Mine *don't read: being rewritten*

Chapter Ten

(Riley's POV)

"Hey, Hannah," I say with a smile.

She looks at me, sympathy filling her eyes. "How're you holding up?"

I shrug. "I've only broken down twice," I say, honestly, "and I don't plan on doing it again." She gives me a quick hug before I put an apron on.

~

I look up when I hear the bell ring to see a face that I never wanted to see again. I glance over at Hannah, who hasn't seemed to notice him. Right now, I'm just praying for Hunter to walk through the door. I know he won't, but I need him to. I don't think he recognizes me yet, that or he hasn't seen me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him when he reaches the counter. "You know I work here. What are you doing here? Get out."

"What if I don't want to?" he says, a sly smile making a way onto his face. He's taller than me, way taller than me. I try to keep my feet planted and I try to keep my hands from shaking and I try not to cower, but I can't. He has caused me enough pain for a lifetime.

"Adam, leave." My voice shakes. I wish my voice wouldn't shake. Hannah looks up now, and takes a little step towards me, not enough for him to notice.

Adam leans over the counter, moving closer to me. I try to take a step back, but he grabs my upper arm. "Let go of me," I say firmly, but my voice is still shaking.

I try to look around the café for someone to help me, but Adam takes my chin in his free hand, forcing me to look at him. "How've you been, Riley? I've missed you, and that pretty little body of yours." His eyes flash down to my chest then back to my face. I try to swallow the lump in my throat. It isn't until then that I realize the café is empty, other than Hannah and I.

"Let go of me." I say. My voice sound distant and small. I hate it.

His grip on me tightens when I try to get away. He's much bigger than he; I have to fight against him. "Well, you never answered my question. How've you been?"

"I'd be better if you'd let go of me." I know that I shouldn't have said that; it's just going to make him mad.

"Oh Riley, did you learn nothing from our months together?" he basically growls.

His grip is starting to hurt, and his face is so close to mine that I can smell his breath. It reeks of beer and rum-the smell makes me want to gag. "You still didn't answer my question." His voice is dangerously low.

I take the bold move, which isn't a good one. "I said that I'd be better if you would let go of me." Before I can even blink, his fist connects with my face. Hannah screams, and I try to bring my hand to my face, but Adam smacks it away. Tears fill my eyes; I try to blink them away but it's no use.

As if on cue, the door opens. Adam doesn't move, but whoever just walked in does. "Hey, get off of her!" I relax at just the sound of his voice. He gets Adam off of me, and now they're standing face to face-well, sort of. I guess I never realized that Hunter is only tall to me because of how short I am, but he's not really tall at all, and only comes up to about Adam's shoulder. He's skinny, too. I guess I never realized how skinny he is.

Adam lets out a deep, menacing laugh. "What are you gonna do about it?" He stares down at Hunter, and Hunter stares right back. There's no way Hunter's gonna make the first move, but I can't let him get it.

"Hunter," I whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. He looks over at me, and I shake my head, as if telling him that Adam wasn't worth the fight and he would leave eventually. Somehow, he got the message.

"Just get out," Hunter says, walking over to me. I'm not really sure what Adam planned on achieving by coming here. He must've already gotten it or maybe he just gave up, I don't know. But whatever the answer, he turns around and walks out the door.

Hunter's already beside me, looking at my cheek. "Here, let's get some ice on that." He slips an arm around my shoulders as he gets some ice in a napkin. He leads me to a table, Hannah following close behind, and sits me down. He holds the ice to my cheek for me, crouching down at my side.

"I'm fine," I assure him, trying to get up. He gently pushes me back. "Why'd you come up here?" I ask.

"Hannah texted me when that douche came in, told me to come." He smiles a little. "You just can't catch a break, can you?" He tries to make it into a joke, but no one laughs.

"Riley, go home," Hannah tells me when I try to get behind the counter. Hunter sits at a table, reading a newspaper.

"I don't want you to be here by yourself."

"I'll be fine. Go home." She hugs me, and pretty much pushes me out the door, Hunter following behind. He pulls me close to his side, and opens the door to his car for me.

"What about my car?" I ask.

"We'll get it," he assures me.

Hunter takes my hand when he gets in and squeezes it. "You're okay, you know." I guess he can feel, or see, me shaking. "You're okay now. You can calm down." I nod.

"We can have this day to ourselves, you know. Then start the hard stuff tomorrow." He squeezes my hand again.

"Okay."

~

I don't know where he's taking me, but I go along with it. Finally, the curiosity gets to me. "Where are we going?"

Hunter looks at me and shrugs. "You'll see."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Uh this is short and crappy I'm sorry but I'm going out of town this week to be with family so I may or may not update, I'll do my best to find time. Thank you for your patience lol

Please vote and comment and follow I love you all!!(:

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