Broken

Chapter 5

Around 4pm, about two weeks later, I awoke to more knocking on my door. I groggily answered the door.
It was Taylor again and he was carrying a large box. He had been by every day since I had met him.
"What is this?" I asked, as he carried it into the room and set it on the bed.
"Clothes," he said. "And some other stuff."
"Where did they come from?" I asked.
"They were donated," he said.
The look on my face quickly caused him to explain further, "Not necessarily for you, I didn't tell anyone anything. My mom collects donations for one of the women's shelters. I told her you didn't have many things so she went through them and guessed your size. Whatever doesn't fit I'll just take back to her."
"I appreciate all this," I said as he opened the box. "But I don't think-"
"Yes, you can," he insisted and began pulling out jeans and tops. "Now find something to wear and get dressed."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I'm taking you out to dinner tonight," he smiled.
I blushed and avoided his gaze by looking down at the clothes. I started going through them and picked out a nice, blue, sleeveless top and a pair of blue jeans. There were also shoes in there too so I picked out a pair of sandals and went into the bathroom to change.
"Wow," he said, when I walked out of the bathroom. "You look great."
"Really?" I asked, glancing in the mirror hanging over the dresser before looking back at him.
"Yes," he blushed, but didn't take his eyes off me.
"Your mom is a good guesser," I said looking back in the mirror.
"Huh?" he asked and I looked back over at him. He was still staring at me.
"The sizes," I reminded him. "She guessed my size good."
"Oh. Yeah. Right," he said shaking his head and finally looking away from me.
I chuckled, "So where are you taking me?"
"You'll see," he smiled, his blue eyes sparkling as he extended his arm to me.
I linked mine in his and we headed out to the car.
He took me to a hip, little restaurant in downtown Tulsa, that had just opened up a couple of weeks ago. They had a valet and everything. I was blown away.
He smiled at me as we walked in.
"You act like you've never been to a restaurant before," he chuckled.
"I haven't since I was very little," I said softly, my cheeks turning crimson.
"Oh," he said and I could tell he immediately regretted his joke. "I guess not huh? Well then we'll just have to go all out tonight, won't we?"
"Oh you don't have to -" I started but he put his hand up to silence me.
"Your finest table," he said to the hostess, slipping her a tip.
"Yes Mr. Hanson," she said, and escorted us to our table. "Right this way."
"Mr. Hanson?" I giggled as he held my chair out for me to sit.
He rolled his eyes playfully and took the seat across from me.
My eyes scanned the menu and I didn't know what half of the dishes were.
"I don't know what to order," I admitted after a few minutes.
"Order whatever sounds good to you," he said.
"But what if I don't like it?" I asked, glancing back down at the menu.
"Then you can order something else," he said.
"Oh I couldn't do that," I said, shaking my head.
"You can," he smiled, and reached over placing his hand on mine. "And you will. I told you we're going all out. So order what you want and if you don't like it you can order something else."
I could tell he was standing firm on this so I looked back over the menu.
When our waitress came over, I ordered crab legs because I had always wanted to try them.
The food was amazing and I didn't end up having to order anything else.
"This night has been perfect," I said as we walked back to my motel room later that evening.
"I know I don't want it to end," he said.
"It doesn't have to," I blurted then bit my lip. Did I really just say that?
"Don't you have to work?" he asked looking at his watch.
I shook my head, "I'm off tonight."
He smiled as I opened the door and we walked into the room.
"So if you want to stay a little longer," I started rambling as I slipped off my shoes.
"I'd love to," he said quickly.
I was terrified. I had never been on a date before. I didn't know what was appropriate or what was expected of me. I just knew I didn't want him to leave yet.
"We could rent another movie?" he suggested.
I smiled and nodded.
"Great," he smiled back. He called his mom to tell her he'd be home late, while I went to change into a fresh pair of pajamas that had been in the box of clothes Taylor had brought me earlier.
"Okay thanks mom," he said into the phone as I came back out and sat on the bed leaning against the headboard. "Love you too."
He hung up the phone and slipped off his shoes and climbed into the bed next to me.
"So she's okay with you staying out later?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said then laughed. "In fact, she told me if I wanted to stay out all night I could."
Coming from a home where I was only allowed to go to school, and occasionally the library if Mitch felt I had behaved enough for him to take me, I was impressed. And also suddenly nervous. Was he hinting that he wanted to spend the night with me? And if so what did he expect to happen?
"That means we can get two movies before I go," my thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Two movies?" I asked confused.
"Yeah, we can get the one I wanted and the one you said you wanted to watch," he smiled.
"Oh, right," I said. "I forgot."
"You were thinking I was going to try and get you to sleep with me, weren't you?" he interpreted my thoughts.
I looked away, shamefully, "I guess I didn't know what to think."
"Have I done anything that has made you not trust me?" he asked softly.
"No," I said, a tear sliding down my cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm just - I'm so confused. One minute I want you to just throw me down on that bed and -"
His eyes widened in surprise making me lose my train of thought.
"And the next," I said after a minute. "I'm afraid any time now you're going to do just that! I want you to kiss me again but I shudder every time you touch me! I like you a lot. You're the only person I've ever thought I could trust, so why can't I just stop thinking that any minute now you're going to hurt me?"
I sunk down to the floor and was overtaken by sobs.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" I choked out as he rushed over to my side.
"Nothing," he soothed, rubbing my back. "Nothing is wrong with you. You've just been through a lot. You've been forced to grow up too fast and you were hurt by the people who you should've been able to depend on, the people who were supposed to care for you."
"Why couldn't that bastard just leave me alone?" I sobbed.
"Because he's a very sick person," he said.
"But I'm not anything special?" I said. "I'm not pretty. I'm not smart. I'm just -"
"Hey now," he said, pushing my hair out of my face before cupping it in his hands. "That's my friend you're talking about. You are very pretty and smart and definitely something special."
I half smiled, "Thanks, Tay, but I'm not."
"Yes you are," he said and kissed me ever so softly again.
It was I who deepened the kiss and pulled him over top of me as I leaned back on the floor. I wrapped my legs around his midsection, pulling him as close to me as possible.
"Amelia, I don't -" he pulled back, his breath quickening already.
"Just make me forget Taylor," I whispered, looking into his eyes. "I need to forget."
He didn't say another word, just led his lips back to mine.