Eva: Lol, well as long as you didn´t fall
Hope you will enjoy the next part.DeDe PR: Yeah, Billy definitely won´t give up and leve them alone for good.
quel: It´s Sunday again.
Thanks.THANKS EVERYONE!
*****
Kyle drove us to the building where Michael and Max live and then left. The guys aren´t at home yet, so Liz and I are sitting on the stairs in semi-darkness, waiting on them, ‘cause we didn’t take the key with us when we left earlier.
“Thank you, Maria,” Liz whispers and leans her head on my shoulder. “You risked everything to save me.”
“You´re welcome,” I simply answer. Too many other things are keeping my head busy right now.
“Billy knows now,” Liz states.
“Yeah,” I reply with a trembling voice. That´s what is really freaking me out!
“I´m sure Michael, Max and Kyle will do everything they can to protect you,” she tries to comfort me. I look at her silently, without a clue as to what to say. Right now, I´m just really tired and I don´t want to think about what might happen tomorrow.
Noise in the hallway lets us know that someone is finally coming home. I´m a little scared. How will Michael react? I went to Billy again, secretly, while he slept. I´m sure he was shocked when he woke up alone.
“Liz,” Max calls out the moment he sees her and takes three quick steps to reach her faster. Liz raises herself up from the stairs and throws herself into his open arms. “Oh God, Max, I’m so glad you´re here now,” she sighs.
I´m not sure, but it looks like even Max has wet eyes. “Let´s go inside,” he whispers against her hair, and then he lets go of her and turns to looks in my direction. “I´m sorry that I didn´t trust you at first.”
I just nod. “Where is Michael?”
“He should be here soon. I called him after Kyle called me. He wasn’t very far away from here. You wanna come in and wait for him?”
I´m really cold by now, but I know that Max and Liz need to be alone, so I shake my head. “No, it´s okay. I’ll just wait here for him.”
Max searches around in his pants pocket for a moment and hands something to me. “Take my key to let yourself in.” After that, they head for their apartment. Max squeezes my shoulder lightly and darts a grateful look at me. I smile at him weakly in reply.
***
I got into Michael’s apartment a few minutes ago and took a seat on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter. I’m still wearing my jacket and shoes, ‘cause I’m not sure what will happen. Maybe he’ll kick me out, maybe he’s mad at me… If that does happen, then I would be glad that I could just run away and won’t have to get dressed first.
God, waiting for him is driving me insane.
Suddenly I can hear him coming up the last few steps of the staircase. My whole body tenses up when he unlocks the door.
“Hey,” I whisper carefully.
“Hey,” he says back, but I can’t pinpoint any emotion in his tone. He kicks off his shoes and throws his jacket on the wardrobe. Then he comes over to the kitchen, but he doesn’t really look at me as he moves behind the counter to open the refrigerator. He pulls out a beer, opens it and lifts it to his mouth to drink more than half of it in one gulp.
“Please don’t do this to me, Michael,” I whisper in a pleading tone.
He hesitates for a moment, takes a long drink from the beer in his hand again before slamming it down on the surface of the counter. I wince with shock at the loud sound.
“Please don’t do what?” he snaps.
I can’t even speak; the words are stuck in my throat.
“I didn’t do anything. But do you even realize what YOU did to ME?” he continues. “I woke up and you were gone and I didn’t even know where the fuck to look for you!!!”
“I couldn’t tell you, Michael. I knew you wouldn’t let me go to him again,” I whisper.
“You’re damn right about that! Can you imagine how lost I felt when we were out looking for you, but had no clue where to start?” He’s yelling at me. God, he’s so mad at me!
“I’m sorry! But I had to go to him and I had to be alone. It would have been too dangerous for any of you.”
He snarls, “But it wasn’t for you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
He’s going to the wardrobe again, getting the note I’d left him before I left his apartment a few hours earlier. He moves to stand right next to me, throws the little paper in my lap and braces his right arm on the counter. “What did Billy tell you that you kept from us?” Michael is still pissed, but at least his voice isn’t so loud anymore.
I don’t want to tell him, but I know that I have to. “Um... he told me that he wanted to get laid tonight and...” I can hear him taking a sharp breath, “...and he said he would go after Liz if I didn’t come back later.”
“Damn it,” he hisses, slamming one fisted hand down on the seat of the closest barstool while driving through his hair with the other.
I can’t hold back any longer. The events of this awful day and the yelling from Michael are too much for me to handle. My hands start to shake again when I put them over my face and start to sob badly.
I can feel him hesitate next to me and I wonder if I should go home to my own apartment, but then he takes a step towards me and his strong arms pull me towards his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispers into my hair.
We stay in this position for a few minutes until I’m able to calm myself down. He pulls away just enough to look down into my face. His eyes lock with mine and I can practically see the question there, which he so badly needs to be answered. “Did Billy...” he starts hoarsely, but I put my hand over his mouth before he can say even more and shake my head.
“No. I locked him in his bedroom and we were able to escape before he could touch either of us. Thank God, Kyle was suddenly right in front of us, ‘cause Billy managed to get out and followed us with a gun.”
I can feel Michael’s muscles tense at the mention of the weapon. “I’m so scared, Michael; he knows now and he won’t let me get away with this. He will come after me.” I cry again.
He places his hands on each side of my head so that I have to look straight into his eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you, baby,” he whispers and bends down to brush his lips against mine.
I know that he won’t be able to protect me 24/7. I have to go to school, he has to work. But just for tonight I want to believe that everything will be alright.
***
I’m sitting on the edge of the tub dressed only in a bathing wrap and I hold my hand out under the jet of water, which is coming out of the faucet. I know it’s already late and I should try to sleep, but I’m still too agitated to just go to bed. Maybe a hot bath will loosen me up and make me tired. The foam is building as more water runs into the tub and the smell of lavender fills the air. I wonder if he bought this bubble bath just for me; guys wouldn’t use things like this, would they?
Michael steps into the bathroom and stands up next to me. “Did you get all the things you need to take a bath?”
“No, there is one thing missing,” I tell him.
“What is it?” he asks, puzzled.
I laugh out loud ‘cause he’s not getting what I mean. I get to my feet and take a step forward, so that we’re standing only a few inches away from each other. I reach out with my hand to drive it through his hair. “You,” I whisper and study his face for any reaction.
A lightly smile appears on his lips, that makes me quiver. In slow motion, I let my hands trail over his chest to the hem of his shirt. I pull it over his head in one quick movement before my tingling fingertips roam over his now bare upper body again. I can feel his muscles tensing under my touch and his heart beats against his chest in a faster rhythm then normal. The realization that I can do this to him makes me want him even more.
I lean forward to press soft kissed at his chest, while I open his waistband. I take a little step back to look into his eyes, which are darker then usual, before I slide his pants down his legs, so he can step out of them. Inch by inch my hands drive up again, from his calves, above his thighs and along his sides until I’m standing upright again.
Finally, he seems to wake up from his stiffness and takes my chin in one hand to turn my head up to meet his gaze. His thumb is roaming over my bottom lip. “You’re driving me crazy, baby, do you know that?” he whispers with a smirk.
“That’s a good thing, right?” I ask back, grinning.
In response he leans down to capture my lips with his. “I guess it is,” he murmurs between kisses. A quivering sigh escapes my lips when he pulls me up against his body and he stops in his movements to look at me, checking to see if everything is okay.
I lean my forehead against his and wrap my arms around his body, ‘cause my legs refuse to steady me any longer. “Don’t stop,” I breathe.
He trails one hand through my hair. “I won’t, as long as you don’t ask me to.”
He wants to make sure that he won’t do something that I’m not ready for. But I trust him, he’s not gonna hurt me intentionally. I nod slightly to show I understand the real meaning of his statement and take a step back. Our eyes lock, when I open the belt around the bathing wrap I’m wearing. I grab the collar and pull it over my shoulders; the soft fabric slides down my arms and falls to the floor.
I’ve never done this before – stripping down to nothing in front of a guy I mean. Of course, Billy saw me naked before, but he was the one who undressed me – always as fast as he could and never really paying attention to my body. He never looked at me the way Michael does right now. His eyes are travelling from my head to my feet in a very slow motion. It feels like he could caress me just with his look – that’s sending shivers down my back. I really wish he would touch me soon.
I’m sure he can see the light blush on my face when he finally lifts his gaze up again to meet my eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he croaks.
I wonder if he knows that this is – by a long way – the most wonderful thing anyone has ever said to me for the last years. “Thank you,” I whisper, feeling a single tear running down my cheek.
He reaches out to brush it away with his thumb. “Don’t cry anymore.”
“It was just a happy tear,” I say with a smile and lay my hand over his. “Let’s get in there; it’s cold out here.”
“Okay.” He lets go of me and I step into the tub, sighing with pleasure as my body sinks into the hot water. He crouches down and steadies himself on the edge of the tub. He seems to think about something, because even if he looks at me he’s kind of absent. I lay my hand over his and the contact brings him back to reality. I bend forward to press a soft kiss on his cheek, right next to his lips. My other hand is wandering down his torso until I reach his boxers. I take the waistband between two fingers and pull it a few centimetres away from his skin, just to let it flip back again. He’s still hesitating, ‘cause he doesn’t want to rush things. Maybe he thinks that I’m not ready for this again after all that’s happened in the last few weeks. But he’s wrong – this has nothing to do with Billy or anything, it’s just about us.
“Get rid of that. I want you to come in here, Michael!”
He nods slightly and stands up straight again to remove the rest of his clothes. I watch him when he gets into the tub as well. He’s so hot, with muscles in all the right places and his complexion slightly browned. I slide backwards to one side of the tub, so he can easily sink into the water on the opposite. The foam is covering our bodies almost completely. Only our heads and shoulders can be seen. His legs are brushing against my own and his hands caress my calves. I can’t imagine one thing that has felt so good recently. My head is resting against the tub and I close my eyes.
****
