Harder Than You Know

After the police had left and Audrey was in bed, I decided to take a bubble bath. I sat there. Just sat. I swear, it was over at least an hour before Alex came in to check on me.

"You all right?" He asked, sitting on the sink counter.

"Not really. I mean, I was just kidnapped, raped, had to hear my child cry for hours on end. And on top of that, I just killed a person. A living person. It doesn't matter whether he was a bastard or not. I took a humans life. There's nothing worse in my mind." Alex glided over to the tub, and crouched down beside me. He wiped away the tears that I was unaware of.

He picked my towel off the counter and wrapped it around me, careful not to hurt me in any way. He picked me up, making sure I was okay. I nodded with my head on his shoulder, soaking his shirt. He laid me down on our bed to go fetch a pair of purple pajamas pants and a plain black shirt. I let him dress me, which he did with shaking hands, and tuck me under the cover.

"Do you want anything, sweetheart?" He asked me. I, once again, shook my head no. "I'm going to go check on Audrey, you'll be fine, right?" I nodded yes, and he left. My phone started buzzing on the table beside me. I sighed, and reached for it with as much effort as I got spur at the moment.

'Do you think I can come over tomorrow? I miss you:[' Michaela sent. I cracked a little smile, sent her a reply saying yes, and shut my phone off. Alex came in a few moments later and joined me in the bed. I was hesitant to cuddled next to him at first, but a wave of security washed over me a split second after the thought ran threw my mind.

I scooted over to him, ruffling the sheets slightly, and dug my head between his neck and the pillow. He switched on the TV, but put it on a low volume. He wasn't tired, and it was only six o'clock in the evening. He rubbed my wet hair, murmuring that everything was going to be okay in my ear. The last thing I remember hearing before dozing off was 'I love you.'

Michaela barged into the front door, singing some song I couldn't quite recognize at the time. I sat in the kitchen, stabbing the food Alex had made for me with my fork. She skipped into the kitchen, and smiled gently.

"You got laid, didn't you?" I asked. All she did was nod her head and went to raid our pantry. When she emerged, she held a bottle of water.

"Where's Alex and Audrey?"

"Alex took her over to Rian and Kara's so you and me could "peacefully" hang out. He keeps watching over my back, though. It's getting annoying. I'm alright." I sighed, dumping what I hadn't ate into the trash.

"Sweetie, if I was Alex, I would be watching you over, too. I'd call him crazy if he didn't. Truthfully, you're a mess. Now, come on. We're going to go get you dressed and cleaned up. You need to get out of the house." She grinned.

After I had taken a shower, she successfully managed to get me to change. We headed out to the mall, where we bought tons and tons of stuff. We went over to Zach's, afterwords, and everyone was there.

"Addison! How are you?" Kara asked, hugging me tightly.

"I'm fine, really. You guys should stop asking me that. Look," they all starred at me with careful eyes. Michaela took Audrey out of the room, since I had already explained everything to her. "I know I just got raped and kidnapped. A sane person would be doing some serious self-loathing right now. But, you guys really need to get some more confidence in me. I've been through a lot of shit," I glanced at Alex who was looking down at the floor, "but I've been able to cope with that. This is just another unfortunate event I can add to the list." I finished.

Jack was the first to stand up and hug me. Zach, Kara, Kathryn, and Rian followed suit. Then Alex. He spun me around kissing me playfully on the lips