My Heart Beats For You

Chapter 14

Jason's POV

I woke up to the sound of the air conditioner kicking on. I took a quick glance at the alarm clock to see that it was 5:17. Normally I woke up at around 5:30 to the sound of my alarm clock screaming at me, but I couldn't sleep. Even with the warm feeling I got knowing Annie was cuddled up next to me, I just had too much going on in my head to sleep. I love Annie but I don't want to cause this trouble for her. There's got to be some sort of middle ground; away I can be with Annie and not screw up her life. I continued to just lay there and think. I was determined to stay positive. I was determined to fix things. How? I have no idea.

"Hm.. Jase?" I heard Annie murmur as she began to wake up. Despite everything, being able to wake up next to her felt pretty damn good. I couldn't help but smile.

"Morning beautiful" I spoke leaning down to kiss the top of her head. She smiled up at me before rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she began to speak.

"What are you doing up so early?" she asked craning her neck to get a quick glance at the clock. It was now 5:20.

"Just stuff on my mind. Nothing to worry about" I didn't want to burden her with my problems. That's the last thing I wanted.

"I'm sorry" she said softly, looking away from my gaze.

"Why are you apologizing?" I said sitting up, causing Annie to sit up too. Now we were both facing each other.

"You have nothing to be sorry for" once I said it she started at me with expression I could really decipher.

"That's bull and you know it Jason. Ever since we started dating there's been problems. You told me to stay away from you and I didn't. Now we have all these people against us; Johnson, Tyler, my parents, and now Beth. It's all so stressful and I know you feel it too. I hate it. I hate to be stressed out and know you are too. I just want to be happy and not have to worry about all these things. All I want is a normal relationship with you. I just want to be with you." She looked my in the eyes the entire time she spoke. When she finished she looked down at her hands in her lap. I could tell she was trying not to cry.

"Hey, look at me" I said using my index finger to pick up chin so I could see her face. Her eyes were glossy. She wanted to cry.

"This is not your fault. None of this is. I know that things are tough right now but we'll get through it. We may not be the most normal couple out there, but no couple is normal. Everyone has problems, its just how we overcome them. We'll get through this. I promise." I said pulling her into my lap. She wrapped her arms around my torso and I wrapped my arms around her neck. It wasn't until I heard her sniffle that I realized she was crying.

"I just don't understand why this has to be so complicated." She spoke into my t-shirt covered chest that was now slightly wet from her tears.

"I don't either babe, but I promise I'm gonna be by your side through it all. We'll fix it. It'll get better" I said as I rubbed her back attempting to calm her down.

"How are you being so positive about this" she said. Pulling away a little to look up at me. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes red from crying, and the bruise had gotten darker over night; it was now a dark purple color. It was not how I'd like to see my girlfriend so early in the morning. I opened my mouth to respond but as soon as I did the alarm clock began to scream at us. I reached over to turn it off before answering Annie.

"Because despite all of this shit being thrown at us, Im able to call you mine. That's reason enough to be positive." I said leaning over to kiss her forehead.

"I love you Jase." She said smiling. Seeing her smile made me smile. That's all I wanted; to see her smile.

"I love you too babe. Don't cry okay? We'll get through this." I kissed her lips and wiped her tear streaked cheek with my thumb. I pecked her lips once more before getting off the bed