Safe With Him (43 page)

Draco walked up to the hardware store and almost right into Kade and Krista. “Hey,” he said as way of greeting them both.

“Hey, man, how’s it goin’?” Kade asked.

“It’s goin’,” Draco answered simply as he stepped back to hold the door for him and Krista.

“You doing okay?” Krista asked.

“I’m…”
Breathin’
, he thought. “Okay,” he answered instead, then before either could ask anything else, he added, “See ya later,” and walked into the store only to hear Chris Cagle’s
I Breathe In, I Breathe Out,
playing low from the speakers in the ceiling. He remembered the last time he had been in here with Bree so she could get what she needed for her flowers,
Yeah, breathing,
he thought. “Fuck,” he groaned low as he quickly got what he need, paid for it, and got the hell out of there.

*  *  *

Bree was on her hands and knees, scrubbing the kitchen floor. Skylar had told Bree last night that this morning she would be taking Caleb to register him at his new school and then she needed to do a few things in Roanoke, but she would be back in time to pick up Caleb after school. So when Bree woke up, she woke to a quiet, empty apartment. Then she remembered the last time she had woken up in her bed. It was to the smell of bacon and…Draco. This time, however, there were no smells of bacon, and she knew there would be no Draco in her kitchen.

She tried to put him out of her mind, but when nothing seemed to work she figured if nothing else, she would keep busy, so here she was scrubbing an already clean kitchen floor, while Avril Lavigne’s
My Happy Ending
blasted out from her stereo. In fact, it was so loud, she didn’t hear Storm when he came stomping in, until he flipped the music off.

Before she even had the chance to protest, Storm barked at her, “Where the fuck is
my
sister?”

She sat back on her calves and threw the sponge in the bucket of water. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ree, you stayed at the hospital with me every damn night, even after Skylar moved in, you came back to the hospital and stayed until they released me. You brought me home and stayed and cleaned my entire apartment from top to bottom only to crash at my place, with me. I had to practically kick you out last night before you would go home. Now you’re here scrubbin’ your floors that, by the way, do
not
need it.”

“Well, excuse me for worrying about the only brother, only family, I have. I didn’t realize me staying by your side, and being there for you like you have been for me my whole life, would cause you so much distress. I’ll try and keep that in mind the next time you get shot!” Bree yelled as she rose from the floor and stomped over to the stereo. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a floor that
does
need cleaning.” She flipped the music back on and thundered toward the kitchen only to have Storm flip it back off.

“You know damn well that’s not what I meant. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but this is not you! Not the sister I know and love. She doesn’t hide and listen to sad-sappy songs. She goes after and fights for what she wants.”

“You can’t fight for someone who doesn’t want you.”

“How do you know? Have you talked to him?”

“Talk? Talk to him? How the hell am I supposed to talk to someone who can’t even look at me, who doesn’t even come anywhere around me? Storm, he wouldn’t even come to the hospital to see you unless I wasn’t there. He got my stuff out of his house and returned it to me by someone else so he wouldn’t have to see me. Tell me, big brother, does that sound like someone who wants to
talk
to me?” She walked back to the stereo again. “I’m not hiding, Storm. I’m just…breathing.”

*  *  *

Draco stood in his kitchen, sledge hammer in hand, everything in the living room and kitchen now covered in plastic drop cloths, as Theory of a Deadman’s
Love Is Hell,
blasted out of his radio. In fact, it was so loud he didn’t hear Storm stomping through his back door, until he switched off the radio.

Before Draco could do more than glare at him, Storm barked at him, “What the fuck are you doin’?”

“Takin’ out this wall.” Draco swung the sledge hammer again at the pony wall that separated the kitchen and the living room and watched more of it crumble to the floor.

“Thought you were done with the kitchen remodeling?”

“Yeah, well, things change.”
And Breezie didn’t like this wall
, he thought, but didn’t voice out loud as he took another swing at the wall.

“So you’re here beatin’ the shit out of a wall, and she’s there scrubbin’ the hell out of a floor, both with music blaring so fuckin’ loud you can’t even hear yourself think.” Storm shook his head. “Y’all two are made for each other, and you’re both too fuckin’ stubborn to open your damn mouths.” When Draco’s only response was another whack at the wall, Storm added, “Talk to her.”

“Talk? Talk to her? You want me to talk to her? And say what? Sorry I fuckin’ lied to you every fuckin’ time you asked me about what the hell was goin’ on? Yeah, I’m sure that’ll go over real well. The woman looked right in my eyes and told me she couldn’t stand dishonestly, and all I fuckin’ did was lie over and over to her. You know her. You really think she’s gonna just shrug her shoulders and say, ‘Oh, okay, everything is fine and fuckin’ dandy now.’ You think that’ll happen? Cuz I sure as hell don’t.”

“She forgave me and I’ve been lyin’ to her for years.”

“You’re her brother. She loves you. Plus, you had the whole gettin’ shot thing goin’ on.”

“She loves you too. You need me to shoot you just to prove that?”

“If I thought it would do any damn good.” Draco dropped the sledge hammer to the floor and walked over to the radio. “She hates me. She told me that herself.” Draco switched the music back on and returned to the hammer only to have Storm switch the music off again.

“She loves you, and she’s hurtin’ because of it.” Storm walked back to the door, but before he went out he turned back to Draco. “Make this shit right with her or I’ll do what I said and kick your ass.”

“You got any suggestions, mister-know-it-all?” Draco growled back at Storm.

Storm laughed. “You’re even startin’ to sound like her.” Shaking his head, he continued, “I know damn well she had you watchin’ half her collection of movies. Didn’t y’all watch her favorite?”

“The bar one?” Draco asked, not sure what the hell Storm was getting at.

“No, that’s her dream one. I’m talkin’ ‘bout the one she calls her favorite boy-going-after-girl moment.”

He thought for a minute about the movies they had watched together, but he couldn’t remember her ever calling one that. Then again, he didn’t think she told him what she had labeled any of them. “I don’t think so, or I don’t remember her sayin’ anything like that to me.”

“It’s…” Storm took a minute to think of the title. “
Say Anything.
” Again he shook his head. “Watch it if you haven’t already, or at least the ending.” And with that said, Storm walked out the door.

***

Two days after Storm had stomped into her apartment, Bree had walked out. She had spent part of the day on campus catching up on her classes, only to discover that she wasn’t behind at all, but still, she wasn’t as far ahead as she would have liked. So she took some time to work on that, then went to Stripped. She met with T-Rex and talked to him about her coming back to work, and because it was still early enough in the day, Nicki, his wife, was there so Bree got to spend some time with her as well. Bree had met her shortly after she had started working but didn’t get to spend much time with her because, well, Bree worked nights and by the time she got to work Nicki was home with the two kids she and T-Rex had. Mostly the only times Bree ever got to visit with Nicki was when she would come to some of the dance classes. Bree smiled at that thought, usually the days Nicki showed up for a
lesson
, it turned into more of a party than a class.

Now Bree was on her way back home.
Home.
It didn’t feel like home to her. She liked that Skylar and Caleb were there, and she loved the times she got to spend with them. She even kept Caleb last night while Skylar went to work. Okay, it wasn’t much, considering the boy went to bed only a short time after Skylar left, but still, it was a little comforting to know someone else was there. Tonight, though, tonight she knew she would be by herself. Skylar was working, and Caleb was at Krista and Kade’s, his new babysitter. She thought about stopping by to visit with Krista, but really wasn’t in the mood for more company.

As she pulled into her parking lot, without giving it a thought, her eyes zeroed in on the tree line, knowing Draco’s house sat right behind them. How long would this pain last? How long before everywhere she went something or other wouldn’t remind her of Draco? Wouldn’t bring the pain back just as sharp as ever. Would it ever lessen? Would the ache in her heart ever start to dull? She backed her car into her spot, but now she could, at least for a few minutes, sit and stare out at the tree line. Wishing she could take back that day, rewind time and never say the things she had said to him. Would it make any difference? Would he have still wanted her out of his house and out of his life? Did it matter now? “No,” she answered herself aloud. “You made sure that he would never want to even look at you again.” She sighed as she slowly got out of her car and made her way to her very empty, very lonely, apartment.

When she closed the door behind her she couldn’t take another step. She leaned back against the door, then slid down until she hit the floor as the tears poured down her cheeks. She sat and cried more tears, wondering again if the pain would ever go away. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there lost in thought, lost in the pain, lost in memories, but a ‘ping’ sound brought her back to the now and what she was hearing. She sat and listened…’Ping.’ There! She heard it again. ‘Ping.’
Where is that coming from?
She slowly rose, then stood silently listening. ‘Ping.’
Kitchen
? She rushed over to the kitchen and waited. ‘Ping.’
The window!
She rushed over to the window, threw open the curtain and…she couldn’t believe her eyes!

Bree’s apartment building was all one floor so there was no upstairs floor. But, the way it had been built, all the apartments were about a half a story from the ground, and Bree’s apartment being an end one meant that her kitchen was one of the few that had a window. So when Bree looked out her window she had to look down to see the ground. And at the moment Bree was looking down at… “Am I dreaming?” she asked herself. “Or am I going crazy?” She pushed open the window.

Standing only a few feet from her window was…“Dra,” she breathed out his name.

Draco, dressed not in a brown trench coat, but a black motorcycle jacket, was standing in front of not a blue Malibu, but his black motorcycle. And holding high above his head was an original boom box playing, not Peter Gabriel, but Michael Bolton’s
How Am I Supposed To Live Without You
.

“I must be going crazy,” she mumbled to herself as she wiped at the new tears that were running down her face.

“Breezie.” She heard him call her, just as the song ended. “I’m sorry, baby. So damn sorry, please, I…”

She heard no more as she raced to her door, out and down the breezeway. She was halfway down when she froze, as Draco came around the corner and up the breezeway toward her, but when he saw her stop, he stopped.

Draco stood frozen in his steps as his Breezie stood frozen in hers. Had she been running to him or…away from him? Was that it? Had she rushed out of her apartment to get away from him, only to have him block her escape?

He almost turned away before he heard her soft spoken, “Dra,” as she took one step, then another, then she ran full force to him and without giving pause, she jumped right into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around his neck, tight. “Dra.” He heard her whisper; felt her breath on his neck.

“Breezie.” He sighed, the first breath he took without pain, as he held her close to him, turned his face into her hair and just breathed her in.
Peaches…Breezie.
“My Breezie.”

“I’m so so so so sorry,” she mumbled, then leaned back in his arms, and he saw her beautiful face streaked in tears. “I shouldn’t have said what I did, any of that. I’m so—”

“Don’t.” With one hand holding her to him, the other reached out, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I should’ve never kept that from you. I should’ve told you. I should’ve—”

“Broken your word to Storm?” She looked right into his eyes and down to his soul. “That’s not the kind of man you are. That’s not the man I fell in love with. You had no choice, Dra.”

“Ti amo,” he whispered just as he crashed his lips to hers. He kissed her as he carried her down the breezeway and into her apartment, over to the sofa. When he sat with his Breezie straddling his lap, only then did he break the kiss, but only long enough to whisper reverently, “Ti amo tanto,” before he kissed her again.