rowan. "Let him go, Preston!"
When Eve grabbed him, Preston finally let go of Rowan and allowed him to stagger backwards. Rowan cradled his wrist with his other hand, taking a moment to gather himself before he noticed Preston reaching out to grab Eve in his stead. He paused for just a moment before he shot forward, kneed Preston relatively hard in the crotch, and took Eve by the wrist with his good hand to rush her out of the studio.
Eve's eyes widened, and as Rowan pulled her away, she reached down briefly to grab her bag. She hugged it to her chest as they ran back to their apartment. Her fingers shook as she tried to fit the key in the lock once they reached the door. "Damn," she whispered. Her voice was trembling as much as her fingers were. "Damn!"
Rowan rested his forehead against the wall as Eve fumbled with the door. He was breathing heavily, and he seemed stressed and exhausted as he held his injured wrist against his chest. "S-Sorry…" He whispered weakly once he had somewhat caught his breath. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Finally, Eve managed to get the key in the lock and forced the door open. "No, I'm– I'm fine. What about you? Your wrist?" She put her keys on the counter and gently took his hand.
"I'm okay… it's not broken." Rowan replied weakly, reluctantly allowing Eve to take his hand. His wrist was already blossoming some deep bruises, and he didn't seem like he wanted to put much weight onto it. "A sprain at worst… it'll heal. I'll just put a brace on it or something."
Eve frowned worriedly as the bruises began to appear. "I'm sorry…" she whispered. "You shouldn't… Preston, he…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "You wouldn't be hurt right now if we weren't fighting."
"It's fine… it's not your fault, Eve." Rowan pulled his hand away from her and held it close to his chest as he wandered over to the cabinet to fetch a brace for himself. "I guess I should probably ice it before I brace it, though…"
"I could take you to the doctor's," Eve insisted, following Rowan and forgetting to shut the door as a result. "We could leave, right now and have you fixed up before tomorrow."
"Ah… I dunno. Maybe." Rowan sighed softly and took an ice pack from the fridge to hold on his wrist. "We should close the door. Just in case he's following… we don't want him to know where we live."
Eve's eyes widened and her expression molded with fear. She whipped around and hurried back to the door, practically slamming it shut. She shook terribly, more scared than she'd ever been except for one other moment in her life. "He knows…" Eve whispered, her eyes panicked. "Preston said, 'Is this around where you're staying now?' He's going to come looking for me."
"I know, I know, but it's okay. He only knows that we're in this area, okay? He doesn't know exactly where we are. We'll make sure to keep the door locked at all times and we won't answer it unless we look through the peephole to know who it is first." Rowan insisted, keeping the ice on his swollen wrist.
"He knows… he knows… he knows…" Eve whispered, leaning against the door and sliding down. She gripped her head tightly with her hands to keep from shaking. "He's going to find me again."
"No, no, no… it's going to be alright. He won't find you. I won't let him hurt you, okay?" Rowan came over to where Eve was sitting so that he could sit down beside her. "He isn't going to find you."
Eve closed her eyes and tried not to hyperventilate. "Okay," she breathed quietly. "Okay."
"Like I said, we'll make sure to keep the door locked, and we can call the police if we see him." Rowan assured softly. After considering for a few seconds, he carefully wrapped one arm around Eve.
"No, I… I don't want to call the police," Eve whispered. She hesitated before leaning into Rowan's touch. It was gentle. Sweet. Good-natured.
"If he's harassing you, though… maybe you should get a restraining order. And if he violates it, you can get him arrested." Rowan did his best to reassure Eve.
Eve let out a shaky sigh. "I don't want that to happen. If I go to the police, it would mean I couldn't handle it by myself. And if I couldn't handle it by myself, then I…"
"You don't have to handle it by yourself, though. If there's an issue, there's no shame in getting the proper authorities involved. It doesn't make you weak to put a bad man in prison."
Eve winced at Rowan's words. She quickly shook her head. "We need to get you to a doctor," was all she said.
Rowan sighed softly, deciding not to push the matter further. "Alright, I'll go to the doctor if it'll make you feel better about it."
"Yes, it will." Eve pushed herself up and walked over to where she'd put her bag. She reached in and felt around before deadpanning. "Where are my keys? I had them to unlock the apartment, where are they?"
"Uh… I think you put them on the counter? I'm not sure. I was kind of distracted…" Rowan got to his feet as well and followed after Eve, cradling his injured wrist.
Eve looked at the counter and sighed. "Thank you," she breathed, scooping them off the counter. "Let's go."
Rowan nodded and checked to make sure there was no one outside the door before he headed out with Eve. "Where's the nearest office?"
"I'm pretty sure there's one, like, fifteen minutes away," Eve answered, making sure to lock the apartment door behind them.
