"Richard kept watch over Miles, apparently, and when he found out that Miles spent a couple of days at Storm's place, he had people watch over her. It was a huge mess and she ended up getting kidnapped," she said. "When Miles got her back, she was in bad shape. Fast forward a while, Storm and I were in Miles' office talking."
Hedda took a deep breath in, her hands starting toshake. She didn't like remembering everything that happened. Oliver and Leo grabbed hold of her hands. Tears formed in her eyes, and she sniffled several times before she started again.
"It was out of the blue. Richard came through the window and held a gun against Storm's head. I was so scared and didn't know what to do," Hedda's voice got quieter towards the end. "The fear in her eyes was so real. She was petrified and I couldn't allow anything to happen to her. I had slowly moved my hand to grab my gun."
Their thumbs moved across the back of her hands, trying to sooth her. Or that's what she thought.
"And he said Ethan was wanting her. That it was him taking her or he was going to be dead. I couldn't let him take her to Ethan. He's an evil man and she would've been killed. So I shot him."
Hedda closed her eyes as she replayed killing him in her mind. The feel of pulling the trigger. Him lying on the floor, blood getting everywhere on the ground.
"You're okay," Leo gently said.
"Everything changed after that," Hedda said. "You know what was funny? The fact that my brother wanted me to learn how to shoot a gun. Made me practice for hours and hours until I was amazing."
Their hands stilled but she kept on.
"Wanted me to be prepared for any situation. But once I did kill someone, everything changed," she laughed. "Everything reminded me of practicing and then killing Richard. It reminded me that I was put into a position to choose between a close friend, keeping her alive, and killing someone."
"How did things change?" Leo asked.
"Rogan is different around me. Before he would talk to me but after I killed Richard, he stopped. He wouldn't eat dinner with me anymore. It just wasn't the same," she whispered. "It was one of the many reasons I left."
Oliver kissed the side of her head.
"The day you called him, that was the first time I had talked to him since I came to Missouri," Hedda said. "He hadn't even tried to contact me once."
The room was silent and Hedda didn't know what to say. What else was there to say? She had told them everything that had happened.
"So you see, I'm a murderer," she said. "You don't want to be with someone like that."
"We'll decide that," Oliver said. "You don't get to decide that."
"We want you," Leo replied. "We want you and we aren't letting you go."
Both of them kissed her temple and she felt her body relax a little.
"Even though you killed someone it was for a good reason. You said he was a bad man and was going to give Storm to an even worse person," Leo said. "It was either him or your friend. You shouldn't feel guilty about saving your friend."
She let out a shaky breath as Leo talked. Storm had told her several times that without her, she probably wouldn't be alive. She thanked Hedda several times, but it never felt right.
Hedda had never imagined she would take someone else'slife to save someone. Her brother had prepared her for years on how to shoot a gun in case she was ever in a situation. But she never thought she would have to use it.
That day she met up with Storm and talked in Miles' office, she almost had left her gun at home. Why did she need it? Nothing had ever happened, and someone was always with her who had a gun.
But not at that moment. She was the only one.
How could she not feel guilty about killing Richard? Even though he was a bad person, he was still a human.
"We're here for you through everything," Leo said. "You need to scream and let everything out. We're here. You need to cry and be held? Both of us are here for you."
Hedda nodded her head and looked down at the ground.
"We're so proud of you for telling us," Oliver gently said. "It takes a lot of courage and strength to do that."
She shook her head. She was anything but those two things.
"It really does and not everyone can do it," Oliver said.