Chosen

Chapter 5

Ughhh. My head hurt like a bitch and it's cold as fuck in my room right now which isn't really helping my headache. Looking down I realize that I'm not laying in my sheets right now; I'm not even laying in my bed. I slowly peel myself at of the lush black comforter. I'm in a studio apartment. Cream walls, a cozy looking black lazy boy across a plasma tv, and the large king sized bed I was asleep in only a few moments ago. I manage to slowly make my way over to the mirror on the opposite end of the apartment. Immediately, I'm taken back by what I see. There's a deep gash on my right temple, my left cheek has already begun to bruise, one which will look much worse in the morning. It all comes flooding back to me. I was walking back from the party. The two men who had attacked me. Phil, flying into the tree... and me the one who did it. I sunk to the ground, my knees coming to my chest as I wrap my arms around them.

"I can't believe this is happening again." I whispered to myself as I began to cry. This wasn't the first time something strange like that had happened. I was 12 years old the first time. My foster brother had been picking on me, cornering me into a wall and taunting me to know end. I just remember getting so angry. The next thing I knew he was tossed back into the hallway mirror. He had told our foster parent that I had pushed him. I was sent back to a group home and blacklisted as a "problem child."

I could hear keys turning in the lock. I still didn't know where I was or who's apartment I was in. Fear rushed through me, filling every piece of my body. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife out of the block. I wasn't going down without a fight. As the door opens I lift the knife, getting ready to attack. As I'm about to swing I find myself face to face with Dominic.

"Woah" He exclaims putting his hands up in surrender. "I come bearing pad thai and spring rolls."

"Sorry," I place the knife back into place. And I remember. Dominic had been the one to save me from those guys. "Where am I?"

"That would be my apartment." He placed the food on the coffee table in front of the couch and motioned for me to join him. "Now I don't exactly know what you'd like so I got my favorites instead. I figured one of us should at least be happy and since you were asleep, I decided my vote counted for the both us."

How many other damsels in distresses were hidden around here? Dominic bought enough food to feed half my floor. "What happened?"

"With the chicken curry? I don't know, Thai Magic is really losing their touch don't you think." He didn't look me in the eye, choosing instead to wrestle with a package of noodles as he spoke.

"Dom..." I paused. No matter what happened at the bar, no matter what was happening right now. He was my teacher and nothing more. "Professor James. You know what I'm talking about."

He sighed. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it but I thought I heard a pain in his sounds. He turned on the couch so that he was facing me. "I was on my way back here when I saw those jackasses." His face hardened as he spoke. "When I got closer I saw that it was you on the ground. I threw one of the guys off you and I guess that was enough to scare them off because they took off running." He closed his eyes and laughed. But not one his carefree laughs. It was dark. "If they had stuck around I don't know if I would have been able to contain myself. Anyways, you passed out when I tried to help you up so I carried you back here to let you get some rest."

I don't know what came over me. The next thing I do I had leapt across the couch to hug him. I nestled my face in the crook of his neck, feeling his stubble graze my skin and taking in his scent. "Thank you." His previously rigid body loosened up and I felt his arms encircle me. I slowly removed my face from its solace in the crook of his neck. My arms remained around his neck and I was all but straddling him. We stayed in that position, neither speaking but saying all that needed to be said.

"Anastasia, I..." He paused as if he had caught himself before he had said something he shouldn't. "You should eat, you must be hungry after all that' you've been through."

We talked for what felt like an eternity, a time so long and yet not nearly long enough, each of us lying at opposite ends of the couch sharing a single large blanket, our legs intertwined in the middle. I told him about my parents and the car crash, life in the system, and my scholarship that had allowed me to attend Reed. Dominic grew had grown up in upstate New York. He had just finished his PhD from Brown when he was offered his position at Reed. I could have stayed hidden in his apartment forever but as the first rays of sunlight peaked their way in we finally realized just how much time had gotten away from us.

"I guess I should get going." I rose and turned to leave when his arm reach out to grab my wrist. Dominic rose to stand in front of me, still maintaining his hold on me.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to me." His thumb was moving in circles on my arm sending my nerves into a frenzy. I moved in, closing any space that existed between. He was about a full head taller which made looking into his eyes all the more difficult.

"If I need anything?" I raised my hand to his cheek, stroking the stubble that lived there.

"Anything." His lips met mine. His kiss was different then Jake's. It was fierce and hungry. It was like we needed each other to survive.

Dominic bent down and picked me up, never breaking our kisses. My legs wrapped around his waist. The next thing I knew he had laid me down on his bed, his legs on either side of my body. He trailed hot kisses from my lips to my neck and stopping just above my cleavage. And as quickly as it began, it ended. He was off of me before my mind had even been able to register what had happened.

"I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened." I had never felt so embarrassed in my life. Had I just thrown myself at my teacher? I couldn't have been the only one feeling what I did. He felt our connection to. He had to. "You should go."

I nodded and slowly rose from my position on the bed. "Thank you." Those were the only words I could manage to muster as I left Dominic's apartment. My head was in a whirlwind of thoughts and my heart was a maze in which I was lost with no idea as to which way was out.