Impossibly His

Chapter Thirty-One

Fight or flight; it's our very own built in stress response, defining what we do in the face of danger. I've studied this extensively in my classes. It's something that I as a student had to understand; is your instinct to run or fight back? What does that say about you as an animal? Will you be a survivor?

Jay's return had sparked something inside of me that I didn't understand. Throughout the past few years I felt as if I was his prey, and he was slowly hunting me; he had always toyed with me and I let him, dormant, never fighting back or running away.

Now, the thought of being face to face with him set my nerves on end. I had bought a taser, taking what precautions I could in order to protect myself. Now, I had decided, was the time to fight back. It was silly of me to ever let him control such a huge part of my life, how I was always in a constant state of fear even when he was behind bars. It was difficult to convince myself that he shouldn't have that kind of power over me anymore. Slowly, I was taking back control of my life and I was proud to have come as far as I did.

After finding the note, Reth and I had filed a report with the police department. Not so surprisingly there was ultimately nothing they could do because of the lack of a restraining order. My mother installed an expensive security system, and when she wasn't home I agreed to stay with friends for the time being.

Reth and I were still keeping our distance. I had never missed him more than I was after the letter, terrified of being alone. I always felt safer when he was around. We both understood that it was too soon; we needed to heal, and that meant taking things slow.

"Let me get this straight?" Natasha began from beside me on her sofa. "Your abusive ex-boyfriend is stalking you?"

"Yes," I answered, squirming uncomfortably. Staying safe now included having to tell people about my past, so that they could understand the severity of the situation.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I have a gun," she shrugged nonchalantly, as if unsurprised at my crazy life. The doorbell sounded throughout the room and she got up, moving towards the front of the house. "I'm guessing that's lover-boy coming back from the war."

Reth waited on the porch, droplets of rain caught in his hair from the downpour outside. I looked at Natasha, confused as she had not told me she invited him over. Her only response was another shrug and Reth followed her inside, taking a seat across from me.

"Hey," he smiled at me softly.

"Hey," I said meekly. "Why are you here?"

"Tasha invited me?" He answered with furrowed eyebrows. "Did she not tell you?"

"No?" I glanced around, but she was no where to be found. "That's weird."

"How have you been? Since the note?"

"As okay as I can be, given the circumstances," I muttered out.

The door opened again and Maya welcomed herself in. She looked at Reth strangely before sitting down. "Hi?" She started. "Natasha said the three of us were going to watch a movie. I didn't know she invited Reth, too."

"I'm so confused. She hasn't said a word to me about any of this."

Minutes later, the doorbell began to ring rapidly throughout the large house, and Raquel suddenly burst through the door with Jules in tail. "Hello, girlies-" he exclaimed excitedly before his eyes fell on the boy in front of me. "And Reth."

"Glad to hear you missed me," Reth frowned.

"You know I did - not." Raquel laughed.

Jules came to sit beside me, his eyes narrowed in on Reth's presence. Reth looked from me to him, an aggravated expression overtaking his face.