Because of Karson

Chapter 45

It's been a few days since the fight between Damon and Karson. And to say it's been an eventful few days would be an understatement. After the police arrived at the gym, they immediately took Damon and his men into the police station while a few officers stayed back with us.

Jason was announced dead at the scene when one of the officers shot him in the back, right through his heart. It was an insane shot. The officer aimed to where he was careful not to hit me. We talked after everything settled down and he made sure that he shot him in the chest when he noticed my body wasn't directly in front of him. Bullets don't usually go all the way through, but he wanted to be extra cautious just in case.

After the chaos of that night, we all decided to stay at my house just to be safe. I helped Karson clean his busted knuckles while I carefully placed ice on his bruised abdomen. There was a bruise near the right side of his forehead so he placed a small bag of ice there while I helped clean him up.

I was just glad that Jason was officially out of my life. When I saw his lifeless body laying there, I felt nothing. I felt numb. Seeing him lay there as my legs were covered in his blood didn't make me feel anything. I thought something was wrong with me because I didn't feel any remorse that he died. I even broke down in tears, thinking about how bad of a person I was since I wasn't sad that I watched a man die in front of me.

That night, Karson held me in his arms as he told me it was okay to not feel sad. He told me it was okay because after everything he put me through, I shouldn't feel sorrowful. I should feel the pressure fall off my shoulders since I didn't have to worry about him hurting me or my siblings anymore. I wasn't a bad person for not feeling sad about the death of someone who caused me more than enough pain.

I really didn't know what I would do without Karson. I remember saying at the beginning of the year that I couldn't focus on any guys because I still had to figure out how to raise my siblings. I only thought about how I was going to be able to provide for Jace and Liv. At the beginning of the year, I didn't know who I was. I wasn't the Dakota I knew now.

After everything I've been through the past few months, it's helped me realize that I couldn't have done everything on my own. Although I told myself I wouldn't get distracted by any guys, I'm glad I did. They ended up helping me find who I really was, and they helped me find the courage to open up to the people around me. They really saved me, especially Karson.

The day after the fight, Karson decided to make our relationship official. We both knew what we meant to each other and we both knew how much we really loved each other. A label didn't determine our love for each other, but it was finally nice to say that Karson was my boyfriend. Although it took us quite a while to determine who we were to each other, it was all worth it in the end. Our love was powerful.

My siblings, Braxton, and Colton were happy for us when we told them that we really did love each other. They all shook their heads while Braxton handed a twenty dollar bill to Jace. I guess they made a bet a few weeks ago on how long it would take until we got together. Jace guessed less than a month while Braxton guessed two months. Jace got the money. They all were waiting for this moment to happen because they could see way before we even liked each other that something was bound to happen.

When Olivia came home after the fight, we told her about Karson and I. She squealed in excitement and started rambling to Colton about how she knew it was going to happen. She kept saying that she saw the way Karson would look at me when I wasn't looking at him. I was a little uncertain if that was true, but when I looked at Karson and saw a faint blush on his cheeks, I got my answer.

When she calmed down, I also ended up telling her about what happened the night when she was gone. I briefly explained that Jason was out of our lives forever and we no longer had to worry about him or our mother ever again. We were finally safe. When she asked about Karson and I's bruises, we just told her that we ran into some of Jason's men and left it at that. She didn't question it, because I knew if I told her more, she wouldn't quite understand it. When she got older, I'd eventually tell her the whole story, but for right now, she didn't need to know every detail.