A/N: And We're back!

Disclaimer: I don't own the lyrics to 'Firestorm' (Conchita Wurst).

FIRESTORM

Chapter 1

My heart is a firestorm and all that I needed was your flame.

Here I was awake. I felt like I was always awake. Sleep was hard to come by for a couple reasons, but one reason was the best of them all. I sat in the little blue painted bedroom in the dark rocking a small baby boy in my arms. He was cuddled against me. I smiled as I looked down at him. He was so peaceful with no cares in the world except where his milk was coming from. I slowly stood from the rocking chair and walked over to the small crib. I placed my baby boy, my perfect, James Warrick Stokes in his crib. I left the room as quietly as possible and walked down the hall to my own bedroom. I slipped into the bed next to my husband.

"He asleep?" Nick's voice came as I cuddled up close to him.

"Finally." I said with a yawn. I starred up at the ceiling. As sleepy as I was I was afraid to fall asleep.

"You need to sleep." Nick said as he rubbed his hand on my arm.

"I know, but the nightmares." I said still looking up at the ceiling.

A year and come and gone since that night in the cabin. Mark's body was never found not even when the snow melted. He was out there and I just knew it. I had been gripped with nightmares ever since. I hated falling asleep. Luckily these days I had my little man to keep me occupied at night. He was the one good thing that came out of our ruined honeymoon. Not long after getting out of the hospital and returning to San Diego we discovered I was pregnant. In a time where I was gripped with fear it was nice to have a little light.

I hadn't realized it, but I had fallen asleep. A good peaceful sleep; until suddenly I was fighting. I had no idea what I was fighting, but I had to fight it. My breathing was rapid as I fought as hard as I could. My arms couldn't move. I was stuck in one spot. I had to fight to release myself. My eyes shot open and I was looking right into Nick's eyes. He was straddling me and pinning my arms down.

"Elise." He said firmly. "It's a nightmare. Please calm down." He slowly let his grip on my wrists loose. I looked up at him. I could see the pain in his eyes. He hated these nightmares that I had been having, but I couldn't help it. I looked at the clock. It was 5am.

"I'm sorry." I said with tears coming from my eyes. He took his finger and wiped my tears away.

"Don't be. It's ok. Just try to not beat me up so much." He said giving me a smirk. I had already given him a black eye one night during a really bad episode. We tried to keep things light when it came to them, but he knew that I was going through a lot mentally.

I sat up and got out of the bed. I walked down the hall to check on James as I did many times a night. I didn't want to think of what Mark could do to my son. I was in fear of all of our lives and it hurt me. I passed by a mirror in the hall. I looked at myself in my nightgown. I could see one of the scars on my arm that I was left with from that night. I hated that I had to be reminded of it every time I saw myself in the mirror. I walked downstairs and made my way into the living room. We moved into this house when I was five months pregnant. We knew that we would need a bigger place to raise our son and hopefully another one someday in the future.

Walking through the living room I walked into a little room off to the side that we used as an office. I sat at my computer and turned it on. I needed to distract myself. Once my computer was up I opened my email. I had gotten plenty since the last time I checked. Returning home I wanted to keep myself busy. I decided I would try and put this fashion degree to work. I started up a fashion blog where I wrote about the latest fashions. Truthfully I really loved fashion and I loved to write so it all went together. I started to gain revenue from my blog and soon it became a column in a top rated fashion magazine. I was feeling good about myself and about what I was doing. It kept my mind working when I found myself engrossed with fear.

I sat writing and answering emails until I heard little cries coming from upstairs. I left my computer behind and went upstairs. As soon as I got upstairs the cries stopped. When I made it to the room I found Nick holding James in his arms rocking him. I smiled at him. He was an amazing dad. I walked to the two of them. I laid my head on Nick's shoulder. He kissed the top of my head.

"Got a lot of work done?" Nick asked as he continued to rock James.

"I did actually." I said.

"I'm going to get ready for work." He said as he handed James to me. James let out a little whine. I continued to rock him.

"Remember I have a meeting this evening. Be home on time." I said as I watched him to walk to leave the room.

"Promise." He said giving me a smile.

My favorite part of my writing gig was working from home. I got to spend my entire day with James. I absolutely loved being a mom as much as I loved being a wife. Our life as a family was amazing, but living everyday afraid of what could happen put a dark cloud over our lives everyday.

I checked myself out in the mirror. I was all dressed for my dinner meeting. I had lost all of my baby weight plus some. I looked down at my little boy who sat in his swing looking up at me. He had a smile on his face. I bent down and gave him a kiss on the head. He cooed up at me. I started to hum him a song. He looked at me and continued to smile. Suddenly he let out a giggle and continued to smile. I turned around to see Nick standing in the doorway.

"Hey." I said happily as I stood and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me in by the waist.

"Good day with James?" he questioned.

"Mmmhmm. Great day. I missed you." I said before he kissed me full on the lips.

"I should get going." I said when we broke apart and I looked at the clock.

"Is everything set for James?" Nick asked.

"Yep he already had his bath and is in his pajamas. There are a few bottles in the fridge just waiting." I said as I turned to my baby boy. I bent down and gave him a kiss on his head. "Night Night sweetie. Mommy will be home later."

"Love you. Have a great meeting." Nick said. I walked to him and give him another kiss before leaving the room.

When I parked my car near the restaurant. I reached in my purse. Ever since our honeymoon I kept a gun in my purse at all times. I was so afraid of running into Mark anywhere. I took a deep breath and got out of the car. I quickly walked to the restaurant. Once inside I instantly spotted the ladies I was having lunch with. My column had become quite successful and I was always being asked to write special assignments. I walked over to the table and all of the women greeted me. I sat down in the empty chair.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was heavy." I said as I took a sip of water.

"No problem." One of the women said. She was a blonde and simply went by the name GG.

"So Elise your column has been the highlight the last few months and we have been thinking of sending you on assignments for our online magazine. Things like red carpets and even fashion week." one of the other women said. She was my boss and the creative director of the magazine; her name was Yvette.

"Wow that sounds awesome, but would mean I would have to be out of town sometimes." I said not feeling to certain about this assignment.

"Yes sometimes." Yvette then said.

"I will have to discuss that with my husband. I have a 4 month old at home." I said.

"Discuss away. We want some things to go in the online magazine and for that you will be working closely with Bridgette here." Yvette said as she motioned to the last women at the table. She was a lot younger than me. Maybe 21 or 22; she even wore her hair in pigtails with oversized glasses.

"Hi I am so excited to work with you." Bridgette said in a high squeaky voice.

"You too." I said kindly.

"If you accept we would love to send you to fashion week in Paris next month." Yvette then said. My eyes widened. They really expected me to leave my husband and son to go to Paris for a week. I was feeling uneasy. I didn't like to spend too much time away from Nick in the first place and then to have to leave my son would break my heart. I knew he would be in the best hands with Nick, but to be away from him for so long and then for me to be so far away and not have the security of Nick being near frightened me.

"Yes I will definitely have to talk it over with my husband." I said.

The rest of the meeting went great. I was happy with other things they wanted me to help with when it came to the online magazine. I really loved my job and everything that came with it, but this traveling really had me on edge. I pulled up to my house. Everything on the outside looked how it was supposed to look. I walked inside to find Nick on the couch watching TV. He gave me a smile as I came in. I sat my purse down and walked over to him. I sat in his lap and let him wrap his arms around me. He kissed my neck gently.

"How was your meeting?" he asked.

"Good they made me some offers. I am a little scared and wanted to discuss one of them with you. They want to send me on assignments and many of them would have me going to LA or New York often and they want to send me to Fashion Week in Paris next month." I explained.

"That is amazing babe. Congrats!" he said happily. He was my biggest fan and I was his. We made the best team. I loved the way he supported everything I wanted to do. "So why are you scared?" he asked.

"Leaving you and James. He is so young and I know he is good hands with you and my dad and Alice are always around to help, but I don't like the idea of leaving. Plus not knowing if Mark is out there." I said shaking my head.

"Let's say Mark was dead or none of this with Mark ever happened. Would you be turning down an assignment in Paris?" Nick asked.

"No." I answered truthfully.

"Then don't let that hold you back. Like you said James is in good hands with me plus I have your dad and Alice as support. I want you to be able to live to the fullest. Don't let Mark hold you back." He said. I smiled. He was perfectly right. I didn't need to let Mark hold me back from living my amazing life.

"I knew talking to you would help." I said as I snuggled more into his arms. He ran his hand along my arm. I yawned and I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. I slowly closed my eyes. I had drifted away into a comfortable sleep until I saw a knife and then I saw that grin, a grin I will never forget. I let out a scream as the knife started to come down at me. I then jumped. I opened my eyes and I was sweating. I was in bed and wearing my nightgown. Nick must have brought me up and redressed me. I felt his arm tighten around me.

"Baby are you ok?" he asked. I simply nodded. I placed my head on his chest. I starred at the wall as he ran his hand along my arm. I knew if I wanted my freedom I was going to have to take my freedom. I couldn't allow myself to be paralyzed anymore.

A/N: YAY first chapter. I am super excited for this story. I know I need to work in the Nick and Tiffany sequel, but I love Nick and Elise.