My Captain

Ch. 21

-Chris's POV-

Is it weird that I felt like I could finally breathe when she was in my arms? Yea it is probably. She makes me happy and I'm falling for her, hard. I was so excited when she said she took some time off to come meet my family. Usually, I don't introduce anyone to my mom but Steph is so different, that I knew I wanted her to meet my mom before I even left. Gah everything feels so easy with her. I've never felt like this before. Even my siblings were surprised when I told them.

We pull into a small grocery store and I debate going in with her. I really want to. I want to be able to hold her hand while we shop together. Sometimes I wish I was normal... it really sucks being famous.

"You can stay in here if you want to. Just text me what you want." She tells me.

"No... I'll go in with you." She gives me a skeptical look but nods and gets out of the car. I follow her but stay behind her as we walk into the store. It's small, not a lot of people thankfully. I follow her around as she grabs food. I decide to make some hamburgers so I grab the meat and some fries. When I find her near the ice cream, I smile.

"What kind do you want?" She asks.

"Mmm cookies and cream." She giggles and grabs a pint of it. Ugh I wish I could kiss her...

"Why did I know you'd pick that?" She smiles.

"It's my favorite!"

"I know dork." I smile and put the food in the basket.

"Let's go. I've got enough food for two days." I follow her to the check out area. When I try to fight her on who's paying, she gives me a stern look making me shut up. My mom always taught me never piss a southern woman off and she reminds me every time I call her now that I'm dating one. I haven't officially asked her but she's mine and I'm not letting her go. As we start walking back to the car, I hear someone call her name.

"Stephanie? Is that you?" She freezes, a panicked look in her eyes.

"Steph? You ok?" She ignores me and slowly turns around. I see a man walking towards us. Brown hair, green eyes, skinny, and slightly shorter than me.

"Stephanie St James, look at you! You haven't changed a bit." For some reason, I don't like this guy. Maybe it's the way he's looking at her. She tenses in front of me so I slightly step closer to her.

"H-hi Chase." Shit! Did she just say Chase? As in her ex Chase? I put my hand on her waist and feel her relax a little. I knew I didn't like this prick. He looks up at me and I see anger flash across his eyes.

"Chase Peyton." He holds out his hand to shake but I don't remove my hand from her waist.

"Chris." I respond, anger clear in my voice. When he realizes I'm not going to shake his hand, he awkwardly lowers it.

"Right. Layla and I got married about 3 years ago. Even have a baby girl." He's trying to get a rise out of her and by the way her breathing increases, I can tell it's working.

"Congratulations but we have to go now. Nice meeting you." I grab her hand and start pulling her to the car.

"Hey, what a minute. I wasn't done." He steps closer and I immediately put her behind me.

"I think you are. Now leave." I'm a good 3 inches taller than him, and a lot stronger. He stares at me, his jaw clenched. After a few minutes, he scoffs then chuckles.

"So you need Captain America to fight your battles now? You always were pathetic." Something snaps in her and she moves from behind me, socking him in the jaw.

"Fuck off Chase." She walks off, taking the basket with her. I chuckle and quickly follow her. She starts throwing the groceries in the back when I stop her.

"Hey, hey look at me." I cup her face, trying to calm her down. Her breathing is erratic and I can tell she's trying not to break down.

"You're ok. Deep breath. In and out." She looks at me as I take a deep breath in and exhale slowly.

"He's not going to hurt you. I promise you're safe." I put my forehead against hers. She sniffles, shaking her head and looking away from me.

"C-can you drive please?" She hands me the keys before I can answer and gets in the passenger seat. Sighing, I close the trunk then get in the drivers seat. I try to talk to her on the drive home but she just stares out the window. Even when I unlock the front door, she just walks in and puts the groceries down without saying a word.

"Baby... talk to me." She just shakes her head and walks off. I know, to an extent, what her ex did. She only told me he started to abuse her after they got engaged and then cheated on her a week before the wedding. She needs time... I know she hasn't seen him in 3 years so that's got to be hard. My thoughts are interrupted when Blue barks.

"Hey girl. You need to go outside?" She yells, making me chuckle. I go to the back door and unlock it, letting her out. I go back to the kitchen and start unpacking the food, putting it in the appropriate places. I need to go check on her. I'm so worried... she's shutting me out. I get Blue inside and lock the door then make my way into her room. When I don't find her, I walk into her bathroom. Seeing her curled up in her bathtub, sobbing, breaks my heart. I hate him for what he did to her. She looks up at me and I feel my heart break even more.

"Hi baby..." I kneel down and move some hair out of her face.

"Why don't we get you out and go cuddle in bed?" She sniffles and nods. I help her stand, not caring that she's naked, and wrap a towel around her before lifting her out of the tub. I stand her up and dry her off then carry her into her room. I set her on the bed then grab a pair of underwear and a random shirt out of mine to put on her. She stares at the floor as I dress her. She looks so cute in my shirt.

"Get under the covers." I move them back and she climbs in, still staring off into space. I quickly get out of my jeans and shirt then climbs in next to her. I don't ask her to talk, I know she will when she's ready. After a few minutes of silence, I hear sniffles so I pull her closer and kiss the top of her head.

"I'm sorry I ruined our date."

"Oh baby, no don't be. You didn't do anything wrong." She looks up at me, tears in her blue eyes.

"I freaked out... I haven't seen him in 3 years and I thought I was over everything but seeing him... everything just came flooding back. I'm such a wimp." She sighs.

"No you're not. You're so strong." I tell her but she scoffs.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask. She moves away from me, laying on her back.