Divorced Love (Stauren) {Book 1}

Chapter 9

°•°Lauren's POV°•°

"I'm scared of daddy."

Those four words said by my daughter continued to play in my head over and over again. After hearing those words come out of Bella's mouth, I knew that I couldn't let myself fall back in love with Steven.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get over him.

I couldn't get over his face.

I couldn't get over his soft hair.

I couldn't get over the feeling of kissing his lips.

Even though I couldn't get over Steven, I couldn't force Bella to stay with him. I didn't want her to be afraid of her father, but I didn't blame her. After seeing Steven hold a gun up to another man, and after watching him threaten that man, Bella couldn't help but be afraid.

After the two of us left Steven's house, I found the cheapest motel in the area, for I couldn't afford anything else. The motel room was dirty, gross, and in a bad part of town, but anything else would've stripped the remaining money I had left from my pockets.

"Bella, go brush your teeth," I said while grabbing a clean shirt from my bag. "It's time for bed."

Bella looked away from the old TV that was in the room and gave me a quick nod before going over to the bathroom. A sigh escaped my lips, and I pulled off my dirty shirt to put on my clean one.

The static coming from the crappy TV began to annoy me, so I grabbed the remote to turn it off just as Bella came back out of the bathroom. She had a sad frown on her face, but it wasn't because I had turned off the TV.

"C'mere." I sat down on the bed and reached my arms out to Bella, who came running into them immediately.

The two of us laid down on the bed, and I pulled the covers over us.

"When are we gonna go home?" Bella asked.

I knew automatically that Bella wasn't talking about Steven's house.

"We can't go back there, Bella," I whispered, my daughter held tightly in my arms. "It's not safe there."

"But it's not safe here either," she replied.

Once again, I let out a sigh and pulled Bella closer to me, kissing her forehead. "Go to sleep, baby girl. We'll talk about it tomorrow, but I can tell you need some sleep."

Within minutes, Bella was already fast asleep in my arms, but I couldn't sleep.

Too many thoughts were running through my mind.

It wasn't until I heard a soft knock on the door that I finally sat up on the old bed, untangling myself from Bella.

I began to shuffle over to the door, and looked through the small peephole to see Steven standing outside in the dark. A small smile spread across my lips, and I opened the door.

"Lauren, I'm-" I cut him off, instantly jumping up into his arms and wrapping my arms and legs around his neck and waist. My lips quickly connected with his, creating the familiar sparks between us.

I didn't know how long we stayed outside with our lips locked together in a long, love filled kiss, but I knew that I didn't want to let him go.

"I love you," I said with a small whimper.

"Then why'd you leave?" He asked.

"Bella," I began, looking up into his brown eyes. "She told me how terrified she was of you after that night, and I didn't want to make her stay with you." I slowly brushed my fingers through his soft hair. "I wanted things to clear up in her mind first because I was afraid that if they didn't, she would always be scared of you."

"You've got to come back to my house," Steven said. "It isn't safe for you and Bella here."

"But Bella...." I stepped back slightly to look at Steven once again. "Every time she thinks about you all she can see is you holding that gun....you almost killing that man."

"Then I'll make things right with her," He responded.

"At one in the morning?"

Steven lifted his hands up to gently hold my face. "After you two left today, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't eat, I couldn't do my work, and I couldn't sleep," he started. "The thought of you guys disappearing out of the blue, and me not doing anything about it killed me. And when I saw where you were staying on the GPS app we put on Bella's phone, I knew I couldn't just sit by and do nothing."

I saw Steven's eyes begin to water as he spoke. "You and Bella are my life. You and Bella are my reason to live, and I would do anything to protect you two."

I couldn't help but lean in to kiss him, and I felt his tears fall from his eyes down onto both of our cheeks.

My hand grasped onto his as we both walked into the motel room, shutting the door behind us. Bella was still fast asleep when Steven knelt down in front of her on the floor, and I sat down on the bed next to her.

I gently began shaking her shoulder. "Bella, wake up," I whispered.

The small girl let out a groan before opening her eyes slightly.

Luckily, the first person she saw was me, so I said, "Bella, there someone here that really wants to talk to you."

Steven then gently tapped Bella's arm, making her turn to face him. As soon as she saw him, her eyes widened a bit, and she scooted back towards me slightly.

"Bella, I need to tell you something," Steven said.

Bella nodded while still laying down on the bed. "Okay."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, peanut," he said to Bella sincerely. "I didn't mean to scare you. I don't want you to think that I would ever hurt you, because I would never do that." Bella sighed softly at Steven's words. "That man from the other night, was trying to hurt you, and I wasn't going to let that happen. I knew that I had to protect you and your mom no matter what."

"He was just keeping us safe, sweetheart," I told Bella while stroking her hair gently.

"I promise I would never do anything to hurt you and your mom." Steven took my hand in his and paused, waiting for a response.

Both Steven and I became nervous, for Bella wasn't doing anything. But suddenly, Bella jumped up and wrapped her arms around Steven's neck. I could see the relief on Steven's face as he held onto Bella tightly.

"I love you, daddy," Bella whispered softly.

Steven then reached out and pulled me into the hug.

My family.

A/N
I really hope you all liked this chapter!