One Autumn Day

Chapter Four

When we got home from the restaurant, I parked the car in the driveway. I turned off the ignition and walked over to her side to open her door. I took her hand and led her inside. Once we were inside I locked the door, then turned around to give her a kiss but she wasn't standing behind me. No, she was sitting on the couch crying. Did I say something in the car to make her upset?
    I walked over to her and said, "What's wrong?"
I waited for a response but all I got was more crying.
"Autumn?"
She looked at me, with a look on her face that just made me want to burst into tears, and said, "I need to tell you something."
"Okay, I'm listening."
"Do you remember when you asked me how I was, the first day I was here in Nashville?"
"Yeah."
"Remember I said, actually not good at all?"
"Yes. Then I asked if you wanted to talk about it and you said no."
"Well I think it's time to talk about it."
    She pulled up her legging and I looked at her leg very confused.
"Do you see these burn marks and scars?"
"Yes."
"This is what my ex did to me."
"What! How? Why?"
"He was angry because I refused his proposal. So, he burned me with a blowtorch."
"He did what!!"
"I know it's not a good enough reason to burn someone."
"No it's not. There is no good enough reason to burn someone."
    "Well before he burned me, he went out somewhere and I was left at his place alone in the basement. While he was gone I looked around for a phone and when I found one, I called the mental hospital. They were on their way to pick me up, but he got to me first. He chained me to a cement pillar and took out the blowtorch. He said he wanted to play a game with me. Then he asked me if I was ready to have the time of my life. I couldn't scream because I had duct tape over my mouth. He took the blow torch and started to burn my legs. I was in so much pain. It felt like I was just standing in a fire letting the tongues of flames lick my legs. I started to pray to God hoping with all my heart that he was hearing my cry and that he would give me a second chance in life to correct my mistakes and find my mr.right. Right when I felt like there was no reason to hang on to what little life I had left, he stopped burning me and begged me to stay with him. Then the people from the hospital came and they took me to the hospital and him to jail."
    "He is just downright sick and twisted, Autumn. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"Thanks but, I'm not finished."
"Okay, go on."
"At the hospital my doctor fell in love with me and ended up kissing me. So, I had to leave. When I left I stayed at a Super 8. I saw a billboard with a wanted sign on it. The wanted person was my ex-boyfriend, Chassen. He escaped from prison and now I'm pretty sure he is after me."
"Oh My Gosh! I can see why you didn't want to talk about it."
    I looked at her as she began to cry again. I pulled her legging back over her leg and pulled her close to me so I could hold her in my arms and try to comfort her.
"Well I am here for you. I will protect you. I won't let anyone ever hurt you again."
She looked up at me with those puppy dog eyes and I knew right, then, and there that I would risk my life in order for her to keep hers.
    I hugged her tighter as soon as I realized that I could have lost her. It's crazy what she went through. I want her to know that she may not be able to avoid problems, but together we can face them.
    I look at her and realize that we are still in our fancy clothes. Then I say, "Do you want to get some pajamas on?"
"Yeah that's a good idea." So we go upstairs. I unzip her dress for her and then go get my pajamas on.
    After that, we lay down and she falls asleep in my arms. I tried to go to sleep but I was having a hard time. I couldn't help but think about what I would do if this Chassen guy came near Autumn. If he ever touches her again I will murder him and make it look like an accident. I never want to lose this precious angel, in my arms.As long as I am in her life, she will not feel pain. I held her closer to me and, finally, I fell asleep.
    I woke up the next morning with my arms wrapped around her. Although she was asleep she was facing me. I kissed her forehead and then she woke up.
"Buenos días, mein stern."
"Buenos días, mi otra mitad."
"How did you sleep?"
"Wonderfully. How about you?"
"I slept great."
    I looked down into her beautiful brown eyes and I couldn't believe that the girl of my dreams was laying in my arms. She is my dream girl and I am lucky enough to be able to treat her like a princess, and I can call her mine.
    I am having a hard time trying to break out of this love trance. I look at her and say, "Do you want to go get some breakfast?"
"Sure. Where did you have in mind?"
"How about Marche Artisan Foods?"
"Sure."
    Sowe get out of bed and get dressed. Then we go downstairs. I grab the keys and we get in the car. When I start the car, the radio comes on and is playing "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper and I couldn't help but look over at her. I start singing along, while I am looking at her.
She is wearing leggings to cover up her scars and burns. This song is getting me so emotional, especially after what Autumn told me last night. So I look away from her to hide the tears in my eyes and the tear rolling down my cheek.
I love her so much and it pains me when I think about what she has been through. Her biological parents were shot. She was in and out of foster homes. She never stayed in one place so there was never just one person who was there for her from the start. She was scared and lonely. Everywhere she went, she was abused in one way or another. She had to deal with all of the hard stuff on her own. There was no one she could turn to for help. No shoulder she could cry on. She was all alone, but I'm here now. I'm here with her and I don't plan on going anywhere.
The song is over and my tears have finally stopped. She looks over at me, as I am wiping my eyes, and says, "Are you okay?"
Dang it, she noticed me crying. "Yeah. I'm fine."
I look over at her and give her an assuring smile.
"Okay, I was just checking."
"Okay."
She looks out the window and then looks down at her hands. I can tell she wants to say something but she's not sure if she should.
"Is everything okay, Autumn?"
"Well I want to say something but I'm not sure I should."
"I'm listening."
She laughs and says, "Of course you are."
"Well?"
"I just want to apologize for running away without telling you. You were and still are my best friend."
"It's okay. You were scared and thought that running away was the only way you would be safe."
"Yeah but I still should have told you."
"What matters is that you're here now and that I love you."
She smiled then kissed me on the cheek and said, "I love you too."
We finally arrive at the restaurant, so I park the car and we go inside. We are seated at a table for two, then we look over the menus. The waiter shows up and takes our order. I couldn't help but notice that he was hitting on Autumn.
So I cleared my throat, grabbed her hand, and said, "Anyway..." She smiled and looked at me as the waiter went away.
"If I didn't know any better I would say that someone's getting a little jealous."
"Well, what do you expect? Our waiter is obviously hitting on you."
"No, it's fine. I understand, actually I think it's kind of cute and sweet."
I looked down and smiled.
"So, I was thinking that when we get back to the house I can start teaching you how to play the piano."
"That sounds great."
"Alright. Than that is what we are going to do."
Right as soon as I kissed her the waiter was back with our drinks. "Here are your orange juices. And I will be back with your food."
We both say "okay" at the same time.
Then we look at each other, both of us remembering the other time when we kept saying the same thing at the same time.
We both laughed and then took a drink of our orange juices.
Okay, now this is getting weird. We keep doing the same motions too. The waiter comes back with our food.
He sets down the plates and then leaves. Good, he got the hint.
It's funny. That when a guy gets jealous it's considered cute and sweet, but when a girl gets jealous it's considered "Oh crap you better run, before I kill you right now."
I look at her and say, "So how is the food?"
"Oh, it's really good. How is yours?"
"It's really good." She asked me this even though we ordered the same thing.
"Are you guys doing okay? How is your food?"
It's our waiter.
I look at Autumn and then we both say, "No thank you. We are fine. The food is delicious."
The waiter looked at us, and I could tell he was freaked out. Oh, I just love to freak people out. It is one of my many hobbies.
"Oh, but can you bring the check?"
"Yeah sure." He leaves to go get the check and we finish eating.
He comes back and I pay for our meals. I put on my  jacket and then I help her with hers. It's not that she can't put on her own jacket, it's just that I like to do it for her.
I grab her by the waist and pull her closer to me. Then I gently tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. I tilt her chin up and then I kiss her. I know this process drives her crazy but it leaves her speechless afterwards.
"Alright, are you ready to go?"
She looks at me with rosy red cheeks and sparkling eyes and nods her head yes. I let go of her waist and grab her hand, then we leave.
We get in the car and I start driving us home. I turn the radio on because the silence was getting awkward. The song that is on the radio is "Counting Stars" by One American Republic. We look at each other, laugh, and then we start singing along.
As soon as the song is over we look at each other and laugh again. Finally we arrive at the house and I park the car in the driveway. I walk over to her side and open her door. Then we go inside. I turn around and lock the door.
Then I turn around and embrace her. "I love you, mein stern."
"I love you too, mi otra mitad."
I smile and then lead her over to the piano. She sits down on the bench and I stand behind her.
"Okay so to start off. First open the lid to the piano."
She opens it slowly and carefully.
"Okay good. Now, let's start by learning what the keys are."
"OKay."
"So the very first key on the piano is 'A.' Then it goes to 'B' and all the way through 'G.' Then it goes back to 'A.' I want you to press every key that is labeled 'A.'" She pressed all of the 'A's.
"Good. Now do the 'B's." She pressed all of the 'B's.
"Okay. Now do the same for 'C-G.'" She played all the keys.
"That was really good. Now can you play 'A,G,B,F,C,E, and D.' In that order."
She plays the keys and I say, "That was beautiful. Very well done. Okay, now I want you to play the first chord of this."
I hand her the music sheets for the Fur Elise and I point to the first line of notes. She plays it and she has basically mastered the piano.
"If you play that just a smidge faster you will have mastered this."
Before I even finish my sentence she plays the entire song perfectly. I am astonished by how fast and gently her fingers move on the keyboard.
"How was that?"
"You played that better than I can."
"No, not really. I like it alot more when you play."
She turned around to face me, tugged on my shirt until my lips were against hers and I was taken by surprise. Honestly I was getting a little jealous of how well she can play the piano, but the kiss wiped all of my jealousy away.
Then she teases me by pulling away. She knows exactly what to do in order to drive me crazy and leave me on the edge of my seat. She looks at me with the cutest look, on her face, that I have ever seen. She looks like a little child begging for candy.Trust me her begging, puppy, face really works perfectly on me. She doesn't even have to say what she wants, I automatically know.
So she gets up as I sit down. Once I start playing the Fur Elise for her, she wraps her arms around me and listens as I play. Then she kisses me on the cheek and then rests her head on my shoulder. She is so sweet and innocent it's hard to imagine that anyone would ever want to bring her into harm's way.
When I finished playing we decided to watch "The Night Before Christmas," it is around christmas time so why not, which was really nice. I made jokes about how she was Sally and I was Jack. She fell asleep so I carried her upstairs and put her in the bed. Then I went back downstairs and started making us lunch. I started to make homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese.
The second I finished the grilled cheese I heard a thump come from upstairs. So I put the back burner on low then I put the pot of tomato soup on it. After that I ran up the stairs so fast that I felt as if I were flying.
As soon as I reached our room I heard Autumn say "Oww."
I ran in the room and looked around and found her on the floor. I rushed over to her and helped her get back on the bed. "What happened?"
"I fell out of bed and twisted my ankle."
"Are you okay?"
"No, it really hurts and I can't walk on it."
"Well I am making lunch, so I will just carry you downstairs. Because I have food on the stove."
I pick her up and carry her downstairs. I sit her down in a spinning chair at the counter and then I go check on the tomato soup. "What smells really good?"
"That is grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup."
"That sounds delicious. Hey, how did I even get into the bed I thought I fell asleep on the couch?"
"You did but I carried you upstairs."
"Oh. Well that was nice. Thank you."
"You are very welcome."
I smile and then give her some lunch. "Lunch is served." Then I go sit down next to her and we eat our lunch as we joke around.
After lunch I clean up and then carry her upstairs to our bedroom. Where we lay down and watch TV. We cuddle to keep warm. I kiss her on the forehead and then we both fall asleep.