Ever After New York

Happy Holidays.

I'm just finishing packing Annie's clothes for Australia when I hear Hero yelp followed by a series of swears.

My brows furrow in concern as I stand from my kneeling position and make my way into the living room.

My eyes widen when I see the sight in front of me. Hero was perched up on one of the barstools, positioning some type of system against the wall.

"Erm... what're you doing?" I ask.

"Trying to put this alarm system in, can you hand me that screwdriver?" He asks, pointing to the box that was placed next to the stool.

I quickly make my way over and hand him the tool. "Why are you installing a security system?"

"Just in case any bloody psychos try and break in while we're away." He huffs.

Ever since that scare Hero and I had with the camera, we've had our guards up twenty-four-seven. Thankfully, there were no other cameras around the apartment and the one we had found was destroyed after I dropped it on the floor.

I was surprised that there only was one camera. But Chris probably didn't have time to plant any others given that I had come home while he was in the house. That explains why he ultimately tried to carry out the action himself.

Why hide a camera when he could just take the picture himself?

Even though Chris was locked up and couldn't hurt us anymore, I had the sickening feeling that he wasn't the only person out there that was capable of what he tried to do.

It also made me wonder what measures he would've taken to get that camera back. Or perhaps he had some type of screen that he could watch everything from...

I shake my head, ridding myself of the thought. The police searched him. He had nothing left.

He was gone and out of our lives forever.

I bring my attention back to Hero as he steps off of the stool and admires his work. "The system is hooked up to my phone, so I'll be notified if it goes off."

"Thanks for doing this." I tell him.

He looks at me and softly smiles. "I won't let anything happen to you."

I kiss his cheek in response before making my way back to the room. "What time is our flight?" Hero asks.

"Three-thirty." I tell him. "So, we'll land around that time tomorrow. Dylan is meeting us at the airport at one."

I had ultimately decided to accept my parents' offer and fly to Australia for Christmas, especially now that Katherine and Dylan were coming as well.

Dylan had been in LA for work, so we were flying out together. Katherine was flying in from Paris. From what I heard, she landed some modeling job there.

I was excited to see my sister and my parents. Having everyone together as a family warmed my heart, and I had a pretty good feeling that this was going to be a wonderful holiday.

***

"The flight is delayed." Dylan groans before I even get the chance to say hello.

"How long?" Hero questions.

"Two hours."

"Are you fucking serious?" Hero nearly shouts.

"It's the holiday season." Dylan says with a sigh. "Obviously flights are going to be delayed."

Hero narrows his eyes at Dylan before taking a seat in the waiting area. He takes Annie from my grasp, holding her against his chest as he bounces his leg up and down impatiently.