The girl in the attic

(16)The girl in the attic

The girl in the attic

Chapter 16

Preston's POV

When I got back to the house I grabbed the bags of clothes and food out of my trunk and ran to the barn hoping that nobody saw me. I had a few bags so I had to make two trips to get everything to the barn. The first thing I did when I was finally done unloading the stuff was to dump the bags on the ground and make my way up the ladder to check if Katie was still there.

"Katie?" I whispered softly making sure she knew I was back, I didn't want to scare her. I slowly peeked around the barrels of hay and saw her lying in a little ball on the ground sleeping. I felt horrible that she was sleeping on the floor instead of a comfortable bed but I was so relieved that she was still there that it overpowered all other emotions. If she stayed here and waited for me it means that she is starting to trust me.

I carried the bags up the ladder and sat down next to her before waking her up.

"Katie, I'm back," I whispered shaking her shoulder gently. It took about three minutes of whispering and shaking before she woke up. I was starting to panic when her eyes finally opened and focused on me.

"Preston," she whispered softly as a small smile appeared on her face. My heart jumped in my chest and I almost forgot to breathe. The way it sounded when she whispered my name was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I shook my head trying to regain control of my thoughts, I still couldn't understand why this girl had such an effect on me.  

"Yeah, I got you some new clothes," I said and watched as she sat up beside me with sparkling eyes.

"I really hope that's not all for me," she said eyeing the bags next to me.  

"The clothes and the medicine are, the food we'll share ok?" I said jokingly and was stunned when a little giggle escaped her throat.  

"So show me what you got me," She said laughing. I was shocked at her behavior but grabbed one of the bags and started unpacking it. She looked at the clothes like they were the most precious things anybody had ever given her which made me feel really sad. She is such a perfect girl, she deserved to have had a happy life but I guess it is up to me to make her happy now.

"I can't believe you got all of this for me," she said as she looked over all of the clothes for a second time.  

"You deserve them," I told her honestly as I watched her happily. After the third time examining all her clothes I decided that it was time for her surprise. I haven't given her the fancy orange dress yet and I couldn't wait to see her face when I did.  

"I got you a little surprise," I said and watched her eyes grow bigger as she registered my words.  

"You really shouldn't have, this is already too much," she said gesturing to the clothes in front of her.  

"I wanted too, it reminded me of you and I just couldn't resist getting it for you," I replied honestly. The moment I saw the dress I knew I had to get it for her.

I took it out of the bag and stood up letting it fall to its full length in front of her so that she could see it properly. I heard a small gasp escape her mouth as she looked at the dress in wonder.  

"It's beautiful," she whispered looking at it lovingly.  

"Just like you," I replied before I could stop myself. I watched as her eyes grew even bigger and her face grew pink. She really is beautiful especially when she blushes and don't look so pale.

She wasn't the only one who was shocked and embarrassed. I've been so busy worrying about her that I never ever realized how beautiful she really was until now. I felt like a complete idiot for blurting it out like that but there was nothing I could do about it. Now don't get me wrong, I've told hundreds of girls that they are beautiful for various reasons but somehow this was different. Everything about Katie and the way I felt about her was different.

I folded up the dress and sat down next to her handing it to her.

"Do you really think I am beautiful? She asked looking at me with an expression of disbelief on her face.  

"Yes I do and I think you are going to look gorgeous in that dress," I confessed making her blush again.  

"Oh yeah, this goes with it," I said handing her the black high heel shoes. She examined them for a while and then focused her attention back on me.

"Thank you for all of this but you really didn't need to spend all your money on me, I would have been happy with one pair of jeans and a t shirt," she said.  

"Don't worry about it. My parents are rich and pay my credit card, they won't even notice. This is nothing compared to the amount of money my mom spends on clothes every month," I stated knowing that they will pay my credit card without any questions, money wasn't an issue for them. She looked at me with sad eyes and I could tell that she wanted to ask me something. I waited for her to ask but she didn't. I was curious as to what she wanted to know but didn't push her, instead I grabbed one of the bags beside me and handed her a pack of crisps.

Her eyes lighted up again as she took it from me and opened it happily. We sat there together for what must have been at least an hour. We talked about her new clothes and the food as we ate and drank sodas. She seemed to have relaxed around me and I was grateful for this fact, it will be so much easier to help her if she trusted me. When we were done eating I told her to wait for me in the barn while I took some of the stuff to my room and checked that it was safe for her to come in. She agreed with a smile making my heart melt.

Katie's POV

As soon as he left the barn I let out a moan of pain that I was holding in. I didn't want him to know that I was hurting. There was nothing he could do to help me. I could feel my stomach starting to spin and I immediately knew what was coming. I crawled over to the ladder and made my way down almost falling twice. I ran the rest of the way out of the barn and just made it around the corner when I felt my stomach clenching and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I threw up every single thing that I had eaten over the last couple of days.

I sat down against the wall as my whole body throbbed with pain. I knew I had to get back into the barn so that Preston wouldn't suspect anything but I just couldn't get myself to move, the pain was overwhelming.