Mountains of gratitude to honeywldcat for her editing of this entire series.
*
I was sitting on my bed pretending to work, but in reality waiting for Danielle to come home. I found I could work better with her around. Just knowing she was there, the faint smell of her conditioner, the near imperceptible sound of her breathing, gave me confidence in myself and whatever I was doing. She was later than usual, and I was beginning to think something had happened to her.
Just as I picked up my cell to call her, she bounded through the door. She positively charged across the room, dropping her bag haphazardly. She was sweating and her chest was heaving, like she had just run a marathon, so flushed was her face that I couldn't tell if she was crying or not, as her cheeks were shimmering with what I assumed to be sweat.
She tackled me full force, and none to gently either, causing me to tumble backwards onto the bed. I was about to give her a piece of my mind when I realized she was trembling.
"Dani?" I asked tentatively. She curled up into a ball, hugging me in what could be mistaken as an attempt to remove all the air from my lungs. Her heart thundered in her chest, hard enough that I could almost hear it. She had indeed been running.
"Sweetheart, are you ok?" I keep asking pointless questions.
"No. No I'm not." She staggered out.
"What happened?" I was thinking the worst. Did someone try to rape her? Was she mugged? Did she witness a drive by?"
"I saw him." Fuck. That could only mean two people.
"Who?" Gentle, gentle.
"My father." I felt the gush of tears on my neck, the warm liquid of her suffering, distinct from her sweat in its viscosity, and the acrid burn I felt tear at my soul.
"Did he hurt you? Did he say anything?"
"No, He just saw me and smiled." She bawled. "All the memories came back. I felt him touching me, entering me..." Her grip on me increased, as if she was trying to crawl inside my body and hide.
"Shh..." I soothed. "He's not here now. You're safe." I stroked her sweaty hair, feeling her sobs wrack her trembling body against mine.
"Hey Toby, do you-Oh..." Nikki had opened the door to ask me something. I gave her a look that politely said "get the fuck out now." She closed the door with an embarrassed look on her face.
"I ran from him. I ran as fast as I could, but he chased me in the car. I almost lost him at the park, but I think he saw me come here." She managed to stop her gut wrenching sobs, but was unable to quell her tears.
"It doesn't matter. I won't let him take you from me." I held her close, trying to envelop her completely, trying to make her feel safe, trying to show my love.
"You don't understand! He'll lie and get people to help him! He-"
"I don't care who helps him." I interrupted her. I crooked my finger under her chin and turned her face up to mine. "I will not let you be taken from me. Not by your father, not by your brother, not by ANYONE. You are mine." I lowered my lips to hers and kissed her with deepness I wasn't sure I could muster.
All of the tension drained from her with a sigh as she met my kiss with her own. She melted against me, apparently finally feeling safe.
"Do you promise?" She whispered.
"I promise."
I meant it too. I've never been to possessive of my girlfriends, but that all changed with Danielle. I was going to destroy anything that stood in the way of me being with her. They could send tanks after me and, if only by sheer force of will, I would tear through them and return to her side.
"Are you going to be okay?" I wiped her tears gently away with my thumb, cupping her face.
"Yeah." She nuzzled my palm, closing her eyes. "You make me okay."
"You make me more than okay." I smiled. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Me either." She laid her cheek on my chest. "When I'm with you, I feel so safe, so loved, so...just...right, it scares me. Like the rest of my life before I met you had no meaning because you weren't a part of it."
"The rest of your life has meaning. It made you who you are, so that I could find you sitting on that bench and fall head over heels in love with you."
What the hell kind of stuff am I spewing? This isn't the way I talk. Did I really just tell her the only reason she's alive is so I could meet her and be happy? I am terrible beyond measure.
"Well then, I guess I'd better spend the rest of it with you then." I could feel her smiling through my shirt.
If you were to ask me when I realized just how deeply she cared for me, it was right then. She was willing to say that her life before me was meaningless, and that life without me would be just as meaningless. That is a terrible and powerful thing, both to say and hear.
But just as I realized that she truly did love me, I realized that I felt something wonderfully powerful for her. Love, true love, is a staggering thing to realize that you're in. It really took me by surprise, and terrified me a little. But, then again it's supposed to.
"Can I take a nap?" She asked. If there was one thing I learned about Danielle, it was when she cried, it took a lot out of her.
"Of course we can."
She sighed, hopefully in comfort and contentment.
"Do you love me?" If you could only know how much.
"I love you, more than you will ever know" I stroked her hair softly, kissing the top of her head. "Get some rest. I'll keep you safe.
***
I almost dropped my bag. Well, in all honesty, I did drop my bag, but had the presence of mind to catch it before my computer inside it was destroyed by Newton's Laws. My jaw had no such compunction. It fell and I did not intend to right my gaping mouth.
Danielle was naked on our bed. She was propped up on her elbows, her ankles comfortably crossed, giving me the smokiest set of bedroom eyes if ever there was such a thing.
