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I force myself to sit up in bed and throw my legs over the side. Crap. I look down and see that I’m still dressed in my clothes from yesterday. That means I passed out while studying, again.
The insistent thumping noise snaps me out of my half-awake state. I finally put the pieces together and realize that someone is knocking at the front door and they’re getting impatient. I stand up and stretch, my body aching from another fitful night’s sleep. Exhausted, I trudge through the lounge to the door.
“Ellie! Are you in there? So help me you better answer the sodding door!” An obviously upset voice shouts from the hallway.
“Adam?” I’m still not completely awake and alert.
“Ellie? Open up, now!” Adam insists, his voice bordering on coming unhinged.
I quickly unlock the two dead-bolts and open the door. Adam rushes past me and spins around to face back the way he came, staring me down with a surly expression and darkened eyes.
“What the hell, Ellie? You don’t show up at school and you don’t answer the door? I’ve been standing out here for ten bloody minutes! I thought something horrible happened to you!” During his tirade, Adam alternates between pacing frantically back and forth across the small space, gesticulating wildly with his arms, and throwing angry glares my way.
I calmly shut the door and turn back to my visibly distraught boyfriend. Closing the few steps between us, I grab his flailing arm and fit myself under it, snuggling into his hard chest. “I’m sorry.” I snake my arms around his trim waist and lay my head against his chest. “I fell asleep studying. Last night was … hard. Mum was ill, she had to be up for an appointment today. Dad was taking her this morning so I stayed up with her…”
Adam silences me by letting go of his irritation and wrapping his arms around me, crushing me against his body. I can literally feel his anger dissipate as his stiff posture relaxes. He buries his face in my hair and exhales in relief. “I was so fucking scared, Sweetheart. Jesus, if anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.” He brushes soft kisses over my neck, his warm breath caressing my ear.
Startled by his statement, I tilt back on my heels so I can see his face. “What do you mean if something happened to me? Why would something happen?”
Adam’s jaw ticks and his warm hazel eyes go cold, sapped of their usual life. I watch as the blood drains from his face, then rushes back to turn his cheekbones a deep scarlet. He releases me from his embrace and slides one hand into mine, tugging me over to the sofa. “Sit with me.” He sounds calm, but his twitching fingers and clenched jaw expose the truth. Adam is freaking out.
“What’s going on? You’re scaring me.” I plead with him to speak to me.
Adam shifts uncomfortably, twitching and fidgeting, obviously trying to collect his thoughts. His hand is still clasped in mine, his rough fingers gently rubbing my wrist. Whether the gesture is to keep himself calm or to keep me calm, I’m not sure.
“My dad came to see me last night,
” he says, unable to meet my eyes as he relays what has him so on edge.
“Your dad? I thought he was gone?” I scrunch my face in confusion. Adam mentioned that his dad was a complete tosser, but not that he still sees him. I had figured that he disappeared a long time ago.
“No, he turns up from time to time. Usually to smack me or my mum around.” Adam clears his throat, faking indifference as he speaks. I see him swallowing to hide his emotions, his throat constricting and relaxing each time he does it. “Anyway, Dax was with me, and he sort of … well, he sort of knocked my dad out cold.”
I gasp, then I smile. “Wait, that’s good, right? He got what he deserved, Adam. You shouldn’t feel bad.” I try to make him see that this isn’t his fault, he shouldn’t have guilt for his horrible father getting injured.
Adam slowly turns to look at me, his handsome face, usually so happy and full of life in spite of the home he was raised in, is ashen and terrified. “No Ellie, it’s not good. He’s not a forgiving kind of guy. I can’t go back to my flat unless I want to wake up and find him standing over my bed with a knife in his hand. That’s why I never defend myself, or my mum. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill one of us. Plus, I hate being like him, a vicious, sadistic bastard that hurts people. I refuse to turn into that. But Dax? Dax has no problem with violence or fighting, and he just didn’t think. When you weren’t at school… I thought…I…”
“I’m fine,” I interrupt, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “He doesn’t know about me, right?” Adam nods, confirming my statement. “So what does this mean? Where will you go?” My heart is breaking for this gentle soul in front of me. He’s so adverse to bloodshed that he’s unwilling to use force against the man who beats him regularly and has been terrorizing him for years. Yet, that doesn’t make sense. He fought Callum for me, contradicting every single one of his beliefs.
Before I can ask about Callum, Adam speaks again. “I’m going to be at Dax’s place, but I can’t stay there long. My dad will know that I’m there, El. Dax and his brothers are huge and can take care of themselves, but I won’t bring my crap to his doorstep. His family doesn’t deserve it.” Adam shifts around so he’s angled towards me and takes both of my hands in his. “Ellie, we’re leaving sooner than we planned, me and Dax. We’ve moved up our tickets to Los Angeles to this Saturday.”
“But school’s not over for three more weeks.” I start to panic, scrambling to make sense of this rapid change in plans, to make sense of losing Adam, even if it’s only for a little while. The thought of being apart makes my stomach twist painfully. “I don’t understand, I can’t go with you on Saturday.”
“El, you can meet us there after school is over. I’ve bought your ticket.” He pulls an envelope out of his pocket and presses it into my hand, his intense stare never leaving my face. “You leave two and a half weeks after school gets out. That gives you time to finish your exams and pack some stuff and work out the scholarships. It’s only a few weeks earlier than you planned on leaving so it shouldn’t be too big of a deal. This way, my dad won’t see us together. He won’t have a reason to come after you to get to me.”
I stare at him blankly, my hand clutching the envelope along with Adam’s fingers that are still wrapped around it. We’ll be apart for six weeks. The thought of that sends a stabbing pain straight into my heart. “Okay.” I know we don’t have a choice. Adam can’t stay here and risk having his dad or any of his shady associates jumping him, and he won’t allow me to be a target for his dad because of our relationship.
Adam releases a huge breath that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Thank you.” He finally shows me that heartbreaking grin of his. My heart flutters in my chest, pounding madly just from his gorgeous smile. He moves his hands to cup my face, pulling me in for a long, deep kiss, and I practically melt from his touch. His tongue pushes in insistently, tangling with mine, making a claim on me.
When Adam finally releases me and touches his forehead to mine, I’m breathless from his kiss. “Thank you,” he repeats, stroking my cheeks with his calloused thumbs. “It’s only a few weeks Sweetheart, then we’ll be together in a new place and start a new life.”
Adam tilts his head and kisses me again, his touch becoming more urgent, more desperate. His hands slide down my back to grip me tight, pulling our bodies together as he tries to get as close to me as he physically can. I reach for him, my fingertips brushing across the rough skin of his unshaven jaw.
“Adam.” My voice wavers, barely a whisper.
He stands and leads me to my room, closing the door behind us. “How long until your parents are back?”
The look he gives me sends tremors down my spine, his pupils blown so that the hazel is barely visible. “A few hours at least.”
