Page 31 of Only The Strong

“I figured, tell me about it.” He takes my hand and turns my chin so I’m looking into his beautiful blue eyes. “I want to know every part of you, even the darkest, most painful parts of your being.”

I take a deep breath and turn off my mind, just letting the memory of Noah spill from my lips. “I just wanted to have fun, you know? It was my sophomore year of college and I just wanted to meet people and have fun. I was living on my own in a new city and at a new school.” I roll my eyes. “I met Noah through a dating app and we hit it off. He was a senior and funny and new. We went out a few times and he told me he wanted to get serious. He was lying though, he just wanted me to stop seeing other people while he went and slept his way through every sorority on campus. Of course, I didn't know this at the time.” I pause, taking a deep breath and looking out over the mountains. The breeze barely whispers by, the world is so still up here. “Even though he was supposed to be leaving after graduation, I agreed to start taking us more seriously and I gave him every part of me. I loved him so intensely that I went insane with jealousy when I finally did figure out what he was doing behind my back. I still don't know how many times he cheated on me or with how many girls, and to be honest I lost count of the ones that I did know about. I guess what hurt the most and still stays with me was reading the messages between him and his ex where he compared our sex to theirs, and how poorly he spoke about me to other girls.” Callum starts rubbing circles over my hand with his thumb, leaving a flaming trail behind. I shake my head and laugh sadly, “there was one message where he was begging a girl to give him a chance, he said that if she gave him a chance he would leave me for her.”

“Why did you stay with him if he was cheating on you?” I look into his eyes, but there’s no judgment there.

I look down at the water bottle on my lap. “It was a mixture of a few things. I really did care about him, and I thought he cared about me, I mean why would he waste my time if he wanted to mess around? I had made it clear that we could continue to see each other without committing to one another. But more so I felt bad for leaving him, regardless of what he was doing to me. I've always prided myself on never giving up on people; I thought that made me a good person, or supportive, or strong I guess. Finally, I had enough. I had hit rock bottom and my absolute worst. I couldn't stop wondering why I wasn’t enough for him and what was wrong with me. I asked him one night and he just apologized and told me he wasn't ready for a relationship; he never really gave me a real answer for why he did what he did. I decided that I couldn't keep living with how miserable the relationship was making me and I realized that I couldn't forgive him, so we broke up. At the end of that school year, he graduated and took a job at the college instead of moving home and I dropped out to go full time at Westbrooke. I haven't spoken to him since; I can't, he took everything from me. Before I met him I was the happiest I had ever been, I was confident and easy-going, and I loved my life. He made me cynical and hard. He made me look at myself with such disgust. For not only how I had acted in jealousy, but also because I started to see myself as someone who wasn't worth even the smallest bit of respect or love.” I scoff. “I never really recovered.” I pull my hand away and take a long drink of my water. I've never shared this much of that story, not even with my best friends. I’ve never felt this vulnerable with a guy, I’ve never bared this much of my heart, even when I thought I was in love with someone.

Callum grabs my chin and moves my face so I'm looking at him again. “You are the most beautiful woman that I have ever met, and it’s not just because of how you look. You are smart, kind, and resilient. You radiate happiness and warmth and everyone around you loves you. You are worth every amount of love and respect, and your ex didn’t realize what was really in front of him.” He places his hands on my cheeks, not letting me look away from his heavy gaze. “I will happily spend the rest of my life making up for that asshole's mistakes and making sure you love your life again. I will never betray your trust, Red.” Before he can promise anything else I lean in and kiss him, trying to portray how much his words mean to me. Callum has made me feel safe since the day I met him, and he hasn't failed me once. I don't want to fight my feelings for him anymore; I know he can make me the happiest I've ever been. He already has. He’s put my pieces back together without either of us even knowing. “I love you, Red.” He whispers it so softly between kisses that I'm not sure he really said it. As much as I want to say it back and take that step with him, I need a little more time. I want this time to be the last time I say it to someone. Luckily his phone starts ringing in his pocket, breaking the thick cloud of emotion surrounding us and giving us a moment to both collect our thoughts. He sighs and pulls his phone out of his jeans pocket. “What’s going on, Miles?” Callum’s body goes rigid, his eyes focus on the landscape in front of us. “Send me the address.”

I grab his hand, still sitting sideways facing him. “Cale, what happened?”

He taps out a message on his phone and pulls me to stand with him. “Miles was able to find the ISP address of your stalker and find his house.” He pulls me into his arms. “I'm ending this tonight.”

My eyes widen. “So the guy last night?”

“Just a random piece of shit,” he answers.

I fall into his embrace, too stunned to do anything else. “I’m going with you.” His body grows tense again. “I need this, Callum. I need to know who he is.”

He kisses the top of my head. “I know, babe, we’ll meet Finn at my house and switch out the bike for the truck.”

We walk to the bike and get on. I take in the view one last time before I finally get my life back and I can stop living in fear of my stalker and my feelings for Callum. I’m going to tell him I love him after tonight. I have to.

28

REESE

When we pullup to Callum’s townhouse Finn is already waiting, standing next to his bike. Finn and I follow Callum inside of his house and the guys continue into a downstairs bedroom where Callum keeps his gun case. They step back into the living room shoving guns in the backs of their jeans and inside of their cuts. Finn nods to Callum before going back outside. “I’ll follow you both on my bike.” He squeezes my shoulder before opening the door.

Callum pulls me into a tight hug and captures my mouth with his, slipping his tongue inside and tangling with mine. “Let’s go end this, Red.” I nod and we walk into the garage to get in Callum’s Raptor, he holds the door open for me, the windows are tinted so that the cabin is completely black except for the monitor lights. When he gets behind the wheel he gives me another kiss, my hands linking behind his head to hold him there. We take a deep breath together and then pull apart. He hands me a gun from the inside of his cut, looking somber.

I stare down at the small black gun, the once black trigger now shines a dark red. “My gun.” I chuckle, never having imagined having to own my own gun.

He places his big hands over mine, calming my nerves immediately. Looking down at the gun he smirks. “I added your own personal touch to it.” His eyes come to mine and his face turns serious. “You won’t need it, but just in case; shoot anyone who isn't me or Finn.” I nod and he opens the garage door and the loud rumble of the pickup starts; I pop open the glove compartment in front of me and gently close my gun inside.

Callum holds my hand during the drive, looking over at me every few minutes. The drive is silent, the only sound is the radio playing “Train Wreck” by James Arthur, and when we stop at a red light he leans over and kisses me, ending the kiss way too quickly for my liking. “I can’t wait to kill this motherfucker for what he’s put you through, babe.”

As the light turns green and we start to move forward, I decide that I have to tell him how I feel just in case something terrible happens tonight. We have the element of surprise and two huge scary bikers against one deranged psycho, but you can't bet against the devil you don't know. So I say it. “Callum, I—” Before I can finish my confession I see a car barreling through the intersection we just entered, they’re going so much faster than the posted speed limit and they're not showing any signs of stopping.

I yell Callum’s name but it’s too late, there's no avoiding it. He whips his head to the side and the car crashes into his side of the Raptor. The impact throws my head against the window and then my stomach flips several times, there's loud crunching and smashing, and stinging on my arms and face; and then the airbag slams into my face, the dust choking me and making me cough. “Callum!” I think I’m yelling, but I can't hear myself over the ringing in my ears. I can’t hear any response so I keep yelling his name, trying to reach over to him; I can’t see him through the smoke and dust. I start to hear my name being yelled through the ringing and I try to yell Callum’s name louder so he can find me.

Through the slowly fading dust, I see my door being ripped open and big hands grabbing my arms to place on the roof of the car, which I'm now realizing is upside down. “Brace yourself, I’m going to cut your seatbelt!” The voice doesn't sound like Callum and that makes my stomach roll again.

I press my hands against the roof and feel the seatbelt being pulled away from me, the seatbelt gives way, and big hands catch me before I fall out of my seat and drag me out of the smashed door. I close my eyes and quickly pray when I open them I’m looking into the most beautiful, deep, steel blue eyes I've ever seen. I open my eyes to see Finn’s panicked dark blue eyes, he’s carrying me over to the curb and yelling more things, but I can't hear him over the panic now setting in. I look all around us, there are cars stopped and people standing around. Callum’s white Raptor is upside down in the middle of the street with broken glass making a scattered trail leading from the intersection. The worst part of it all is that I don't see Callum anywhere. He’s not waiting on the curb and he wasn't the one who rescued me from the crash. Finn runs back over to the crumbled Raptor and tries to rip the driver's side door open over and over, yelling to people on the sidewalk to call for help. With shaking legs I run to the car, realizing Callum is still in it. I drop to the ground making sure to stay out of Finn’s way; he’s grunting, cursing, and sweating trying to get the door open. A pain bites into my hands and knees, but I ignore it. I look up to see panic written all over his face, both of us know he’s not going to be able to open it on his own, but we both know he won’t stop trying until help comes. I look into the window and see Callum, he’s so still. I can't see his chest moving, blood is dripping onto the roof from a giant gash on the side of his head and his neck from where the seat belt must have cut into him; there is so much blood I start to panic even more.

Without thought, I start yelling at him, trying to get him to stay awake if he’s got any sense about him right now. “Callum, you have to stay awake dammit! I need you here with me.” Tears start to run down my face, but I ignore them and say what I should have said so long ago. “When I first saw you at Mickey’s I couldn’t think of anything except for how the room seemed to stand still and you turned my world upside down. You made me trust, and believe, and hope for the first time in months, and you can’t just leave me before we’ve even got to begin.” I hear sirens in the distance. Finn starts banging his fists on the door. “Your eyes hold the universe in them and you have no idea of the spell you put me under every time you look at me. I hope you forgive me for not telling you how I felt when you told me you loved me today, maybe you didn't even mean to say it, but I heard you and I'm sorry I didn't stop you and make you repeat it. I don’t know when I fell for you because I’ve been trying to deny it for so long, but I knew I loved you when you could turn around any day with your teasing and kisses. I knew when I started living to see your smile and heal your shattered heart. I knew when I wished that I wasn't broken so I could love you fully and give you everything you deserve. I knew when everything was easier when you were around, sleeping, breathing, eating. I love you, Callum, wholly, fully, and completely without end. Please don't leave me.”

29

REESE

My whole bodyis shaking and the sirens drown out my sobs. Hands wind around my stomach and lift me from the ground. I watch two paramedics try to pull Finn away from the car, but he grabs one guy by the throat and leans into him, yelling something into his face, the look on his face would normally make me run in fear, but I’m too numb right now to be worried about anything other than Callum. The sirens mask his words, and the paramedic nods and holds up his hands. The guy who grabbed me puts me on a gurney and starts to check my vitals and dress the cuts on my arms and face from the windshield shattering. Finn sits next to me and we watch firefighters pry the door open and pull Callum’s lifeless body out of the car, a scream rips out of me and Finn holds me down as I try to lunge out of the back of the ambulance. Callum is limp and not responding to anyone, they hurry and put him on a gurney and rush him into a second ambulance. “Is he dead?” I ask the paramedic who gets into the driver's seat.

He starts the vehicle and we speed behind the one that has Callum. “I don't know, ma’am.”

I cry the rest of the way to the hospital, holding Finn’s hand. He’s silent and still, his eyes focused on our hands, but I see the tears rolling down his cheeks.

The nurses put me in my own room in the ER and Finn leaves to try to find some information about Callum. After assessing me they find nothing broken, only some scrapes and cuts and a minor concussion. They said I got really lucky that I wasn't on the side of impact, but I would trade places in a heartbeat so that Callum could be the one with such minor injuries instead.

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