HURT FOR ME

Chapter Thirteen - Selflessness

"True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice."

‒ Sadhu Vaswani

Aaron Adair

My blood boiled as he twirled her hair around his finger. I felt an ache in my chest watching him touch her but I knew she could handle herself. If anything went wrong, I'd be right here to protect her and Natalie who was now standing beside me, watching as John tormented Olivia.

Suddenly, Olivia was reaching across the counter, grabbing the knife that lay there. My heart stopped for a moment before I realized what she was about to do. I bolted across the kitchen, wrapping my arms around her from behind, not allowing her to get any closer to him with that knife.

"Let me go!" She shouted. I picked her up and moved her to the corner of the kitchen away from him because if I didn't, she might just stab me to get to him.

I used one arm to hold her and the other to tuck her hair behind her ear, "Olivia," I whispered. "Think about what you're doing." I didn't blame her for wanting to murder that piece of shit because I wanted to kill him just as much as she did, but I knew this would haunt her forever.

"He doesn't deserve to breathe," Her voice was tired as she continued straining to get out of my hold, "Please." She pleaded. I considered letting her go and allowing her to make him feel the pain she and Natalie felt.

She breathed heavily as her head dropped between her shoulders, "I know he doesn't," I tried to comfort her and help her think straight. I know the memories flurrying through her head were urging her to do something horrible to him, but she'd never be the same if she murdered a man.

"Your sister is standing right there, Olivia." Killing their rapist wouldn't make either of them feel better, it would only keep them awake at night. I wasn't going to let Olivia hurt herself further and I wasn't going to allow her to do something like this in front of Natalie. They didn't deserve what he did to them but they don't deserve to live with his blood on their hands either.

The knife dropped from her hand as she turned around, burying her body into mine. The sound of the metal hitting the floor let out a loud ring and a few breaths sounded from behind us. I rubbed my hand on the back of her head and allowed her to cry into my chest. Her pain was my pain and I could feel it all at this very moment.

"You both should go, now." Her mother's hostility filled me with rage. I pulled back and looked at Olivia, a simple nod and we were heading toward the doorway. As we reached Natalie, I put my hand on her shoulder and guided her out of the kitchen. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I left this innocent girl with her rapist.

The cool air bit at my lungs as I helped Natalie and Olivia into the car. Her mother stood on the porch, eyeing me as I slid into the driver's seat. Although this night turned horrible so quickly, I was going home with Olivia and her sister and they were safe. That's all that mattered to me now.

❁

The ride was quiet aside from the few sniffles that came from Olivia. I waited for either of them to say anything but they never did. We rode in silence all the way to my place and there was something comforting about that quietness.

When we made it up to the apartment, Natalie expressed that she just wanted to lay down and rest so I showed her to the spare bedroom Olivia wasn't occupying. I helped her into the bed and I covered her with the blanket. I knew there was nothing I could say to her that would make anything better so I turned off the light and closed the door behind me without a word.

Olivia was sitting on the couch when I entered the living room. My jacket was draped over her and her head was hanging between her shoulders. Seeing her in so much pain bothered me more than anything else in this world.

"Olivia," I crouched down in front of her, resting a hand on her bare knee. "Do you want to talk about it?" I knew that was a stupid question but I didn't know what else to say to her. I wasn't sure how to make this night any better for her but I couldn't watch her sit around, hurting like this.

She shook her head, "I hate him." I hate him too.

I reached forward and rubbed my thumb against her cheek before picking her head up. Her eyes were swollen and red from all of the crying she had done since standing in that kitchen. Although there was an unexplainable amount of pain behind them, they still looked so beautiful and soft. I couldn't imagine what they'd look like if I hadn't stopped her with that knife.

The first man I ever killed was the biggest regret of my life. My father.

It had been a long night of work, I was in and out of sleep when my mother called my phone. I picked up and heard her panicked breaths, my father shouting, and the sound of things being thrown around.

Before I could think, I rushed to my parent's house and busted in the door to find my father standing over my mother's lifeless body. Her blood dripped from his hands to the floor and the sound of each drop would be engraved in my head forever.

I don't remember much from that night besides beating my dad until he couldn't speak anymore. I made him apologize over and over for doing this to my mother. My fists were bruised and bloody by the time I finished him off. It's been a year and a half since that night but it still haunts me like it was just yesterday.

The only reason I regret doing what I did is that he took my mother from me and forced me to take him from me too. I don't regret killing him because he deserved it, but losing both of your parents in the same night and having to live with blood on your hands isn't a life worth living.

"Aaron?" Her gentle voice remained intact even after all of the shouting she did tonight. I found her eyes again and the memories of my past disappeared. I pulled her closer to me, resting my forehead on hers. "Please make him suffer."

My body tensed at her request. I took a deep breath and planted a kiss on her forehead before grabbing my keys off of the table and heading for the elevator. I knew there was no way I could say no to her, truth be told, I didn't want to say no. I couldn't let Olivia be the one to live with his blood on her hands but to me, he'd just be another name on my list. At this moment, I was willing to do whatever for my girl.