Beat Of My Heart

Chorus (Fourteen)

"Would you please stop fidgeting dude?  Your nerves have nerves," Blake accosted me as we were sitting in the waiting room of her father's office.

"I really appreciate you doing this for me, you know that right?" I asked her, needing her to know how much she meant to me.

"Of course, what would you do without me?" she asked me sweetly, tilting her head to the side in mock sweetness, causing me to laugh at her shenanigans.

"I have no idea."

The beige door to her father's office broke open, revealing a wealthy looking couple still arguing as they left the room.

"My dad deals with a lot of divorce settlement cases," Blake said in explanation.  I simply nodded my head in understanding and a receptionist came out and told me they were ready for us.

I took a deep breath and steadied my heart rate, hoping to quell the anxiety rising in my chest but it was futile as my head began feeling light when Blake's father stepped out of his office.

He strode over to us and greeted us with a bright smile on his face, regardless of the fact that I had lacerations painted across my face and my arm was not only in a sling but I was walking with a limp with a boot on one of my legs.

I thought back to that day when I had returned to school, finally. Everyone looked at me like I was a freak, but thankfully all three boys had been suspended following the leaking of the video as well as an internal review based on whether or not they'd be allowed back in the school.

Until Dylan's parents made a 'charitable donation' to the school and he'd be let back in with open arms and nothing but a slap on the wrist. It happened anytime he would get in trouble and I assumed this time would be no different.

I remembered the not so hushed whispers flying all around me earlier that day at school. The majority of the students just looked the other way and gossiped to their friends about what the tabloids were saying about me, but a few brave girls came up to me directly and started talking to me.

"Is it true?" they had asked, and I had no doubt in my mind who they were talking about when they pointed their questions towards me.

They were the kind of girls who hung outside the clubs and restaurants that their favorite celebrities had been spotted at, hoping to get a chance to see one of them up close and in person.

I had merely shrugged and kept walking, wanting to put everything behind me, which was hard to do when the entire world thought that I was not so secretly dating Sebastian Jennings.

Blake's father brought my attention back to the real world and out of my memories from the previous morning when he reached out his hand for me to shake.

I stared at it for a second and awkwardly reached over with my left hand to shake his gently, his face showing sheepish guilt for holding out the wrong hand for me to shake, obviously forgetting about my physical incapabilities at the moment.

"Roger Jennings, lovely to meet you Miss Vickers. If you would please, follow me into my office," he said, his deep voice reminding me of my father's.

I followed behind him and Blake trailed behind us, his too tight suit making me think that he was in the middle of some mid life crisis or something and was working out too much or something.

We walked into his calm and serene looking office and sat down opposite of his desk, and he cut straight to the point.

"So I've drafted up a restraining order. All I need is your signature and we can have it delivered to his home today. Next order of business is pressing charges. If this boy wasn't the son of the mayor and chief of police, then the police department should have already done so, but considering that his parents are powerful people, we will need to speed the process up a bit and go down to the department, they'll take your statement and we'll let them know you're pressing charges."

It was a lot to think of and I was glad that Blake's father was doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to the paperwork and legal aspect of everything.

"Okay, sounds like you've thought of everything. So what else is there?" I asked him, wanting to make sure that we weren't missing anything. 

"Now, we go down to the station and you make your statement.  I'm going to be there with you every step of the way and I'm sure Blake will, too, so you don't have to worry about anything," he said reassuringly. 

"O-okay, is his dad going to be there?" I asked him, hoping that the Chief of Police was taking an off day to put his family back in order. Turned out I had no such luck. 

"Actually, all three of your assailants will be there. You'll have to pick them out of a lineup but don't worry, they will be behind a glass enclosure and you won't be in any harm, they won't even be able to see you."

I felt the hole beginning to open up again, wanting to swallow me whole. My breath came in quick spurts and my eyes widened in panic. 

"Don't worry, he can't hurt you if I'm by your side," Blake told me triumphantly and I laughed a bit, thinking about her dressed up like Tinker Bell with her angry face on.  It made me feel a bit better. 

The ride down to the precinct was quiet, considering Jason was driving us in Sebastian's SUV and Blake and her father were talking amongst themselves. The only thing I could focus on was a black hole taking root in my chest. 

We arrived at the station before I even knew it and we all hopped out one by one. I had barely even realized the paparazzi until they were all up in my face. 

I was used to the questions about the love life concerning Sebastian but the questions they were throwing at me just then made me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. Maybe my black hole in my chest had a vacancy. 

"Holly, did Sebastian hire your lawyer for you?"

"Holly, hey over here!"

"How are you holding up after being pushed down the stairs?"

"Are you pressing charges against Dylan Haim?"

"Her answer is and always will be no comment, now I suggest you all back up before I take matters into my own hands," a new voice shouted out above the yelling and flashing lights. 

A collective gasp could be heard amongst the crowd but I knew the reason behind everyone's surprise, because I knew exactly who that voice belonged to.

Sebastian edged his way through the crowd and came to stand by me and everyone walking in with me, wrapping a protective arm around my shoulder. 

I craned my neck to look up into his eyes, and I saw his flirtatious wink that made me forget why exactly I was even at the police station in the first place. 

That is, until I saw him. Dylan's face, walking out of a taxi as he made his way into the station on the other side. 

The paparazzi flocked him and I was surprised by the line of questioning directed at him. 

"Why did you throw Holly down the stairs?"

"What did she do to make you so mad?"

"Did she cheat on you with Sebastian Jennings?"

That last question made me want to deck whoever the hell had asked that question. 

I took a deep breath as we walked inside the police station, and Sebastian reached down and enclasped our hands together. 

It was now or never.