Getting Away With You

My words were like an apocalypse to her parents and I could tell by the way the hard expressions on their faces seemed to melt.

“You know, yesterday I was just telling her that I thought it would be best if she went back to Huntington with you two, because I was having these thoughts in my head that she was a liability to me and she could rat me out to the cops, but now… Now those thoughts are gone because I realized that I can’t live without her, and I sure as hell do not want her to go back home with you two lunatics. I can see exactly why she ran away now.” I said, and they both just looked at me like I had told them their daughter didn’t make it; that she had died.

“You…you love her?” Her mother asked and I nodded.

“I love her with all of my heart.” I paused, thinking my next words, but needing to say them. “And thanks to the fact that the man whose face I blew off with multiple rounds from my gun and that also tricked the both of you, I have plenty of love because he took my whole entire family away from me. Including my wife and unborn child. That man was dangerous, and you were afraid that she was with me? I was more afraid than the either of you could imagine.” I said, and watched them both as they stood in shock before I went back into Danni’s room, wanting nothing more than to spend some time enjoying her still being alive.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Gavin’s POV*^
“Do you have this guilty feeling?” I asked Lisa and she just stared.

“I don’t know what to feel.” She whispered. I didn’t know exactly how to take Matthew’s words. He loved her and according to him, he had worried about her more than we had even though she was right next to him. But…but most of all that man loved my daughter. That criminal. Though…that Chase guy tore his life apart, and made him who he is today. I bet he wasn’t always like that. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Matt now. I was happy he had kept Danielle safe. I was sad he had such a hard time with that Chase guy. I was feeling guilty because he was right; we drove Danielle away with our constant bickering and snappy attitudes. We drove her right into his arms, pretty much. In a way, I was glad she had found him. He seemed like a good person, just put through a lot. I was angry though, still, because he didn’t try and contact us and tell us that he had our daughter and that she was okay. He had her and didn’t do anything to tell us. It was like he just didn’t care about us worrying to death about our daughter.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Matt’s POV*^
I didn’t say a single word to Danni’s parents after our incident in the hallway. I did however call and reserve them a room at the hotel we had stayed in for a day, and quietly told them I wasn’t leaving anytime soon and they had had a long day and deserved a good sleep. Strangely enough, they didn’t fight me or try and accuse me of buying my way into their hearts because I already loved their daughter or some bullshit. They left about ten thirty, and as soon as they shut the door, Danni woke up.

“Thank god they left.” She muttered, and I looked over at her, a smile on my face.

“Danni.” I said, taking her hand as she held it out and kissed her forehead. “You’re awake.”

“I’ve been awake, I was just waiting for them to get the hell out of here.” Her voice was quiet, and I sat down on the edge of her bed, still holding her hand.

“Your parents are something else.” I said, and she sighed.

“What did they do?” She asked and I shook my head.

“Nothing too bad, your father just accused me of kidnapping and raping you.”

“They never stop.” She mumbled, and I chuckled lightly at her words. We sat in silence for a moment, and I just smiled, not really being able to stop. I went to get up to go and tell Brian and Jimmy that she was awake, but she wouldn’t let go of my hand. “Lay with me.” She begged and I thought for a second before giving in, and I kicked my shoes off and crawled into bed with her, careful over the wires as she curled up in my side, smiling as she kissed my cheek and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Is everyone else okay?” She asked and I nodded.

“Sonny just got out of surgery about an hour ago, Brian’s missing a tooth, and Jimmy went back, had an hour long surgery, got his arm put in a sling, and then left AMA. They’re all doing just fine. Brian’s just a little worried about his looks now that he’s missing a tooth.” I said and she nodded with a yawn.

“That’s good. I don’t remember too much of what happened but…but what about Chase?” She asked, her voice getting even lower. I looked down at her with a reassurance in my eyes, a reassurance I had never really had about this subject before.

“He’s dead, Danni. I kind of lost control after he shot you and Jimmy wound up having to take my gun away from me.” I said and she looked at me seriously.

“Are you sure?” She asked cautiously.

“I’m positive.” I said, completely positive.

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better, Matt. Just tell me the truth.” I took a deep breath.

“Chase is dead.” I said sternly.

“How do you know?” She seemed genuinely scared of him, and I couldn’t blame her. I mean, shot him in the head once, but it turned out to be a silicone bullet. “You did shoot him in the head, didn’t you? I mean, he came back once…” She wasn’t going to let up until I convinced her I killed him.

“I shot him in the knee for Sonny, I shot him in the arm for Jimmy, I shot him in each shoulder and his stomach for Brian, and I shot him in the heart for you, then I unloaded two clips into his head, trust me Danielle, he’s not coming back.” I said and she nodded, seeming to accept it.

“So you’re free from him now.” She stated and I nodded with a smile.

“I’m a free man.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Now we can finally relax. The nightmare’s over.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Gavin’s POV*^
I opened the door to Danni’s room the next morning, letting Lisa in first. We had run into the two guys that had come in with Matthew, I think their names were Brian and Jimmy, but I wasn’t sure. They had looked like they had spent the night here, and had just gone and gotten some coffee. The way they stayed overnight in this hospital only made me feel even more guilt for accusing Matthew of kidnapping Danielle from us. As Lisa walked in, I watched her put her hand over her mouth, and as I looked over at Danni’s bed I saw why. Matthew was in bed with her, and she was curled up in his side, clinging onto him like he was the last human being alive on this earth. They were both sleeping peacefully, small smiles resting on each of their faces.

“They love each other.” I whispered, and Lisa looked at me, shaking her head.

“I just don’t see how she could have fallen for such a man.” Lisa said, shaking her head.

“Well…look at me, how do you think you fell for a guy like me?” I asked and she sighed, knowing what I was talking about. Loving another person wasn’t just something you forced upon yourself. Love wasn’t chosen, love just…happened.

“We can’t keep them apart.” I whispered, already knowing it was useless, because Lisa was not leaving this state without Danielle.

“I remember when we used to be like that.” She whispered and turned to me, wrapping her arms around me as I hugged her back, resting my head on top of hers. “What happened to us, Gavin?”

“I don’t know Lisa.” I whispered truthfully. “I don’t know.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
^*Danielle’s POV*^
The doctor kept me for another two weeks before I was ready to go. Over those two weeks, I couldn’t help but notice my parents acting strange towards Matt. They seemed to hardly talk to him at all, and he hardly ever talked to them. It was strange, but I decided not to question it. Jimmy made a full recovery in the two weeks, or so he said. I even got out once to go see Sonny. He was doing a lot better, and going through physical therapy for his leg because his knee was so badly damaged. He was getting better though, and he said that each day he just thanked god that Chase was finally gone. He said a bullet to the knee was worth it if it meant getting rid of that delusional bastard. Brian couldn’t really recover fully. He lost a tooth, and was upset about it, though he was looking into getting it fixed. I didn’t like admitting it but…but during those two weeks I kind of enjoyed having my parents back. They had changed, and weren’t the arguing, annoying people I had been living with for years, they were my parents for once. It was nice. Once the two weeks were up, I was able to go home. Before we made any decisions about anything, we all made our way to the place I had come to call home; that mansion out in the woods that held good memories and bad memories. While I was in the hospital and after Jimmy had recovered, him and Brian had redone a few floorboards with bullet holes, and finally permanently fixed the window in the dining room that had seemed to become a target, and they had even managed to fix the heat. When I stepped back inside that place, I never wanted to leave.

“So this is where you’ve been staying?” My mother asked as she came in behind Matt and I.

“This is it.” I took a deep breath, enjoying being home, and not in that nightmarish hospital.

“We’ve fixed a few things while she was in the hospital.” Jimmy said, closing the door behind us. “Fixed a few bullet holes and put in a new window in the dining room.”

“Coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate, frappe, espresso?” Brian asked, and most everyone answered with coffee. “Awesome.” He smiled lightly and turned away. “Otherwise I’d have to hire a fucking gourmet chef.” He muttered as he walked away, and I couldn’t hold back a smile. Things were returning to normal. We all made our way to the dining room, and Jimmy, Matt and I sat on one side of the table while my parents sat on the other.

“Thank you, Jimmy, for not picking up coffee.” Brian said as he came back into the room rather quickly.

“I knew you were forgetting something.” Matt reached around me and thumped him in the back of the head and Brian sat down next to Jimmy. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t kind of awkward as the silence soon consumed us.

“Alright, Danni, I’m going to go ahead and bring this up now because we have,” My father paused as he looked at his watch. “Thirty minutes before we have to get on a flight and fly back to California.” He took a deep breath and then let it out. “We need to go.” He said and I shook my head.

“No.” I said simply. No anger, no annoyance, just ‘no’.

“Yes.” My mother answered for me.

“No.” I said again, using the same tone.

“Danielle, you are-” My mother caught herself before she got too upset. “Danielle, you’re coming home.”

“Wait, this isn’t exactly your decision to make, it’s hers.” Matt spoke up and I smiled at him. “If she doesn’t want to go home with you two, then it’s my job to keep you two away.”

“Well, she’s coming home with us, rather you like it or not.” My father said sternly. “We get that you two like each other, and we really do think it’s great, but she needs to come home.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” I stopped my father. “Like?” I asked, not believing him at the moment. “Dad, I love him. He’s one of the greatest things to happen to me in my life, and I’m not leaving him.”

“Yes you are, you’re coming home!” My mother raised her voice and stood up, so did I.

“No I’m not!” I yelled back.

“No, she’s not.” Matt said, his voice deep as he stood up as well, a glare in his eyes as he watched my parents.

“Okay,” Jimmy stood up. “Let’s all just settle down, and act like humans.” My parents didn’t back down, but neither did Matt and I.

“I want to rip his fucking face off.” Matt growled at my father.

“Not if I slit your throat first.” My father snarled back.

“Hey!” Brian suddenly yelled, taking us all by surprise and making us cringe slightly at his sudden outburst. “I agree with Jimmy, let’s all settle this like humans. But first, let’s go to the foyer because I will not replace this window again.” He said and we all got away from the table, and his precious window and moved to the foyer. Luckily we were right in front of the door, so if anything got bad Matt could just throw my parents out.

“Mom, dad,” I began lowering my voice to a normal tone. “I like it here. I love it here, actually, and I love Matt, and I love Jimmy, and I love Brian, and I don’t love Huntington.” I said, trying to be realistic; trying to make them see that I was happy here.

“I just don’t see why you wouldn’t want to go back with us. This place holds nothing for-”

“Hey,” Matt said in a warning tone, cutting off my father’s remark.

“This place holds nothing for me?” I asked and my mom just sighed. “What does Huntington hold? Can you tell me that?” I asked, but both of my parents’ expressions just dropped. “I can have a new life here. I have my friends here. I have my home here, and I…I have love here.” I said, wrapping an arm around Matt and he smiled and kissed my cheek.

“But we need you back at home. We miss you.” My mom said and I shook my head.

“You need to stop missing me and start missing each other. You guys are still having fights and I just don’t want to be a part of that shit.” I said, not about to go fly home with my parents.

“What are we doing?” My dad asked my mom. “You’re still seventeen, we can still tell you what to do. Now, you are going to get on that plane and fly back to Huntington right now.” My father said sternly and I shook my head.

“The hell I will.” I said and he shook his head.

“No, we still make the decisions, you’re coming-” As soon as he grabbed my arm Matt grabbed his wrist.

“She’s seventeen.” Matt growled.

“Let her make her own decisions.” Brian spoke up.

“If you don’t, then we’re not going to let you try and make her do something she doesn’t want to do.” Jimmy said, and the three of them fighting for me to stay here just made me want to stay even more.

“She’s already told you she doesn’t want to go, that gives us the okay to go bat shit crazy on the both of you.” Matt said, his arm still securely around my waist and his hand still attached to my father’s wrist. “I love her, and I will do everything in my power to do whatever she wants me to, and keep her happy. If her staying here makes her happy, then who are you two to try and take that away from her? Isn’t that what you want, her happiness?” Matt asked, letting my father’s wrist go, and he stepped back to my mom.

“Will she be safe here?” My mom asked and Matt nodded.

“Safer than she’d be anywhere else.” Matt answered.

“We’ve kept her safe without a scratch through some of the roughest days we’ve ever been through, and now we’re never going to have one of those days again.” Brian rested his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll take good care of her.” He smiled lightly, and my mom turned to my dad.

“They’re not going to let us take her against her will.” My mom said and my dad sighed.

“I don’t want to leave you here.” I felt Brian’s hand tighten on my shoulder, and Matt’s arm tighten around my waist. “But it’s obvious that if we do try and make you leave, they’re going to try and rip us to shreds.”

“Don’t put it past us.” Jimmy said, still protective even though they basically just said they were letting me stay.

“I’ll be okay, really.” I said and my mom stepped forward, and I stepped away from the guys and hugged her.

“I love you, Danni.” She said and I nodded as I pulled away.

“I love you too.” I smiled and then my dad stepped up and hugged me.

“I don’t like leaving you here.” He whispered. “I feel like I’m giving you up.” He said and pulled away, smiling sadly. “Love you.”

“I love you too, dad.” I said and he stepped away from me.

“Well, we uh…we-we have a plane to catch.” My mom said and Matt and I stepped out of the way, and my dad stepped forward and opened the door.

“Come visit, if you like.” I could tell it took a lot for Matt to say that.

“We won’t too much, this is all the way across the country. We’ll call and check up every month or so.” My dad said, and my mom walked out and to their rental car. “Don’t let her get hurt. Take good care of her.” My dad said, his words heartfelt.

“We’ll take good care of her, Mr. Taggen.” Brian said and my dad nodded and looked at me one more time before he walked out, closing the door behind him.

“I’m going to go pick up some coffee I guess.” Brian said and opened the door.

“Can we stop by and see Sonny?” Jimmy asked and Brian nodded.

“Sure. You don’t mind us staying out, right?” Brian asked Matt and I and we shook our heads.

“Stay out for as long as out like, we’re not your parents.” Matt said with a chuckle.

“Thank fuck you’re not.” Jimmy muttered, and they both walked out, closing the door back. I turned to Matt and smiled, wrapping my arms around him.

“I’m all yours now.” I said, the words never as true as they were now, because we belonged together. He kissed me, smiling against my lips before he pulled away.

“I would never want anyone else.”

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
I’ve always believed that everyone only had half of a heart, and that one purpose of life was to go out and find the other half in order to be fully happy and live life to its fullest. But finding that other half isn’t as easy as it seems; you have to search, and sacrifice and believe that the other half is out there; you just have to find it. Luckily for me, I walked in on the other half of my heart one dreary Halloween in two thousand eleven. I didn’t like that other half at first; I was scared of it. But that other half turned out to be a guy named Matthew Sanders. I realize that the way we met is not a very healthy way to start a relationship, but the way we did it made it alright, even though for that first week or so, we fought like hell for our lives. How we even made it out of that deathly game alive? Hell, I’m still trying to figure that out. But I don’t think I would’ve lived if the murderer I walked in on that night had have been anyone else. Matt’s gone from being a person I feared, to a person that I can’t live without. Matt’s my rock. He keeps me alive. He’s helped me through the hardest parts of my life, and I wouldn’t have gone through even a day without him. Brian and Jimmy are like my big brothers, kind of idiotic at times, and sometimes you just want to throw them down some stairs, but either way, they’re like my family. They still live with us, and Brian has gone through a few girls but he still hasn’t found that other half of his heart. Jimmy’s too caught up in being…well, Jimmy to really chase girls. Things have gone well with Sonny, too. I still keep in touch with him, and he’s back on his feet now, but instead of desperately trying to come up with plans to kill Chase, he met a girl while he was in rehabilitation, and they dated for three years before they finally got married. I’ve never seen him so happy. But, speaking of marriage and happiness, on Halloween two thousand thirteen, around nine PM, Matt proposed and not a week after our wedding we got back from our honeymoon and I found out I was pregnant. Things finally were falling more in place than ever before. Amber May Sanders was born at two o’ three in the morning on September twenty first. She was the greatest thing to ever come into our life together.

Now, as I sit here in the living room, only a little over a year after Amber was born, watching Matt play with her and Brian and Jimmy argue over something that I had lost interest in, the fire crackling and giving off a warm heat, and the TV on, but muted, letting the sounds of the house meet my ears, I can’t help but think I have the greatest life. Years ago, Matt got away with a lot. He got away with murder, theft, arson, manslaughter, and many more, most he isn’t proud of, but one thing he is ever grateful for is me.

But Matt didn’t just get away with me, he got away with loving me, and that’s one thing that I’d never change.