Inferno

~51~ Birthday

Ellie's POV

When I start walking, I'm honestly turned around. It's dark and I'm upset. I'm not sure where I am. Suddenly a truck pulls up to me and stops. My defenses immediately go up.

"Calm down, Ellie, it's me" Jake says with a concerned voice through his opened window.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, surprised.

"Taylor called me" he says simply. "Get in"

I get in and he calls Taylor back. When he gets off the phone, he looks at me. "He says you will probably want to go to Megan's house. Do you?" He asks me gently.

I shake my head. "It's late. Can you just take me to your house, please?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah" he says as he puts the truck in drive goes to his place.

We get in and I sit on the couch. He doesn't say a word as he hands me a soda from the fridge.

"Don't you know this stuff will kill ya?" I joke as I open it and take a drink.

He chuckles. "Yeah. Unfortunately the girl I'm seeing likes it too, though" he says, shaking his head.

"Wow! You must really like her to allow such a monstrosity into your home"

"I do, actually"

"What?!?" I ask, shocked. Jake doesn't really do "girlfriends." He just causally dates. He was married once, but that was a nightmare. It didn't last long. He has always refused to date any girls he's actually happy with. Not sure why. Commit issues, maybe?

He nods. "I owe it to Emma. She talked me into asking her out. I think she's the one, Ellie" he says, trying to hide a smile.

I get up and hug him tight. "I can't wait to meet her" I say as I kiss his cheek and sit next to him.

"I'm excited for you to meet her, too"

"Enough about me. What's going on?" He asks seriously.

I sigh as I tell him absolutely everything.

He's quiet for a long moment. He's enraged.

"Tell me where he lives" he finally says darkly.

"No" I say, equally as dark.

"What's his name?"

"No, Jake"

He lets out a huge sigh. "I know he lives on Maple. I'll figure it out" he promises.

"You and I will not be ok if you do. Please, drop this."

He's quiet for another minute, trying to get himself calmed down. "Taylor really cracked a rib, even with cuffs on?" He asks, impressed.

"I don't know for sure, but my guess is it's cracked" I say.

He chuckles. "I'll tell you a little secret... Your husband has always scared the shit out of me. He's the only person I've ever met that I haven't wanted to fight. I really think he'd kill me" he says seriously.

"Now I'm absolutely convinced that he would have" he says, shaking his head and smirking.

"You can stay here tonight if you want" he says, looking at me hard. "You want to go home though, don't you?" He asks after another minute.

I nod. "I can't let Taylor deal with all of this by himself" I say as I stand up. He gives me a hug, and then takes me home.

I get in and Taylor is sitting, staring at the fire he started in the fireplace.