11. To Serve and Protect

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I sleep like shit, swearing I hear my door or my window opening every five seconds. By the time I finally fall asleep my alarm is set for two hours later. I climb out of bed and decide to take a shower. I inspect the small bruises on my waist and the large one on my wrist and sigh. I knew Josh was going to freak out. I get dressed, slipping into pair of jeans and a sweater, hoping to cover my bruises. I head downstairs and I find my parents sitting peacefully at the table.

"Morning baby girl" my mom beams.

"Morning mama" I reply as I grab am apple, not having much of an appetite. "I uh. I think I'm gonna head out a little early today."

"Yea?" my dad asks. "Okay. Have a good day kiddo."

"I will" I smile, grabbing my keys and heading out to my car. I climb in, take a bite of my apple, and put my key in the ignition. I take a deep breath and head the opposite direction from school.

~ 🚔 ~

I can't get the image of Aiden sticking his tongue down Maya's throat out of my head. The fact that he has had his hands on her-. A sudden knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts and the flash of blonde hair that follows has my heart rate accelerating.

"Hi" she says softly, closing the door and stepping further into my office.

"Hey" I smile, standing up and moving towards her. "You're okay" I observe as a tight lipped smile pulls at her lips. Something is wrong. That's not her smile. I know Maya's smile, it's one of her best features. She wasn't fine. "Maya what did he do?" I demand but she shakes her head.

"Nothing" she says softly, tugging at her left sleeve of her sweater. 

"Yea?" I ask, grabbing her hand and gently pushing up her sleeve. My breath hitches when I spot the deep bruise on her wrist. "He's dead" I say bluntly as I drop her hand and rush towards the door.

"Josh" she cries, grabbing my wrist. "Please stop."

"He hurt you" I shout. "I'm a cop Maya. This is the type of shit that gets a guy arrested and I'm gonna be the one to do it."

"You can't" she insists. "He'll get out. He'll get out and he won't stop until he makes me pay for reaching out for help or he'll make you pay for getting him locked up."

"Maya" I say softly, reaching out to caress her cheek. "I can't let him get away with this."

"I'll deny it" she says softly making my eyes widen. Jesus Christ she was so fucking stubborn.

"You aren't serious?" I gape at her.

"He threatened to hurt you" she whispers. "I can't let something happen to you because you're protecting me."

"Maya" I sigh. I hated that she wanted to protect me as much as I did her. I rub my neck and nod. "Fine. But you stay away from him and if he shows up you call me" I add, reaching my hand out for her phone. She hands it over and I program my number before handing it back to her.

A silent moment falls over us and I shake my head. How anyone could touch a hair on her head is beyond me. "What?" she asks softly.

"I can't believe someone would hurt you" I admit causing her face to soften. "Is it just the wrists?"

She pauses before taking a breath and stripping off her sweater leaving her in a white camisole. She lifts the thin fabric a few inches and displays two bruises on her hips. "Jesus" I mutter as I step closer to her, pulling her shirt back down. "Gorgeous I am so sorry. I shouldn't have let you leave."

"I wasn't going to let you make me stay" she admits softly, leaning forward and resting her head against my chest. "I was so scared last night" she whispers. I break. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head.

"Me too" I admit. "I'm gonna keep you safe Maya."

~ 🚔 ~

Telling Josh was risky but I need him. I need him more than I ever imagined I would. I couldn't breathe at the thought of something happening to him. I felt safe with him. He was quickly becoming my rock and it wasn't healthy and it certainly wasn't going to end well for my social studies grade.

"I'm hungry" I complain making Josh chuckle as we drive around the city in his patrol car. Since I was early and we'd been stuck at the station for the past couple days we decided to hit the road early. Plus we both needed a distraction from thinking of Aiden.

"Didn't you eat breakfast?" he asks with a chuckle. I fall silent and he shakes his head. "What am I gonna do with you?" he asks seriously, "so fucking stubborn."

"I was a little stressed this morning. Sorry if I wasn't hungry" I reply, running my fingers through my hair. Josh's face softens and I watch his hand leave his lap and move towards my leg but he thinks better of it and moves his hand back to his lap.

"What do you want gorgeous?" he asks curiously, tapping his fingers on the sterring wheel.

"Panera" I reply but he shakes his head.

"Not in this car. Too messy."

I huff, crossing my arms over my chest. "Fine. McDonald's?" I suggest earning an approving grin from Josh. I chuckle, rolling my eyes as we pull up to the nearest drive-thru.

"What do you want gorgeous?"

"Um chicken nugget meal" I reply. "With sweet and sour" I interject making him laugh. I furrow my eyebrows at him in confusion. "What's so funny?" I demand.

"The sauce is a perfect representation of you" he smirks. My jaw drops open and I shake my head.

"Are you trying to say I have a bad attitude?"

"Precisely" he teases as our turn comes. Josh orders my lunch along with his. 2 cheeseburger meal. We pull up to the second window and he pays before pulling up to the third and receiving our food. "Wanna go park?" he asks making me raise a suspicious eyebrow at him. "Wait" he laughs.

"That was pretty forward" I tease, a giggle falling from my lips.

"I didn't mean it like that" he insists making me smile as I nod.

"Obviously" I reply. "But yes we should park. And eat" I emphasize making him chuckle.

"Yea okay" he gives before putting the car in drive and heading off. We pull up to a park that had a couple probable parents or nannies lingering about with kids. Josh divides up our food and we dig in. "So how much trouble are you gonna get in for skipping school?" Josh asks as he pops a fry into his mouth.

"Not as much if you lie for me and report that you didn't see me today."

"Done" he assures me. "Don't worry gorgeous" he smiles.

"Thank you" I smile softly. "So uh" I add, "are you coming to game night?" I ask making him chuckle.

"Wasn't planning on it" he replies. "I haven't gone since" he trails off, obviously remembering the day we started the long game.

"Yea" I reply in understanding. "I get it."

"I was an idiot to push you away" he says, taking me by surprise but I don't hesitate to nod in agreement.

"No arguments here" I reply, dipping a nugget into my sauce and taking a bite. "You really have no idea how hard that was" I sigh, shaking my head as I try to block out the memories.

"I only wanted what was best for you" he replies. I nod in understanding though the sting doesn't go away.

"I get that" I nod, chancing a look up at him. "But did you ever stop to think that maybe you were what was best for me?"

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