A Fragile Doll

Chapter 4

April’s POV:

I heard someone yelling my name. I didn’t know who it was, all I knew was that I was slowly starting to fade away; my eyes were closing; I was giving up on trying to keep my head up. The water was just too deep for me. Right before I was completely unconscious I felt a pair of strong arms pick me up and pull me towards shore.

Steven’s POV:

I looked over the railing to see April struggling to keep her head up; she was drowning and she was giving up on trying to keep herself alive. I did the first thing I thought of and jumped after her. I swam towards her as fast as I could. Once I reached her I raised her head out of the water and started taking her towards shore. It was a struggle seeing that the waves weren’t on our side today; but I wasn’t going to give up. Once on shore I gently laid her down and started performing the CPR routine. Once, twice, and the third time April coughed up some water. I sighed in relief and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Why did you save me?!” she said coughing and realizing what just happened while punching my chest. I held her close until she calmed down. She suddenly pulled away from me and sat on the rock that was close by.

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU COULD’VE DIED!!” I said starting to get mad. Her face was emotionless, not caring about anything.

“That was the point! You ruined it! You should have just let me die!” she said looking at me and breaking down into tears. What was going through this woman’s head?! I had no idea. I moved closer to her sitting next to her on the small space available on the rock. I took her hand and looked into her eyes.

“April, do you have any idea what would go through your family, your friends, your classmates if anything happened to you? You may feel like you’re not important to anyone; but honestly there are a lot of people who need you. I don’t know you that well but I do know that life is precious, live it to the fullest, and don’t let anything put you down.” I said squeezing her hand. She jerked her hand back surprising me.

“Steven you don’t know what happened to me! You don’t know what I went through a few weeks ago! My father’s dead! My mom’s always working! My grades are slipping! And I was raped a few weeks ago by a sex offender!” she yelled at me while tears were filling her eyes. I looked at her in shock not knowing what to say. I didn’t know she went through so much, I didn’t know that her dignity was taken away from her.

“I-I’m so sorry…I didn’t know…” I said trailing off and taking her into my arms. I let her weep into my shoulder not realizing what time it was. She finally pulled away from me and looked me in the eyes.
“Can we pretend this never happened? And I would really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about what I’ve been through…” she said looking at the sand.

“You can trust me” I said giving her my hand and helping her up. I put my jacket around her shivering body.

“I’ll walk you home” I said not wanting her to go alone seeing that it was starting to get dark outside.
“Thanks” she said looking up at me and smiling. Wow. She had the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. I don’t know why this girl caught my attention so much. I’ve been with countless girls and none of them affected me the way she did.

“Actually, I don’t think I want to go home and explain all this to my mom…” she said picking at her fingernails a little nervous. Who could blame her? She would get a huge life lesson from her mom if she found out her daughter tried to kill herself.

“You can come to my place tonight; my parents aren’t going to be home tonight. I just hope that you like little kids.” I said looking at her hopefully.

“Uhm…I guess I could do that” she said sounding a little hesitant. She pulled out her phone and realized it was completely ruined from water damage.

“Damn it!” she yelled. I laughed and handed her my phone. She took it and quickly dialed her mom’s number telling her she was going to stay the night at Tyler’s house.

“Are you sure I can just come over like that? I mean you don’t even know me” she said looking at me a little guiltily.

“Of course, I just saved your life I guess I can let you come over for one night too” I said winking at her. She just laughed at me and we continued the short walk to my house.

“Awh is that your daughter?” She said looking at Kaylee. I looked at her with wide eyes and shook my head laughing.

“NO! Hahahahhaha that’s my baby sister” I said not being able to stop laughing.

“Like I was supposed to know! She’s just so adorable!” she said hitting my arm and then picking Kaylee up. Kaylee looked at April and smiled giving her one of those famous Kaylee hugs. I just laughed at them and walked into my room to get some dry clothes. I changed real quick and grabbed a pair of my basketball shorts and a blue Hollister t-shirt.

“Here put this on, your clothes are drenched” I said walking downstairs and tossing her the clothes.
“Oh thanks, where’s the bathroom?” she asked looking a little embarrassed. I pointed to the direction of the bathroom as she walked away.

“Hey I see your back” Amy said walking out of the kitchen. I forced a smile and tried avoiding her gaze. Amy is my sister’s babysitter and she’s here when my parents are out of town and I’m not there to watch her.

“Oh hey Amy, I’m home so you could leave now” I said paying her for the night. Just as she was about to say something April walked out of the bathroom. The way my shirt was baggy on her and the way she pulled up my basketball shorts to make them look short; it was just perfect.

“Oh, so I see you have a friend over. Hey I’m Amy” she said introducing herself to April.

“Hi, I’m April” She said giving her a sweet smile.

“I left a few of my things upstairs I’ll go get them and then be on my way” she said walking upstairs and out of our sites. Thank gosh, this woman just doesn’t get it across her head that I don’t want her.
“C’mon let’s go see what we have to eat in the kitchen” I said to April while I picked up Kaylee and headed to the kitchen. I put Kaylee in her high chair and opened up the fridge.

April’s POV:

I walked after Steven in the kitchen; I was starved. That girl Amy gave me a bad vibe and I didn’t even know who she was. He looked in the kitchen and looked at me a little nervous.

“Uhm, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Sorry I can’t really cook” he said blushing and looking at me embarrassed. I just laughed at him and walked towards the fridge. I started digging through the stuff to see what all he had. I found some chicken breasts and lemon in the fridge. I started looking in the cabinets and found minced garlic, black peppers, and other herbs and spices I thought I could use. I started cooking and Steven just looked at me confused.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a smirk on his face.

“You’re hungry right? Well I’m cooking.” I said smiling at him and continuing my way around the kitchen.

“You know you don’t have to go through all this trouble, I could just order some pizza” he said with a guilty look on his face.

“I had pizza last night, and I’m not going through any kind of trouble because I love cooking!” I said looking at him with a huge grin on my face. He sat down on the stool on the breakfast bar and just watched me cook. I forgot he was there since I was so into what I was doing. After ten minutes I turned around to see him gone and looked out in the living room to see he was feeding Kaylee her dinner. He was so good with kids that it just made me smile. Twenty minutes later the food was done. I took it out on the dining table to see that Steven has set the table.

“Awh how sweet” I said sarcastically grinning at him as I put it onto a hotplate.

“Damn girl! This looks and smells amazing!!” he said with a huge grin on his face.

“Well thank you” I said taking my seat. I placed the food on both our plates and we dug in.

“Ok this is just amazing, I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in who knows how long” he said with a mouthful of food.

“Ewh, don’t talk with your mouth full! And your mom doesn’t cook?” I asked him.

“Uh she does…when she’s actually home.” He said with his face falling. I was guessing that his mom didn’t stay home as much as he would like her to, but I didn’t ask further questions to upset him.
“There’s gonna more leftover than I thought, I’m full!” I said leaning back holding my stomach.

“Nu uh!” he said and took the rest of it on his plate. My mouth dropped open in shock.

“What? I’m a guy who loves food.” He said talking with his mouthful once again. No kidding this boy eats as much as Naill Horan does from One Direction; and that’s saying something. We talked about random stuff until he was finally done eating and I took the plates in the kitchen.

“I’ll do the dishes” he said taking a plate from me as I started to wash them.

“There really aren’t many to do I got this” I said snatching it back. He rolled his eyes at me and dried them as I washed them. He wasn’t a jerk I thought he was after all; he could be really sweet and caring, and I’ve only known him for a few hours. Once we were done cleaning the kitchen we both collapsed on the couch.

“Woo I’m exhausted” he said looking at me. I just laughed at him and closed my eyes feeling really tired. Steven was talking something about cars and how much he loved them when I started to zone out. The next thing I knew someone was carrying me up the stairs. I felt a soft bed underneath my back as he gently laid me down being gentle as ever. He covered me up with a blanket and started to walk away.

“Thank you so much, for everything you’ve done for me today” I said grabbing his hand.

“You’re very welcome. I had a great day with you today” he said looking at me with those gorgeous brown eyes. Our faces were so close together; I could feel his breath against my skin. He leaned in closer, our noses touching, and then he kissed me. I kissed him back instead of pulling back. He was so gentle with me and his lips were so soft. It felt like a perfect moment and I felt something inside me that I’ve never felt before; he made me feel…safe. His phone buzzed in his pocket which broke the silence and he looked at me embarrassed.

“Sorry…I’ll let you go to sleep, I’ll see you in the morning” he said taking the call and walking out. What was he sorry about? About the kiss? Or the fact that his phone interrupted the perfect moment? I don’t know what it was but I soon drifted off into a deep sleep thinking of nothing but that perfect moment we just shared.

Steven’s POV:

My phone interrupted the most perfect moment I’ve had in a long time. The kiss felt perfect, gave me a feeling like never before. She was just a perfect girl. I apologized for I don’t know what and walked out letting her get to bed and attending the call. I looked at the collar ID; Amy.

“Hello?” I asked a little annoyed.

“Oh hey Steven! Can you please check if I left my purse in Kaylee’s room?” she asked me. I sighed and walked into Kaylee’s room where she was sleeping and stayed really quiet making sure she wouldn’t wake up.

“Yes Amy it’s here” I said looking at the purse that was lying against the wall.

“Oh thank god, I’ll come by early in the morning to pick it up thank you!” She said as she hung up. I shook it off and walked past where April was and saw her sleeping peacefully. I walked into my room next door and fell asleep instantly. I woke up to screaming and crying. I looked at the time and it was 4 a.m. I rushed next door to see April thrashing in her sleep and struggling to get away from nothing. I ran to her side and took her in my arms telling her everything was going to be ok. She woke up and cried in my shoulder and fell asleep on me. I smiled and moved her slightly to make room for myself.
Ding Dong.

I heard the front door and thought to myself who the hell it could be this early. I then remembered that Amy said she was going to stop by to get her purse. I gently moved April not wanting to wake her up and went to Kaylee’s room where she was fast asleep. I grabbed her purse as the bell rung once again.

“Hey Steven!” Amy exclaimed as I opened the front door. She walked into the house and sat on the couch making herself feel at home. This woman has some serious issues.

“Here you go I said tossing her the purse and sitting down on the opposite side of her.” She looked at me with her big blue eyes and tossed her blonde hair back trying to flirt.

“I have to tell you something really important” she said coming closer to me until she was inches away from my face.

“What?” I asked trying to move around being uncomfortable. She came closer to my face and kissed me. My eyes went wide in shock at the sudden movement she made. I pushed her back looking at her with disgust and then the next thing that happened, happened way to fast. I saw April run down the stairs and out the door as she was trying to keep her tears from falling.

“APRIL STOP!” I tried yelling after her but it was too late, she was already out the door.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! You have no limits do you!? Just get the fuck out and don’t come back! You’re fired!” I said at her as anger blazed through me.

“I-I’ve just had this huge attraction towards you…if I didn’t kiss you now I would have never been able to…” She said with tears in her eyes as she got up and left. I got up frustrated and punched the wall yelling. I didn’t realize how loud I was until Kaylee woke up crying. I calmed myself down as I walked upstairs to her room and picked her up consoling her.