Danny Messer's Daughter

Chapter 7

June 3, 2016. 11:26 a.m.

6 days

I don't think I've been this stressed in my entire life. As I was laying on my bed, I heard my phone ding. I was reluctant to answer it at first but decided to look at the recipient name on my phone screen. I saw the name Alex Morgan, a close friend and long time crush, typed across the screen. I opened the message.

"Hey" he typed.

"Hey!"

"How's it going?"

I was tempted to spill out the last few days of my life to him but instead replied,

"Eh. Busy with family. You?"

"Same exact thing."

I hesitated to type back. I really needed to see a different face besides my parents or another cop. I needed Alex at this point. I set my phone down and walked out to the kitchen. 

"Hey mom, dad, do you care if Alex comes over while your still home?"

My parents both looked at each other. Dad shrugged his shoulders at Mom as if to say "I don't care." Mom looked at me and nodded.

"Thanks." I walked back to my room and picked my phone back up. I typed quickly back to Alex.

"Do you want to come over and hang for a bit?" I was nervous about seeing him. How do I explain the bruising? What if I just spill everything out to him without meaning to? I looked back at my screen and saw the answer dots in the corner.

"Of course, be there in 5." I felt relief mix in with my nervousness. I typed back to Alex.

"Okay, be safe getting here. :)"

"Thanks, I will. :)"

I walked back out to my parents and sat down at the empty bar stool. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair but stopped my hands half way through.

"Whats wrong, dear?" Mom asked.

"What am I supposed to tell Alex about the bruising on my neck? Am I just supposed to say 'Oh yeah, some guy Mom almost killed is trying to kill me and he strangled me in Uncle Mac's apartment'?" 

"You can just tell him the truth. Alex isn't the type to go around telling people what happened. He likes you too much. Everything will be fine." Dad said as he rubbed his hand between my shoulder blades. I smiled slightly at him.

"Yeah, you're right."

"I'm always right." I chuckled at Dad. I heard a knock on the door. I squeezed Mom's shoulder as I walked by her. I looked though the peep hole and saw Alex's calming face. I opened the door and smiled at him. I moved out of the way to let him in. Alex is 5'10" with dark brown spiked hair and eyes to match. He has a broad chest and toned muscles from being the quarterback for the football team.  He stepped into the apartment and waved at my parents who waved back. I closed the door to the apartment.

"How have you been, dear?" Mom asked.

"Pretty good. And yourselves?" Alex asked.

"Same old, same old. Good to see you, son," Dad responded. 

"You too sir. Nice seeing you again Mrs. Messer."

"You too, hun."

We walked back to my room. He sat on the bed and I shut the door behind me.

"So how have you been?" I asked, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Good. Looks like you've been in a fight.' He said pointing to my neck. "What happened to you?" Concern filled his brown eyes as he looked back up at me. I sighed.

"Do you remember hearing about Shane Casey?"

"Yeah."

"He tried killing me last night."

"Are you serious?!"

I nodded my head.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how to tell you over the phone."

"Fair enough. God, I'm so sorry, Winter." Alex pulled me into a hug. "Did they catch him?" He was still holding me. Tears welled up in my eyes. I shut them, trying to keep them from falling out. 

"No." I croaked out. Alex let go of me and kept his left hand on my thigh as he wiped a tear off my cheek. "I'm so scared Alex. I don't want him to come back. I'm not ready to die." I covered my face with my hands as the tears rushed from my eyes. Alex put my head in the crook of his neck as I sobbed my heart out to him. He shushed me softly and stroked my hair as he rocked me back and forth gently. He kissed my temple and whispered that everything would be okay in my ear. I got up and grabbed a tissue from my nightstand. I blew my nose.

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"Sorry for what?"

"For just now telling you all of this and freaking you out. And for being the biggest crybaby about it." I wiped my nose off and threw the tissue in the garbage can in my room. As I put hand sanitizer in my hand, Alex stood up. he put his hands on either side of my face.

"You were almost killed, Winter. That's not something you should apologize for. And you're allowed to cry about it. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks." I sniffled and smiled a bit up at him.

"Winter..."

"Yeah?"

"I love you. I meant it when I said I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad I can hold you in my arms again. I'm glad I get to see your bright, beautiful, radiant face again. I'm just glad you're here with me right now."

"Alex..."

"Yeah?"

"I love you too." He smiled at me and leaned down and gently connected our lips. I bolt of energy ran through my body as my hands and legs tingled as if mini fireworks went off in them. I put my arms around his neck as his hands rested on my hips. We stopped kissing after a couple seconds as Alex pulled me onto my bed. He wrapped his arms around me as I put my head on his chest. He kissed my forehead and played music off his phone. It started to rain again and we both slipped into a peaceful slumber.