Taste of Innocence ✔

28 - Safe With You

Her whole body was shaking. She didn't dare to let go of Juice, as if her stalker would jump from behind the wardrobe and stab her if she did. Tears rolled down her cheeks while her shoulders were shaking. Juice held her tight, pressing her lips into her hair. 

"I'm with you," he kept repeating. "I'm with you baby. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

All Abigail could do was sob. "I'm scared," she whispered eventually. "Someone – someone came into my room. Someone has the key to my room."

Juice hesitated. "You think Ashley would do this? She wanted to organize a horror night, right? Maybe she was trying to spook things up?"

She shook her head, pressing her face against Juice's chest. "No, she wouldn't do that. She knows I have a bodyguard for a reason."

Sighing, Juice agreed. 

Abigail wished she was wrong. She would be very disappointed in Ashley if she would really pull a prank like this, but it was still better than accepting some crazy person had broken into her room.

"Maybe... Maybe it was her indeed," she said in a tiny voice. She broke away from Juice's embrace to pull her phone out of her pocket and sent her friend a text to ask her to come home. She didn't want to tell her what happened by phone; she wanted to monitor her reaction. 

Within a few minutes she got an answer; Ashley was on her way. Juice and Abigail sat down on Ashley's bed. He wrapped her arms around her again. She was grateful to him, afraid she would have collapsed if he hadn't hold her. 

"You wanna call Davey?" he asked quietly. "Maybe his voice will comfort you."

Silently, she shook her head. Calling him hadn't even crossed her mind. There was nothing he could do for her anyway, he wouldn't cancel his tour and up to now he hadn't taken the threats seriously. She rather saved herself another disappointment. 

"He won't be able to reassure me more than you do," she admitted. Grateful, she looked up to him. A blush spread across his cheeks as their eyes met. His glance told him she was more than a simple club assignment. If his sponsor hadn't instructed him to stay with her, he still would have been the one holding her. It was ironic. She had refused to give their love a chance because she feared he wouldn't be there for her. Still he was the one keeping her safe, while her boyfriend was doing shows in a whole other country. 

Before she could pay more attention to that thought, the door opened. Ashley's lips bent into a smirk when she saw the both of them sitting on her bed, the smile however faded when she entered the room and saw the wall. 

"Holy fuck," she stammered. "The hell happened here?"

"We were hoping this was your bad taste of humor," Juice said. "And that this is part of your horror night."

Ashley sat down next to her, putting a hand on Abigail's thigh. "I got nothing to do with this Abby... I swear. I would never do this."

"I know," she said quietly. "Sighing, she bent her head. "But this means someone else has been in our room."

"We're going to get you another lock first. And we need paint," Juice said. 

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Ashley asked in confusion. 

Juice shook his head. "No. I will find the bastard myself and cut off his fucking fingers."

Abigail had never seen such a dark look in his eyes. She snuggled up to him, and by way of answer he tightened his grasp around her. 

Then he got up. "You gotta find another place for your movie party," Juice told Ashley. 

. . .

Abigail knew she could get into trouble by placing a new lock on the door without asking, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to await the approval of her landlord, that might take days. 

Close to midnight there was a new lock on the door, of which only Ashley and she possessed a key. She wasn't completely comfortable with it; the stalker might have gotten in without using a key at all. 

She opened the window to let some fresh air in. The smell of paint filled the room; tomorrow they would have to add a second layer. Whether the letters would ever leave her mind, remained to be seen. Juice was keeping the doll; he wanted to see if the Sons had a connection to someone who could run a DNA test.

"You want me to find a hotel?" Juice asked. 

Abigail hesitated. Still, she shook her head. Her privacy had been violated badly, but she didn't want to be expelled from her home and become some haunted animal. 

"I feel safe with you," she said. 

"You want me to shove the couch in front of the door? Just to be sure?"

Silently, she nodded. While Juice blocked the door, she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Then she got underneath the blankets. They had pushed the bed away from the wall so she wouldn't touch the wet paint. 

"Good night," Juice said when he got into Ashley's bed. 

"Good night."

Her bed however didn't feel like her own bed anymore. It felt like her stalker had laid in it and suddenly she wanted to wash it. As she sat up straight, she noted she was sweating like she was having a fever. Suddenly, panic arose and silently cursing herself she squeezed her eyes shut. 

"Juice?" she asked quietly. 

"Hmm?"

"Can I crawl in bed with you?"

"You know you don't need to ask."

Abigail smiled away a few tears, slipped out of her bed and laid down next to him. Hesitantly, she scooted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple. His lips felt warm against her skin and a shiver traveled down her spine. By reflex, she draped an arm across his naked torso. 

Skittishly, she looked up when his lips kept lingering on her temple. Their eyes locked. For a few seconds they were staring at each other. Her heart started to beat faster – and this time fear was not the reason. It was almost impossible to resist his lips. 

"I wish I'd given us a chance," she whispered. 

She didn't look away. Neither did he. 

Instead, their lips came closer until they met.