Pushing Me Away

(Luna's POV/Narrator)

After the emotional ordeal that unfolded after the police had left to followup on Chester's lead to the whereabouts of Ava and Luna's husband Adam, the two had become even more inseparable. Luna felt somewhat embarrassed after she had admitted that she always thought about Chester, that she always wanted to meet him. But she also was relieved some to know that it was him, because he was the sweetest man she had ever met. He genuinely cared for her and wanted to know what she was thinking and how she was feeling. The doctors had suggested that Luna try and contact some of her family to help her ease into the situation and help her gather her things as she stay bedridden, but she relented. She knew they didn't care, that they would be too busy to help her. So Chester, of course, offered to do that for her. He said he could get his friends to help pack up and move her things to wherever she needed them to go. But Luna frowned sadly, she had nowhere to go to. She couldn't let Chester know that though, he had enough of his own problems with his own wife to take care of. He was going to be leaving soon on tour, she couldn't rely on him to help with everything, they barely were really getting to know each other properly. He had his career, his band, he had to be there for them, they were his top priority.

Somehow, someway, Chester had figured it out that Luna was clearly overthinking things and had practically answered every question that she had floating around in her head. "You can stay at my place, if you would want to. There's two empty bedrooms. And I don't leave for tour for another couple of weeks, so my friends are more than willing to help you get your stuff in order until you're well again." Luna still blinked back the tears as she stared at him in disbelief. "Chester, you don't even know me that well and you're already offering to go great lengths for me." He smiled that warm, genuine smile at her before taking his hand and placing it on top of hers. "Listen, I didn't even know you at all when I gave you your book back, besides your name. And already I knew that something was troubling you. Am I right?" She nodded, a small smile coming to her lips now. "And I didn't even know you when I asked you if you were okay and when I helped you escape. So I guess you can say, I know you well enough to help you, right?" Again Luna nodded, this time a light laugh came with it. Something she hadn't done in a very long time and it made Chester glow with excitement when he heard it. He looked as if he felt like he had accomplished something great.

When the conversation died down, Chester excused himself to make a phone call to his friends, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. She thought about her parents, she thought about her friends. She wondered if they knew anything that was going on, she wondered if they even cared. They may have been mostly Adam's friends, but Luna truly felt as if she had connected on some level with a select few of them. She picked up the hospital phone that lay on the small table beside her bed before dialing her parent's home number first. After the first initial rings, finally someone had answered. "Hello?" It was her mother. Luna's heart ached as she thought about the last time she had seen her. It wasn't on the best of terms, her and Adam had went up north to visit them in Napa, a fight ensued between the two, and long story short, her parent's never wanted her nor him to ever come up again. They wanted to live out their golden years in peace and quiet. Luna hesitated for a brief second before finally speaking up. "Mom. It's me, Luna." Her voice was on the verge of cracking as the flashbacks had started up once again. She truly did miss her parent's, she couldn't deny it. "Luna? What are you doing calling from a hospital? Is everything alright?" She choked up instantly. How was she going to explain this? How was she going to justify everything this time?

She fought back the sobs as a few tears leaked out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She had to do this, her parent's deserved to know. "N-No, it's not Mom. Adam put me here, he beat me badly and the police are looking for him." She could hear the tone of her mother's voice change dramatically, sounding both concerned and worried. She then explained it all in as much detail as she could remember. She told her everything that had happened, about every injury she suffered, and she even mentioned about Chester and the very awful circumstances that brought the two together. She told her about how he had helped her escape, about how his wife ended up being Adam's mistress all along. Luna's mom felt incredibly shocked by it all, but it was the truth. If it wasn't for Chester coming and looking for her, Luna would have died on the cold floor, all alone. Both the two women were in tears as the continued to talk before Luna's dad had his turn. It was equally just as emotional, and when Chester walked back in, he quickly walked back out, saying he would give her as much time as she needed. "I really want you guys to meet him, he's very sweet. He's leaving for tour soon, so I'll be staying at his place to help keep an eye on things." That's where the conversation took an awkward turn. Her parents thought it was deathly too soon for her to be moving in with another man, especially a stranger. But Luna thought otherwise, she was thrilled.

After a long hour on the phone, Luna had noticed that Chester didn't come back. She didn't think too much of it though, she knew he had a lot to prepare and do before the singer left for his cross country tour. As she casually flipped through to select channels on the small TV that hung in the corner of her room, she could see a figure walking down the small stretch of hallway, heading towards her door. She assumed it was a nurse or someone coming to check in on her like always, but this time something felt off. Way off. The figured stopped at the door, pausing for a moment before they knocked lightly. "Yes?" Luna said softly, her voice suddenly starting to tremble as the figure maintained its position outside of the door. Luna reached for the button to dial for a nurse's assistance immediately, but it was too far, and in a matter of moments the mysterious person was opening the door and allowing themselves in. When the body inched closer and closer, Luna could start to make out all of the features almost instantly. But how? How did he know where she would be? How did he get in here without anyone noticing or knowing who he was? How did he get past the police? Surely this had to be just some bad dream that Luna was bound to wake up from.

But when the person was finally hovered over her, the dream became a terrifying reality. He had finally found her, he was finally going to kill her. "A-Ad-Adam? Wha-What are you doing here?" Her voice quivered as a menacing grin was spread across his face from ear to ear. "You didn't really think you could get away from me that easily, did you Luna?"

(Chester's POV/Narrator)

As Chester stood outside the entrance of the large hospital with his friend's, he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy as he wondered if Luna was alright by herself. "So when can we meet the lovely lady? It's been almost two weeks, you know. I'm sure she can't look that bad by now." Joe made a lighthearted joke but Chester didn't see it nor take it as one as he shot him a sideways glare. "Shut up, stupid. Listen man, whenever you're ready to work on this, we're here for you. I have most of the space cleared up at your place so moving her stuff in should be a piece of cake." Mike said with a reassuring grin. Chester thanked him, saying that he couldn't have done this without any of them. "I know it's only been a short time that I've known her, but I really feel like this could workout. I'm not talking relationship wise or anything else yet either, just a good friend to finally open up to. Besides you five, there's no one really else that I have." They all nodded in understanding. I craved female attention, whether it be romantic or not. A guy can get pretty cooped up when he's surrounded by testosterone all the time. But thankfully these guys were my brothers, my best of friends, and they understood where I was coming from all the time no matter what the situation was about.

A few minutes later after the guys and I had finished up with most of our rehearsal meetings and the like, I had convinced Mike to stay behind so he could be the first to meet Luna. I knew he was going to like her, there wasn't anything not to like. She was absolutely amazing, she was the sweetest woman I had ever laid eyes on and I had only known her for a short time. When we strode up the walkway towards the elevators, I quickly noticed a suspicious looking man, wearing a hooded sweater and track pants walking out of the opposite set. I kept my eye on him the entire time until he was completely out of view. "Who was that?" Mike asked uneasily as we stepped inside and headed back up to Luna's floor. I shrugged, a sudden eerie and nauseating feeling hitting me right in the stomach. "I don't know, but something didn't feel right about him. I feel like he's not supposed to be here, especially not so incognito like that." He agreed and as soon as the ride stopped at our destination, we practically ran down the corridors and through the busy hallways until we reached the outside of Luna's room. I knew something was wrong the second I saw the window. The blinds had been turned shut and the door was closed all the way. Luna hated being shut in.

At that moment we barged in and what I saw next truly made me sick and horrified. Luna was out cold but her face was red and blood was spilling from her mouth. I screamed for Mike to get help as I desperately tried to shake Luna out of it. She had been hit over and over, you could she had been choked lifeless too, there were deep imprints of hands wrapped around her beautiful pale neck. She was still alive, she still had a pulse. That was the main concern, she was going to be okay. The nurses and doctors gather around her in an instant, shoving me out of the way as they tried to work on her. "How did this happen? Who was in here? Was it you?" I felt so sick to my stomach as the police arrived and then questioned me, thinking that I had done this to her. Thankfully, they had surveillance cameras and it was clear that it wasn't in fact me who did this terrible thing. I had been outside with the guys and only when Mike had came up with me and when I went downstairs was the last time I saw her. That's when I remembered the mysterious hooded man that was coming down as I was heading up. I knew something was off about him, I knew he couldn't be trusted.

I immediately told the police, who then investigated our claims. They spotted him instantly, saying that they knew who it was. My blood boiled hot as they spoke his dreaded name. Adam. He had found a way to get her, he had found a way to hurt her. And I was supposed to be there to protect her and I wasn't. I had failed her, I had let her down. She would never forgive me, I won't let her.