Free Falling

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Once the work day is done, I look outside and almost expect to see Jeremy's car pull up. Taking a deep breath, Koz walks over and asks "You okay, baby?" I look at him and smile the first real smile I have in a while. "Yeah. I am." He smiles back and asked if I am ready to go. "Uh, am I staying here to going home?" I asked. "That's up to you. Are you ready to go back?" he asked. "I need to. That's my home. But, uh, will you go with me?" I asked. "Yeah babe. Go get your things and meet me at my bike." he says. I go to his dorm and get my things together and taking a deep breath, I walk out of the room and out of the clubhouse. "Ready?" he asked me. "Yeah." I say simply. Tig is standing there talking to him. He looks at me and says "Me and Hap cleaned everything up. It looks like it never happened. But if you need anything and Koz ain't here, you let me or Hap know. We got you." he tells me. "Thanks Tig. That means a lot." I say. We head to Koz's bike and head out of the lot.

Pulling up to my house, I get off the bike and take a deep breath. "You want me to check it out first?" he asked. "No. I need to do this. Will you come in with me?" I asked. I don't think I'm ready to let him go yet. I know he says I'm his girl but he could still just be helping me. He gets off the bike and takes my backpack from me. Walking up to the door, I unlock it and walk inside. I look around for a minute and let out the breath I was holding. Koz doesn't say anything. He just gives me a minute. "You know, when I bought this house, I thought it would be a great place to settle down, get married and have kids." I say. He looks at me and just listens. "I never thought that this place would be the one place I didn't feel safe. But now, it doesn't feel that way anymore. This is the first time since I moved in that I have walked in and not been thrown into a wall or kicked." I say. Koz steps to me and cups my face in his hands and says "I will never hurt you like that. I promise." I look at him for a second and asked "Are you really with me?" He smiles and kisses me softly and says "Yeah baby. I'm with you." I put my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest. For the first time in a long time, I feel safe and feel like it's going to be okay. Looking up at him I ask, "You wanna stay the night?" He smiles down at me and just nods his head yes.

We order pizza and sit on the couch. "Come here." he says. I move over to him but don't touch him. He pulls me into his lap and kisses me softly. He deepens the kiss just a little and I feel myself melt into him. Pulling back, I lay my head on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah. Just been a long time since I have been kissed like that. Or kissed at all really." he says. "Well, get used to it. I kinda like kissing you." I blush and he rubs my back and laughs a little. "I was thinking about things today, I want to be with you Koz but I need you to be patient with me. Jeremy was the only one that I have ever been with and even my first time wasn't gentle. I don't want you to be with me if you don't think I can give you what you need." I tell him. "Baby, I'll wait as long as you need. I meant what I said. I want to be with you. I don't care how long it takes but I will be here for whatever you need." He tells me and kisses me again.

We head to the bedroom and I change into some sleep clothes. I take my shirt off and he sees the extent of my bruises. "Fuck babe. How are you even able to move?" he asked. "I'm used to it. The last two years has pretty much just been bruises on top of bruises. He didn't let them heal before adding more. After a while you get good at hiding it and acting like they aren't there." I tell him. I climb into bed and we lay down facing each other, not touching. "How'd you meet him?" he asked. "Back home, he would come into where I worked all the time. He started flirting with me and asked me out. We had been talking for a while and he got a job offer out here, so he asked me to go with him. Telling me that he wanted to be with me and that he loved me. I told him I would move but I wanted my own place and so I moved out here. It wasn't until I started at TM that he started hitting me. He would see the guys talking to me and started getting jealous and accusing me of sleeping with them." I say. "I'm sorry." Koz says. "It got so bad that there were times that I thought about fighting back because I knew if I did that he would beat me enough that it would finally kill me and I wouldn't have to go through that anymore." I tell him. "What didn't you fight back?" he asked. "You." I say simply. "Me?" he asked. "You started working at TM and started talking to me and I sort of fell for you. I decided as long as I got to see you everyday that it was worth sticking around for. At least until I could find another way to leave him." I confess. "I wish you would have said something. Had I known you were into me, I would have gotten you out." he says. "Yeah, well, I didn't exactly think you would go for someone like me." I say, looking down. Tilting my head up he says "You are exactly the kind of girl I'd go after." He kisses me softly and I pull him above me. We continue kissing and he rubs his hands up and down my sides but never tries to push me for more. When we come up for air, he lays on his back and pulls me to lay on his chest. "Good night baby girl." he says. I place a kiss on his bare chest and say "Good night Kozi"