Stronger Than Ever (A Sawyer Fredericks Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Alice's POV:

Slut.

Slut.

Slut.

The word rang over and over in my head.

Was it my outfit? Was it the fact that I was hanging out with Tyler for a little bit? Because Tyler and I didn't even date! 

"Babe," Sawyer finally found me after I had run off. I was in the back of the room, by a stack of T-shirts. "You alright?"

"How can I be?" I wiped my tears away. "You heard her. She called me a slut. I didn't even sleep with him! Or want to, really."

"You know what?" Sawyer sat down next to me and rubbed my back. "Her words don't matter. You are not a slut, I know you didn't sleep with Tyler, and you shouldn't let her - or anyone, for that matter - bring you down."

I sniffled.

"Also, I love how you're always giving me advice to stay strong, but you need that advice more than I do."

I giggled. He was right, after all. I was a pretty insecure girl. But Sawyer made me love myself.

"Come on," he stood up and helped me up. "The signing's over. Wanna go get some food?"

"Okay," I smiled and nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Sawyer's POV:

I wish I could say the rest of the day went well. I wish I could say we had no problems for the rest of the day, and we all got food, came home, watched TV, and fell asleep. But of course, life doesn't really plan things out that way.

It was okay until about 3:00 that afternoon, though.

Alice, Mom, and I all got Cinnabon cinnamon rolls and Starbucks coffee for a little brunch, then did some shopping. We were in Urban Outfitters where I was looking at vinyls and Alice was admiring a rack of band shirts when I heard a pop. At first I thought I imagined the noise, but everyone had gotten down onto the ground. When I heard the second gunshot ring out, I hit the floor, heart hammering.

"STAY QUIET AND NOBODY GETS HURT!"

From the corner of my eye, I made out a tall figure with a scruffy beard, a beer belly, and a Yankees baseball cap. He moved slowly toward the rows of bodies lying flat until he reached Alice.

"Well," he smirked. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Dad?"

Oh. My. God.

"That's right," he bent down to look into her eyes. "You thought you'd just get away with running off like that. Come on, man, I've seen you on the news. You're friends with that girly man who sings, aren't you?"

Hey!

"Leave me alone," I heard her whimper.

I wanted to do something. Say something. Anything. But I had to stay quiet. Was this some twisted nightmare?

"FREEZE!"

Alice's dad froze and turned his head toward whoever had just entered. It was two security cops carrying guns and handcuffs.

"Drop he weapon," one cop barked. "NOW."

The gun landed on the ground with a thud.

"Now, remain silent," the other cop strolled over to him and held out the cuffs. "Put your hands behind your back."

He did as he was told.

"You're under arrest," the cop said calmly as he put the cuffs on. "Anything you say can and will be held against you."

Alice's dad and the two cops were out in a matter of seconds. Then one of the employees came out from the back and told us we could get up.

"Thank God none of you were hurt," she said, smoothing her shirt. "Everyone okay?"

We all nodded or replied "yes". I walked over to where Alice was. She was completely pale, her hair was a mess, and she could barely stand.

"Are you okay?" I wrapped her into a hug.

"Yeah," she nodded warily. "I think so."

We stayed like that for several more minutes.

"Sawyer?"

"Hmm?"

"I wanna go home."

"Okay."

We all met Mom outside, got into the car, and drove home. We didn't do anything afterwards, just ate a quick supper and went to bed.