AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I search his face for signs of doubt, for the moment his resolve might shatter, leaving me to face my demons alone. But all I see in his eyes is the fierce determination.
"Cheree," he says again, and this time there's an edge of steel to his words. "Your past doesn't define you. You're more, so much more than what they made you believe. And whatever darkness you're holding onto, we'll face it together. That's what this is about, isn't it? Finding light in the darkest places.” JD pauses as his eyes search mine. “Let's go.” He nods toward the line of buses that promise a new direction.
As we board the bus, I let myself lean into him, drawing from the well of strength he offers. With every mile we put between us and the MC, the weight on my chest eases, as if distance could diminish the power of the past.
The bus shudders to life beneath us. I watch the cityscape of New York melt into a blur of motion, steel and concrete giving way to the unknown.
"JD?"
"Cheree?"
"Can we really outrun it all? The club... my past?"
"Cheree.” He strokes my cheek. "I won't lie to you. Your past, my connections—it's a tangled mess. A mess I'd burn down to ashes if it meant keeping you safe."
"JD..." My voice trails off, tinged with a sorrow that clenches my chest.
"Listen to me," he says. "I've wrestled with this, the risk of being with you. The chance that the Defiant Men might never stop hunting. But every time I think about walking away, about leaving you to face those demons alone... it eats at me."
The bus takes a turn, the motion sharp enough to lean us into each other. He doesn't pull away, and his closeness is a flame in the growing darkness.
"Dammit, Cheree, I can't promise it'll be easy. That there won't be nights where the shadows feel too damn close,” he pauses. "But I believe in us—in your strength, in what we have. If we stand together, there ain't no obstacle we can't tear through."
His fingers tighten around mine, his nails pressing crescent moons into my skin.
"JD, I want to believe that. I do. But..."
"Shh," he cuts me off, lifting our joined hands to press a kiss to my knuckles. "This is us taking control, Cheree. Carving out a slice of peace in a world that's done its damnedest to break us. You and me, we're survivors. We adapt. We fight."
Slowly, I let out a breath then lean into him, my head finding a resting place on his shoulder.
"Okay, JD. Okay.”
"Okay," he echoes.
But there is so much more to be said. Things he doesn’t know.
I take another breath and look him in the eyes. "JD, back at the club, I was just... I was nothing more than a body for Tank to use."
He nods. "Cheree, your past doesn’t define you. To me, you’re not just—"
"JD, let me say it," I interrupt, needing the words to be mine, to own the darkness before it owns me again. "I need you to know who I am—all of it."
A nod from him, patient and solemn, gives me the courage to continue. I tell him about the nights that blended into a single, unending nightmare; about the hands that took without asking. I speak of the fear, the desperation, the hopelessness.
He listens without flinching, his presence a steady warmth against the chill of my memories. When my voice falters, his thumb brushes away the tear that betrays my composure.
"Cheree, those assholes might've marked you, but they haven't claimed you, not the way you think. You're brave, strong, and goddamn beautiful, and nothing you've been through changes that.”
His words wrap around me like a blanket. And in that moment, something shifts inside me, a weight I didn't realize I was carrying begins to lift. I find myself leaning into the curve of his arm, my heart daring to beat with a rhythm that speaks of healing.
"Thank you, JD," I say, my voice steadier now. "For seeing me. For being here."
"Cheree," he replies, his voice a low rumble, "there's no place I'd rather be."
***
It’s the early hours of the morning and the bus comes to a halt. There’s only a handful of people left on the bus. JD and I stand, and we make our way down the aisle and out of the bus. Clean air and the smell of fresh baked bread hit my senses.
