Safe With You

15. You Belong With Me.

Hunters POV
*the same night*

"Can I tell you a story?" I ask standing up holding my arm out for her.

"Umm yeah?" she takes my gesture and I bring her to the middle of my hard wood living room floor. "so whats this story of yours?" she asks as I turn on music and we start dancing. She throws her arms loosely around my neck and I put my hands on her waist as butterflies erupt in my stomach.

"Well, a long long long long long long long time ago," she giggles causing me smile. I can get lost in her eyes for years. "I met this girl when I moved to Nashville, and I fell in love, harder than ever!" I exaggerate, she giggles again which makes me stop and laugh along, her smile is one of the most contagious things I've ever seen. I almost forget what I'm saying. "Well, one day, I finally got the courage to ask her out and when she saw me she told me she had good news too, so being the gentleman I am, I let her go first," her giggles continue, I can tell she hasn't realized it's her yet. I let out a sigh, hopefully she can't tell I'm nervous. "then I got the worst, heart crushing news of my life," she fake pouts sympathetically.

"I don't like this girl." She says before another smile spreads across her face.

I want to burst into laughter, but I hold it in and just smile. "Just wait." I say holding up a finger and then continue. "My heart broke into a million pieces when she told me, that she was going out with," I take in a deep breath and let it out. I'm really telling her. "Jack Muscleman." I look up at the ceiling when I say his name then return my eyes to hers. I pause and wait for her to process it. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes, I can't tell if they're happy or sad, so I continue. "So then, I tried to be as close of a friend as I could, because I needed her in my life. Whether it was, or wasn't the way I wanted it to be. I need to see her, be with her, talk to her, hear her laugh, see her smile. Anything. I would do anything to see her." I push the hair off her face and rub her non-swollen cheek with my thumb. "And I hated the fact that when ever I saw that face, it was bleeding, or bruised and she was crying. I tried everything I could do to try and make her realize who really loves her. I wanted to kiss the tears off her face, I wanted her to stay and feel safe, but she always went back and it killed me inside to know that the next time I saw her she would be crying, coming to me for comfort. And I would have to patch her up only to send her off to be hurt again. But I knew if I said anything she might get mad at me, and maybe never come back and I didn't want anybody else to help her because nobody knows her as much as I do." At this point I'm on the verge of tears myself, and she has a steady stream pouring out her eyes. "I know that she hates it when guys get so drunk they can't think right, she's sassy when she wants to be, and even though she's 20 she will still only eat dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and make them fight on her plate." She laughs with her hand over her mouth and part of her face. "And I know for a fact she's the most beautiful girl in the world and all I've wanted to do was call her mine."

She's crying and laughing at the same time, I really hope theres a smile under her hand "Hunter,"

"Well, in case you haven't figured it out yet, she, is you." I giggle and she lets out a short breathy laugh, I want to take her hand away from her face to see her reaction. "I love you and I will always love you. You just-" I'm waving my hands trying to buy myself time. If I say what I want to say, she may not even want to be with me and I can ruin the whole thing. But before I can do anything she does what I've been dreaming about for years.

She stands on her tip toes and kisses me. For a second I'm taken aback, but when I realize that she's doing it, and she's okay with it, I kiss her with everything I have. I've never been so happy in my life, I realize this may never happen again but that doesn't mean it won't be the best moment of my life. My hand cups her cheek softly, not to touch anything, and she rests her hands on my chest.

I pull back and look her in the eyes. "You belong with me."

We pull away and I'm so afriad the moment is going to be over. She looks at me with a blank stare and her mouth slightly open. I can't tell if she's happy or not and its killing me to know,  I think she surprised herself. I wish I could read her thoughts, and usually I can, but right here, right now, I can't even imagine whats going through her brain.

Her eyes close for a second before looking up at me and smiling as I let out a huge internal breath. She grabs my face kissing me again. Her hands slowly find my neck and her fingers grip me at the bottom of my hair line. I know that she could be doing this because she just lost her boyfriend, I mean she might not even like me back, but I don't care because its finally happening. Its not what I dreamed of, its better.

"I'm so sorry." She whimpers pulling back.

I pull her into the biggest hug I've ever given anyone before. "Stop saying that. This is not your fault. None if this is your fault. You're here, with me. You're safe with me, and that's all that matters."

She pulls away from my hug and brushes the hair out of her face as I see her eye again. "My eye feels like its out to here." She says holding her hand about a foot in front of her face dramatically.

"Come here." I whisper and she follows me into the kitchen. She grabs my hand as I pull the famous bag of peas out. Now when we take each others hands our fingers intertwine. I didn't know it was possible but I feel 100x more sparks than before.

"Ya know, you'd think that after coming over here enough, you'd buy an ice pack." She laughs slightly, placing it on her face and wincing.

"Well, I was hoping eventually, you wouldn't need it anymore." I shrug my shoulders and take the peas and wrap them in a towel. She gives me a nervous smile, lets go of my hand and walks back into the living room quickly. "What'sa matter?" I ask making my way next to her.

"I just, I don't know. I'm just really scared." She says starting to breathe faster looking at her lap. She has the blanket around her back and she's leaning foreword with her elbows on her knees supporting her upper body.

"Hey," I say wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She looks up at me with glossy eyes. "You don't have to be afraid anymore." I say with her face inches from mine. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." I kiss her temple and she leans her head down on me.

After a few minutes she lets a yawn escape and her blinks become longer and more frequent. "You tired?" I ask softly. She nods her head and I wrap the blanket around her tighter and walk her into my bedroom. I lay her down on my bed, tuck her in, and kiss her forehead. "Goodnight."

"Hunter?" She asks weakly, just before I walk out.

I turn around and meet her eyes that are brimming with tears. "What is it Lys?"

She starts breathing nervously again. "Stay?" I look at the door and then back at her. "Please?" My eyes shoot around the room. "I'm scared." When I look back over at her she seems sincere and if thats the thing that makes her feel safe, I need to. I mean, I'm not protesting it or anything.

Finally I nod and walk over pulling the covers over both of us. "Thank you." She whispers and lets a tear escape her eye.

"Don't be scared. I'm here, you're safe." I kiss in between her forehead and temple and then rub my cheek where I kissed.

Her eyes slowly flutter shut "I feel safe with you." Seconds later she's asleep, then before I know it I'm asleep with the love of my life in my arms.

Finally.