Page 92 of Forever Always

We were at Wesley’s? Why? I guessed that explained the fancy bed and why the place didn’t smell of mildew.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper because honestly, I was terrified to find out if what I remembered was true.

Beckett twisted us around so we were face-to-face, his blue eyes burning a hole in my skull.

“What do you remember?” he said just as quietly.

I closed my eyes, unable to look at him. I knew he wasn’t gonna judge me, but . . .

“I-I walked in and Mr. Chase was there and he was chokin’ you. I grabbed the gun and shot him. He let you go but he was still alive. I remember thinkin’ I had to make sure he was dead. I saw the knife, and everything after that is hazy.”

Beckett’s thumb caressed my cheek, and I leaned into the touch even if I didn’t deserve it.

“Look at me, butterfly.” I squeezed my eyes tighter.

“No.”

Beckett sighed heavily and shifted, but then he moaned in pain. My eyes flew open.

I really took Beckett in then. Deep purple bruising rounded his neck, the fingerprints clear. More black and purple bruising lined the side of his face. The word concussion kept filtering in my mind, but I wasn’t sure why.

“Fuck, you’re hurt! Why are you here? You need to go to the hospital!”

Becks reached out, squeezed my arm and stopped me from jumping out of the bed. “I’m fine. Wesley’s friend Luca looked at me. I just need to take it easy, no screens, no strenuous activity. Please calm down, butterfly. We need to talk.”

I looked down at my hand and frowned at all the little red cuts all over it.

My hands kept slipping on the hilt of the knife. There was just so much blood, it was hard to hold on. I stabbed him again. The blade cut into my palm, but I didn’t even notice. I had to make sure he was dead. I had to protect Becks.

I stumbled to the side of the bed and started to dry heave. Thank fuck there was nothing coming out. I would’ve felt awful.

“Shh, you’re okay, Ri.”

“I-I killed him.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you did.”

“I couldn’t stop. I knew he was dead, but I just couldn’t stop it.”

“You saved me, butterfly. You saved lots of people.”

I looked up at Beckett, terrified to make the next confession.

“I’m happy I did it.”

I thought Becks would be disgusted and hate me. It was one thing to shoot the bastard. He was trying to kill my brother, my true love, so of course I would do anything I needed to save him. It was the after that I should be ashamed of, scared of. But when I thought about that, all I felt was relieved that the fucker was truly gone.

Instead of being disgusted, Becks grinned, his eyes alive with love and maybe a little lust.

“Me too, butterfly. You were so fuckin’ brave. Maybe a little messy, but you protected me when I couldn’t. I didn’t think it was possible, but I love you even more now than I did before.”

I wanted to kiss him so badly, but I was afraid to hurt him more, so I just leaned in and pecked his collarbone.

“What happened after? Everything is a little hazy.”

Beckett gave me a rundown. He let me know how he called Wesley and he and his friend Luca helped get us out of there and take care of the body.

“And it’s good? I mean, I’m figurin’ it is since I’m here and not in jail, but like, I remember a lot of blood.”

---