Blast From The Past

Messing Up

As soon as I hear the front door closing, my head turns towards the hallway and I wait, hoping it's Joey. I'm so relieved to see that it is him and he wanders over to me. "Are you okay baby?" I nod. I lift the blanket so he can snuggle in next to me. He wraps his arm around me and holds my hand under the blanket. We don't speak as we are each lost in our thoughts.
When we're in the bathroom, brushing our teeth, I notice Joe's knuckles which are covered in blood and bruised. I can't believe I didn't notice this until now. "Joe, what happened to your hand? It's all sore." I carefully touch it and he flinched. "I was so angry, I lost my temper. I'm okay though." I ask him if he has any antiseptic stuff to clean the knuckles with. He reaches inside his medicine cabinet and gives it to me. As gently as I possibly can, I clean the area. "Katee, I want you to know that the father won't be bothering you now. He's finally got the message to stay away." I knew it. Yet, at the same time, I appreciate his deep need to protect me, I've never had a man defend me like this before. I softly kiss him. I whimper when he deepens it. "Let's get to bed, it's been a long day and night." I follow his lead as we climb into bed. We exchange our 'love yous' before falling asleep whilst embraced in each other's arms.
I wake up to the darkness. I go to sit up and I realise that Joey is not here. Needing to go to the toilet, I do this first before going downstairs to look for Joe. I try to creep down the stairs so they don't squeak too much, it seems like the house is all in the dark. Searching the kitchen, dining room and then entering the living room, I see a flicker of light coming from under the door. There's no sound coming from the other side. Has he fallen asleep, I think to myself. I slowly open the door and there is Joey, sitting in the corner of the room with a glass of whiskey. "Hey darling, what are you doing down here?" He doesn't respond. I decide to tread carefully. I don't know how long we're both sitting here but he makes me jump slightly when he starts to speak. "I've messed up Katee. I shouldn't have lost my temper. I'm so angry. I feel ashamed that I put you in the situation that I have, now I know your history with him. But then, I think, he's not who I thought he was. It was like looking at someone I don't know." He clenches his fist. "Oww crap!" His eyes squeeze shut as pain rides through his hand. I gently stroke his other hand and caress the side of his face. "Joseph, you are so amazing. I'm sorry that I've put you in this situation. I know it's not easy for you. Try not to beat yourself up. Why don't we go back to bed when you're ready?" He looks at me, straight in the eyes. Both of us are emotional and exhausted. "I need you so much sweetheart. Forget going to bed." Then kisses me. Moving his way to my neck, pausing at the area that only he knows how sensitive I am there. He undresses me. Making sure he doesn't miss anywhere as he caresses my skin. I try to remove his shirt until he yanks it off himself. Lost in each other, as we momentarily forget about everything else. No one has ever made me feel the way I do like he does, even as I'm straddling him, I feel like all of the pain I've endured has been worth it for it lead me to this moment in time with this incredible and loving man. "I love you." I'm not sure who's speaking but all you can hear and feel is the love that is building strongly between us.
At some point, we must have fallen asleep and somehow pulled the blanket over ourselves. I'm still on top of him with my head laid against his chest. His fingers lightly stroke my spine. I doze back off. It's daylight now as it tries to poke through the curtains. We stay in our position for a few more minutes. Then carefully we untangle from each other. I reach down for his shirt and pull it on me. "Hey cheeky, that looks sexy on you." I blush as I look at him. We pick up the rest of our clothes and we make our way back to his room. Exhausted, we climb into the bed and get comfortable. I don't think it takes long for either of us to drift off to sleep.
"What the hell?!" I hear Joe say. His voice sounding hoarse and raspy which I find sexy. We look at each other, confused. Climbing out of bed, I reach for the dressing gown and he does the same. Connecting our hands, we make our way downstairs, each anticipating what could be awaiting us. Somehow Joe knows where the sound is coming from and leads the way towards it. We are both standing opposite the storage cupboard in the pantry, surprised to see Nikki with various belongings all on top of her. Unable to resist, I chuckle loudly, setting all of us off laughing. "What are you trying to do?" Joe is trying to be serious but can't help himself from laughing. "I was looking for the takeaway menus, but then the shelf collapsed on me!" He goes to help her stand up. I pick up the stuff off the floor. "The menus are in the hallway sideboard. I'm sorry, I was thinking of going shopping today, hang on, what time is it?" Nikki looks at her watch. "It's four in the afternoon." Oops. The three of us decide on what we're ordering and then Joe does some online shopping. Secretly, I'm glad that we have ended up not going anywhere, I really don't think I'd be up to it. Too much had happened in the last few days. Hopefully we can relax here. Joe and Nikki both agree to having a quiet night in, playing some board games and watching the television after we have eaten our takeaway.