Dragged Down By Her past

Right now- Blake's POV

Blake's POV-

It had been a month since we had rescued the women from the Mendezes. In that month, I had seen Amelia in a completely new light. I mean, I knew that the girl was strong, but the way that she took care of those girls was just absolutely endearing.

She was firm but loving. She was strong but soft. She was vulnerable but supportive. She was helping each girl come out of her shell and was making great progress with them. Honestly, I thought that she was really helping herself as well. She was changing these women's lives and it was spectacular to see.

Out of the twenty women that had been rescued, she had already helped transition fourteen of them out of the house. Most went back home with their families, but some went onto different cities to start fresh. There were three that actually went all together down south just to go to the ocean.

She stayed in contact with all of them and helped them set up appointments and support systems all around them. She was just... absolutely the best person that I could ever imagine. Even after everything that she went through, she managed to keep a soft heart about her and chose to help instead of wallowing in the pain like she could have. I knew that it had taken her a long time to get to where she was at, but that didn't matter... I was so proud of her.

"Alexis..." Amelia said patiently. "I promise that Xander will bring you back whenever you want. You just have to promise me that you'll at least try. It'll just be for a few hours," she said softly. "Your family has missed you, Alex. I know it's hard, but you've got to let them back in. You've got to let them love you. They won't let anything happen to you."

"I know," she sighed as she leaned onto Amelia. All of them did that quite often, they all touched and leaned onto her a lot. It was like just a single touch from her gave them strength. "It's a big step," she sighed again. "I'm just nervous, but I'll try."

"I know," Amelia smiled at her. "That's only natural. However, I bet you'll have fun if you let yourself."

"I will," she nodded just as a knock sounded on the door.

"Have fun, Alex!" Amelia said with a grin. "When you get back, we'll have cake and ice cream! And we'll legally be able to drink together now!" She laughed. "Happy birthday! You're so strong," she told the girl with a big hug.

"I love you," Alexis told her with a deep breath before answering the door for her uncle.

"Call me if you need to. Xander, make her have fun! There's only one twenty-first birthday," Amelia told Alverez calmly as she put a gentle hand on Alexis' shoulder to calm her down a bit. "You're gonna be fine."

"I will. We're all going to have a good time. Thank you, Amelia," Xander replied as Alexis took a deep breath and then followed her uncle to the car.

"You're so lovely," I told Amelia with a smile as I pulled her to the couch and nestled her next to me after they were gone.

I was happy that she was helping everyone and everything, but we had barely any time together anymore except for sleeping and comforting each other's reoccurring nightmares. Plus, I could see that she was starting to drain herself dry. It was what she always did... Soon, I was probably going to have to step in and make her take time for herself. I was just hoping that she was going to see what she was doing before I had to step in. I was hoping that with all of this work with the other girls, it would make her see herself a bit more clearly.

"You've told me something along those lines like six times today," she said with a headshake and pressed closer to me as she leaned on me.

"Damn... only six?" I laughed as she playfully glared at me. I kissed her head with a smile, catching her off guard. "I just want you to know how much you mean to me. Everything that you're doing is so amazing."