The Safe House

Chapter 19

Jason put me down and I looked over at the other boys. I pulled them into a group hug and just held them tight for a while. I wanted them to know that I loved them too, not in the same way as Jason, but I wanted them to know. Then I looked down and saw Kenna standing there. I picked her up and hugged her as tight as I could without hurting her. I started crying. As much as it hurt to go through what just happened to me, I am glad that I was taken and not her. She looked at me confused. "Why you crying?" she asked.

"I just missed you." I said.

"I missed you too!" She yelled. I chuckled at her. I wiped my tears off my face and turned back to the boys. "What do we do now?" I asked. Just then Sergeant Lindsay came over to us and was explaining what was going to happen now.

"You need to go pack your stuff up from the safe house and we will be relocating you to a different safe house."

"Why?" I asked. "You caught them."

"We want to make damn sure we got all the guys and make sure none of you ever have to go through anything like this ever again. The only way to ensure your safety until then is to put you into protective custody until we rule out any other people related to this gang. I know the last thing you want to do is go into another safe house, but we need to make sure that you will be safe when you get out."

"We understand and we appreciate you going to such great lengths to ensure our safety." I replied for all of us.

"Officer Sharp and I will take you back to the safehouse to get your stuff. Since it is so late, we will lock down the house and you can stay there tonight. Then we will pick you up in the morning and transport you to the new safe house." She explained.

We got into two separate cars, Jason, Kenna, and I in one and Carter, Caleb, and Theo in the other. Jason held me close to him and laced our fingers together. I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed my head which brought a smile to my face. I was glad to be back with him.

Once we got to the safe house, we started packing all of our stuff up. It took about three hours to get everything packed. I packed Kenna's stuff first so that I could put her to bed. It was way past her bedtime. Then I packed my stuff. Now, I was laying in bed with Jason and he was playing with my hair. I was staring into his eyes realizing how lucky I was to have a guy like him. I moved closer to him and he wrapped his arm around me. I looked up at him and kissed him. After a few minutes, he pulled away and said, "I'm never letting you go ever again." I smiled at him and snuggled into him.

I did not sleep at all last night. Everything that happened kept running through my head. I didn't tell Jason and I didn't plan on telling him either. I felt safe and comforted with him, but every time I closed my eyes I relived everything.

We had all our stuff packed into the vehicles and we were on our way to the new safe house. Once we arrived, we started unpacking our things. I started with Kenna's room so that she could get back into a routine and get to bed on time tonight. Between making some lunch and dinner and unpacking. It was nine p.m. before I got to my stuff. I had just started unpacking when Jason came in and leaned on the door frame. "Need some help?" He asked.

"No, thanks. I think I got it." I replied as I opened one of the boxes. He watched me for a few seconds before he opened one of my boxes. "Hey, I said I didn't need any help." I said getting a little angry although I don't know why.

"I'm just trying to help you so that you can go to bed." He defended.

"Well, I don't need your help." I snapped.

"Fine." He replied and walked out.

After he left, I took a deep breath. I was on the verge of tears. I rested my head on the box in front of me. These mood swings are coming out of nowhere, I don't know what is wrong with me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard someone ask. I lifted my head and wiped the tear off my face. It's a good thing I was facing away from the door. I turned around and saw Theo standing there.

"Yeah, fine. Did you get all your stuff unpacked?" I asked trying to bring up a different topic.

"Yeah." He paused then he started walking over to me. "Maddie, you can talk to me."

"I know, I'm fine." I tried to assure him.

"No, you're not. We've been living under the same roof for too long for you to be able to lie to me about things like this anymore."

I took a deep breath and looked up at him with tears threatening to fall. He noticed this and sat next to me on the floor. He hugged me and I instantly started crying. I felt someone sit on the other side of me and hug me. I looked over and saw that it was Carter. I just let them hold me as I cried.

"What the hell is going on in here?" I heard Caleb's voice. I looked over and saw him standing in the doorway. He saw my face and let out a sigh before he walked over to us and sat on the floor beside us.

"What happened?" Carter asked.

"Carter don't pry at her!" Caleb got after him.

I took a deep breath and sat up. "No, it's okay. I am just struggling right now." I took a deep breath, "I am having mood swings that are coming out of nowhere, I can't sleep, and I just caused a fight with Jason."

"What happened with Jason?" Carter asked.

"He tried to help me unpack and I told him I didn't need his help, but he tried to help anyway and I yelled at him and he got mad and left. I feel like such a bitch because I don't even know why I yelled at him and ugh!" I yelled the last part and put my face in my hands.

"Wow, women are complicated." Caleb mumbled. I shot him a death glare.

"I just don't know why I feel like this." I said.

"Well, when was the last time you got a full night's rest." Carter asked.

"Probably two or three nights ago." I replied honestly.

"That's why you feel like this." Carter said. "Everybody gets moody and emotional when they're short on sleep."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I replied. "What should I do about Jason?"

"Just go talk to him." Carter responded. "If you explain to him like you did to us, I'm sure he'll understand."

I let out a sigh. "Okay, you're probably right."

"I know I'm right." He said with a smirk.

"I love you guys." I said as I hugged them again.

"We love you too." Carter and Theo said. We all looked at Caleb.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too." He said as he rolled his eyes.