Status: erratic updates

24 Hours With You

Chapter 17

"What are you doing here?" I asked confused. I thought Michael got the message the last time he showed up at my door.

"I came to apologize, please let me in." He pleaded with sad eyes, I figured it wasn't a bad idea to just let him apologize and get it off his chest so we could both move past it. I was wrong.

The minute the door was closed he attacked my mouth with his lips in a sloppy kiss and I could taste the alcohol in his system. I pushed him away from me once the shock changed into disgust, and
backed up a few feet.

"What's wrong? Don't you want me any more?" He asked with a fake expression of hurt.

"I thought you came here to apologize, not harass me." I said sternly.

"You're right. I'm sorry." He said sincerely, then added. "I should've asked you to join me and Nicki all those times. Is it too late?" He chuckled and leaned back in close to my face.

"You're disgusting. Get out."

"I don't think I want to just yet." He said, then pushed me against the wall and put his hand on my thigh.

"You know, we never got to the good part when we were dating." He said, and slid his hand up further.

"Stop it, you're drunk." I tried to get his hand away from me but he grabbed both of mine and held them above my head and with one of his.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." He said, an evil smirk spread across his face.

"Please stop." I said with a tear rolling down my face, when I felt his hand slide all the way underneath my dress. That was when I heard a key unlocking the door and I couldn't have been more grateful to see James' face this time.

"Get your hands off of her." His faced turned red with anger and I could tell he was just about ready to kill Michael.

"She wants me not you, can't you see?" He said then grabbed a hold of my face and held it in place while he kissed me so I couldn't pull away. Before I knew it, I was released from his grip and he was
on the floor with James on top of him threatening to punch the living shit out of him. I could feel the tears pricking my eyes and I let them fall, fast and hard.

"Do NOT come back here any more or my face will be the last you ever see." James hissed, livid with anger.

"Easy there man, you won't have a say when she comes begging for me." When he said that, James had enough and punched him once giving him a bloody lip for good measure.

"Now get out." James picked him up off the ground and threw him out, slamming the door behind him. He looked at me then and immediately engulfed me in a hug, which only made me cry harder.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner Cass." He said, rubbing my back in slow circles to comfort me. I looked up at him and I could see small tears threatening to fall at the corner of his eyes too. I knew he felt like he should've been there sooner but what happened was in no way his fault.

"It's okay, you're here now." I said, hugging him tighter and buried my face in his chest. After a few minutes when my eyes had run dry, I looked back up at him and asked if we could leave because I
couldn't stand to be in that place any longer.

"Alright let's just go to my apartment. I don't think it's a good idea to go out after what you just went through." He looked at me kindly and grabbed my jacket for me, followed by my shoes.

When we got to his house he brought me to the couch immediately and offered me food and drink but I declined. I was sick to my stomach thinking about what happened so I knew eating wouldn't be
very smart.

After that, he just held me and let me cry the rest of my tears.

"I can't believe he would do that, drunk or not, I never would've thought he would be the kind of person to even think about trying what he did." I said into James's shoulder when the tears were starting to subside again.

"Sometimes people only show you the side of them that they want you to see."

"Promise me that no matter what happens, you won't turn into that too." I said, looking up to meet his eyes.

"I promise. Losing you would make me crazy, it almost did, but I would never do anything to hurt you." I could've died right then and been happy. Hearing him say those things made me feel like maybe we could really work if we just stuck together through all the obstacles and shit storms life was going to throw at us.

"I wouldn't hurt you either, especially not like Shianne did." I tightened my hold on him and snuggled in closer. I didn't ever want to let go.

I must have fallen asleep with him on the couch because when I opened my eyes I was in his arms being carried to his room. I looked up at him and smiled, then tightened my grip around him and
snuggled in closer.

"Hey sleepy head." He smiled down at me.

"What time is it?" I wondered.

"It's 1 o'clock." He laid me down on his bed and walked over to his dresser, searching for clothes for me to wear instead of my dress.

"These good?" He was holding up a pens t-shirt and shorts.

"Perfect." I said, taking them from his hands.

"Alright well I'll just be in the guest room if you need anything." He said.

"I can sleep in there, this is your bed." I stood up and walked towards the door.

"No it's okay Cass, you stay here. This bed is comfier and you need a good night's sleep." He said, walking past me and out the bedroom door to the guest room.

"Thank you." I called after him and retreated to the edge of the bed where I threw off my dress and slipped into his clothes. They were huge on me but that made them ten times more comfortable.

I was tossing and turning for at least half an hour, unable to sleep. With no distractions to keep my mind from wandering to the events of that day, it was torture. When I finally did get to sleep, I
dreamt of Michael sneaking into James' house and taking control of me. I started crying and screaming for help but James did nothing and it scared me so much that the one place I felt safe was no longer that.

I jolted awake when Michael slapped me trying to quiet me down. I was hyperventilating and tears covered my face, I tried to tell myself that it was just a dream but it didn't help. James rushed in
seconds later with a very worried look on his face. He sat down next to me on the bed and engulfed me in a huge hug.

"Shhh, it's okay Cass. You're safe here, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered in my ear, while he was rubbing my back in an attempt to comfort me. It did make me feel better but I knew that I couldn't let him leave me alone again or the same thing would keep happening.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked timidly, burying my face in his chest. Without response, he just lifted up the blankets and slid under with me. He held me tight against him and stroked my hair while I tried my best to keep it together. It took me awhile but I did manage to fall asleep in his arms and get some more well needed rest.

With James holding me the entire night I didn't have one more dream about Michael. I just slept peacefully through the night.

When I woke up, James was still holding me tight in his arms and just laid there for a few moments relishing the moment before he woke up. I studied him for a minute, the cute way his nose twitched
slightly in his sleep, how messed up his hair was but he still managed to look perfect. That was also when I realized that he was shirtless, I wasn't sure how I didn't realize it before that point but I
figured it was just because I was so distracted. However, when I did notice I didn't hesitate to stare blatantly at his perfectly defined abs.

"Nice eh?" I knew I'd been caught and I could feel my cheeks flushing as I looked up at him with an innocent smile on my face. I saw him take a peak at my boobs which were barely noticeable in his
shirt but I gave him a smack on the arm anyway.

"Hey! You can't say anything Cass. I'm just evening out the playing field."

"That's totally different!" I argued.

"How is it any different?" He challenged.

"You don't have a shirt on so it's like you're asking me to check out the display. Of course I obliged." I stated matter of factly.

"Fine, but that doesn't mean it's gonna stop me from peeking." He said with an evil smirk and I gave him another smack.

"Okay I don't know about you but I'm starving, I'll go start something and you can get a shower if you want."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" I joked.

"No, I'm just trying to get you out of the kitchen so I can make you breakfast while you relax, because I know if you're with me you'll just tell me everything I'm doing wrong and eventually take over."

"Yeah you're probably right." I smiled up at him. His blue eyes were like the ocean in that moment and I could have stared into them forever. The moment ended quickly though as he got up to grab me some of his clothes and a towel for after my shower. He put everything in the bathroom for me and I thanked him before he headed out to the kitchen to start cooking our food.

When I opened the bathroom door, the delicious smell of bacon was wafting through the air.

I slowly made my way out to the kitchen where I was greeted by a still shirtless James with his lounge pants hanging low, finishing up breakfast for us. I knew could definitely get used to that sight.

"Hey." He said with a big smile crossing his face.

"Hey to you too." I said with an equally big smile, as I sat down on a stool across from him at the island. Shortly after, breakfast was ready and dished it out onto plates for us, him getting a lot more
than me of course. Hockey players and their appetites. Once we had our food in front of us, he hopped up on the stool next to mine and sat down to eat.

"This is really good James, I'm surprised!" I said between bites.

"Thanks for having confidence in me." He said sarcastically.

"Well admit it, you weren't a very good cook when I met you."

"Fine but I've gotten better!"

"Slightly." I joked.

"Hey!" He gave me his signature goofy grin.

"What time are you leaving today?" I wondered how much time I had left with him before he was gone for a few days.

"I have to be at the airport at 2, so we have 4 hours to do whatever you want."

"Don't make me choose! I'm not good at it." I said with a frown.

"Yes, it's your choice." He said, and tried to persuade me by putting his arms around me in a bear hug.

"Will you please pick?" I looked at him with a playful pout and puppy dog eyes to convince him.

"Fine but you can't argue with whatever I decide."

"Okay." I said happily, I hated making decisions.

"Since you don't really have any clothes do you want to head over to your house and get changed first?" He asked, as we made our way to the door and he grabbed our coats off the rack.

"Yeah that'd be great." I said pulling on my shoes and then we left his apartment hand in hand.
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Sorry it took so long for me to get this up! Life has been annoying and I was finding myself really unmotivated towards this story. Anyway, comments are always welcome I'd love to hear what you guys think now :)