Fly From The Inside (A7X/Shinedown) [ON HOLD INDEFINITELY]

Chapter 2

I awoke the next morning covered up and nicely tucked in. Brent was no longer in bed anymore, but I reached over and felt the part of the mattress where he'd been sleeping. It was still kind of warm, so he hadn't been away for too long. I heard a knock on the main door of our suite, and I decided to get up.

Slipping on my discarded clothes from the night before, even though there were blood stains on them, I opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. I could see the living room from the hallway, and I saw Brent bent over the coffee table, setting up a fancy breakfast. A large bouquet of roses was the centerpiece, and Brent had actually dressed up a little. Wondering if it was too good to be true, I dared speak. "Good morning, Brent..."

He turned around quickly, a smile on his face. But it quickly vanished at the sight of my face, arm, and bloodied clothes. He stood three, staring, for what seemed like hours. I was about ready to say something when he finally spoke. "My God... Did I really do this to you?"

I looked at the floor as I answered, "Yes, you shattered a tequila bottle against the wall and sprayed me with glass. But, I'm guessing you don't remember?" He rarely ever did when he was drunk.

He closed his eyes and rubbed them. "No, I remember that part. Not anything after that, though... Do I even want to know?" He looked at me, the shame obvious.

I simply shook my head, still unable to look at him. He walked over and simply stood in front of me. I could tell he wanted to touch me, to hold me, but he was unsure if I would let him. I looked up at him kind of numb and sad. I must have given it away, the rest of what he did, because his face went pale. "No... Oh no... Please don't tell me I did it... Not again..."

A tear fell down my cheek as I whispered, "Yeah, you did. And you accused me of cheating. Brent, this has to stop. I can't take much more of this..." I completely broke down.

This time he did hold me. He held me close to him, tight, yet carefully. I clung to him for dear life, sobbing into his chest. Stroking my hair, he apologized. "Ella, I don't know what's going on with me. I'm hurting you, and I shouldn't. I mean, I love you for Christ's sake! I'm so sorry, baby, and I'll get this figured out. I promise you. Please, help me be strong..."

I pulled away slightly, so I could look into his beautiful eyes. I gave a small smile as I said, "Of course, Brent. I'm not going anywhere. I've stayed through everything, hoping you'd go back to the way you were. I love you, Brent." I reached up and kissed him.

He started to kiss me more passionately, and i could tell he wanted to take it further.  I plulled away slightly, and he stopped, confused. "Ella, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "No, Brent, you're just fine. It's just... after last night, I want to take it slow, you know? I hope that's ok..."

He smiled and rubbed my good arm. "Of course, sweetheart, whatever you need to do is fine with me. Anyway... I ordered us some breakfast! Let's eat, before it gets cold. Then, I want to check on your wounds, make sure all of the glass is out and they're healing. Sound good?"

I gave him a genuine smile and nodded. Sitting down next to him on the couch, I looked over the table of food. All of my favorites were there, and I was trying to decide what to eat first when Brent handed me the flowers. Deep red roses, always one of my favorite flowers. I saw the little card attached to it, and pulled it off to read it. "I'm sorry for everything... I love you, and I'll do better from now on. Love, Brent."

He was sitting there, anxioiusly waiting for my approval. I turned and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you, baby, this is really great." I pulled back and grabbed a plate of food after he took the flowers back and put them in the center of the table.