She looks up at him, her green eyes drowning in tears, and let's out a bitter laugh. Her laugh once made him feel safe, so safe. But now, all he felt was fear. He was afraid for her, for them, for their lives. Slowly, their eyes met and she choked back a sob. For a second, her mask of bravery slipped from her face and showed the raw pain she was feeling, he saw how broken she was after everything she had gone through and all he wanted to do was run to her and hold her. She coughed out three little words that, in this moment held so much power.
"I'm so scared."
Nearly three weeks before this moment was the night that Stefani and Bradley had seen each other after years. They had decided to meet up for a private celebration of the five year anniversary of A Star Is Born premier. That night was what had put their worst nightmares into motion.
"She should be here soon." Bradley mutters to the bartender, checking his watch for the fourth time that night.
As if that were her cue, Stefani appeared at the entrance of the bar in a small red dress that hugged all of her curves just right.
He stood from his chair, his eyes memorizing every inch of the small little Italian girl in front of him. The way her platinum blonde hair sat on her shoulders in waves, her red stained lips pulled up into a lopsided smile, her eyes looking at him the way he always loved.
"Hey there, cowboy." she says with a musical laugh as she walked up to him.
Not even a second passed by before he took her into his arms. It had been far too long since he had held her. He had almost forgotten what it was like.
"You look...I mean, your dress...its..." Bradley stutters as they pull away.
"Well I hope the end of those sentences are good." she says with a smirk, making him laugh.
"Yeah. Yes. Very good." he says as they sit down.
"Jameson on the rocks." she tells the bartender before turning her full attention to Bradley.
"How have you been?" he asks, wanting to know every single thing she has been up to since they last saw each other.
"I've been good. Everything has been good." she says with a nod and a tight smile.
"Sorry to hear about you and Tyler." Bradley says, referring to her most recent breakup.
"Oh, that's alright. He was an ass anyways." she says, waving her hand.
"No one seems to treat you the way you deserve." he says sadly.
"The last person who did left me in the pouring rain after I professed my love for him." she says bitterly as she takes the glass from the bartender and takes a rather large sip.
"Stef, I-"
"Its okay, B. I didn't come here to pick at old wounds. I know why you did what you did. I don't blame you." she says, still not making eye contact.
There was a short silence, both too stuck in their own heads.
"How's Lea?" Stefani asks, breaking the tension.
"Aw, she's so smart. So beautiful too. She misses you a lot. Talks about you almost every day. Every time she sees you on the television she points and starts jumping and shouting 'Daddy, daddy, look! Stef is on tv!'" he says with a laugh.
Stefani smiles sadly at him, remembering the sweet little girl with her father's ice blue eyes.
They spent hours in those same seats just talking about everything and anything. They laughed, sang along to some of the music that played.
"Thank you for such a lovely night, Bradley." Stefani says as they walk out of the bar.
"Thank you. It's been too long." he says, stopping outside of her car and turning to her with sad eyes.
"I don't want to go that long again without seeing you."
She nods in agreement, reaching out to take his hand. He lifts their joined hands and places a soft kiss on the back of her hand.
"I'll call you then." she says, her eyes glancing down to his lips. For a moment, she wondered what it might be like to kiss him again after all this time.
"Goodnight, Stef." he whispers.
"Goodnight." she says back, neither of them releasing each others hand. They stood there staring at each other, not wanting to pull away.
If it weren't for Bradley's phone ringing, they might have stayed there like that all night.
"I should probably..." he trails off. She nods and slips her hand out of his.
"Yeah, sure, sure. Ill....I'll see you." she says, fishing her keys out of her purse.
"Right. I'll see you around."
By the time Stefani had pulled up to her house it was almost three in the morning. She turned her car off and stepped out, freezing when she realizes that her front door was wide open.
She looks around but there were no other cars in her driveway. She was alone.
She dialed Bradley's phone number which she knew by heart and held the phone up to her ear as she slowly began walking to her dark house.
"Hello?" he answers on the second ring.
"Bradley?" she whispers.
"Miss me already?" he asks. She could hear the confident smirk in his voice.
"Bradley I think someone is in my house." she whispers as she approaches the front door.
"What? What happened?" Bradley asks, already slipping his shoes and jacket back on and grabbing his car keys.
"I-I came home and my door was wide open." she says with a soft, trembling voice.
"Stef, I'm on my way. Don't go inside until I get there." he says, his voice filled with worry.
"I'm already inside. I don't see anyone. I...maybe I was just paranoid. I'm sorry to wake you." she says at a normal volume, feeling relief that there was no intruder.
"Stef, go back to your car please. Just until I get there." he begs, his foot pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor.
"Bradley everything's fine. I just-"
She stops midsentence as a man steps out into view. He was tall. Taller than she was, which wasn't saying much. His face was covered with a black ski mask which matched his black sweatshirt and pants.
But what had made her heart jump out of her chest was the rather large knife he held in his hand.
"Stefani? Stef?" Bradley asks after hearing her sudden silence.
"Tell him not to come." the man tells her.
"B-Bradley, I...really I'm okay." she says, trying to control the shaking in her voice.
"You don't sound okay." he replies, still speeding towards her house.
"Make him believe you." the man orders, taking a step toward her.
"Don't come." she tells Bradley firmly.
"Stef-"
"I don't need you." she continues.
"I would just feel better if I could check the house myself." he tells her.
"Bradley-"
The man takes the phone from Stefani's hand and holds it up to his ear.
"Fifteen million dollars is the price you'll have to pay for not being quick enough to save her." he says before hanging up. He drops the phone to the floor and stomps on it, instantly shattering it to pieces.
"P-Please. I can give you the money." Stefani begs as he grabs her by her arm.
"Shut up." he says, hitting her in the head with the butt of the knife he was holding.
The jab made her vision blurry with a mix of tears and blood that dripped down from her injury. She stumbled after him, trying to tug her arm out of his grip.
"Stop fighting." he says.
She can feel the wet grass under her bare feet. She can feel his nails breaking through the skin of her upper arm, drawing blood.
"Please. Please, you don't have to do this." she begs, seeing the large van that had been hidden on the side of her house.
He stops and turns to her. She can see the evil smile he wore under his mask. His brown eyes looking almost black under the moonlight, making him look even more intimidating.
"Its already done."
He placed a bag over her head and restrained her hands behind her back, ignoring the sobs and pleas that came from her. Effortlessly, he tossed her into the back of the van and slammed the door shut, leaving her alone in the dark.
