Coming Home

Chapter 10

I woke up the next morning unable to move. Cayden’s arm was wrapped tightly around me, crushing me against him. It felt warm and familiar and I almost didn’t want to move but I knew I had to. No matter how much I still loved him, even after what he put me through, I couldn’t give in that easily. I couldn’t give him control over me again because I wouldn’t be able to handle it if he decided to hurt me again. With that in mind, I gently pried his arm off and scooted out of the bed.

“Good morning. You have some explaining to do,” Tegan said as soon as I passed through the doorway of the kitchen, making me jump and scream in fright.

“Tegan! Don’t do that!” I yelled, putting my hand over my heart in an attempt to slow it down.

“That doesn’t matter. Explain why you were in a bed with Cayden,” she answered impatiently, waving her hand dismissively.

“It’s not a big deal. Wait, how did you know?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well when I woke up this morning and saw no one sleeping on the couch, I got curious. So I walked to the spare bedroom and saw you snuggled against Cayden, wrapped in his arms,” she answered.

“Whoa. What?” a new voice asked, surprise clearly evident.

My head snapped up to see Liam entering the kitchen in just his boxers. I rolled my eyes, thankful that I had gotten used to this morning routine over the years. Liam saw my eye roll and gave me a grin before walking to Tegan and placing a kiss on her forehead. After, he turned to me with his arms crossed over his chest, giving me a look that basically told me to spill my guts.

“I woke up this morning and didn’t see anyone asleep on the couch so I went to check the spare room and saw Cayden and Kenzi here cuddling,” Tegan said, filling Liam in on the situation.

“What the hell Kenzi? I know he’s my best friend and all but you really can’t forgive him that easily. Not after what he did to you,” Liam said, getting slightly angry.

One thing I love about Liam is he’s extremely caring. He’s one of the guys that you can call at four in the morning, bawling, and he’ll stay on the phone with you until you’re calm and happy again. He watches out for the people closest to him and hates to see them get hurt so he tries his hardest to stop it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down Li-Li. It’s not what you guys are thinking,” I assured as I took a seat at the kitchen table, knowing this would take a little while.

“Then what is it babe?” Tegan asked as she took the seat across from me.

“You know how I get when I watch scary movies. For some reason, I start to think they’re real and that whatever happened in the movie is going to happen to me. You know this and yet you still insist on making me watch them. Anyway, I was lying in the bed trying to go to sleep and I couldn’t because the movie kept playing in my head. Then the storm started and the thunder was really loud and you know how I am with thunder. I was terrified and I couldn’t sleep so I walked out to the living room and woke Cayden up. He immediately knew what was wrong and went back to the bedroom with me and calmed me down. He was about to leave when I told him to stay because I knew I’d wake up again if he wasn’t there,” I explained, looking at my two friends.

They shared a look before turning back to me.

“Okay,” Tegan answered simply but I knew she as well as Liam wanted to say more.

“Look, I have to get to the hospital. I told Mom I’d be there with her and Rox and the guys. Will one of you two drive me?” I asked, choosing not to ask about what she wasn’t saying.