A Promise

Happy to help

Sorry for the wait, midterms are coming up and I've been busy to say the least. I'm trying to get chapters out on a more consistent basis. Thanks and enjoy :)

Cassie POV

He took me to the bathroom with a surprising amount of gentleness. Easing me to the ground, making sure my good log was under me before he let go. I steadied myself against the counter as he brushed past me to the shower. If I thought he was tall from my spot on the bed, he towered over me in the here. Standing next to him, he was a solid foot taller than me, at least. And I never thought I was that short. I had been 5' 5" since freshman year of high school, my growth spurt stretching me out into a lanky, long-legged girl. Part of why the track and field coach had tracked me down. Well that and he saw me sprinting across the yard after one of my usual bullies threatened to rub my face in a mud puddle if he caught me after class.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My usual soft waves of blond hair were tangled and messy. Smears of dust layered my leggings and black t shirt. My nails were chipped and dirty. One of my earrings was missing. Although I didn't think I'd ever find it.

Turning the shower on, he ran water over the back of his tattooed hand, adjusting the temperature until he was satisfied. Then he simply closed the door, shutting us both in the bathroom. My heart dropped into my stomach, he wasn't leaving.

"Come on." He nodded to the shower, "I don't have all day." I stared at him incredulously, of course he wasn't leaving, I was stupid to think he'd let me have any kind of privacy.

"Oh, I'm not leaving, honey." He interrupted by shocked silence, seeming to know what was going through my head, "You could fall." He smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest, the inky snake on his skin rippling over his forearm. I could feel my resolve crumbling inside, breaking under his expectant stare, the deep pit in my stomach sinking further into nothingness as just how powerless I really was set in. I tried my best to ignore it as I slipped my thumbs under the waistband of my leggings and started to push them down, thanking my past self for wearing the oversized work shirt I had gotten on my first day that fell far enough to cover my ass.

I managed to get my leggings about halfway down my thighs before realizing my next problem. I couldn't bend my right knee enough to get it out of my leggings, much less stand on it to get my left out. The sliver of resolve I had left dissolved as I realized I couldn't even take my pants off by myself. I paused, trying convince myself not to cry in front of him.

"You need help?" I didn't look up at him, swallowing back my tears as I gave a shaky nod. He made his way over and knelt down in front of me, "Hold onto me." Hesitantly I rested my hand on his shoulder and bit my tongue as he reach up along my leggings. He paused at my knee, gently untying the bandage he had put there last night and tossing the rubbery material into the trash. Then he continued, the warmth from his palms moving higher along my thighs, but right as I steeled myself, expecting his touch along the band of black stretchy fabric, his hands traveled further. Sucking in a breath, my hand flew to his forearm as he slipped his fingers under the waistband of my panties, my face blooming red as he looked up at me.

"These are gonna have to come off too, sweetheart." His gravelly voice came out low as he reminded me. I pulled my gaze away from him, releasing his arm to instead hold my shirt down to cover myself as he pulled my underwear and leggings down at the same time. Wiggling them down to my ankles, he waited for me to step out of them, saying nothing as I leaned on him and winced as I pulled my healing leg out. The only consolation to my embarrassment was that he kept his gaze focused on getting my leggings off and tossed into the corner of that bathroom. Standing back up, he paused,

"I'm happy to help with the rest too, if you need-"

"I'm fine." I cut him off quietly, wondering if this amount of humiliation was even worth the shower. But I tried to calm myself as he returned to his corner, only extending his hand as I pulled my shirt off over my head and unclipped my bra. I could see his expression change as he watched me sneak into the shower as quickly as I could, closing the marbled glass door behind me, but ignored it, telling myself that it was no different than the track locker rooms in high school.

The steaming water was bliss against my skin, and I fought the urge to just sit down in it. Instead, I scrubbed my scalp with his shampoo and used my hands to rub his body wash across my skin. The fresh scent wafting up with the steam from the water. At some point I heard the door open and close, and when I squinted through the marbled glass, I realized he had left, and for just a moment, I tried to relax. The first real moment of privacy I'd had in any waking hour of the last few days. I just stood there in the heat of the shower, letting the warmth scald my skin to a bright pink. And then he returned. Setting a folded stack of clothing on the counter without a word.

Finally I took a guess at knob in the shower and cranked it until the water turned off. Pulling the towel on the rack into the shower with me I toweled off behind the privacy glass and wrapped it around myself before carefully stepping out. His eyes trailed up and down my scalded pink skin, smiling to himself as he nodded to the clothes on the counter.

"Get dressed." I barely looked at the clothes on the counter before I put them on at his command. An old t-shirt that smelled like it had been sitting at the bottom of his dresser and a pair of boxers. I tried to squeeze as much water from my hair as I could, ignoring his eyes on me as I leaned against the counter and scrambled the towel over my scalp. The slow ache in my knee I had woken up with was slowly dissipating, but reappeared any time I put weight on it. Hanging the towel back up, I ran my fingers through my hair to comb it as best as I could, it wasn't long enough to tangle badly, but still liked to catch on itself as it dried.

I tried to ignore his touch as he carried me out to the kitchen, tucking my hands against my chest as I scratched at the scabs on my palms. He said nothing, just watched me as he set me down on a chair around his kitchen table and walked into the kitchen. I took the moment to look around, the same living room I had seen from the night before sat on the other side of a leather couch. The tall windows letting in some sunlight through a thin curtain. A shower really had helped, settling my mind and relaxing my shoulders and back after being tense for so long. For just a moment, everything was quiet, my anxiety slowly calming. He drew me back from my thoughts as he set a plate down in front of me. A sandwich. A few slices of bologna and cheese peeking out from under the bread.

"Eat slow. You'll upset your stomach." I wasn't really that interested in eating anything, but the growl from my stomach said otherwise as he sat across from me. Picking it up I took a bite and worked through chewing it slowly.

Despite my slim figure I had always liked food growing up. When I got placed with my foster family, cooking together was one of the only things I liked to do with them, but the hot pans and boiling water always made me nervous. A few bites into my meal, I looked up at him. He was distracted by something, furiously typing away at the small screen. He really did have a nice face. The light stubble across his face carving out his square jawline. Strong brows furrowed in thought as he answered texts. In a different situation I might've have tried to flirt with him. Oh who am I kidding, I didn't have the confidence to flirt with anyone as hot as he was. It was a nice fantasy though.

"Why?" I asked before I even realized I had opened my mouth. My pulse speeding up as he glanced up at me.

"It's been a long time since I've had a pretty girl to keep me company." He shrugged, setting his phone down, "It does get pretty cold up here, all by myself..."

"But why me?" His lips curled up into that ominous smile he always wore.

"Always had a thing for blondes." He looked at me for a second something amused shining behind his eyes, but right as he opened his mouth to say something else, his phone rang. His hard stare dug into me as he stood up and answered his phone, only letting me hear one side of the conversation.

"Yes, sir... Yeah, I got him... What kind of code... Four digits? Alright... Got it." Pulling his phone away from his ear, he hung up from the short call. "Okay, come on." He turned back to me, letting me shove the last bite of the sandwich into my mouth before he helped me up from my chair and picked me up to take me back down the hall.

Setting me on the bed, he disappeared into the bathroom before returning with a roll of bandage. The sun was starting to set outside in the early evening of winter, and darkness began to creep through the room. I could feel the bags hanging heavy under my eyes as he wrapped my knee back up, the calluses on his hands rough against the bare skin of my leg, but at this point I didn't care. I was warm, and clean, and had some food in my stomach. I could've slept on a gravel road. His hand brushed under my thigh as he helped me lift my leg into the bed and lay down. It was so confusing, to be touched so softly by someone I was so afraid of, but as he pulled the blankets over me and gave me one last look before turning off the lights and closing the door I sank into sleep watching the shadows of the sunset fall across the wall.