Scared of love

29

My darling Poppy is stood in the large entrance of the barn with a gun held to her head. It's held by her father. The man that beat her, the man that made her life a misery.

Poppy has tears running down her cheeks and is breathing heavily. "Keiran." She whimpers and I feel my chest contract.

I begin to move forwards, but he points the gun at me. I stop in my tracks and look around at the others. The horses are snorting and stamping their hooves. They can sense the tense atmosphere.

"Stay where you are, boy." He growls then repositions the gun at Poppy's head.

"Please, let me go." Cries Poppy. He silences her by slamming the gun in to the side of her head. I wince and I turn my head to look at the others.

Tim, Max and Ben are stood in front of my aunt and Miles is at my side. Ryan reaches for Alissa and she instantly goes to his side. He holds on to her hand, but keeps her behind him.

"Not a word out of anyone or I'll shoot your darling Poppy." He growls in a menacing tone.

"Now you see." He starts, addressing all of us, but only looking at me. "This little shit told someone that I beat her and she was taken away from me. I was left all alone and I have been for nine years." Poppy cries as he holds her around the neck.

"So decided I'd get revenge. I tracked her down, found her." Then he points at me. "He stopped me getting what I wanted the first time, but he wasn't there to protect his girlfriend the next time."

I feel as though someone has kicked me in the gut. I feel absolutely awful that I didn't protect her from him, that he did attack her. But no one has said it out loud before.

"Don't listen to him. Keiran!" Shouts Poppy and he tightens his grip on her neck making her struggle.

He laughs like a lunatic, but stops abruptly. "You're a pathetic excuse of a boy...."

BANG! Her father falls back on the dusty ground, screaming out in pain, clutching his thigh. Poppy is released from his grip and I reach out to her. She runs over to me and she jumps in to my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist.

She sobs in to the crook of my neck out of fear and relief. I hold on to her tightly, so relieved to have her safe in my arms. I look up and at my Uncle who is still pointing his gun at him, making sure he stays down. He looks over at us and I mouth 'Thank you!' to him and he tips his hat forwards to me.

Ryan is calming down the frightened Alissa. He's stroking her cheeks as she tries to regain composure. Alissa suffers from anxiety so that shook her up a lot. Miles comes over to them and pushes Ryan out of the way slightly. He's clearly not to happy that they're getting closer.

Tim, Max and Ben are pinning Poppy's father to the ground as he continues to cry out from being shot. My aunt is on the phone, to the police, I presume. I want that bastard locked up for life.

I stroke Poppy's back gently and kiss the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Poppy. I'm so sorry, baby girl!" I hold her against me as tight as I can.

Poppy slowly pulls away, but she stays close to me, always touching me in some way. "How did he find me?" She asks me, eyeing him warily.

"He must of been stalking us, baby girl, then followed is here." I rub her shoulder affectionately.

"Do you think he'll go to prison?" She asks, turning to me. Before I have time to answer, Miles appears next to us.

"Yes, he will, Poppy. I promise." He smiles at her gently. "He won't bother you again."

Poppy sighs, relieved. "And he's a cop. He knows what he's on about." I wrap her in my arms again, holding her close to me. I feel her relax, she knows now that it's all over, that he won't bother her again.

****

The Police arrived within ten minutes of my aunt ringing them. They called an ambulance to tend to his wound, but my Uncle isn't being charged as it was classed as self defense. He was taken down to the station earlier to write a statement and so were Poppy and I.

We're now sat in the large, cozy living room. Poppy is curled up on the sofa. I move over to her. "How are you doing, baby?" I ask her, signalling for her to move up so I can sit next to her. I take a seat and pull her in to me.

"I'm good, thank you. Actually, I'm great." She smiles, resting her head on my chest. "I know he won't cause me a problem ever again." She sighs, balancing her cup of tea on her knee.

"Do you need anything?" Asks Miles as he enters the living room. He looks between Poppy and I.

"No, thank you." Says Poppy, looking up at Miles.

"Okay, darlin' " Miles smiles back and flops down in the arm chair. He crosses his left leg over his right and leans back in his chair.

"I tended to Simba for you, Poppy, and Apollo, Keiran. They're in one of the far pastures." He tells us as he flicks on the TV.

"Thank you, Miles." Says Poppy.

"Yeah, thank you, Buddy." I tell him, smiling gratefully. Miles nods and flicks through the channels. He lands on a channel and Poppy jumps suddenly.

"Leave it on, leave it on!" She sits up a little straighter. There's a young lad with jet black hair and blue eyes drinking... blood?

"What on earth is this?" I ask, looking at Miles then Poppy.

"It's The Vampire Diaries, duh." Laughs Poppy. "Oh my days, Damon is gorgeous." She sighs.

"Turn it off." I growl, holding on to her tightly. Miles laughs as I scowl at the supposedly 'gorgeous' man on the television.

"Stop moaning." Poppy scolds me playfully as she laces her fingers with mine.

"Do we have to leave it on?" Asks Miles. "It looks like shit." He spits out jokingly.

"It's not shit." Barks Poppy, but she's smiling. "However, I'm going to go to bed. I'm exhausted." She stands up, pulling me with her. Poppy goes through in to the kitchen where the others are talking loudly.

They all stop when they see her. "I'm going to bed everyone. Good night." She says kindly. Poppy receives a series of 'Night darlin' s and 'see you tomorrow s'. We exit the kitchen and go upstairs and in to our bedroom.

It's warm so we both strip to our underwear. I slide in under the thick, comfy duvet and lift up the other side so that Poppy can slip in next to me. She lays with her back to my chest. I bury my face in the crook of her neck and I place one hand on her soft stomach. She covers my hand with her small one.

"This definitely beats the ground." She laughs quietly and I think about the hard ground we slept on last night. I snuggle down in to the soft sheets.

"Yes, it definitely does. And Apollo won't terrify you in the morning." I laugh and she does to. "Your face was a picture."

"That was not funny." Poppy tries to be serious, but she can't. "Keiran?" She says, all trace of humour in her voice is gone.

"Yes, Princess?" I ask her quietly.

"We're safe now, aren't we?" She asks me, clearly in need of reassurance that no one will hurt her again.

I hold her as close to me as I can. "Yes, my beautiful girl, no one will ever hurt you again." I assure her and her breathing starts to even out. She's asleep. And hopefully, it is the first peaceful sleep of many, many to come.