Still Holding On

Chapter Eleven

I am terribly sorry about the long wait but I have had a serious case of writer's block lately. So I hope this longer than usual chapter makes up for it.

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I wake up in Alek's arms and smile. It wasn't a dream. I'm finally home. I hear a song playing in the kitchen and smile as I quietly leave Alek's arms to go investigate. I see Tony dancing to a song by this band Alek showed me when we were in Florida. "Is this Anthem Lights?" I ask and he smirks as he holds his hand out to me. "Love you like the movies... if you wanna be exact. So dance and cook with me." Tony says and I take his hand. He spins me around and I giggle as I dance to the oranges so I can cut them up. Tony starts singing and I giggle at him.

He starts to cook some bacon and smiles at me. "Don't you just love me?" He asks and I nod happily. I place the oranges in a bowl and start to cut up the apples. "I love you like the movies." I sing and he chuckles as he dances to get the pancakes. I spin around to the fridge and grab the orange juice to make myself a glass. "Like Noah loved Allie! Like Harry loved Sally! Like Richard loved Julia!" I sing and Tony smirks. "Like Tom loved Meg! And the way he loved that volleyball!" Tony yells more than sings and I giggle as I hand him a glass of orange juice. "The way Demi Moore loved that ghost, the way Jack loved Rose." I sing and he gasps. "Weird! What?!" He replies and I giggle. "I'll never let it go, never let it go." I sing on and he frowns. "Was she talking about a ghost?" Tony mocks and I burst into laughter.

I eat an apple as he continues dancing and making batter for waffles. "Kitten, what are you doing?" Alek asks from the doorway and we both turn to see everyone watching us. "I'll grab your hand, ask you to dance in the middle of the street!" Tony sings and dances me around him. "Ah! Tony!" I squeal as he sends me spinning into Alek and Alek quickly catches me. I giggle as I try to stand up right and Alek holds my waist. "Dancing and cooking while singing with Tony." I answer and he nods. "In your footie pajamas?" He asks and I look down at my kitty toed footie pajamas. Oh yeah, forgot about those. "Yes?" I drag it out and Tony chuckles. "Thank you for the fruit salad, angel. But if you'll all grab a plate then you can get breakfast." Tony informs us and Alek grabs two plates. "Go in the living room kitten. I'll get your food." He whispers and kisses my lips.

I blush as I walk into the living room. I sit on the L shaped couch and turn on the TV. When everyone comes in and Alek hands me my plate making me gasp. "This could feed three freaking people!" I yell and he nods. "Eat it." He orders and I sigh as I turn the channel to the news. I start to eat my waffles until we see Alek's home on the news. "Oh my God." I whisper when we see it's ablaze and Vitaly places his plate on the coffee table. "Riccardo." Alek sneers and I sigh as I turn up the volume so we can hear better. "The home was luckily empty when the fire started it. However the smoke caught attention of nearby neighbors who called the police in worry. Lucky for Alek Bytchnovik he was in New York City at the time of the fire. The only real concern is how the fire was started. The fire department suspects foul play. I'm Amy Henning and this is Channel Eleven news." She says and I mute the TV.

Gilbert shakes his head and I put my hands to my face. I knew it. "I never should've left. I knew this would happen." I whisper and Alek takes my hands away from my face. "You stop it right now. I do not want you going anywhere and certainly not back there. You are home. I just got you back, Rose. And now you wanna go back because what? He burned down a mansion with no one inside? I don't give a rat's ass." Alek snaps and tears fill my eyes. What if someone was in there? "He went there searching for me! And when he couldn't find me... he did that." I whisper and Alek shakes his head angrily. "God dammit Rose why can't you see what I see?" He asks and I frown in confusion. What? That a rampaging lunatic means nothing? "I need to do something or people are gonna die, Alek! Innocent people!" I scream and Vitaly sighs. "Knock it off! Both of you! I have an idea." Gilbert snaps and we both look to him.