Chapter 24
Ariel
We get cleaned up, and head down to the kitchen. My cheeks flame when I see Mr. Andrews sitting there smirking. Oh god. He heard. “Good morning.” He tells us.
“Morning.” I say softly as my gaze focuses on the ground. I refuse to look in his eyes right now.
“Guess we were being loud.” Teddy smirks. I punch him in the stomach. That just makes him and his dad laugh. This is the most embarrassing moment of my life.I close my eyes and will the earth to swallow me whole. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Teddy whispers in my ear. I open my eyes and see that his dad is gone, and it’s just us again. “Come on Forrest. We’re having a lazy day.” He guides me into the living room and I see my favorite show is ready to play on the TV. “Writers Block” is easily the best show on TV. It’s a reality show where aspiring writers are given a prompt and given three hours to write a short story. They chose the ten writers with the best stories, and take them to a private island where they are giving many different writing challenges. They are voted off one by one until the last one gets to be picked up by whichever publishing company is sponsoring the season, not to mention half a million dollars. It’s just amazing to see these writers get a chance to follow their dreams.
“You are unbelievable.” I tell Teddy. “I mean. Truly unbelievable. You care with your whole being, and it’s just amazing.” He smiles softly and leads me to the couch.
“I’m going to go get some popcorn and drinks.”
A couple hours later, we finish all the new episodes, and turn on a movie. My favorite movie. It just makes me stare at him in awe because this man sat there the other day and listened to me. He listened as I told him all my favorite things, and obviously took notes. I think I’m finally starting to recognize the difference between a man and a boy. Greg was a boy. An insecure little boy who needed to hurt me when he got upset. Teddy is a man who continues to show he’s listening to me and cares. He makes sure I feel safe. He blows me away.
“Thank you for today.” I mumble suddenly shy.
“Forrest, you never have to thank me. I’m literally doing the bare minimum.” He cups my face.
“Building me a library is bare minimum?”
“Anything short of stealing you a literal star out of the sky is the bare minimum. You deserve only amazing things in life.”
“Well now I want a star.” I smile.
“I can make it happen.”
“Don’t you dare.” I laugh as he pulls me in for a kiss. God how can he be so perfect? I haven’t felt so cared for in years. Greg made me live my life in a constant state of fear. I was always wondering if it could be my last day on earth when he came home. Wondering how long it would be until he went too far and killed me. Fearing that I would die all alone. It’s something that stays with me even now. Will this be the day he somehow finds me? If he finds me, will he kill me? If he kills me, would that break Teddy and Veronica? I know some of it sounds irrational, but since the first time Greg hit me, he worked on breaking me piece by piece until my mind was a fractured state of worries and fears. It’s getting better though. Teddy is helping piece me together one shattered piece at a time.