Hidden (Trent Malloy) *Finished*

~4~

"Ali. Ali" I hear somebody say but can't really focus on it. "Alison!" my eyes open, and Trent is on the side of me; shaking me. He looks at me, his face shows that he isn't sure what to say. "What were you dreaming about?" he asks as he rubs my hand with his thumb. "I...I had a dream that I was baking something. Then I though you came home, but it wasn't you. It was somebody else, but they got me in a headlock with a gun pointed at my head. Then you came home and they shot you, you..." I started to say but started crying.

"I what?" Trent asks, sitting up now. He then rubs my cheek gently, "You weren't moving. You were just on the floor" I say still in tears. Trent gently cleans my tears away, "It's okay, I am right here" he says, kissing me gently. "I thought about what you said last night, about teaching you how to defend yourself and the girls" he says, I look up at him still slightly crying. "I agree, it could help if the time were to come" I nod.

"So when you wake up, we will get ready and go to the gym I train at. We'll start off slow, then work our way up" he states, to which I nod again. I rub my eyes and finally stop crying. We get up, and both get coffee. "No no no" Trent tells me as I attempt to make coffee. "You have already had a bad morning, go sit down and do something. I got this" he says as he puts his hands on my hips, looking at me in the eyes. Standing in front of the stove, I nod after I think about it.

Everything was fine yesterday and the day before, but today all of a sudden I am so emotional. A few minutes later, I hear Trent's phone go off. "Hey Walker" he says, and then the pouring of water can be heard. "Sorry, I actually have plans today" he says and comes out into the living room with a cup for me. He sets it down on the coffee table and heads back into the kitchen. Probably to get his.

"Alright, talk to you later" he says and puts his phone away. "Who's Walker?" I ask, sipping the coffee. Trent sits next to me on the couch, also sipping on his coffee. "Another ranger I work with often" he says as he puts his arm around me I nod and keep drinking my own. We watch tv for sometime being while we both wake, "My mom says we can get the girls whenever" he says reading the text from her. He looks at me, I just nod. He puts the phone down, then holds me gently. "Is there something else going on?" he asks, I tell him no, "Just a bad dream that scares me" I tell him while looking him in the eye.

He sighs, "I know it scares you, and I hate that it does" he states. I look at him again, "But I knew this would happen, so I am prepared. But I just need sometime to get over it. I also think that you teaching me how to defend myself will help get over it too" I tell him. He nods. "I couldn't agree more" he smiles at me and kisses my neck.

We both finally finish our coffees and get ready. "Are you ready?" I ask as I head downstairs. Trent is dressed in sweats and a grey tank. He looks at my outfit. Shorts and a sports bra. Smirking, he nods. We then get into his car since he knows where the gym is. "So remember, we're going to take it slow. Once I think you're doing a good job with the slow level, we can move onto a somewhat harder one" he says, I nod and that's all we talk about the whole ride.

Once we get there, Trent parts the car once he finds a spot to park. We get our belongings and head in, a guy at the desk greets Trent. "Hey dude!" they say as they hug. I awkwardly stand there, the other guy notices me. "Hello ma'am. How can I help you today?" he asks. Trent looks at me. "I'm with him" I reply, pointing to my husband. Trent looks at the guy again. "Yeah. Alex, this is my wife. Ali." Trent says, this Alex guy sticks a hand out.

So I shake it, he welcomes me. "Trent helps out a lot here, so as I have told him. You guys can come anytime while we are open" he says looking at the both of us. "Thank you" I reply, he nods before walking away. "So this is the gym I go to a lot. Just to train myself and to not forget things" Trent tells me as he shows me around. "Trent, love. I don't think you could ever forget how to fight. I mean for crying out loud, you train in marshal arts!" I exclaim. He smiles at me.

"Lets go into the ring and try it out" he says, I nod and we put our stuff down. We both stand in the ring, somewhat not in the middle. He explains how this is all going to work and what I am supposed to do. I listen as best as I could, trying to remember everything. "Let's do one thing at a time instead of all at once" he says, "Yes please" I say and we both end up laughing.

Now we get to the serious part. He tells me what to do for this one, and he instructs with his hands also. I try my best, putting my hands up to create some type of barrier. "Put your hands up and guard your face" He explains even more. I keep doing it. Without realizing it, I do it. "Good" Trent says as we try one more time.