Status: erratic updates

24 Hours With You

Chapter 21

"Turn that damn thing off." Josie growled when we were awoken by the sound of the alarm we had set, blaring through the apartment. Apparently she wasn't much of an early bird.

"Come on Jose, it's time to get up." I said once I got out of bed. She just groaned and rolled over when I tried to pull her out of bed by her arm.

"We need to go get Brandon. Then you two can go home and you can get back in bed and curl up with him." I said hoping to convince her. I needed her to get up quickly because they were coming in at 4:00 am. It was 3:10 at that point and the drive to the airport was going to take at least 30 minutes.

Just the thought of curling up with Brandon after a week away must have been enough because just as I finished speaking, she jumped straight out of the bed and started dressing herself.

"Someone's excited to see their boyfriend. I figured you'd be used to him being away by now." She turned her head to look at me and gave it a gentle shake.

"No, you never get used to it. It never gets easier. Some times are harder than others but you just have to deal with it the best way that you can." She shrugged and turned back around to finish getting dressed before we headed out the door to pick up the guys.

When I walked into the airport Josie was waiting patiently by the door for me because we took different cars. She showed me to where we waited for the guys to come in because it was a little bit different as a result of their private flight.

We chatted with Carol-Lynne Dupuis and Vero Fleury while we waited for the guys to get in. They were both sweet ladies and I enjoyed chatting with them even if it was 4:00 in the morning and I was about to fall asleep standing up. They acted as if they didn't even notice the bruises, which I appreciated greatly. I didn't really want to re-tell the story, especially not in the airport, but I didn't have the energy to come up with a better lie than the one I'd told Josie, either.

Soon enough we saw our favourite players coming down the escalator and I couldn't have been happier. Mostly because I could finally go back home and get in bed.

The minute James saw me, his face brightened and he smiled. His smile didn't last long though, it quickly faded into shock which turned into sadness the longer he looked at me. I could imagine what his expression would be when I told him what exactly it was that happened.

Once he was down to the same floor as us he made his way to me with his arms wide open and I dove right in happily.

"This is what was going on when you weren't answering my calls and texts wasn't it? What happened?" He asked quietly, hoping not to draw any attention. He held my face gently in his hand and thumbed over the bruise around my eye. The way he looked at me made me regret not telling him the minute it happened, all I could see was confusion and hurt in his eyes.

"Nevermind. We'll talk about it tomorrow, I think we're both too tired to have this conversation right now." He said before I could answer. He put his arm around my shoulder, then we said our goodbyes to everyone and made our way out to his car, which I'd been driving since he left.

We didn't speak all the way home, I'm not sure if it was because we were both so tired or if it was because of the elephant in the room with us.

When we reached the door to my apartment, he asked if he could stay over because he wasn't sure he could drive any further without falling asleep at the wheel.

"Of course you can." I smiled and unlocked the door to let the both of us in. He was just about to open the door to the spare bedroom when I put my hand over his and stopped him.

"You don't have to stay in there. I know it's just the beginning of whatever this is.." I said gesturing between the two of us. "But if you want, you can sleep in here with me." I said nonchalantly, as if it didn't matter to me if he did or not, though I wished he were with me every night.

"And I do want to." James answered then took his hand off of the door handle to the spare bedroom and I led him into mine.

"Just no funny business, you're on probation." I said, and I picked out an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts to sleep in for the night.

"Is that some kind of roleplay thing?" He winked at me and started to unbutton his shirt.

"I said no funny business Neal." He just laughed as I walked out the door and into the bathroom to change.

When I re-entered my bedroom, he was sprawled across the bed on his stomach in only his boxers. I could've looked at that all night long.

"Like the view?" He noticed I was staring but I didn't care anymore, I was past that point.

"Make some room." I said sleepily, ignoring his comment.

"There's tons of room." He grinned evilly.

"Move over you goober I'm not sleeping on top of you." I pushed him far enough to the side to make a spot on the bed just big enough for me. I curled up in the small space and he wrapped his arms around me with his chin resting on my head.

"Good night Cass." He said sweetly and kissed the top of my head.

"Good night Jamie." I smiled and fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up the next morning with James' arms still wrapped around me, and it was a comforting feeling to know that he was there with me. I turned my head around, about to wake him up but I was met with open eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, staring into those handsome blue eyes of his.

"What happened?" I knew exactly what he was talking about so I flipped my whole body around to face his.

"Have you noticed anything missing?" He looked at me very confused, and waited for me to continue.

"Michael took your key to my apartment out of your pocket and came in here when I was out. I was met with him waiting for me when I came back from grocery shopping. He... he wanted what he didn't get the last time..." All of my feelings about that night washed over me in an instant and tears started to prick at my eyes. James pulled me tighter to him as if he was trying to protect me and shield me from it all.

"I can't believe I didn't notice my key was gone! I'm such an idiot, I'm sorry Cassie. I'd like to have a few words with this guy." Although he wasn't in a very good mood, he rubbed my back comfortingly while he waited for me to continue, because he knew I really needed it.

I rushed the rest out without thinking too much about it first, in an attempt to avoid too much emotion about it all. "I managed to punch him in the face and I tried to get away, but he grabbed me before I could. He proceeded to punch me twice in the face and overtook me on the ground. I kneed him where it hurts, then smashed a vase over his head to knock him out. Then I called the police and tied him up while I waited for them to get here."

"I could kill that bastard!" James yelled angrily and his body shook with anger.

"He's in jail now and he probably won't be out for a while. I don't want you there too. It's all over now." I ran my hands through his hair to try to calm him down, I knew he loved the feeling and it always made him relax, if only a little.

"Cassie how can you be so calm about this all? He wanted to rape you! He punched you in the face!"

"I'm still upset about it, I've cried but I refuse to do it any more. It's what he's aiming for and I don't want to give him that. He wants to tear my life apart but I'm not going to let that happen. I just want to move past it and try to get over it. Telling you is the last part of that process."

"Well I'm glad you've finally told me but why didn't you tell me when it happened? I want to be there for you when anything happens but how am I supposed to do that if you don't tell me?"

"I didn't tell you right away because I didn't want you to be worrying about me when you're away and have it affect your game when there was nothing you could do about it anyway."

"Cassie, I don't care about one bad game, you're more important to me than that. I just wish I could have been here to protect you from him. That's what I'm supposed to be for you, someone to keep you safe from things like that. That's what any man has to be able to do for the people he cares about and I couldn't do that for you." He had a sad look on his face that I could hardly bare.

"It's okay that you weren't here James, I understand that it's your job to be away sometimes and I'm okay with that. I know that you can't always be here and sure it sucks but I can handle it. I don't always need someone to protect me."

"Cass, if I had been in Pittsburgh none of that would have happened, he did it then because he knew I was gone."

"You only could've stopped it if you were here in my apartment with me when he showed up but besides that you wouldn't have been able to do a thing. He probably just would have made sure you weren't with me and done it anyway. It'd be the same as if you were gone."

"I guess you're right but I hate to think that I can't always protect you."

"Well get used to it because you can't, no matter where you are." He sighed in acceptance.
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Sorry it took so long for me to get this up, I had it pretty much done but I've had computer problems going on with wifi and I've also been really busy lately. I definitely should have done more over the summer but I just lost my inspiration with this but I'm trying to get it back because I have the end in sight. Please don't hate me too much xoxoxo