I Want To Marry My Stalker

I lay on the floor holding my ribs for a while. Next thing I knew the tent door was open and Jace was there trying to wake me up. I looked up and tried to move but my ribs loudly protested. I groaned and heard Jace shush me. “Try to move as little as possible. I think he broke your ribs this time and we have to get you to the hospital.” I just shook my head

“I can’t go. He’ll know and I don’t have my license, so he’ll know someone else drove me. I’ll be okay, ribs heal.” I tried to sit up but Jace carefully picked me up and moved me to the bed. “This isn’t the first time. They heal Jace, I’ll be fine.” He shook his head and looked like he was about to argue. “Jace please, if he finds out I went he will just beat me more. It’s safer for me to stay here and he might take me. He took me the first time, so maybe he’ll take me again.”I said hoping to convince Jace not to force me to go. He sat me on the bed and went back and grabbed a back pack. He pulled out a bag of ice and gave it to me to put on my stomach. “Do you always have random bags of ice?”

“Well when I’m going to see a person whose boyfriend regularly beats her, then yes. Otherwise no,” He said as he closed the tent door. “Lay flat so I can look at your ribs.” I started to protest but he just looked at me and I stopped. “Don’t fight me on this.”

I nodded and straightened out. Jace came and gently lifted my shirt so he could see my bruised stomach. I saw the anger flare up in his eyes. “I can’t believe he does this to you.” He said menacingly. He looked over my stomach touching gently in some spots. Every time he touched me I flinched from the pain. Every time I flinched, he apologized. Suddenly he was very focused on one part of my stomach. “At least one of your ribs is broken. It’s sticking up and rubbing against your skin.” I grimaced at the pain flowing through my abdomen. I carefully rolled away from him and off the bed.

“I’ll be fine. Just forget that this ever happened, okay?”

“No, I found you on the floor passed out from the pain. I can’t just forget that and go on like this never happened.” I paced across the tent.

“Why not?” I asked and paused my pacing.

“Because you deserve so much better than him.”

“I told you, I have no choice in the matter. Trust me; I don’t live her because I love it. If I could I’d never talk or look at Nate again. He and his parents could disappear from the planet for all I care.”

“Then run away with me. You can live with me and you’ll never have to deal with Nate again.”

“He’ll find me and he’ll kill me for running away. I can’t leave just because I want to Jace. Don’t even say it. I know you want to say ‘why not?’ I just can’t Jace. End of Story.” I said looking at him. He sighed

“I’ll always be here. I’m going to be around until you decide you want to come with me.” He walked out of the tent without saying anything else. I turned around and saw the backpack on the bed. I opened it and it was full of food and medical supplies. The food didn’t have to be refrigerated, so I could make it last the rest of the weekend. I smiled and silently thanked Jace. Jace was my savior. I told myself that I had to thank him next time I saw him.

Nate walked in then. He looked at me and saw how slowly I was moving. I had hidden the backpack in the tent somewhere Nate would never look. He looked at me and pointed to the bed. I walked over and sat down on it. He was right behind me and pushed me down. He lifted my shirt and saw my bruise where the rib was sticking out. He sighed and looked at me.

“Why are you so weak? Now we should go to the doctor but I don’t know if I want to take you.” He pulled me up by my hair and kissed me. I tried not to kiss him back but he pulled me closer to him and forced me to kiss him. He broke the kiss, sighed, pushed me back onto the bed, and then walked out. I wiped my mouth off and went to the back pack. There was a can of Pringles that I pulled out and snacked on a few of them.

After I was content again and my stomach stopped growling at me, I looked around the tent. I grabbed my camera and headed for the woods. I walked through the forest at a leisurely walk noticing everything around me. The birds were chirping, squirrels looking for nuts, rabbits hopping through bushes, and water flowing in a spring. I loved all of it and continuously snapped picture after picture. I had taken a lot of amazing pictures before I noticed how far in the forest I was. I was about a mile into the forest and it was getting dark out. Trees and bushes surrounded me and I couldn’t remember which way I came from.

I heard something moving thought the forest. I knew it was bigger than a rabbit. I looked around for a place to hide. I was in the middle of a forest and I couldn’t find a single hiding spot that would protect me. I started freaking out and I climbed a tree as a last resort. It was extremely painful with my bruises and broken ribs. I was completely still for the second I got into the tree. Twigs were snapping and animals were scurrying. A tall man dressed in cargo pants and a camo sweatshirt came into my view. The man looked up and spotted me immediately. I relaxed as I recognized that crooked smile.

I was trying to climb down to get to Jace when my foot got stuck and I started falling. I had learned not to scream when I was frightened so I didn’t make a sound. Jace looked up in the nick of time and caught me.

“You okay?” I smiled and nodded. I couldn’t speak or he’d know that I was in excruciating pain. If he realized that I doubt he would let me walk back or spend the night by myself. “I saw you leave and when it started getting dark and you weren’t back, I got worried. So I came after you. It’s a good thing I did. We’re in the forest pretty deep.”

“I got distracted and followed different wildlife out here. I realized I didn’t know my way back right as I heard you coming.” He nodded and started walking back towards the edge of the forest. “You can put me down.”

“No, I really can’t. I saw you flinch when you moved even a little bit, not to mention when you fell. You can just relax because I’m not putting you down.” I huffed and he just showed me his crooked grin again. That grin alone made me smile no matter what.

Jace really was my savior, but kind of a stalker as well. I guess he was mine either way, so why am I complaining? At least now, if I really need it, I have someone who is willing to risk it all to save me. No matter what, Jace will be there. I believe that with all my heart.