She looked so cute with her head fully relaxed in my lap and her hands playing with my fingers while mine went through her voluminous hair. "Come on..." Bells whined as her curiosity undoubtable spiked. Are you speaking in riddles right now?" She pouted at me with a scrunched nose. Just when I thought she couldn't get any cuter."Please... what is it?" She batted her eyelashes at me, and she earned an eyeroll in response.

I pulled my brows up at her as I studied every inch of her face. I can't believe anyone could ever beat her like that.I suddenly felt sad when my hand left her hair to caress the side of her face, the back of my hand softly soothing her bruises. I was utterly mesmerized by the softness of her skin and the way she was looking up at me, completely caught in the moment just like me. No matter how much anyone would try to break her, those beautiful green eyes of hers would always hold kindness.

My fingers traveled down her face, so my thumb was able to slowly brush over her bottom lip. It felt so soft and plump against my thumb and all I wanted was to kiss her, to let her know how much I still felt for her, if anything even more. The thought of pulling her in for a kiss was making me feel high on a fever. But I didn't want to rush it. She needs to come back to me on her pace, gaining each other's trust so we could only do better from here on. I want to do this right."What's the magic word?" I grinned at her, her lips instantly parting under my thumb with an amused grimace on her face.

She smirked at me. "If it's please, I already said it, didn't I?" She said softly, begging almost as she diverted her gaze towards the small boxed Ben came barging in with, with the worst fucking sense of timing. Her lips left my thumb, so I settled my hand back into her hair, seriously loving the way the short locks flowed through my fingers like satin.

"Nope..." I smiled, pulling my lips between my teeth to prevent me from bursting out in laughter. She instantly shook her head, being adorably annoyed.

"You never stopped being a tease." She smiled, obviously liking that I still loved to torment her a little with silly things. Her hands were still playing with my fingers as she started to pout more.

I gave up, not being able to resist that pout. I chuckled, shaking my head at her as my hand she was playing with intertwined with hers. "When you left me that voicemail, I was... I didn't know how to feel... I was mostly sad and angry." I looked down at her, being reminded at how desperate I was to hear her voice and how disappointed and hurt I was when I heard it yelling those words at me.

I could see by the way her expression changed that she regretted it, her eyes briefly closing before a sigh made her chest deflate. "Lukas, I'm...I was drunk. It's not an excuse I kno-"

"I know you were drunk..." I said as I looked at her through my eyelashes, her face instantly clouding with regret. "That didn't make it hurt less." I whispered honestly, yet under my breath.

Her hand felt weak in my hand as her fingers tried to detangle from mine, but I held on to it. I knew it hurt her but somehow, she needed to know how that had damaged me. "I'm so sorry." She squeezed her eyes shut to avoid my gaze but my hand brushing the side of her face made them open, only to reveal the tears in the corners of her eyes. I didn't mean to make you sad, I was just trying to be honest. Her mouth parted as she tried to speak, not a single sound leaving her mouth as she just stared at me. She shook her head under my hand. "Forget about the surprise Lukas." She shook her head more as I felt here sit up, her head leaving the comfort of my lap. "I don't deserve it. Not after everything I did to you." She whispered halfway on her way up, but I instinctively rushed to throw my arms around her, not giving her a chance to leave.

"I was just being honest with you. Please don't cry." I whispered when I felt her trying to wiggle out of my arms, her breathing fast and uneven. "Please, don't..." I whispered comfortingly into her ear as I held her on my lap, her back instantly relaxing against my chest. "It's okay." I saidas one arm lefther waist to pull her hair away from her face and behind her ear. She felt warm in my lap, her head leaning against the side of my face. It was either her own body warmth that made me feel on fire or just the fact that I held her like this. My finger trailed behind her ear to the side of her neck and over her collarbone down the collar of her hoodie, undoubtably setting her soft skin on fire."We both made mistakes Bells... Watching you kiss Zach killed me, but watching you pull away from me, the thought of not being with you and have our happy ending together is so much worse." I whispered, my fingers traveling deeper into the collar until I reached the strap of her bra. Her breath hitched when I did and to add to her fire, I leaned in to kiss the soft skin behind her ear. "We both deserve to be happy, even if we have our flaws." I breathed huskily behind her ear.

I felt her melt into my lips, shifting her head to give me access to more skin. My hand around her waist felt the presence of hers as she intertwined her fingers with mine, her thumb rubbing my skin. The room was spinning around like my life turned into a carousel, that's what she was capable of and I didn't mind at all. "Still, I'm sorry." She whispered as she softened against my chest, my fingers still brushing the strap of her bra and her shoulder in the most comforting way I knew. "I don't want to fight anymore, I can't do it..." She half moaned when she felt how she was affecting me in many ways, one in particular.

I want her. I want us to be us.I couldn't help it as my mind went crazy, showing her all the ways I could love her. "I don't want to fight either." I said, brushing my nose against her cheek. "We also don't have to rush. We have forever to fix us." I softly pressed my lips against her cheek and felt the smile on her face. As her smile took over her expression, her hand took control over mine, guiding it away from her waist, to slowly slide it underneath the hoodie. My mouth instantly parted with want the moment I felt her hot skin under my touch, and I couldn't contain I pleasured sigh to escape me the moment she brought it up to the point my fingertips felt the lace of her bralette. Fuck, I missed those. What the hell is she doing to me.

The only way to prevent me from vocalizing my want in a series of groans was to burrow my face into her neck, relentlessly biting my lip. Don't rush huh? "Forever?" She sucked in air when she pushed herself into my lap and her hand tensed around mine, almost pushing it up further than where the lace started to cover her skin.

My breathing started to accelerate, in sync with my crazy heartbeat. I fucking want her so badly. I want her to show me how much she loves me so I can show her too. I softly retrieved my hand from the collar of her hoodie before I couldn't stop myself from tearing it off her. But that hand had a plan of its own as it settled for a spot on her thigh, slowly going up and down the inside of it. I shouldn't do this...Maybe she isn't ready? We don't have to rush. I haven't even kissed her.But the way she melted into me, moved with me, pushed herself into me, told my thoughts the contrary of what they were carefully thinking. "Forever." I whispered against her skin as my face was still pasted into the crook of her neck, my fingers brushing the insides of her thigh going higher every stroke as she arched her back into me.

I gently placed a kiss on her skin, just there where her pulse was racing under it, my hand on her thigh pushing her into my now throbbing hardness. I kissed her once more, longer and more harshly this time as her wanting breaths encouraged me. It caused her to throw her head back, resting it on my shoulder as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. The way my fingers caressed her so close to her core, was driving her insane, myself included. Without thinking I firmly wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into me even more, instantly regretting it as she let out a pained cry. "Ah! Shit." She gritted through her teeth as she bit her lip to prevent her from screaming this time. Fuck, I must have hurt her.

I instantly let go, holding my hands up in fear as hurting her was the last thing I wanted to do. "I'm sorry!" I let out in a panic, disappointed in myself as I let myself get caught up in the moment without thinking that I could hurt her seeing the fragile state she was in now.

Even though, she grabbed her waist in pain she didn't move away from me. On the contrary, she was still leaning in to me as she stayed on my lap. "No...No it was nice." She eased into me, resting her head back against my shoulder. "But you just accidently hit a sore spot there. I'm sorry." She tilted her head to the side, and I felt her smile against the skin in my neck before softly kissing that sweet spot. I hummed at the way her lips felt so familiar on my skin.

I chuckled as she did everything, I expected her not to do. "Sooo, we nearly forgot about the surprise." I laughed, gently and most carefully putting my hands on her shoulders to hold her in place. "Why don't you grab them and see for yourself what they are." I whispered before pressing my lips into her forehead.

She carefully got up to grab the boxes of the coffee table in front of us before sitting down next to me on the couch, my eyes never leaving her. She sat down with both boxes in her lap and she already saw clearly what they were, the phrase iPhone and an apple icon giving themselves away. "Lukas you didn't..." She looked up at me with her lips parted in awe.

I shook my head with a smirk. "A little bird called Mia told me your phone got destroyed... I smashed mine into a wall after that voicemail so I guess we both needed a new one... So after buying the tree I made a last little stop before coming back." I kept smiling at Bells, her expression still not different.

"But..." She whispered; her eyes wide.

"But nothing. Bells, I want to be able to send you texts whenever I feel like it. I want you to be able to call me if something's wrong... I want you to have this, so take it." I shifted sideways on the couch to face her. "Not both, one is mine." I laughed as I took one box from her but by the look on her face, I knew she was not comfortable accepting this just like that. She's still the same.

"Lukas, I can't take this... It's too expensive." She pulled her brows up with the innocence dripping from her face. She lowered her gaze, looking at the box in her hands. "I just feel like I don't deserve it." She sighed and shook her head as her voice gave away how guilty she felt, as if she was taking advantage of me.

"Hey, look at me." I whispered and for once she instantly did without hesitation. "It's yours. I'm not taking it back to the store so some Instagram wannabe influencer can take advantage of the great camera quality." I smirked when that made the expression on her face change. "Just see it as you saving society from that."

She chuckled, looking back down at the box. "Okay, but when I have a new job, I'll pay you back with my first check." She looked up, her eyes very very convincing.

Stubborn as hell. I shook my head with amusement instead of pushing her to get the idea out of her head. "Fine, if that's what you want to do... Just know I'll use that money for endless pizza nights then..." I winked at her with a grin across my lips, that I by no means could hide.

"You knew I wouldn't say no to that, would you!" She amusingly gasped and scrunched her nose.

"Maybe." I smirked a little before my eyes fell on the box in her lap. "Open it." I urged and with a smile on her face she did, her eyes shimmering as she held her new phone in her hands. As she did, I could finally relax, letting myself fall back into the pillows. "Come here, I'll help you with your iCloud."

She smiled at me as she scooted closer, her eyes gazing at me as she bit her lip. A cute chuckle escaped from her mouth and she suddenly grabbed my legs, pulling them on the couch on either side of her. Before I knew it, she was crawling between my legs with her back against my chest, the smirk on my face revealing how much it meant to me that she wanted to be this close. I wrapped my arms around her, gently this time, trying not to squeeze her too much like last night and a minute ago. "Here." She looked back as she handed me her new phone.

She watched me carefully as I set her iCloud for her, only asking her to type in her password. She gave in her code and gave the phone back to me and just to check everything after the setting were fine, I went to her picture gallery. I grinned face-wide the moment I saw pictures of us together, a smile pasted on both our faces. "Mmhh." I hummed as I was flashing back to those moments.

She let her head fall back against my chest as her eyes also fell on the pictures. "I love these pictures." She whispered as I started scrolling through them. "Good thing I had them saved on iCloud or those cute pictures of us would have been lost."

"It's indeed a good thing." I repeated as I handed her the phone. I carefully watched her thumbs tap on the screen, only to see her instantly putting her background to one of the first pictures we ever took. It made me hum once more with happiness because that surely meant she wasn't going to push me away soon, if ever. I could only hope for the last.

"I uuhm..." I nervously started not knowing how to ask... I fumbled with my hands over her stomach until she put the phone down and grabbed them, holding them still on her stomach, our fingers instantly intertwining as if both of us were never going to let go. "I didn't want to ask earlier but how did it go at the police station?" My voice sounded just as nervous as I was and Bells noticed.

She tilted her head to the side until her nose brushed against my chin. "Uhm I don't even know where to begin." Her voice sounded normal, but I had a bad feeling about this.

"Please tell me they listened to you... I swear if they laughed it off I'm going to-" The nerves made way for frustration as I remembered last time she went in.

"Lukas." She cut me off, as she relaxed in my arms and that was somehow comforting. "For once they did, they listened. It's just they already knew... I mean his name popped up in the system. He tried to kill my mom." She said, just stating facts, not a hint of fear audible in her voice.

"What?" I instantly gasped, sitting up a little straighter. She turned a little to the side so she could face me.

Bella briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah..." She muttered before looking up, her intense eyes gazing at me with a whiff of concern. "I'm surprised he didn't try to kill me when he got a hold of those scissors." She bit her lip, her eyes wider than before.

"Don't say that." I shook my head as the thought of that outcome was pinching my heart. Imagine if that had happened.Jesus I would have never forgiven myself for not being there. No Fuck! No... I instantly felt even more protective over her... It was bad already and now I knew she feared for her life and she had a good reason to, it made me feel even more like a asshole who didn't take care of the person he loved most.

She shook her head too. "It's true..." Her breath stoked, her voice cracking. "He easily could have... I tried to use your defense lessons and I managed to get away from him multiple times bet he kept coming at me until I couldn't do anything about it anymore. I just couldn't. I'm sorry!" I felt the panic coursing through my frame, and it blew my mind how she was still so strong, talking about it without a single tear. My stomach was in knots at the image of Bells on the floor, unable to move or say anything. I closed my eyes trying to pinch it away but it didn't work. The only thing that managed to get my mind away from it were her hands, firmly holding on to mine as she pulled them under her hoodie once more. Their care felt soothing on her bruises I guessed. Baby if it's up to my I'm never ever letting go.

I snuggled my face into her hair before I sighed deeply. "I want you to tell me Bells. I want you to tell me everything." I held on to her tightly as she told me everything that happened to her, no matter how hard it was to hear, it was the awful truth.

I couldn't say a thing when she explained, I just listened, I listened carefully and with each sentence my hate for her father grew. Seeing the bruises on her were one thing, but knowing how she got them, that hit different. She talked to me with her head held high, not giving her dad the honor of hurting her any longer. She was so strong, battling the lump in her throat, a lot stronger than I was for sure.I can't even think about the things I would have done to him if I had been there... I could have killed him if it meant protecting her."They're building a case and he's getting charged with a bunch of things like child abuse, battery and attempted second degree murder." She sighed after a long and tormenting explanation. By now my anger had reached its high but I wasn't going to take it out on her, not in a million years.

"I'll only be reassured if I know he's sitting in a jail cell for the rest of his life." I gritted through my teeth and she instantly squeezed my hand that had turned into a clenched fist. "I can't believe the things he has done to you! I'm so fucking mad that I want to strangle him with my bare hands. Bells I saw the pictures and I'm s-"

"You saw the pictures?" She tilted her head back sideways so her gaze met mine, closing her eyes the second we did.

"I had to see, I'm sorry... I took Mia's phone. Don't be mad at her she tried to stop me." I felt angry still, but I could see the disappointment on her face which made me calm my temper. "Why didn't you want me to see them?" My hand reached up the caress her cheek with the back of my fingers.

She opened her eyes, looking at me with an upset gaze, her lips softly parted. "I didn't want you to see me like that." She spoke with sadness coating her words.

"Snowflake, I don't care if you're black, blue or yellow. I care too much not to know how hurt you are." I whispered while bringing my nose to hers, a smile slowly appearing on her lips. "So if he's going to get charged for all of that and hopefully more, than you'll have to go to court and testify? Are you okay with that?" I frowned my brows.

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I think it's the only way to ever leave it behind me... He needs to get what he deserves and if that means suffering as I relive all of it under oath I'll do it... I have to." The look in her eyes was strong and powerful and the way she said it made me smile at her. "What?" She widened her eyes at me before I brushed my nose over hers.

My nose traveled to her cheek, placing a soft kiss on her temple. "I'm proud of you..." I whispered against her sift skin. "You're still the girl I fell in love with." I smirked against her cheek, holding her in my arms.

"The girl you fell in love with is getting hungry..." She giggled as she playfully wiggled her shoulders.