Withering Rose
Summary: You come back to Knockemstiff to attend your cousin’s wedding.
Pairing: Lee Bodecker x Exgirlfriend!Reader, Lloyd Hansen x fem!Reader
Warnings: angst, language, mentions of a breakup/heartbreak, threats, awful relatives (cousin/aunt), attempted cheating on Lee's side, mentions of foster care, fluff (not Lee)
A/N: I did not write canon for Lee (Timeline) in this one.
Knockemstiff. The last place you ever wanted to see again. Coming back here feels like pulling teeth without anesthetic. Seeing your cousin in her white wedding gown – even worse.
This was all you ever dreamed of around ten years ago. Before shit went down and the man you loved left you for some other girl. One with a better reputation and a daddy with pockets full of money.
Not some orphan, raised by her aunt and treated like trash. “Sweetie. Y/N,” your aunt coos, and you try to ignore it’s all just an act.
After your eighteenth birthday, you aged out of state care, which meant that foster care adoption assistance ended too. Your aunt just waited for the money to stop and gave you the boot.
Now she acts as if nothing happened. Dear aunt is a great actress and fools anyone around you. You know better.
You heard through the grapevine that you only got an invitation, so no one asks questions about your whereabouts. As if anyone would care about you. They never did. You always were an outcast.
A withering rose. Fading away in this shitty little town. No water and love keeping you alive. Lonely. Lost. Forgotten. Unwanted. Unloved.
“Isn’t my Y/C/N a beautiful bride?” your aunt chirps. “I bet, if only you’d take better care of yourself you could find a nice man one day too.”
You huff at her words. Of course, she couldn’t shut her mouth and say her hellos. No. She has to rub salt into old wounds. The ones she and your cousin caused.
“Well, being the town's mattress paid off,” you retort. “And just you know, I got a well-paid job, a nice car, and unlike you and your daughter, I don’t need a man paying shit for me. It was a mistake coming here.”
You turn on your heels and storm off, leaving your aunt stunned and speechless behind. She opens and closes her mouth, gasping like a fish out of the water as you flee from the church and don’t look back.
“I was a fool to believe they changed,” you huff while walking back toward the hotel you are staying at. Not a hotel. It’s a shady motel. The only one in this shitty town.
“Y/N?” you frown as a car slows down and someone pokes his head out of the window. “Y/N YL/N? I knew it was you.”
“What? I-“ looking at the sheriff’s car you frown. “I didn’t do anything wrong, sheriff. Why are you following me?”
“Don’t you remember me, sweet rose?” he stops the car and unbuckles the seatbelt. You watch the sheriff climb out of his car. “It’s me…Lee.”
“Lee Bodecker,” you choke his name out. “You became the sheriff, I see. I guess you got everything you ever wanted. A nice house, that sweet wife, and look at you, you’re the sheriff.”
“I heard you’re back in town,” Lee gives you that smile making your knees buckle. At least it used to affect you. Now he’s just another face you tried to forget. “How have you been, Y/N?”
“Good,” you don’t say the things you recited in your head so many times. It’s like now, that you stand face to face with Lee, your past just doesn’t matter any longer. “How have you been?”
“Life, you know but,” he looks you up and down. “Just look at you. An uptown girl now, huh? A pretty lady in an even nicer dress.”
You roll your eyes. “It was nice seeing you again,” you lie and turn to leave. “Greet your wife from me. I hope she’s doing fine too.”
“Uh—yeah. She’s good…we are good,” he scratches the back of his head. “I had hoped we could talk some more.”
Sighing deeply, you stop walking to look at Lee. “Listen, Lee, we don’t have to pretend, okay.”
“I only want to talk to you, Y/N. Back then I…we…” he stammers.
“I was a foolish girl believing all the things you said meant shit to you too. I grew up the moment you broke up with me for some other girl,” you clear your throat. “You didn’t even care I had nowhere to go after my aunt kicked me out. I don’t want to talk about things I forgot about a long time ago. So, leave me alone, Bodecker.”
“I can drive you to the motel,” Lee offers. He points at his car, smiling widely. “Come on. Let’s remember the good old times.”
“I don’t want to remember the good old times,” you snap at Lee. “You were an asshole back then, and you didn’t change one bit. Do you honestly believe I want to be seen in town with a married man? I don’t think so.”
“Do you want to walk?” he grunts. “It’s going to rain. We don’t want your dress to get wet. Don’t be like that. Let me drive you.”
“I rather walk through mud, rain, and hail. Go and leave me alone. I knew coming here was a mistake,” you wave Lee off. “You’ve got a wife and kids to take care of.”
“Y/N, I can still drive you to your motel. Married or not.”
“Why?” you cock your head. “Why do you want to drive me back to my motel? What do you think will happen?”
“Anything you want to,” he gives you a loop-sided grin, hoping for you to cave in. Just like you always did. Back then.
“I don’t want anything to happen between you and me,” walking away you realize you didn’t have to come here to know that the life you have back at home is so much better than the one you had here.
“Wait—” Lee won’t give in. He gets back in his car and slowly drives next to you. “Get into the car. This is stupid. Stop being so stubborn.”
“I love being stupid and stubborn.”
You walk a little faster to get to your motel as fast as possible. Nothing is holding you here and you want to get back home.
Lee is following you to your motel. He calls your name and tries to get you to talk to him some more. “Fuck, leave me alone.”
The moment the motel is in sight, you start to run to reach your room. A difficult task in heels but you manage to reach your room somehow.
Your hand trembles as you try to push the key into the lock.
“Whoa, cupcake,” you shriek as someone opens the door to your motel room before you can unlock the door. “I thought you are still at the wedding.”
“Lloyd?” you release a shuddery breath. “What are you doing here?”
“I tried to call,” he shrugs as you stare up at him. “I canceled the meeting and got here as fast as possible. Uh—I didn’t want to burst into the church. I planned on picking you up after the ceremony for the party and crap.”
“You’re here,” you throw yourself at your boyfriend and hide your face in his chest. He immediately wraps his arms around your body to offer comfort.
“Now that’s what I call a warm welcome, baby,” he pecks your hair. “Who’s that?”
You totally forgot about Lee and that you stand outside your room. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Who is that bastard?” you whimper at Lloyd’s rough tone. He never uses it when you are around, but you heard him bark orders at people.
“Lee Bodecker, the guy I told you about,” you mumble, not wanting to speak any louder. Lloyd knows everything about your past, and he didn’t care.
“Hmm…I see,” Lloyd whispers soft words in your ear, asking you to get inside the room and close the door behind you. “Give me five minutes.”
He kisses your temple and hugs you a little tighter. “I’ll be packing my things. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”
“I’ll be right there, cupcake.”
He watches you walk inside the room, nodding as you look at him. “Please don’t get into trouble because of me.”
You close the door, sighing deeply as your boyfriend makes his way toward Lee.
The sheriff watched you and your boyfriend from inside his car. He’s fuming as Lloyd walks toward his car.
“Do we have a problem here, sheriff,” Lloyd stands next to the driver’s side, poking his head into Lee’s car. “I got the feeling you were following my girlfriend, and I don’t like this one bit.”
“I offered to escort her,” Lee grunts. “This is a sleepy little town, but you never know when someone tries to attack a sweet girl. I wanted to keep her safe.”
Lloyd hums as he straightens his back. He runs two fingers over his mustache, pretending to think about Lee’s words.
“Problem is, it’s my job to keep my girl safe. You didn’t offer protection. All you did was scare my girl. I give you five minutes to get out of my sight.”
“Do you think I’m scared of you?” the sheriff growls. “I’m the sheriff of this town.”
“Yeah? I got that,” Lloyd smirks. “The car, your uniform, and the cheap haircut gave it away.”
“I’m warning you. Threatening a sheriff is a crime,” Lee warns. “You don’t want me to get out of this car.”
Lloyd grins. “You see, I’m not a man of many words. I rather use my influence to get rid of people making my girl feel bad. You don’t want me to call a few people and make sure you’ll lose more than your lousy job.”
“I-“ Lee considers Lloyd’s warning. Is it worth it to ruin his life only to get his hands on you? “I only wanted to give her a ride.” He starts the engine, watching Lloyd retreat.
“Good choice, sunshine,” your boyfriend mumbles under his breath as Lee drives off. “We see each other again. One way or another…”
“You sure you don’t want me to break his neck,” Lloyd softly asks as you snuggle into his chest. “Cupcake?”
“I’m good, Lloyd,” you sigh against him. “I only want to forget about him, my aunt, and my past. We have a life together. Here and now.
“Here and now, Y/N,” he assures you but plans on visiting your ex one day. Maybe not today, but soon…
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