Karen appeared reluctant to let me out of her tight-gripped hug the next day, but with the help of her husband and my boyfriend, she let me go.
"I'm so sorry, dear," she apologizes, a sad smile on her face. "I'm just going to miss you."
"Hey," Michael pouts at her. "What about me?"
She rolls her eyes, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Of course I'll miss you too."
Michael turns to me. "The bags are already loaded in the car. Are you ready to leave?"
I nodded, turning back to his mother and giving her a grateful smile. "Thank you for letting us stay here, Karen."
She grins. "Thank you for visiting."
After all of our goodbyes, Michael and I were soon on the road together. His parents had let us use their car so we didn't have a need to let the other boys pick us up. As we got closer to the house, my anxiety levels were high and I didn't feel like going back there. After the break in and the fact that someone - who also wants me dead -knows where I'm living, I don't really see that place as paradise anymore.
The only way it could possibly be appealing to me is that Michael is there. Wherever he is, I feel safe because I trust him. We know each other so much, and I'm in love with him. Even when I'm with him I feel strong and like I could do anything. I'm ready. I'm ready for what's about to happen in the future because of Michael.
"Are you okay, princess?" Michael asked, noticing my tense aura.
"I'm just scared to go back," I tell him honestly.
"I am too," he admits. "But don't worry, because we're going to keep each other safe. Okay? You're safe with me and I'm safe with you."
I smiled at him. "Thank you. I'd kiss you but I don't want to get into a car accident."
"Yeah, don't wanna die now do we?" he chuckled lightly.
I gulped and looked out the window. I refused to let my brain take those words as foreshadowing, I refuse.
"I don't really want to hear about death jokes right now," I told him, sighing.
"Sorry," he says.
We pull up into the driveway of the familiar dreaded house, and the others were already there. Michael and I grabbed the suitcases and I rang the doorbell; Calum was the first one to answer.
"Hey guys," he grins, then shouts to the two other boys behind him. "Look who's finally here!"
"The pizza guy?!" I hear Luke squeal in excitement as he runs up to the front door. His face forms into a look of disappointment when he realizes that his assumption was wrong. "Oh, it's just you guys."
I rolled my eyes at him. "It's nice to see you too, Luke."
"Holy shit, Luke," Michael says suddenly, "What the hell happened to your face?"
Now that I got a good look at him, there was a large bandage covering a cut across his cheek. Luke shrugged it off, saying, "Just an accident with a trampoline."
Michael and I were finally let inside, and Ashton was standing behind Luke with a frown on his face. "Hi," he tells us without any trace of emotion.
"Don't get too excited, Ash," Michael joked, then glanced at me. "I'm going to put our suitcases in our room."
"Our room?" I repeat.
"We're sharing a room now, remember?" he reminds me. "After yours has been destroyed from the... you know..."
