Rehab, Actors & Love

Not Used To Normal

Della's POV

"Della?" I heard someone whisper. I opened my eyes to see Dylan smiling down at me.

"Hi," I whispered as I closed my eyes. I smiled when he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes when I remembered what day it was.

"You're going home today," Dylan smirked when he saw the look on my face.

I nodded as I looked around my empty room. I sat up and scooted over as Dylan sat next to me, pulling me into his chest. I sighed as I leaned my head against his shoulder, gently rubbing his hands up and down arms.

We sat like that, neither one of us saying anything as we held each other. We looked up when there was a soft knock on the door. I smiled as Evan walked in.

"How's my girl doing?" He asked as he walked over.

Dylan and I sat up, him subconsciously sliding away from me. "I'm okay," I shrugged.

He smiled knowingly at me as he glanced over at Dylan before walking over to me. I swung my legs over the edge of my bed as he walked over. He reached up and gently touched my vocal cords.

"Well," he smiled at me as he pulled his hand back. "Good news, kid. The swelling has gone down since Dylan brought you in last night. Do you feel any throbbing or pain?"

I shook my head, biting my lip. "Then that's good," he smiled as he pulled his hands away from my neck. I bit my lip as Evan looked between Dylan and me.

"You feeling okay?" Evan sighed as he walked over to me. He put his finger under my chin and made me look at him. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I can't believe I'm leaving today," I whispered. I looked over at Dylan, tears building up. I glanced back over at Evan when they finally started to fall.

"What if it's too soon? What if I'm not as healthy as we think? I went dancing and ended right back here. What if. . ."

"Della," Evan cut me off. "You are perfectly healthy enough to go home. We've run all the needed tests and everything has come back stronger than we thought. Della, you are healthy enough to go home. You've come a long way since you were first brought here."

"Then why don't I feel confident enough to go home?" I asked, my voice breaking.

Evan reached up and cupped my cheeks in his hands. "Because you're scared," he said gently. "And that's okay. You have your family's support and a man who loves you and I trust will care for you. Plus, you have my number."

I smiled as he leaned over and pressed his lips to my forehead. "You're going to be fine," he whispered.

I nodded, looking over at Dylan. I reached my hand out towards him, gesturing for him to come over. He smiled as he walked over, instantly grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"See?" Evan said, smirking slightly. "You'll be fine."

* * * * *

After talking to my parents, I got them to agree to allow Dylan to be the one to take me home. After packing up a few things, I was about to throw my bag over my shoulder when Dylan stopped me. I smiled as he grabbed my bag from me and threw it over his own shoulder while grabbing my hand with his free hand.

We were quiet as we got in his car and started driving to my house. As we drove, I started to notice that we weren't heading to my parent's house.

"Dyl?" I said, finally breaking the silence. "Where. . . Where are we going?"

I looked over to see him smirking at me. "Well," he said, clearing his throat. "I just thought we would take a little drive. The second that we get back to your house, your parents will be so busy making sure you're okay and your brothers will be too busy trying to scare me away."

"My brothers do like you," I giggled. "They see how much you care about me. It's just. . . They have some trust issues with everything that happened."

"Everything that's my fault," he mumbled.

"They don't blame you," I said quickly. "No one in my family blames you. Especially after everything that you've done for me."

At the stoplight, he looked over at me and sent me a sad smile. I reached over and cupped his cheek in my hand before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He pulled away, the sad smile still on his face.

He turned back towards the road just as the light turned green. I reached over and grabbed his hand, intertwining our fingers.

A few minutes later, we pulled into a parking spot near the beach. I looked over at him with a small smile on my face. We got out of the car and started walking down the beach, hand in hand. I smiled as he slightly swung our hands back and forth.

I looked around, taking in the view as he started leading me towards a covered pavilion. We sat down, our hands still intertwined. I leaned my head on his shoulder, my smile widening when he leaned his head on mine. We sat like that for at least ten minutes before Dylan broke the silence.

"I never thought I'd feel like this," he whispered.

"Me either," I giggled slightly. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in closer. We were back to sitting in silence comfortably.

"I love how we can sit in silence without it being awkward," he said, laughing slightly.

"That probably has more to do with the fact that when we first met, I couldn't talk at all," I joked. I looked up when I noticed he hadn't laughed or said anything. "You okay?"

I sat up when Dylan turned towards me. He reached down and took both of my hands, intertwining our fingers.

"Della," he said shakily. "I wanted to talk about. . . When we first met, I didn't care about people. I was selfish and I didn't care about the consequences. Because of that, I ruined your singing career. I destroyed your life, Della."

"Dylan," I tried to interrupt.

"But," he said quickly, "things are going to change. Since I almost ruined your life, I'm going to spend the rest of mine taking care of you. I know my career makes that kind of hard, but I'll make it work. I promise. I will make time for you. I swear. I will always put your needs first, babe. Because I love you."

"And I love you," I smiled. I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Instead of kissing me back, he pulled away.

"Della, I want to prove it to you."

"Dylan," I sighed. "You really don't have to. I mean, you already have. In more ways than one."

"I want to," he said, instantly. He cleared his throat, slightly sitting up straighter. I furrowed my eyebrows together when he reached in his pocket.

"What are you doing?" I asked, giggling slightly.

"This may seem stupid or childish. . ."

"Dylan," I giggled, cutting off his nervous stuttering. "What's wrong?"

"Here," he said as he handed me a small box. I looked up at him before slowly taking the box out of his hand. My eyes widened when I slowly opened the box.

"Dyl," I stuttered, my voice barely coming out a whisper. "What is this?"

"It's a promise ring."

I looked up at him to see him smiling down at me. "A promise ring?" I stuttered.

He smiled as he reached down and grabbed the box from my hand. I watched as he took the ring and slipped it onto my right ring finger.

"I promise to always be there for you. I promise to be there for you whenever you need me, always putting you first. I promise that one day, I'll buy you a better ring and put this one on your left hand."

"Really?" I stuttered, his hands still holding mine.

"Really," he chuckled. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips, pulling me closer. When we pulled apart, he leaned his forehead against mine.

"I love you, Adeline," he whispered.

"I love you too, Dylan."