Devil's House

The Devil's Mistake

Chester almost had all of Talinda's clothes packed back into her three large suitcases. The girls were now two weeks old, and with Talinda feeling better and no longer in pain from simple, everyday movements, she was ready to go home. Back to her apartment and her private space. It was hard as Chester slowly made room in the suitcase for a blouse he knew Talinda hated, and would be happy to no longer wear once her figure slowly came back.

Talinda had helped with the packing more this time around, and she was almost done with gathering all of her personal belongings from the pastel colored bathroom. She had to admit she was going to miss the pretty seashell sanctuary that had been loaned to her over the last few weeks, but now it was time to go home.

"The girls are going to love that bathroom when they get old enough to use it," she said with a smile as she stepped into the bedroom. "It's the perfect space for little girls." She stepped over to the bed to zip up her cosmetic bag and she noticed the downturn of Chester's lips, and the way he had come to a complete stop, his fingers still tangled in the blush colored blouse Talinda planned on ceremoniously burning once her belly no longer looked so pudgy.

Her hand went right to Chester's shoulder and then across his shoulder blades, rubbing gently. "Chester, are you okay?" He was staring down into her suitcase, his bottom lip trembling ever so slightly.

He nodded slowly. "I'm okay. I'm just going to miss you being here." He looked over and smiled weakly. Talinda's long dark hair was cascading over her shoulders. For the last week she'd been wearing makeup again, and today it brought something extra pretty out about her face. Her brown eyes were light and full of the sparkle of life and her mascara and thin eyeliner emphasized that quality even more. She was beautiful in that moment, and Chester appreciated it for maybe the first time. "I know it was always the plan for you to move back to your apartment, but I guess I'm struggling with that a little."

It was always nice to be wanted, and having that come from Chester Bennington was extra special. Talinda felt her good mood lift even more as she pulled him in a little closer. "Thank you, Chester," she said softly as she leaned her head against his. "Thank you for letting me stay here, and thank you for missing me even before I'm gone."

"I do," Chester confirmed as he let go of the blush colored blouse to turn and take Talinda in his arms instead. "The house is going to be missing something once you leave."

Talinda squeezed him tight for only a second before she leaned away. "Chester, stop it," she ordered with a choke in her voice. "You're going to make me cry and mess up my makeup." She smiled at him as their eyes connected. "I'm going to miss you, too."

He nodded. "We're all going to miss you. The girls, too."

"I told you to stop," Talinda huffed before she stepped over to the dresser to grab a tissue from the box. "I'm going to miss them, too. I'm so thankful that you and Mike are taking them. After going through everything, I really think I would have driven myself crazy worrying and wondering about them if they would have gone to strangers."

"You don't have to worry about that," Chester promised just as Ryan stepped into the room.

"Worry about what?" he asked, his senses suddenly on alert. He'd already taken a few boxes and suitcases out to the car. He was coming back in to help with the last of it all. The last thing he was expecting was to walk into the room to see two very upset people. "Why, why is everyone crying?" He looked from Chester's sad face, to Talinda's less than perfect makeup and even Cheese, who was parked on the bed next to the suitcase looked distraught as she looked up at Chester, her head slightly tilted like she was trying to see if he was okay.

"It's Chester's fault," Talinda offered with a heavy sigh. "He's over here telling me how much he's going to miss me." She rolled her eyes playfully, her hands on the hips of her sweatpants.