My Heart Beats for Only You.

It was the last day of spring break. I didn't want to go back to school tomorrow so I was trying to enjoy the last day of vacation the best I could. I decided to have Beth come over since I haven't hung out with her since I left the hospital. I jogged down the stairs to wait in the living room for Beth. I finally got that cast off my leg so I could move around like normal. I went into the living room and sat down next to my mom who was on the couch reading a book.

"Mom I invited Beth over, that okay?" I asked and it felt like my voice echoed through the quiet living room.

"That's fine, as long as it's not that boy." my mom spoke without even looking up from her book. Me and mom get along even though we argue here and there. She is still hung up on the fact that I'm dating Jason. She constantly says stuff like this, always putting him down. I just ignore it now because whatever she says doesn't change the way I feel about him. Thankfully there was a knock at the door breaking the awkwardness I felt surrounded me and my mom. I went to the door and hugged Beth as soon as I saw her. I was so happy to see her. It felt like we haven't hung out in so long when it had only been a few days.

"I'm happy to see you too" she laughed, hugging me back and we headed upstairs to my room.

"How have you been? It feels like its been so long since I've seen you" Beth said taking a seat in my desk chair and spinning around. Good ol' Beth.

"I've been good, nothing interesting really" I said sitting across from her on my bed, giggling at her.

"So how are you and Jason?" She asked wiggling her eyebrows making me laugh at how immature she was.

"Were fine, how are you and Tyler?" I asked, changed the subject. Maybe I'd be able to learn a bit more about him through Beth.

"Oh my god! I didn't tell you, he asked me to go to his family reunion with him!" She practically shouted. She seemed excited and I was happy for her but with what me and Jason found the other day, I wasn't sure if he was who she thought he was.

"That's great but are you sure he's right for you?" I asked, just trying to be a good friend and look out for her. I'm not sure if this guy is genuine.

"What?" She asked and her facial expression changed.

"I mean maybe he's not who you think he is. He could be trouble, I'm just looking out for you." I could tell she was getting mad but I wasn't sure if he could be trusted.

"Says the girls who's dating a criminal" she spat and it hurt. Why was she being such a bitch? I'm just trying to look out for her.

"Listen, I found out some stuff about Tyler and I don't think you should be near him." I sounded like a mom but she needed to know.

"Oh really? What exactly did you find out?" She asked with attitude clear in her voice.

"He may have been the one to hit me with the car. His last name is the same as the guy who has it out for Jason bu-"

"That's stupid! Do you know how many people have the same last name as other people. Your just trying to keep me away from someone who truly makes me happy!" She yelled.

"No I'm not! I'm just trying to make sure you don't get close to this guy and he hurts you" I tried to not shout at her but she was frustrating me. I'm just trying to keep her safe and she's blowing up at me.

"I can take care of myself" she said getting up and starting to walk out.

"Where are you going?" As much as she was frustrating me, she's still my best friend and I didn't want her to be mad at me.

"Don't worry about it" she said walking out my door.

"You know, I knew Jason was a criminal and did bad things but I never tried to keep you away from him." She said before leaving. I was gonna try to stop her but I knew she just needed time to think. When I invited Beth over I knew I was going to tell her about Tyler but I didn't think that she would react like that. I spent the rest of the night just laying on my bed. I hate fighting with Beth, I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't get hurt. She's been in relationships with assholes before and she always ends up getting the short end of the stick. I looked over at the clock and it was already late. I must have been laying here for longer than I thought. My phone buzzed from my night stand and when I looked at it, I had 4 texts from Jason. Wow, how long was I laying there? I started to type a reply to Jason when I heard something hit my window. I stopped to listen and I heard it again. I went over to look out my window and it took a while for my eyes to focus in the dark. When they finally did I saw Jason standing under my window.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered so my parents wouldn't hear.

"I was just in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop by cause you weren't answering my texts, I got worried" he said.

"It's cute that you got worried, but seriously my parents are going to kill you if they see you"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take" he winked up at me. Before I could protest Jason started to climb up to my window.

"You should really get a ladder or something" Jason said once he was in my room. I just smiled and hugged him. I loved the way it felt to be in his arms. I felt safe, like nothing could bother me.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I could hear the concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, it was just a stressful day" I said, sitting down on my bed and Jason followed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He said, lacing our fingers together, sending a jolt of electricity through my body.

"I told Beth about what we found out about Tyler and she got pissed at me." I told him and he just listened as I continued to explain everything.

"She probably just needs time to think, I'm sure things will be fine" he said reassuringly. I smiled at his helpful words and looked down at our hands when I noticed Jason's knuckles were covered in dry blood.

"Jase, what happened?" I asked bringing up our laced hands, inspecting his hand.

"It's nothing, I just punched a mirror" he said pulling his hand away.

"Don't hide things from me Jason" I said getting a feeling there was more to it than that. He sighed before telling me what really happened.

"I got into a fight too, no big deal really." He said like it was the simplest thing.

"It is a big deal. Who did you fight? Why?" I asked trying to figure things out.

"Well I ran into Tyler earlier today..." He trailed off, not looking at me.

"And..what happened?" I asked still trying to get an answer out of him.

"I asked him about being in the car that hit you and he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. He said I was wasting my time asking him about it but I could see it on his face he was hiding something. He was lying, it was obvious-"

"So you beat him up?" I asked, not really understanding.

"It wasn't like I just saw him and beat him up. He was lying to my face when all I wanted was for him to admit it was him in the damn car but he didn't. So I hurt him like he hurt you. He deserved it." He said with an evil look in his eyes. It scared me to see him like that. It was like a moment when an animal attacks a person and you realize there's a lot more to them than a cute face.

"Jase..." I said, a little freaked out.

"Yeah" he answered snapping out of his weird little trance.

"You alright? You got a little weird there"

"I'm fine, I just hate that he hurt you, it really pisses me off but you know what they say, what goes around come around." He said with an evil smirk. I didn't know how to respond to that so I just nodded my head.

"Just don't take things too far." I said as my mind started to wander to the possible things that could go wrong. What if Tyler pressed charges on Jason? What if Jason got thrown into jail, again. I can't lose him.

"Don't worry I won't." He said but it didn't make me feel any better.

"Annie, who are you talking to? Your mother and I keep hearing voices" my dad said barging into my room without any warning. As soon as his eyes landed on Jason his whole demeanor changed.

"What is he doing here?" My dad said with pure disgust written on his face.

"He's my boyfriend daddy, he's allowed to be here."

"I don't care if he's the president, this is my house and I don't want him here!" He said starting to raise his voice.

"Why can't you just accept the fact that me and Annie are dating?" Jason spoke standing up. Uh-oh.

"Because I never liked you and I never will. All you are is a low life criminal that has nothing better to do than hurt innocent people. You've destroyed peoples lives, their homes and you don't even care. You'll never change, you'll always be a selfish loser with no life. Honestly, my daughter deserves better. Someone who could treat her right and support her, not get her into trouble." I sat there shocked at what my dad said. I knew he didn't like Jason but he didn't have to say all that. I glanced at Jason to see if he was mad or upset but he just stood in front of my dad with an expressionless face before walking out.

"Jason." I said getting up to go after him. Even though he didn't show it, I knew he was upset.

"Don't worry about him" my dad said grabbing my arm to keep from leaving. I just shook my head at him and tried to pull my arm out of his grasp but he held on too hard. We heard the front door slam shut and my dad finally let me go.

"Why was that boy in our house" my mom said coming into my room and standing next to my dad.

"His name is Jason." I corrected my mom. I was tired of her calling him 'that boy' he has a name. How would she like it if I called her that women?

"I don't care what his name is, I don't want him here" she said pretty much the same thing my dad did. If they just got to know him they'd see he isn't as bad as people mad him out to be.

"Fine but whether it's here or somewhere else, you can't stop me from seeing him. If you just gave him a chance you'd see he's not a bad guy." I defended Jason like always. My dad let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why do you waste your time with someone like him? You could get someone ten times better, someone who doesn't have a criminal record."

"That's all either of you ever say! Yes, Jason's done bad things, yea he has a criminal record but he's not a bad person! He cares about me, he loves me and I love him."As soon as those words left my mouth my dad glared at me before letting the back of his hand collide with my cheek. I held my cheek in shock and pain. Neither of my parents have ever hit me.

"You don't even know what love is and I can guarantee you don't love him" My dad growled at me in a tone that scared me. I decided to not say anything and he left. I looked at my mom for some kind of comfort, a "it's okay" or a hug but she just stood there.

"I'm disappointed in you Annie, you know better than this." she said shaking her head in disapproval before walking out. Why were my parents being like this? Why couldn't they just accept that I truly care about Jason and he for me. I was done, if they were so disappointed in me then I was gone. I pulled my shoes on, grabbed my phone and climbed out my window into the darkness of night. Running as fast as I could until I was far enough away from my house, I then started to walk. It took a few minutes to catch my breath but when I finally did I realized that walking out in the middle of night probably wasn't the greatest idea. Thankfully, it didn't take long before I was walking to the door of the little white house I've become very familiar with. I gently knocked on the door hoping someone was home and was glad when Grace answered.

"Annie, sweetie what are you doing here so late?" She asked sweetly.

"Um, I just, is Jason here?" I asked not really sure what to say.

"Yeah he's upstairs. Why don't you come in." She opened the door wide to let me in. After shutting the door, she turned to me.

"Oh my gosh! Annie what happened to you?" She gasped, pushing my hair behind my ear to examine the cheek my father hit. I thought it would just turn red but I looked in the little mirror in the hall and saw a nasty looking bruise. I wasn't sure whether I should tell her about my father but it was like she already knew.

"It was your father wasn't it?" She spoke softly and I stared at her, shocked that she knew.

"Jason told me." She smiled slightly. I just nodded in response to her question and in understanding of how she knew.

"Told you what?" I heard Jason's voice and turned to see him coming down the stairs. He looked at me and his face flushed with anger. I thought he was mad that I was there until I remembered the bruise.

"What happened?!" He said rushing over to me. I didn't want to tell him so I just avoided his gaze and looked at my feet.

"Ill be in the kitchen" Grace said leaving us alone. I kept my gaze on my feet until Jason grabbed my hand and started to pull me up the stairs. When we got to his room he shut the door and locked it.

"What. Happened." He said turning to me, trying to stay calm. I explained everything and he just seemed to get more angry and stressed. I hated that I caused all of this stress for him. He let me shower and change into some of his clothes before we continued to talk considering how late it was. I sat on his bed in his sweat pants and one of his t-shirts, watching him pace back and forth.

"Jase, baby calm down, please" I tried to get him to sit down but he wouldn't. Grace had gone to bed and said I was welcome to spend a few nights here, which made me feel better.

"I can't, you're always getting hurt because of me! This is exactly why I didn't want to go out with you!" He snapped.

"If you didn't want to be with me why'd you ask me to be your girlfriend?" I said, hurt. Things were just getting worse..

"No baby, I didn't mean it like that" He said to me with sorry in his voice.

"Sure you didn't" I said getting up and starting to walk out until he stopped me.

"Please don't leave" he whispered, holding me in his muscular arms.

"Why not, obviously you don't want to be with me" I said not even trying to leave, just enjoying him holding me.

"Of course I want to be with you or I wouldn't be going through all this just to stay with you. I love being with you and only you."

"I didn't ask for any of this Jase, it just happened" I said starting to let the stress get to me and felt tears in my eyes.

"I know babygirl, I know. I'm here for you though. Ill always be here, even if it kills me" he said hugging me.

"Don't say that" I said looking up at him, my chin rested on his chest.

"But its true" he smiled, leaning in to kiss me. It made me feel a lot better. We ended up going to bed soon after that. I felt Jason's arm snake its way around my waist, pulling me to him so my back was against his chest.

"I love you Annie." he whispered in my ear.

"I love you too Jason." I whispered back, turning over to cuddle into his chest. He kissed the top of my head and that's the last thing I remember before falling asleep in the arms of someone who could make all my stress disappear.