You.

As we pulled up a long overgrown driveway Derek slowed to a crawl, he turned on his high beams and proceeded through the trees. We hadnt talked about any thing I could sense Derek was angry though. I watched as he broke through a line of trees to the entrance of a large manor. It was over run by trees and vines but the doorway was cleared. He parked the truck and got out. I waited as he rounded the truck and opened my door. Derek helped me from the truck holding my waist and lifting me so I wouldnt have to jump. He eased me down against his body, and I felt every solid muscle of his chest.

"Come on." He took my hand and led me through the weeds to the porch. I wanted to kick off my heels but I didnt know what was on the ground. I trailed behind him as he forced the door open. It creaked loudly through the empty house.

"How did you guys find this place?" I asked quietly as he pulled me into a large room with covered furniture. I waited in the doorway as he pulled a dust ridden cover off an old couch and dug around in a couple boxes along the wall.

"Jesse found it in high school. I'm not really sure how." Derek turned towards me with a half empty bottle of whiskey. The label long gone, there was no telling how old it was.

"This was the one place we could just be." He held out the bottle to me. When I took it he returned to the couch and sat down. Kicking his boots up on the covered table. Derek looked relaxed in the dark room. The only light was from the sun set creeping in through boarded windows. I opened the bottle and sipped it. It burned on it's way down. Derek patted the couch beside him for me to come sit. I sat down slowly beside him and he pulled me into him. I sank into his side realizing I wasnt being watched by Max, I could relax. I handed him the bottle and watched as he took a big gulp of the liquid.

"That's good stuff!" He handed it back to me. I took a bigger swig and set it on the table. When I leaned forward he pulled at my hair releasing it from its clip. It tumbled down and bounced around my face.

"You need to unwind, relax. You're with me. You're safe." I kicked off my shoes. I did feel safe, I felt more than safe. Derek's voice calmed the atmosphere around me. His hand running through the curls down my back eased my body. I felt him lean forward, I watched him grab the bottle and chug some more. When he held it out to me I followed his lead. The amber liquid didnt burn on it's way down, it numbed my face. I was feeling it take effect. I handed it back to Derek before slumping back on the couch and kicking up my feet like he had. I didnt have to be a lady I didnt have to be anything. Derek knew me deep down, I'd grown up with him.

"You know what gets me..." He trailed off as he kicked back too. I looked over at Derek seeing his half open eyes looking back at me.

"I was more excited about seeing you than I was my own girlfriend." He huffed softly as if it was funny. Derek looked at me in a way I'd never seen before. I was swimming in the clutches of his icy eyes. I felt something in his words, something deep and alluring.

"Why?" I broke eye contact and looked at my feet. I felt his eyes on the side of my face.

"Well aside from the obvious fact that Nicole's seeing somebody else, you're the one person in the whole world who just makes me happy." He admitted softly. I was surprised to hear him say that.

"I heard you two outside." I admitted back. He sighed loudly.

"Shes not working. She thinks I'm stupid." He grabbed for the bottle again and took another sip. I took the bottle as he handed it to me.

"I heard her on the phone as she was leaving." I let the words fall from my mouth not sure what I expected Derek to do with the information.

"Yeah?" He didnt say anything else.

"She told someone you were pissed but she'd be there soon. She said I love you too." I handed the bottle back to him and he finished it off. I watched as he tossed the bottle aside. It clattered against the wood floors but didnt break.

"Fuck her!" He stood up and went searching in boxes again. Watching him I chewed on his words. Had he really missed me that much? Derek hadnt quite qualified as a brother to me. I didnt feel the same things for him as I did Jesse. I'd admitted several times he was physically attractive but I didnt have 'feelings' for him.

"We have each other." He yelled as he flipped over a box and dumped out its contents.

"Yep! That's what I needed." He pulled some stuff off the floor an came back to the couch. I watched him set up three candles on the table, light them, and flick the cap off another bottle.

"Did you ever bring girls out here?" I wasnt sure why I asked, I didnt really wanna know. I looked around the room, some had put serious work into this house. It wasnt like one of the places you find dilapidated in the woods, this place had with stood time and elements. The layers of dust and dirt made it dingy but it was still oddly beautiful.

"All the time." He kicked back again and offered me the bottle. I turned it down already feeling intoxicated.

"Ew." I responded to the image of him with some girl making out on this couch.

"Ew?" He laughed softly at my reaction.

"I didnt need that image." I jumped when his hand landed on my leg. He didnt move it, he left it there above my knee.

"Do you ever think about me like that?" He asked quietly. I looked at him and then down at his hand.

"Once or twice." I confessed. Was it the booze, the seclusion with Derek, or reckless behavior that made me admit that.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Derek's hand moved slowly across the fabric of my dress. I felt something in my stomach flip. Something deep in my core started to ache and I didnt understand it.

"Sure." I kept my eyes glued to his hand as it moved. The material of my skirt slipping up my leg. It bared the flesh above my knee. Usually I would yank it back so Max wouldnt see, god forbid I let my knees show. This time I left it, so what if Derek saw my knees.

"I think about you all the time." He said plainly I looked up to see him focused on his hand too. I let my eyes fall back to his thick fingers. Derek had giant hands, man hands.

"All the time?." I chewed my lip as he stopped moving his hand.

"Yes." Derek's answer came after the swig of whiskey.

"Oh." It was a soft whisper of surprise. I couldnt fathom Derek ever thinking about me especially in that kinda way. I took the bottle from him and took another sip. His fingers started moving again. For a long time we sat there in silence watching his fingers stroke the fabric of my dress. Each time he moved his fingers back the dress would move a little more. When it was halfway up my thigh I grew nervous. I wasnt sure what to do, part of me started screaming for me to stop him and the other part said let him continue. When Derek offered me the last of the whiskey I took it and shoved down the conflict in my brain. As I finished it off Derek's hand moved to the bare skin. His hand was warm on my pale flesh. His finger traced spirals along the top of my thigh. I was waiting in anticipation for his next move.

"Do you wonder what itd be like?" Derek's voice was low, sensual. His spirals dipped lower on my leg. I felt the ache again, the one in my core. I felt nervous, I felt anxious. Here was this man who did not remind me of the boy I'd grown up with, he was touching me in a way hed never had before, and I could not deny the curiosity.

"Do you ever think about me the way I've thought about you?" My breath caught in my throat. Derek's voice made parts of me feel things. I wanted to know what hed thought about me and I didnt know why.

"Derek.." I started but stopped, reluctantly I stood up from the couch. I heard him take a deep breath as I walked around the table.

"I'm sorry." His voice was rough and strained. I looked back at him and chewed my lip nervously.

"No. I'm just.. I dont know. I need a minute." I resigned. I didnt know how to tell him that my reaction had nothing to do with him. He looked at me with confusion all over his face. I stepped out of the room into the foyer. The house was dark but I could see minute traces of things in the darkness. I could feel the stairs as I passed them. I stepped carefully as I made my way into another room. The windows weren't boarded, the moon lit up the space. It looked like a dining room or maybe a formal dining room. There was a long table that had been covered and boxes stacked on top of it. I could read the cursive writing on the side of the box. 'China, glassware.' I sat down in one of the covered chairs and faced the floor to ceiling windows that looked out to a porch and overgrown field out back.

"Where is Addy?." Jesse's voice came from up front. It echoed through the house. I hadnt expected Jesse to turn up looking for me.

"Whats wrong?" I heard Derek respond. I could very distinctly hear three sets of footsteps moving about in the dark house. I sat quietly listening like a scared child.

"Dakota." Jesse's voice was angry. I couldn't handle Jesse when he got angry. I found myself glued to my seat unable to move out of fear. My mouth clenched so tight it hurt my jaw.

"Addy tried to tell me tonight that she wasnt safe. I saw the fear in her eyes before he cut our conversation short." Dakotas voice was almost too soft to hear.

"What did she tell you?" Derek's voice carried through the house.

"She had that look in her eyes, the one where shes uncomfortable but wont admit it. I noticed the way Max lingered around her, the way he kept her at his side or his eyes and ears on her at all times. We had a conversation about moms rose bushes and she made it very clear Max was hurting her. I couldnt get into detail about it Max interrupted us. Derek I saw her wince when he put his hand around her waist. He was hurting her right there infront of me and didnt seem to care if I knew it." Dakota told them in depth about our conversation and what she'd seen of Max. I listened quietly as she depicted the events in a different perspective.

"I walked in on him telling her not to leave his side again." Derek confessed. He knew I was in this house listening but yet he hadnt said anything about it.

"When?" The footsteps stopped. Nobody was moving in the house for a split second it was so quiet I could hear the wind sweeping past the windows and the wood of the house settling.

"Tonight. I went to help mom and when I came back out I saw them sitting on the couch together. Addy was visibly upset I was going to ask if she was okay when I heard Max tell her not to leave his side again." There was another long moment of silence after Derek spoke.

"We left right after, She seemed like she wanted to be any where he wasnt so I offered her a way." Derek continued.

"Shes here somewhere." He spoke again. Derek was filling the silence, probably trying to ease the tension. I wasn't in that room but I could feel it too.

"I gotta admit something." Dakotas voice broke the silence. She sounded upset as if she were going to cry. I waited to hear what she wanted to say. Long uncomfortable moments of silence passed.

"I feel really bad that I didnt say anything at the time because if I'm correct than hes been abusing her for years. Jesse im so sorry I knew I should've told you, I just didnt know for sure. I mean I've always had my dislike for Max but I figured it was all in my head." She rambled for a moment before somebody cleared their throat and she stopped.

"Addy and Max used to come out drinking with me and my girls. I remember we were having a good time Max was his usual charming self, which I didnt like. It seemed too charming, but Addy was happy they had just moved in together. Max told us he had work the next morning so he needed to leave Addy wanted to stay and they went outside to talk. About ten minutes later Max came in and paid for our drinks. I remember very distinctly seeing the split skin of his knuckles he said him and Addy were gonna head home she was hungry and tired. When I asked about his hand Max told us he'd busted his hand up in a scuffle with some guy outside the bar but it was no big deal. Addy stopped hanging out after that night though. She stopped doing a lot of things like shopping with me, going to lunch and if she did go Max was always with her." Dakota had pin pointed the night my relationship had changed. Max had never hit me before so when he lashed out and punched me like a man I wasnt able to defend myself.

"Addy!" Jesse's voice ran out loudly scaring me. I'd been so focused on Dakotas soft voice that when Jesse yelled it sounded like he was in the same room as me. I jumped banging my knee on the underside of the table. Foot steps followed the noise to where I was sitting at the table. Jesse immediately came to my side and sat down. He turned the chair I was in so I was facing him.

"Tell me the truth." He searched my face for something. I stared at my brother wishing I could turn back time and skip out on the blind date. I wished I'd never met him then I wouldnt have to be here now seeing pain and anger in Jesse's eyes.

"Shes right." I whispered. It was the only thing I could do, my voice refused to work, my throat was dry and tight.

"Why didnt you tell me?" He held my hands between us. I looked down at them. He had no idea how many times I'd tried to tell someone.

"I tried too. Max was always watching me, my only freedom was going to work but even there I'm under my boss's microscope. Besides you and Derek were thousands of miles away what were you gonna do. I figured it if played my cards right and I was good enough he'd let me be there when you came home." I spit out as many words as I could hoping they made sense.

"He'd let you? Addy you're an adult you shouldnt have to ask permission for anything." Derek chimed in behind me. He didnt understand what I meant.

"You dont understand. I wasnt allowed to do anything. When we were home Max wouldnt hold back on me. If I didnt do exactly as he wanted or told me he would beat me until I lost conciousness. If I went somewhere I had to be with him and I had rules I had to follow or he'd beat me when we got home. My house is a tightly run prison, what I ate, what I wore, how I acted every second of my life was monitored and controlled by Max." I stood up angry that Derek thought it was that simple. I pushed the chair back and moved towards the window.

"I tried to leave him. The last time I did he dragged me by my neck and forced me into the car. When I fought back he hit me so hard in my chest that I couldnt breathe. For weeks every breath felt like I was inhaling shards of glass. I did what I had to do to survive." I could feel them staring at me but I refused to turn around. There was an uncomfortable tension between the four of us.

"You dont know how long I've been planning tonight, you dont know how dependent I was on Dakotas dislike for Max. She is the only person who could see i was in trouble. The fact that Derek heard what he did and stepped in was some kind of weird coincidence. I jumped at the first chance I got to get as far away from Max as possible." I felt a cold chill surge through me and I shuddered. Max's face still replaying in my mind. The way his eyes glared at me through the window was etched into my memory.

"Addy." Jesse's voice was right behind me. I flinched as he grabbed my shoulder. I turned to him sharply.

"You dont know what will happen to me if Max gets his hands on me again but I do." I turned back around not wanting any one to see the tears threatening to spill out.

"No one here is gonna let him hurt you ever again." It was Derek's voice I heard. It was his heavy footsteps I heard approaching me. He wrapped his arms around me from behind hugging me tightly.

"I promise you." His lips moved against the top of my head. I relaxed back into his solid chest trying to ease my emotions.

"She cant stay at moms, Max is too familiar with that space. He would just wait it out." I listened to Jesse move around the room as he spoke. Like I wasnt standing right here.

"Then she cant stay at our place either. Hes been there plenty of times." Dakota said.

"She can stay with me." Derek's voice rumbled in my ear. Derek's arms felt warm, strong and safe to me. I was easily putting aside my anger now. Just as I was fully relaxed Derek released me and joined Jesse in conversation. I stood there staring out at the moon in the dark sky. Max had never been to Derek's house, I'd been there a few times but not in the last three years. Nicole had been living there but I'm sure that's over given his admission earlier. How long had she been cheating on him? Did I really want to be around all that? I didnt have very many options. My friends had been cut off from my life. I could get a hotel but how long would that be safe?
There were too many questions floating around my brain and not enough answers. I felt the exhaustion hit me all at once. Physically and mentally. I sat back down at the table finally looking to the people chatting in the corner of the dark room.

"Can someone please just take me somewhere I can sleep." I interrupted Derek as he was talking. They turned to look at me.

"I've got her. Dakota when you get a moment will you bring her some clothes. Addy do you work tomorrow?" I shook my head at Derek not wanting to speak.

"My place eight o'clock." Derek pointed at Jesse who nodded. I rested my head on my arms for a moment. Drinking was a bad idea.

"Come on." Derek tapped my shoulder I grunted at him in response. I felt him scoop me up out of the chair, I opened my eyes to see I didnt have my shoes.

"My shoes are in there."I pointed as he carried me past the stairs and room wed started this night in.

"I got em!" Dakota called from behind us. I closed my eyes again and listened to the sound of Derek heart and breathing in his chest.