"Alright, see you all tomorrow! Get some rest and prepare to pick up right where we left off! Good work!"

Dave's dismissal drove an instant spear of nerves directly to into the pit of my swirling stomach.

Without having to guess, I knew Kaleb would be watching me. My eyes fluttered close and I reveled in the momentary solitude the darkness brought me.

Here we go.

I wasn't even the slightest bit surprised to find Kaleb standing tall in front of me. I rose my chin up, letting my head crane to connect my stare to his.

For once, our stares seemed to reflect the others in their misery. Both of us dreaded the talk that would soon conspire and yet both of us knew how absolutely necessary it was.

Languidly, I rose from my seat in the audience, feeling the muscles in my legs stretch and cry out in relief as I had been sitting for a good hour now and they yearned for a bit of action.

Mindlessly, I followed Kaleb as he led the way through the winding halls and out the back door of the theater to a place I had never visited before.

I dared to let my brows rise in shock and awe as I stepped past the threshold of the theater and into the most random, yet heartwarming sight I ever could have imagined.

Sitting behind one of the aged theater, was a garden.

A small one, but a garden nonetheless.

There was a tall, black rimmed archway that both Kaleb and I walked under in order to step fully into the lively colored garden. There were two wooden benches sitting parallel to each other and it was almost impossible to let your eyes wander anywhere in the garden without stumbling upon a set of exquisitely beautiful flowers.

Reds, pinks, whites and yellows of every shade littered across the garden. My eyes were wide and greedy as they took in every inch of the breathless, natural beauty around me.

"I take it you didn't know this was here?" his deep voice mused lightly, breaking me from my awe inspired trance.

Steering my gaze towards Kaleb, I slowly shook my head.

"Meg has a big thing for gardens apparently and she's here so much with Dave she just started coming out here on her breaks a year or so ago and went a little overboard, like Meg tends to do," Kaleb said with a chuckle as he disconnected our stares to move closer into the garden, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans as he observed the plants and trees around him.

Gradually, Kaleb turned back to me. His eyes met mine in an electrifying stare that startled my heart with a great jolt.

"Do you like it?"

I gave him a tentative nod.

The side of Kaleb's mouth quirked up just the slightest, his eyes glowing with contentment.

"I thought you might."

I averted my gaze from him and stood awkwardly in middle of the garden, pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth and chewing on the sensitive skin as I waited for Kaleb to make his next move.

My eyes had drifted over the same patch of wiry green grass numerous times before Kaleb finally broke the silence.

"You gonna stand there all day, Peaches?"

My eyes snapped up to find his, only to realize that he had taken his place on one of the wooden benches and was staring up at me expectantly.

"Oh, uh, yeah," I mumbled out shyly as I let my legs stroll across the garden, mashing down the sections of grass that my feet came in contact with until I made it to the bench that Kaleb was perched upon.

I lowered myself onto the bench, being sure to keep an acceptable amount of distance between us as feasibly possible on the other side of the shared bench.

Kaleb didn't seem to take any real notice to my distance though as he was far too swept away in the valley of his thoughts. His eyes swirled with thought; his elbows perched onto his knees as he ran the tips of his thumbs across his bottom lip contemplatively.

I had become almost memorized by the sight, the soothing motion of his thumbs caressing back and forth over the luscious lips that I had just days ago had my own lips interlocked with. My mind was so invested in watching the tempting show that Kaleb was unintentionally putting on, I hardly realized when the show had stopped and the conversation had begun.

"So those bruises were from that night?"

"Huh?" My eyes snapped away from Kaleb's lips and directly to his brooding stare.

"The bruises on your stomach," he repeated, taking a beat in the middle to swallow the disdain rising in his throat. "They were from the night of the party?"

This was so weird for me, talking about it out loud, sharing my brutal experiences with someone other than myself.

Wordlessly, I nodded.

Kaleb's head cocked to the side as he detached his stare from my own, his mouth twisting with disgust and his face churning with fury.

"So he beat you that night," he spat out the word 'beat', his lips curling up into a snarl. "Because he saw you and I about to kiss?"

"We weren't-"

My denial was cut short as Kaleb sent an incredulous look my way, shutting down any feeble attempt at a lie.

"Yes."

A sharp breath cut through Kaleb's nostrils.

"Motherfucker," he gritted out through clenched teeth.

"You have to report him, Leah. You have to."

"No!" I said as I spun to face him, appalled by even the very thought of reporting Zach to the police.

"And why the fuck not?"

"Because I love him," I responded without skipping a beat.

Kaleb dropped his head into his hands, shaking it from side to side as he stared at the ground beneath with a baffled expression fixed within his wide eyes.

"Jesus Christ, it's like I'm talking to my sister all over again," he muttered out.

Kaleb then turned his head to me, connecting his profoundly earnest stare to mine.

"Why? Why do you love him?"

His question struck me with more force than I was prepared for. I mulled his question over for a few seconds before answering.

"Because... because he is the only person willing to put up with me and all of the mistakes I make. He looks past those flaws I have and accepts me anyway. He is so incredibly smart and is kind enough to let me know when I mess up. And he's so selfless for staying with me even though he could have any girl he wanted who would definitely not be as much of hassle as I am."

Subconsciously, my fingers had begun to pull of the skin of my bottom lip as my mind continued to run rampant with reasons of why I was so lucky to have Zach in my life.

"I know I'm not... very smart and I don't really bring much to the table but... he puts up with me anyways and no one else would do that for me."

Turning me head to the side, I stilled my stare on Kaleb's, certainly shining through my eyes.

"I am so so lucky to have him and I would never find anyone who would honestly love me like he does. That's why I love him."

Seconds went by with nothing being said. Our stares were still trained on one another's, a look swimming through Kaleb's eyes that I couldn't quite decipher.

That was, until he spoke.

"He really has done a job on you, Peaches."

Confusion swirled through my mind instantly as he spoke, my brows dipping in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kaleb began, shifting his body around and swinging one of this legs over the bench so that he was straddling the bench and facing me head on, an insistent look settled in his radiant stare.

"I mean that he has been filling your head with such shit for three years now that you don't even question any of it."

I began to shake my head in defiance, parting my lips to speak until Kaleb promptly cut me off.

"From what it sounds like, he's been polluting your mind with lies of how you're not good enough, how no one else would give you the time of day or some other bullshit for so long that it's all you believe now. He's got you so brainwashed that he can do whatever the fuck he wants to you and you'll sit there and take it because you think you can't do any better."

"He's not brainwashing me," I said, aggravation beginning to edge into my words.

"Then what the fuck do you call it when your boyfriend hits you for almost, not even doing it, but almost kissing someone else and you still go crawling back to him afterwards?" Kaleb inquired with fire in his eyes.

"You call it acceptable punishment for almost betraying him and embarrassing him in front of his coworkers," I spat out with an equal amount of fire brimming in my stare.

"Acceptable punishment?" Kaleb bellowed out, his brows raised high on his forehead in shock.

"Yes!"

"Do you know how fucked up that sounds, Leah? For you to say it's acceptable punishment for him to beat the shit out of you whenever he feels like it?"

"It's not whenever he wants, it's only when I deserve it," I shot back.

"You never deserve it though!" Kaleb exploded, his eyes wide and burning with passion and determination. Suddenly, Kaleb scooted himself closer to me on the bench, bringing his knees pressing up against mine and his face right in front of me.

"There is no goddamn reason ever good enough to lay a hand on a woman. No matter what she does, no man worth a damn would ever put his hands on a woman in any other way than to show her he loves her. And I don't care who the fuck you are but you don't express your love for someone by beating the shit out of them. There's no such thing as a loving punch or kick to the stomach."

A sudden spark shot off underneath the skin of my cheek as the warm tips of Kaleb's fingers brushed across my cheek.

Slowly, he turned his hand, letting his knuckles graze softly across my cheek until his hand dipped under my sheet of hair, threading his fingers through my long locks as he affectionately cupped the back of my head.

The entire time, I was at a loss. My mind and body were stilled as they let Kaleb's actions follow through. Something about the way he was gazing at me, the shining adoration swimming through his stare had my mind on lock down and my ears at bay as I listened to him continue speaking helplessly.

"I'm here to tell you that Zach is wrong," he spoke, his voice thick and rasped. "There is nothing you could ever do to deserve how he treats you."

Slowly, his fingers started massaging the base of my neck, relaxing and taunting me with his expert fingers all at once.

"You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. You have so much hidden passion and joy inside of you just waiting to break free. You are kind and genuine in everything you do. For example, with my paintings, I could tell you genuinely wanted to see them and were listening to me when I was talking about them. So many people just wait to talk these days; it's nice to find someone who truly wants to listen."

I was beginning to become heady as Kaleb's words and inviting touch clouded my thoughts, my head unintentionally dropping back into Kaleb's large hand gradually.

"You're also one of the feistiest women I have ever met. But you only let it show sometimes, which only makes it that much better when you do let it out."

I hadn't realized until now, but as he carried on with his speech, he had been drifting closer and closer. Now, his remarkably handsome face was mere inches away from mine, his lips even closer.

"You are one of the most talented actresses I've ever worked with, you're dangerously charming,"

The dazzling blue of Kaleb's eyes darkened considerably as another thought flitted through his mind.

"And you're so ridiculously sexy and so fucking gorgeous that it would be impossible for no other men to desire you."

"It's not desiring me that's the issue. It's loving me," I whispered out, my tone dripping with vulnerability.

Gloom broke through the yearning in Kaleb's eyes, his forehead creasing in sadness.

"What Zach does to you... that's not love. And if it is, it's a twisted sort of love. One you can do so much better than, Peaches," Kaleb spoke softly, his ardent tone seeping into my heart, causing it to constrict and writhe in an unexpected surge of compassion.

It wasn't something I should be feeling towards anyone other than Zach.

"You shouldn't be saying these things to me," I said in a wisp of a voice that I hardly recognized as my own.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not right... Because I'm with Zach, because-"

"Because it's all true?" Kaleb cut me off to say.

"Someone like Zach doesn't know how to love properly. He beats you and talks you down and makes you believe that no one else could possibly want you because that's the only way he can think of to get you to stay. This way, he knows that you'd never even think about leaving because you'd be too afraid; afraid of his reaction and afraid that you'd never find someone else."

"He's been a lot better lately," I tried to reason.

"It's not gonna last. I can promise you it won't. This isn't just something that Zach will snap out of one day. It's a part of him that you will have to deal with every single day until he goes too far one day and kills you," Kaleb revealed darkly, his tone becoming insistent and full of warning.

My eyes widened as a knife of fear sliced through my body.

"You've gotta get out before that happens, Leah. You've gotta leave him as soon as you can," Kaleb stated, sending my mind into a panicked frenzy.

"No," I told him, shaking my head. "I can't."

"Leah, you have to," he said while dropping his hand from the back of my head yet still keeping his adamant stare secured on mine.

"I know it seems impossible now but I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you get out of this mindset that Zach's forced you into and prove to you that you are so much better than he is, Leah."

"No," I mumbled, severing our stares and sending my gaze towards my hands as my fingers twiddled together in distraction.

Yet, as soon as I made the move, two fingers appeared underneath my chin, lifting my head back up gently.

Kaleb's acute stare met mine, sincerity exuding from his light blue eyes.

"Yes, you are, Leah."

He's wrong.

"And I bet you think I'm wrong, but I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that you are one of, if not the most captivating woman I have ever met in my entire life."

I wanted to believe him. I really did. But every word he spoke was quickly countered in my mind by something else Zach had said in the past; things that had been drilled into my mind for so long that there was no other choice but to believe them.

And Zach would never lie to me; of that I was positive.

Kaleb let out a deep sigh through his nose, his lips pursed and his eyes glued to mine in concentration.

"I'm gonna prove it to you. Some way, somehow, I'm going to prove to you how amazing you truly are and you're gonna trust me when I do it. I'm going to make it so you stop thinking so little of yourself or your worth; show you that more than just Zach can care deeply about you... that you can steal your way into a man's heart with very little effort." Kaleb's voice dropped off at the end, another emotion entirely replacing the persistent look that had been sitting in his eyes for some time.

A short scoff resonated in my throat and my eyes rolled on their own accord as his absurd comment hit my ears.

"Sure," I muttered sarcastically.

"Leah," he beckoned me with his deep, suddenly very intimate voice. My eyes that had once again dropped from his view, snapped back up to meet his stare.

The immediate intensity I was greeted with in Kaleb's stare was enough to knock every ounce of sarcasm from my face as my lips parted and my stare fastened on his as he spoke.

"I can guarantee you, that there is at least one man who would want you in more ways than you could ever imagine."