"Kathleen..."
"No!" she snapped. "He was acting like he owned you! He was acting like you didn't have a mind of your own. You two love each other, fine. But what happened in there was not normal, and you know it!"
What happened wasn't normal, she knew that, but she also knew that Liam would never hurt her. He would die before he ever harmed her. She knew that, as surely as she knew she needed air to live. She also knew that she had felt the same way as Liam about the idea of anyone seeing him naked. Maybe it wasn't normal, maybe it wasn't right, but it was the way that it was. He was different, their relationship was different, but there was no way that Kathleen, or Danielle, could understand that.
"Kathleen, I think you're misunderstanding..."
"No I'm not!" she yelled. "Has he abused you?"
"Never!" Sera cried.
"Because if he has I'll kill him!" Kathleen continued as if Sera hadn't spoken.
"Kathleen..."
"Has he? Has he hit you?" Kathleen was close to screaming like a banshee again. Sera winced against the shrill tone.
"No!" she yelled. "He would never hurt me. Now calm down!"
Kathleen began to pace as she mumbled under her breath. "Sera," Danielle said serenely. "We're just worried about you."
"There's no need to be."
Kathleen took a deep breath and spun to her face her again. "He was acting like the men you hear about," she said. "The ones that think that they own their wives, or girlfriends. The one's that beat them. If he's doing anything wrong, please just tell us."
Tears bloomed in Kathleen's eyes as her lower lip began to tremble. Sera crossed to her and hugged her. "He's not," she vowed.
Kathleen hugged her back as sobs rocked her body. "Would you tell me if he was?"
"Yes Kathleen, I promise I would tell you if he was."
"You didn't tell me before," she whispered so quietly that Sera barely heard her.
"This is different Kathleen."
She took a step back. "He really hasn't?"
"No. I wouldn't stay with someone like that. But Liam would never hurt me. He would chop off his own hands before he ever raised one against me. He really would Kathleen."
Kathleen's stare burrowed into her. "If you say so. But if I ever see one unexplained bruise on you, or if I ever see him mistreat you, I will beat the shit out of him, agreed?"
The idea of Kathleen trying to beat Liam was even funnier than the idea of Liam hitting her. "Agreed," she vowed.
***
"What is the matter with you?" Mike demanded.
Liam turned to him as Sera, Kathleen, and Danielle disappeared down the hall. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't see yourself. Are you trying to get us all killed? Are you trying to give us all away?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Your eyes were red," Doug said. "For a second Liam, your eyes were red."
Liam frowned as he folded his arms over his chest. "What is going on?" Mike asked.
"I don't know," he admitted reluctantly.
