Strong Enough 2

Chapter 33

Mya's POV

"Jason?"

He looks up at me, nodding slowly. "Hey Mya."

Why is he here? Am I having a nightmare? I can't think straight right now. I can't believe Jason is here, on my doorstep. He looks different though. He's ten times more muscular now and he's covered in tattoos.

The tattoos aren't that strange to me, considering that Tai has a lot if them too, but Jason's are everywhere, even on his face. I understand how Tai didn't recognize him, but his face is one that I'll never forget.

"Mya, I need to talk to you," Jason says after a couple minutes of silence.

"No you don't," Tai says, stepping in front of me. "Please," Jason begs. Tai turns to me. "Can we talk?" I ask him. He nods and lifts me up so I won't step on any glass, then he leads me to our room.

"What are you thinking?" he asks as he closes the door.

"I think we should at least hear him out." His hands ball into fists as he rests his head against the wall. "Maybe he's changed."

"Dammit Mya," he hits the wall with his fist, making me jump. "Do you not remember what he did to you?"

"I do, but that was a long time ago and I need to forgive him."

He closes his eyes and starts his breathing exercise that he learned in anger management. "Tai, please..." I walk over to him and rest my head on his chest. He wraps one arm around my waist and strokes my cheek with his other hand. "Are you sure about this?" he asks. I nod and peck his lips while dragging him out of the room.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" I ask Jason.

"Can I talk to you alone?" Tai squeezes my hand and I look up at him. "I'll be in the other room," he says through gritted teeth as he glares at Jason. He hesitates to release my hand as he walks away, leaving me alone with Jason at the front door.

"So what are you doing here?" I ask, making sure to add a little hostility to my tone. "And how did you find me?"

"Well after I got out, I was homeless. I went from homeless shelter to homeless shelter. Then one day I ran into these ladies. They were talking about a designer named Mya, and I just couldn't help but think of you. I asked them about you and they gave me your card." He pulls one of my business cards out of his back pocket. "I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what I did to you. It wasn't right for me to hurt you and I regret everything. I loved you Mya, I still do, and I never should've put my hands on you. Will you please forgive me?"

I have no idea what to say right now. I mean, I thought forgiving him would be so easy, but now that I think about everything that happened, I don't know if I can. I know that I should, but the pain that he put me through, makes it difficult to even look at him let alone forgive him.

"Mya," he says, interrupting my thoughts. "Can you forgive me?"

"I don't know Jason. I honestly don't know," I tell him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean how can I forgive you after everything you've done to me?" I ask. "You used love against me. You made me think that you really cared for me but you didn't. I know now that you didn't care, but at that time I was confused. I had to tell myself everyday that you loved me, but there was always this little voice in the back of my head asking, 'If he loves you then why would he abuse you?'

I cried Jason and you just watched every time. I begged you not to hurt me but you did anyway. You used me and threw out that bullshit love card whenever I tried to leave.

And you couldn't have come into my life at a worse time. You knew my brother was in the hospital. You knew about the pain I had to endure everyday that he was there, but all you did was make the pain worse. I trusted you Jason, I really did, but you broke me down, you destroyed me. It felt as if you ripped my heart out and dangled it over me as I bled, gasping for air on the floor in front of you..." My voice gets quiet as my breathing gets harder and I start to cry.

Tai rushes in, I guess he heard me yelling, and he wraps his arms around me, wiping my tears. 

"I don't know where I'd be right now if I'd never met Tai," I say to Jason.

"Mya, I'm so sorry I put you through all of that."

I take a deep breath, "I forgive you."

"Really?" he asks with wide eyes. "Yes," I tell him.

I know that I should forgive him, not for him, but for myself. I've told him what I've been wanting to tell him for years now, and I feel so much better.

We all stand here in an awkward silence. "So are you gonna leave or?" Tai says, breaking the silence. I nudge him with my elbow and scowl at him.

"I don't have anywhere to go," he says, staring at the ground.

"Well maybe you can stay here, and start looking for a job or something," I tell him. Tai nudges me with his elbow this time. "Can I talk to you again," he says under his breath. I nod and follow him into our bedroom.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tai asks. "We can't just let him sleep out there in the cold Tai."

"Yes we can."

"Tai please," I beg. "Let him stay here. We can help him find a job so he'll be gone soon and out of our lives forever."

He looks down at me and sighs. "Fine," he says. "But he won't be staying for long." I nod and he pecks my lips.

We go back to the front door where Jason is standing awkwardly. "You can stay here. We'll help you find a job so you can get your own place," I tell him. He gives me a small smile. "Thank you so much."

I go into the closet and get some blankets for Jason to sleep with. He sits on the couch and I hand him the blankets as he lays down and thanks me again. Then I clean up the mess I made, walk into into the kitchen and grab a glass of water before heading to sleep.

When I get into the bedroom, I see Tai on the edge of the bed, doing his breathing exercise again. I sit down next to him and his eyes soften when he looks at me. His arm snakes around my waist as I kiss his cheek.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"I just don't want him anywhere near you Mya."

"I know that... but I'll be fine. I promise," I assure him. He sighs and lays back, pulling me down with him. We stay this way, staring into each others eyes for a while until I yawn.

"Get some sleep baby," Tai whispers while stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"Okay," I whisper back while holding my stomach. Tai scoots closer and holds me close as I drift off, thinking about a little brown eyed baby, pink dresses, and princess stories.

Author's Note

Waazzz up people?! Just wanted to say that Strong enough is almost over :'( so I might be posting a lot this week to get the whole thing over with before school starts up. And for those of you who have no idea who Jason is, you need to read my first book "Strong Enough". Anyways thanks for reading and don't forget to vote/comment. :-)