Bad Blood

35.

'Gracey.' I heard a whisper. I ignored it. 'Gracey.' It came again. Oh god my head hurt so bad. There was no way I was opening my eyes. Then I felt a poke in my shoulder.

'Noooooo.' I groaned.

'Gracey, wake up.' It took me a few moments to remember where I was and who I was with. My stomach flipped with excitement. He was really here still. 'Lets go down to the beech.' He whispered. As lovely as it sounded, I was in no state to move. I could hear him now rustling through his bag. He pulled my arms up and slipped a cosy hooded top over my head. I laughed weakly and finally opened my eyes.

'Its still dark.' I groaned. We couldn't have been in bed more than an hour.

'I know. Let's go.'

'You go. I'll see you later.'

'Come on!' He whined. I groaned loudly once more and got up. He'd already got my trainers from my bag and helped me put them on under my dress. I must've looked ridiculous in a black hoody, lilac dress and red trainers. He was already wearing a grey hoody with a massive wolf on the back and still had on his suit trousers and now a pair of converse and a rolled up blanket under his arm. He took my hand and dragged me from the house into the cold morning light.

It was a two minute walk to the beech and each step made my head pound. He used the light on his phone to show a path towards the water. We found a small group of rocks just by the lapping sea and sat down together. He threw the blanket around us and I cuddled into him for warmth. For half an hour neither of us spoke, just staring out into the darkness. We watched as the horizon began to turn orange with the rising sun. I tilted my head onto his shoulder and he in turn rested his chin on my head. I took his hand and stroked it with my thumb.

'Does this mean I'm forgiven?' He finally spoke. I looked into his eyes. His beautiful blue eyes with the orange glow of the sun shining in them. I nodded. It had taken many sleepless nights to finally decide that what he'd done, though horrendous, wasn't worth losing him over. He wasn't a criminal. He was no serial killer. He'd done what he thought was right. It wasn't like he was going around killing people. He had ridded the world of three monsters. 'Why?'

'I realised that life is too short. I have spent so long living in the past and running away from everything. I'm done running. I am so tired of being scared all the time.' He kissed the top of my head, pausing for a moment.

'What happened to you that night was my fault.'

'Danny. I have spent the last twelve years of my life trying to forget it happened, but I can't. It happened. There's nothing I can do about that. But what I can do is stop blaming you and me for it. Neither of us could've stopped him. I know you tried...'

'If I'd fought a bit harder, if I'd-'

'No.' I smiled sadly at him and caressed his cheek. 'No. They were going to kill you, I told him I'd do anything...it was my choice, ok? And I am fine with it now. I've made peace with it. If you hadn't come back, if we hadn't of reconnected, I would still be in that dark place I'd been for so long. I can move on now and I hope you can too. You did the right thing. They're all gone. We're free now.'

There was no way to describe the relief and the joy on his face. It was like the weight he'd been carrying had gone. And in turn I felt my own heart lift.

'What do we do now?' He asked.

'We go back to bed.' I suggested. The hangover had hit me full force now the sun was up. It was like someone had replaced my brain with a jackhammer and my stomach with a cement mixer. I'd drank so much alcohol at the wedding.

'I'm not going to argue with that! This seemed like such a good idea before.' He helped me up from the cold rock and we walked across the sand back towards the holiday village. 'But, really, what do we do now?'

'I don't know. Do we just pick up where we left off?'

'Moving in together?' He recalled.

'I guess. Or maybe we should start from the beginning?'

'Should I offer you one of my sweets?' The smile he gave me was nothing short of adorable. He'd remembered just how we'd first met. I was glad I wasn't the only one who held that day in fondness. 'Shall we get married?'

'What? Right now?'

'Not right now. But at some point. I don't know where you stand on that kind of thing, but being here, with you, sort of makes me wanna do it.'

'I'd like to one day.'

'What about kids? I know before you weren't too keen...'

'Slow down there!' I giggled. 'How about we go on a date and take it from there?'

'Yeah, alright. When we get back to civilisation I'll take you out for a nice meal. We'll take it easy.'

'Perfect.'

We got back to the house and each of us got out of our wedding attire, myself pulling on warm pjs and him stripping down to boxers. We got under the duvet and I took up my place against his chest. Despite saying just moments before that we'd take it slowly, all I wanted to do was jump on him. It had been so long since we'd last kissed and I had missed that closeness. Even my raging hangover wasn't stopping my need for him. But I held back my feelings and slipped into another lovely sleep.

This time it was me who awoke first, my mouth dry and desperate for a drink. Too lazy to go back downstairs, I went to the one bath room in the house and cupped my hands together under the tap, bringing the cold water up to my lips, taking a sip and splashing the rest against my face. I guessed I should have a shower and make the most of our last day at this wonderful beech.

I let the warm water wash over me, relieving my headache and waking me up. Having gone to bed late, then waking up early and back to bed again had messed up my body clock. I wasn't even sure what time it was. I was stood pondering to myself about all of the nights events and a sense of calm and excitement filled me up. Me and Dan were back together. Well, we were going on a date but I was fairly confident we'd be right back to where we were six months ago in no time.

As I thought about how happy I was right then, I hadn't heard the bathroom door open. It was only when I felt two familiar arms wrap around me that I noticed Dan had snuck in, undressed and gotten in the shower behind me.

'Danny!' I squealed in shock. I span around to face him, shaking my head in disbelief. 'I thought we were weren't rushing into things?'

'Nah.' He smiled. I couldn't resist him. I slammed my mouth against his, the water running down our faces. I touched every part of him. Reacquainting myself with every inch of his skin. Things got heated very quickly and the window and glass shower door steamed up beyond seeing through. A mixture of desperation and hot water led to the best sex we'd ever had. We'd each climaxed together and I'd found it hard not to scream out and collapse against the wet tiles.

There was a knock at the door. We looked at each other in panic.

'Sorry to disturb you, but could I use the bathroom?' A female voice asked politely. We'd completely forgotten that we shared the house with eight other people. Giggling like school children, we jumped out the shower, wrapped towels around ourselves and fled in shame. Once across the hall, red faced, we shut the bedroom door and fell about laughing.

'Where were we?' I asked, dropping my towel and straddling him on the bed.