The Love of a Stranger

The Battle

*Dan's POV*

The past couple of weeks had been a battle for me and no doubt for Laura...wherever she was. I had no idea where she was or how she was. I just wanted her to be ok. The police had been searching left, right and centre for her, and every day that went by and there was still no trace of her, my heart was breaking more and more, but there was no way I was willing to give up and move on. I told the police about Scott and what he has done. If anyone who was out to hurt Laura, it was him.

I came home to an empty apartment after many hours of searching for Laura and still nothing, not even a clue. I remembered the last thing I said to her, I called her beautiful. Memories flashed through my head like the day she saved me from the fire, the cupcake fight and when she went through all those embarrassing pictures of me.

I headed straight to my bedroom, I brushed my teeth and stared at my reflection. Dark bags were starting to appear under my eyes because of the lack of sleep and my cheeks were colourless. If this was the effect that not being with Laura was going to have on me, then I don't want to live without her. The image of her beautiful, flawless face stayed in my mind, along with her luscious, long, blonde hair and her gorgeous smile. I miss her laugh, I miss how she would always blush every time I complemented her, I miss the way she would quietly hum to herself, I wanted her back, I need her. How I longed for her to be back in my arms again.

It was early in the morning when I received a text from Kyle.

'Morning pal, how you feeling? Still no lead of the whereabouts of Laura, everyone we know is trying their best to find her, we're all supporting you mate.'

I replied;

'Thanks Kyle, it means a lot to me. I'm fine, I'm just going to continue the search for Laura.'

'Dan I just think that you should take a rest from searching for Laura I've never seen you work so hard in my life...but if that's what you wanna do then I'm right behind you, we all are.'

I smiled weakly at the text and left it there. I lay back down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm trying Laura, I really am. I miss you." I whispered to myself as a tear rolled down the side of my face.

That day I walked for miles and miles asking people if they had seen Laura, I always kept a picture of her with me, it was my favourite picture, she just looked effortlessly flawless. Every now and then I would check in with the police to see if they had any lead, but to no avail they had nothing. Every drop of hope had been drained from me so I decided to take Kyle's advice and go home and rest. I fell asleep for a couple of hours on the couch, this was the first time in ages I had finally been able to have a proper sleep. I could still smell Laura's sweet scent on the pillow.

The sound of my door being hit repeatedly could be heard from miles away, it woke me up at least.

"DAN, DAN OPEN UP, THEY FOUND HER, THEY FOUND LAURA." Shouted Kyle from the other side of my door. I didn't even have time to react, I just slipped my shoes on and grabbed my jacket then bolted out the door with Kyle. My heart was pounding and my breathing was unsteady. I wasn't quite sure what emotion to be feeling, happy that they found her? Worried that she might be hurt? Scared to think that she might even be dead? No, she couldn't possibly.

We arrived at the hospital and demanded to know where Laura was. We were informed of her condition, right now she was asleep. We both walked in together and as soon as I saw her, she was unrecognisable. Instead of plump rosy cheeks, they were pale and her cheekbones were showing through. Instead of her soft, healthy skin, they covered in cuts and bruises. I couldn't bare to think of what she had been through, but she was here, alive, with me.

"Can I...just have a moment...please." I asked and Kyle didn't hesitate to refuse. He patiently waited outside.

"Oh Laura." I whispered, my bottom lip started to quiver as tears threatened to fall from my eyes.

"I'm so glad you're alive. I love you, oh God I love you so much." I took hold of her skinny, weak hand and held it tight. I rested my head on my arm which was leaning on the side of her bed. I sat there watching her sleep peacefully, it helped a little thinking that whatever hell she had been through was now finally over.

I heard Kyle come back in to the room.

"I've spread the word that Laura's been found."

"Thank you Kyle, I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

"Well Laura means just as much to us as she does to you." He smiled. For me, life was complete knowing that Laura was alive and found.

Kyle left soon after, but I stayed. Suddenly her eyes started to flicker, then eventually open.

"Hi..."

A/n: Another shitty short chapter. Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying this, I don't know. I love getting feedback and ,I would love to hear what you guys think of this so I don't just keep on rambling in these chapters. Thanks for the 400 reads, way more than I expected...