I See The Light (Book #3 in LA Series)

Chapter Fifteen

Beth's POV
I ran down the stairs and waved bye to Kev and Maxine who were on the couch. "Where are you going?" Kev asks.

"To Dan's," I answer. "Um, we are seeing each other."

Kev smiles. "Finally."

I Huff and roll my eyes, walking out the door.

I get to Dan's and sit beside Jerry who was in his usual seat. Dan leans over the bar and we share a kiss. "Aren't you two cute," Jerry says.

Dan smiles and hands me my usual Samuel Adams.

I spend the rest of the night gossiping with Jerry and I do eventually have to drive him back to his caravan before going back to Dan's.

Dan was still closing up the bar when I got there, so I decided to help and go check the bathroom for patrons.

I step into the males and I feel sick at what my mind makes me see. I lay there in my blood, my shirt ripped off me and my pants and panties pulled to my ankles.

I then feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't scream," he growls into my ear. "Don't make this hard on yourself."

"Beth!"

I'm on the floor and so is Dan. His nose was bleeding and he had scratch marks down his cheeks.

It happened again.

"I'm sorry," I cry. He picks me up in his arms and he takes me upstairs to his apartment. He drops me down on his bed and holds me to him.

"Why did you go in there?" He asks.

"I thought I would be fine," I croak.

"Time doesn't heal anything, Beth," he says. "You're always going to remember what he did to you."

I cry into Dan's shoulder and he rubs my back comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he murmurs. "I've seen this before Beth. Cole used to choke me out with his."

I get up out of his lap and wipe away my tears. "Let me clean you up," I murmur. He nods and watches me intensely as I walk out of his room. I grab a cloth and go back into the room, cleaning the dry blood off his face. "What did I do?"

"You scratched me first," he says. "Then you punched me when I tried to calm you down."

"I'm sorry," I say again.

"Don't apologise," he murmurs. "You couldn't control it."

"I thought I was getting better," I choke up.

"You are," he says. "But you shouldn't have gone in there by yourself Beth."

I nod. "I just didn't think. I wanted to help you so we could come up here quicker."

Dan hums and his arms circle me, grabbing me by the backs of my thighs. "And why's that?"

"Because I want to spend time with you," I deadpan.

He smiles and leans up kissing me. I let go of the cloth and grabbed his face. I press my tongue against him and he pulls me forward so he is lying down and I am on top of him.

I gasp into the kiss when I feel his erection against my stomach. He pulls away from my mouth and starts placing kisses against my neck and jaw. "Shit I'm going to lose control," he groans.

"It has been a while," I tease.

"So long," he moans as if in pain.

I giggle and press my face against his chest. Dan rolled us around so we were both lying on our sides. He kisses me softly. "Thanks," I whisper. "For everything."

"Anything," he says. "Beth I'm here for you."

I nod and quickly wipe away the tears threatening to fall. "You always say the right thing," I say.

He is perfect.

*

"Take a seat, Beth," my therapist Wilson says. I sit down across from him on the plush couch and awkwardly take my bag off. "How have the walks been?"

"Good," I answer. "Dan joins me sometimes."

"Yes I remember you saying you had gotten into a relationship with him," he says. Wilson hums. "How is that going?"

"I hit him," I whisper. "I went into the bathroom in the bar and he came up behind me."

"And do you know that it's not your fault?" Wilson asks. "That you couldn't control yourself at that time?"

"Sort of," I murmur. "Dan kept replaying that to me. That he had to tell Cole so many times when he went into episodes and he will tell me every day if he has to."

"But remember you can't compare yourself to Cole," Wilson says. "You and Cole went through different things and will get better at different paces."

I nod. "I know."

"Now like usual I want you to describe to me what happened that night," Wilson murmurs.

"It was six years ago," I croak. "I was closing the bar and kicked Jerry out, going to check the bathrooms to make sure no patrons had passed out in there like usual."

"Should we stop for a moment?" Wilson questions, seeing my face become clammy and pale.

I shake my head. "He came up behind me and put his hand over my mouth,' I continued. "He told me not to scream and then pushed me onto the floor. I banged my head on the sink and I became a mess on the floor. He had me on my knees and ripped off my jeans and panties and he-" I choked back a sob and Wilson passed me a bucket.

My stomach erupts into the bucket and Wilson waits patiently for me to finish.

"You did good today, Beth," he says. "We are making progress."

Were we? I certainly didn't feel like it.