Love me 'Til it Hurts

Chapter 76 - Once in a Lifetime Love.

4 Months Later...
Juliette Ackles...

'I can see it in your eyes, and feel it in your touch, I know that you're scared, but you've never been this loved (mm hmm), It's a long shot, baby, I know it's true, but if anyone can make it, I'm betting on me and you (mm hmm), Just keep on moving into me, I know you're gonna to see, the best is yet to come, and don't fear it now, we're going all the way, that sun is shining on a brand new day, it's a long way down, and it's a leap of faith, but we're never giving up, 'Cause I know we've got a once in a lifetime love, everybody's looking, for what we've found, some wait their whole life, and it never comes around (oh huh), So don't hold back now, just let go of all you've ever known, you can put your hand in mine,' (Once in a Lifetime Love, Keith Urban).

The song was pumping through the speakers in our bedroom roof. It wasn't usually the type of music that either Cal or I listened to, but Jeremy had stumbled across the song when it played on the radio while he was working, and it had hit him hard and had now sort of become 'our' song.

When the dust had settled after my abduction and Angela was safely locked away in a mental-health facility - we all took the time to relax and just be for a month, it was during that time that Jeremy confessed he wanted to start his own business. Because he had always been good with his hands (no I don't mean that, although he was damn good at that too) and he loved working with wood to create things - he had stated that he wanted to start his own furniture building business. Cal and I both agreed that we thought it was a brilliant idea, so much that both of us invested in him and helped him get it started. Now here we were four months later, and he was fully booked for months in advance with orders. I don't think that I could be more, proud of him if I tried. The wood-shed at the back of the cabin had become his official workspace and shop.

Callum had also made the painful decision to give up working with clients. What Angela had put us all through had tainted his view on helping actual patients, so when he was offered the professor position at the local university, he jumped at the chance. It meant shorter hours and less stress, which had a huge impact on the man as a person. It was nothing short of miraculous to see the transformation in my man.

Now he looked forward to going to work in the mornings, and he loved having the weekends to himself and us even more. It felt good to be able to wake up next to him and not have to worry about him rushing off to the office on the weekends. Plus, he had the whole sexy professor look down. We may or may not have had some incredible role-play sessions because of it. I was as proud of him as I was of Jeremy - both my men were doing something that they loved and it shaped them into better men, not that there really was any room for improvement because they had already been pretty damn fucking special before all the shit had gone down.

As for me - I have started training to become a tattooist. The training has become constant now that I have gotten a hang of tattooing on the fake flesh arm that the guys at the shop have provided. I am nowhere near ready to actually tattoo a real live person, but I knew that the time would come, so long as I continued to practice as much as I could and gave it my all.

Ivan and Kai had been beside themselves with guilt over what happened, but I explained vehemently that it was not their fault. It was no one but Angela's fault - the woman knew that what she did was wrong, she wouldn't have kept me hidden if she didn't believe what she was doing was wrong. It was hard to accept but when I finally came to the realisation that she simply wanted me out of the way, I found it easier to put it behind me. I wouldn't allow anyone in my life to feel any blame or guilt over what happened.

I loved working at the tattoo shop - it gave me the option to be creative and I already had a fan base for my work - a lot of new customers asked for my designs specifically - the guys had set up a section on their shop's social media page for my drawings. And honestly, I feel like my love of drawing has been renewed in a way that I didn't even realise I needed.