A small smile forms when I think about how energetic Beck had gotten. I love when he takes me hard, but tonight, he took me hard and rough, and there wasn’t a second of it that I didn’t love.
“You look happy, Dee.” Chelcie comments from where she’s sitting at the kitchen table, pulling me from my daydream.
Beck had gone to pull her car into the garage, taken her luggage up to the guest room, and looked over the letter she had received. I think he really just knew that he needed to make himself scarce while Chelcie came down from her panic. The second she pulled into the driveway, she slammed the car in park and rushed into my arms. She hadn’t even shut the car off before she came running.
She just stopped crying about five minutes ago. She hasn’t moved from the seat that she dropped into and I can tell that, even though she’s stopped crying, she hasn’t been able to stop shaking.
“I am, Chelc. I really am.” I smile weakly and walk over the mugs of coffee I’ve just brewed. “Here, I have a feeling we won’t be going to sleep anytime soon. Do you want to talk about it?” I grab her cold hand and offer her the only thing I can, my strength. I know without a doubt that if I didn’t have Beck by my side during all this, I would be feeling the same way as Chelcie. Alone, afraid, and hopeless. This isn’t the first time that I’ve realized how far I’ve come in my own healing, but right here, in this moment, I realize that I finally, finally have all the power in my own happiness. I no longer fear the love Beck has to offer, but I also don’t have the weight of every single ghost from my past choking me anymore.
I’m mentally free from all the pain I’ve been carrying around. Now, all I have to do is get past this mess and enjoy the life I’ve been running from for too long.
It’s time to take the love and strength being offered, and fight with every single breath in my body to make sure I win.
Chelcie’s deep sigh pulls me from my mental ‘ah-ha’ moment. I hate knowing she’s worried, but I know how strong she is, and if anyone has the power to get past this with no scars, it’s my girl.
“I’m here, Chelcie. I’ve had a little bit longer to come to terms with the fact that Adam has turned my life into this mess, but please, tell me you know that the guys won’t let anything happen to us.”
She nods but doesn’t speak. My heart breaks a little when I see a single tear fall from her eyes. She just looks at me, her dark brown eyes pleading with me to take everything away and make it all better.
“I don’t even know how to express how I feel right now, Dee. I feel like just yesterday you were in the hospital, and I was terrified that you weren’t going to wake up. Knowing that sicko is still out there, watching both of us now, is so scary.”
“I know. I’m not going to lie. When I think about someone out there watching my every move, I feel the same way. We’re going to get past this, and then we can look back and laugh.” I smile, but I can tell by the look on her face that she knows I’m just trying to make light of the situation.
There isn’t anything good about this mess. We have no idea where Adam is, and even if we did, I don’t know how I feel about turning someone over to a psycho, regardless of what he’s done to get me into this position to begin with. There is no way I can come up with all that money, and even if I could, I wouldn’t give it to him. My only hope is that the guys get lucky and find some hidden clue as to who he is… or we find Adam and get our answers there.
“What if they don’t find him? What are we supposed to do, spend the rest of our lives in hiding? This guy beat you, Dee! He beat you so badly you almost didn’t wake up! This isn’t just some small time asshole. This is huge!” She’s starting to get hysterical, and I have no clue how to answer her. I just nod my head and hold her hand tighter.
Beck comes into the room a few minutes later and stands at the doorway. His face looks hard, and I can tell from the way he’s holding himself that he isn’t happy. My gut clenches in fear, but I quickly bat it down. I need to hold it together and prove to myself that I can handle this, but also be the rock that Chelcie needs.
“Coop and Maddox are coming over in a few hours. It’s late, and there isn’t much we can do at three in the morning, so dump the coffee, and let’s get some sleep.” He walks over to Chelcie and crouches down next to her seat. He waits for her to look at him before placing his hand on her shoulder, offering her the strength she needs. “No one is going to hurt you, Chelc. You and Dee are safe here, and I’m not leaving you two until we figure this out, okay?”