I'm Not Your Average Girl Next Door [Alex Gaskarth Love Story]

Chapter Twelve

Alex's POV

        You had immediately rushed to Rhiannon's house after you got the call from her mother. You couldn't believe something like that could happen. Well you didn't know for sure, but it sounded almost like it was true. Apparently she only wore long sleeves and pants, well just covered in clothing everywhere. Her mom even said that sometimes she would see cuts and bruises on her. Especially after she came home from seeing Carter. Although she'd only seemed to be seeing Carter as of late. No one had heard from her in a week and a half.

        You pulled into the driveway, slamming the car into park, shutting off the ignition, grabbing your keys and running in the house. You didn't even knock, you didn't need to. You knew Julie was waiting for you, and there she was, on the loveseat. She was just looking out towards the wall, she looked so terrified, and you knew that if Rhiannon saw her mom like that it would kill her inside. "Julie . . . ," you whispered, not really knowing what to do now that you were here. She looked up at you and gave a slight smile before standing up, indicating for you to follow her.

        She stopped outside of Rhiannon's room. She looked up at you with almost a hopeful glint in her eyes, "She's asleep. Will you please go see how badly she's injured? I'm going to grab some water for her when she wakes up. She's going to have to tell us what is going on." You nodded watching Mrs. Lewis walk down the stairs, before you opened the door slowly. You peered in and saw Rhiannon laying on the bed, curled in a ball. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful. You had missed Rhiannon a lot during the last month after seeing her at the diner. You just couldn't believe what might have been happening to her in your time apart.

        You quietly pulled her sheets back and gasped. Your eyes had now adjusted to the dark, and you could a huge gash across her forehead. You grabbed your phone out of your pocket, using the slight light from it to look at her stomach as you pulled up her shirt. Although in a way, that wasn't necessary. From the slight light you could already see bruises covering her legs. Bruises also covered her stomach, and you wondered how painful all of this must be for her. You couldn't even believe it had happened in the first place.

        Then you heard Julie at the door, whispering, "Alex?" You stood up, glancing back at Rhiannon for a second whispering, "I'm going to save you Annie girl." Then you walked out pulling the door to only a crack. "Well, how bad is it?" You looked at Julie, knowing that all of this was going to be hard, "Its pretty bad, but I'm obviously not a doctor. We should get back in there." She smiled slightly and nodded. You suddenly didn't want to be away from Rhiannon for more than a minute.

        The two of you walked in turning on the light. Rhiannon yelped, grabbing her covers to cover herself, although you knew that even half asleep, she feared someone already knew. You sat towards the front of the bed, caressing her hair, while her mom sat at the edge. "Would you like some water, honey?" You could tell how scared her mom was, she didn't know what to do. "No, Mom. Why are you in here? What are you even doing home?" You laughed causing her head to shoot from the pillow, her eyes wide. Then she turned angry, "WHY IS HE IN HERE?" She was pointing at you, then trying to slap you out of her bed. This only caused you to laugh more somehow, until you realized she was almost crying as she whispered, "You have to leave, you don't understand. You have to go!"

        You had stopped laughing and her mom stared at you wide eyed. "Sweetie, is it true that," she gulped, "has Carter been . . . did he do this to you?" Her eyes were wide as she scanned over the both of us again. "No, you guys have to go." Julie took a deep breath, "I'm not going anywhere. This is my house and I demand an answer. Has that man hurt you?" Suddenly Rhiannon's eyes shot to the clock and she tried to jump out of the bed screaming, "I have to go!" You stood in front of her with Julie by your side, not allowing her to get out of the bed. Julie sighed now, "Rhiannon, you are not leaving until you explained what happened. It was that Carter, wasn't it? I know it! Tell me what happened!" At this point Julie was hysterical again, pleading Rhiannon for an answer.

She looked like an animal that was trapped and scared, shaking her head as she stared at her mother. Suddenly she sat down on the bed, looking at her mother. "but. . How?" You sat down on the edge of the bed and suddenly pulled her up to your chest, "How did this happen, Annie girl?" She looked up at you and started crying, "I just, there is no way," you looked at her confused, "there is just no way out."

        Her mom left in tears, and you knew she needed a moment to gather herself. Then it was just the two of you. Nothing said, just the two of you together. She was still in your arms, and you would reach up to brush some of her hair away from her face, as she cried into your chest. Considering everything that was going on, you felt more peaceful than you had in months. Other than the rage and fear that were bubbling under the surface, having her in your arms completed you in a way. It had for as long as you could remember, you'd always been just too big of a fool to truly notice it.

Well that was until Rhiannon pulled back a bit looking up at you, you brought your fingers up and wiped away some of her tears with the calloused pads of your fingertips. She looked at you again though, deep in thought, "Why are you here Alex?" You looked at her considering the question, "Well your mom called me and she was worried about you . . ." "But why did you come? You haven't spoken to me in a little over a month." "So you kept track.," you said smirking, "I did it because I care about you Rhiannon. I know I don't deserve you, and I've screwed up countless times. But nothing you say is going to change how I feel, and I'm going to be around for a while. Especially until that jerk is taken care of." She smiled at you a moment before completely shocking you. It felt like she was staring into your soul then she leaned forward and kissed you. It was gentle and sweet, exactly as you had imagined kissing your Annie girl would be. Suddenly she bit your lower lip, a little whimper escaping her lips. You kissed back with everything you had then, hard and passionate. You had been waiting for this for a very long time.

        You readjusted her against the headboard  of the bed, sweeping your hands over her body. Trying to feel every inch of her you could now, before she figured out she deserved so much better. Although compared to that jerk, I am much better. I would never do anything like that to her. As your hand gripped her thigh, she gasped, and at first you figured it was from pleasure. That was until you realized she was trying to pull away, and you looked down to see you were holding her pretty tightly, right where there was a huge bruise. You leaned down and kissed it slightly, it was just barely a touch of you lips on the bruise. You looked back up at her smiling softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She shook her head, smiling as well, "You didn't hurt me, Alex. Plus, there is no reason to apologize, I kissed you remember?" You smirked hearing that. You did remember, and with that you leaned back down kissing her again.