Hey!
I'm so sorry I didn't update in ages but I was so busy!
But to make up for making you guys wait I wrote a much longer chapter :)
Please please please leave a review. I love them!
"Katie, did they tell you why Miss Austen wasn't there for the lessons today?"
"The new teacher told us that she was sick."
"But she will be back next week, right?"
"They didn't say anything," she shrugged. "Am I going to stay with you all day today? Mommy said she has a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, I talked with her and she said you could sleep at my place. So I thought maybe we could have an uncle-niece night. Watch a few movies, eat popcorn..."
"Great! But can we go to the library first and then get some ice cream?"
"You want to go to the library?"
"Yes. I want to get some books so you can read to me tonight. You're so funny when you read me stories; I love it."
"Okay then, princess. Your wish is my command!" He bowed in front of her and she giggled.
He let the little girl get dressed for their uncle-niece night and they prepared a bag for the night that included a toothbrush, pajamas and nearly all the Barbie dolls she had. Katie was really excited for their night together. She loved playing games with him. Especially with her Barbie dolls. Sean took these games really seriously and played the role of a queen or a princess really well. They always made a little tent in his living room when she stayed over and pretended that it was a castle.
Sean was never just her uncle. He was also her best friend.
He turned around to get a better view of her. It was definitely Alex. She was arguing with a man who looked like he was trouble. Alex had her arms in the air and was yelling at the guy.
"I think she's arguing with her friend," Katie whispered.
Sean didn't say anything; he just stood there watching Alex, ready to run to help her if she needed him to. After a few seconds she started to punch the guy but he just let her do it and laughed. Then with a quick move he grabbed her hands and pinned her to the wall. He had his arm on her neck, strangling her. She cried out in pain and that was when Sean lost it. He felt the anger rush through his body. He told Katie to stay put and ran to Alex.
"Hey! " he yelled. "Let her go!"
Ronnie look at him in confusion and immediately ran away before Sean could come for him. Instead of following Ronnie and beating the crap out of him. Sean rushed over to Alex who was now sitting on the pavement, rubbing her neck.
"Are you okay?" he asked. He looked so worried.
She nodded.
People had already gathered around them. Some of them were asking if they should call the police. Alex's eyes grew wide at the mention of that. "There's no need to call the police," she told Sean and she asked him to send the crowd away. He did what he was asked and soon enough they were alone.
"That might leave a bruise." He pointed to her neck, which she was still rubbing.
"Yeah, it probably will..."
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked one more time, kneeling down next to her.
"I'm fine, Sean. Thank you," she answered, looking blankly in the direction that man left.
"Who was he, Alex?"
"He..." She sighed. "He wasn't a big deal."
"Seemed like one to me."
"He's just someone I used to know. I guess sometimes a time comes when you regret being friends with certain people." She tried to laugh, but Sean stayed serious.
"He tried to hurt you. Maybe it would be better if we called the police."
"I told you there's no need for that. He just panicked and lost control of himself. I don't think he wanted to hurt me. And even if he did, I'm able to protect myself."
"It's just..." Sean had no intentions to stop their conversation.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're worried about me Sean," she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say something's been going on with you for the past 2 two weeks. You've been acting different, Alex."
"You don't even know who I am, Sean. How can you know if I've changed?" she snapped.
Before Sean could give her an answer Katie came running to them interrupting their awkward silence.
"Miss Austen! Uncle Sean rescued you from the bad man didn't he? Grandma says he's a hero - that he saves lives all the time," Katie boasted.
"He saves lives, huh?" Alex asked, giggling as Katie nodded seriously.
"That's why he has all these medals in grandma's house."
Alex turned her head towards Sean to see him smirking. He then quoted Superman.
"I'm here to fight for truth, and justice, and the American way."
Alex couldn't help but laugh at the cocky man standing in front of her. Watching her laugh made him want to spend more time with her. He knew she would try to find a way to leave them soon. But Sean had a perfect idea his face lit up immediately.
"You know what, Miss Austen? Katie and I were going to the library and then we were going to get some ice cream. Why don't you join us?"
"I really don't ha-"
"Please?" Katie asked with her puppy eyes. Sean had the same look on his face.
"I suppose I could go with you guys."
"Yay!" both Katie and Sean shouted.
The road to the library was quiet. Katie was really excited that her favorite teacher had decided to join them. Even though Alex really didn't want to admit it, she was glad that Sean was there for her and she knew without a doubt, that she could trust him. Alex didn't know what was special about Katie but all she knew was that she completely adored her, similar to how her dearest uncle did. They soon made their way inside the library and Katie started giving them directions.
"Okay, now we have to be really quiet. Mommy says it is very rude to talk loudly in a library." Katie whispered very seriously.
They both nodded and started laughing as soon as Katie turned around.
"Good. Follow me, now," Katie said with the same serious tone and started walking.
"Her mother is exactly like this." Sean whispered. "Bossy…" he continued imitating Katie. Alex let out a laugh, which was louder than she'd intended, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Katie quickly turned around to 'shush' them.
Alex and Sean stared to look around, but were quickly interrupted by Katie, who shot them a look and pointed to a specific direction in which she had decided the three of them should proceed.
Sean muttered, "As you wish, your highness."
That made Alex chuckle. She was having so much fun with Katie and Sean and was glad she hadn't pushed him away this time. They quietly followed the little girl to the children's section. Alex was shocked at the sight in front of her. "Oh my god! I never thought it would be so..."
"Fun and colorful?" Sean tried to finish her sentence.
"Yes!" She exclaimed. Her excitement was easily shown on her face. "Look at all the colors! It's so beautiful!"
"You've never been to a library when you were little? Most places have children's sections like this, in order to encourage the kids to read."
"No, I haven't actually."
"Then welcome to the happiest part of a library, Alexandra Austen." Sean smiled.
Alex smiled in return as her name came out from Sean's mouth. She liked the way he said her full name, but at the same time it hurt. It always reminded her that she was lying to him. Lying about who she actually was. She wanted to tell him her real name but knew that it would only cause him to get curious and dig deeper into her past. She didn't want him to know about certain things she was ashamed of. She was scared to lose him.
Katie started searching for a book immediately as Alex started wandering around. She checked every book that caught her eye. They didn't realize how the time flew. When Sean checked his watch he realized that if they didn't hurry up, they would miss the ice cream truck that is only at the park during the daytime He was about to say something, but then he saw Alex looking at a book with the excitement of a little girl, so he decided against it.
After going up and down every shelf in the place, Katie had finally found the book she was looking for.
"Mommy told me I should make you read this book to me." Katie handed him the book with a mischievous grin.
Sean read the cover and saw that the book was 'Fox in Sox' by Dr. Seuss
"Your mom told you to get this book?"
"Yes. She said you had to try reading this to me no matter what. She says it's the funniest book ever especially if you're reading it." She giggled.
"Okay princess, we can take it home and I'll read it to you at night."
"Why home? I want to listen to it too," Alex joined in. "And what is so important about this book anyway?"
"It's a book by Dr. Seuss. He was my favorite author growing up. Jill and I used to compete against each other trying to read his books out loud. Our parents used to be the judges." He smiled, remembering the days they used to sit in the living room as a family.
"Of course, I was terrible and..." He paused after seeing Alex look so puzzled.
"You don't know who Dr. Seuss is, do you?" he asked with a sigh.
"No, I don't."
"Where did you grow up again?" he asked.
"My dad used to choose the books for me to read. That's why I've never been to a public library. We had one in our house and that was the only place I used to go. He didn't want me to waste my time by reading books like these. I mostly read the classics."
"So you've never..."
"Nope."
"Were you allowed to do some fun things then? Like watching cartoons or animated films..."
"Nope," she repeated.
"You have to be kidding me! You've never watched like... like Lion King?"
"I wasn't allowed to watch TV or movies very often. Even when I did they wanted me to watch documentaries. I had a very busy schedule; I never had time to waste."
"So you mean you've never watched Lion King?" Sean asked, shocked. When Alex didn't answer he tried to give her some hints to make her remember.
"Hakunna Matata?"
Alex didn't know what to say. She had no idea what that was.
"What is that, Sean?"
After that Katie interrupted and started singing Hakuna Matata as Sean imitated 'Timon' and Katie 'Pumbaa' quietly, not forgetting that they were in a library.
Alex watched them in awe. They had the perfect relationship. Something like she used to have with her father. Of course Alex and her father had never goofed around like those two were right now, but they did enjoy each other's company and had a very special bond.
As the uncle and niece approached the end of the song, Alex clapped softly. Katie bowed like the true princess she was and sat on the ground, making Sean and Alex sit next to her. Sean tried to get out of that situation because he knew that they were now expecting him to read the book.
"Uhm... I... You know what? I think an ice cream would be awesome now."
"Don't try to change the subject Sean," Alex countered. "We're waiting for you to read it..."
Alex saw Sean pout and couldn't help but think that he looked adorable. He grabbed the book from Katie's little hands. And opened it. He started reading carefully, because he didn't want to embarrass himself too much in front of Alex if it was possible. As little kids, whenever Jill got bored, she would ask to have another Dr. Seuss competition with him. Sean always used to fail miserably and pout while Jill would laugh even harder. He took a deep breath and continued reading.
"Lets have a talk about tweetle beetles...
What do you know about tweetle beetles?
Well...
When tweetle beetles fight,
It's called a tweetle beetle battle.
And when they battle in a puddle,
It's a tweetle beetle puddle battle.
AND…
When tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle,
They call it a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle.
AND…
When beetles battle beetles in a puddle paddle battle,
And the beetle battle puddle is a puddle in a bottle
They call this a tweetle beetle bottle puddle paddle battle muddle.
AND…
When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottles on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles...
They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle
AND…" Sean was out of breath when he finished the last sentence. He was about to continue when Alex stopped him by continuing reading herself.
"Now wait a minute, Mr. Socks Fox!
When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetles battle with their paddles in a puddle one a noodle-eating poodle,
THIS is what they call...
A tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled cuddled fuddle wuddled fox in socks, sir!
Fox in Socks our game is done, sir. Thank you for a lot of fun, sir."
Katie laughed so uncontrollably every time Sean failed reading a part. Alex placed her hand on her stomach, trying to gain a bit of self-control and stop herself from laughing as well. They were getting looks of annoyance from everyone else in the library.
Soon after, the librarian approached them. She looked at Alex and Katie before she turned to Sean.
"Sir, I have to ask you to be quiet due to the library's rules."
Sean nodded immediately and the woman bent down to Katie's level.
"What have you got down there?"
Katie smiled and showed the book to her.
"Are we in trouble?" she quietly asked
"Oh, what a wonderful choice! Now I can understand why you were laughing. And to answer your question, it's Dr. Seuss - so of course you are allowed to laugh and not be in trouble. But just try to stay a bit quieter." She smiled as Katie giggled. They thanked the lovely librarian and since they were finished with the book, they stood up to leave. Sean held Katie's one hand as Alex held the other. They looked like a perfect family. They made their way to the park right outside the huge library.
Katie's whole face lit up when she saw the swings.
"Sean can I go swing for ten minutes?" she begged.
"Okay, but just until I get our ice cream and then we'll walk Miss Austen to her house."
Hearing this for the first time Alex gave him a surprised look. "You really don't have to Sean."
"Do you have to disagree with every nice thing I offer you, Alex?" He didn't give her a chance to respond. " Now, which flavor would you like your ice creams to be, ladies?"
"Chocolate and strawberry!" Katie excitedly said. She then ran off to the swings.
"I'll have vanilla."
"Okay," he smiled pretending to write their orders on a piece of paper. "Your orders will be here in about five minutes. Do you mind watching her?"
"Of course not." Alex gave him a small smile and started watching Katie swinging happily. All the other kids were probably friends and were playing together. They started jumping from the swings. Alex didn't realize that Katie was watching them too. Katie looked at all the other girls and decided that if they could do it, she could too. Katie took her own jump. Alex was watching, but everything was happening so quickly and she started to hear a loud cry even before her eyes landed up Katie's new location
Sean was still waiting in line to get the ice cream when he noticed that Alex was no longer sitting on the bench. He searched for her and his eyes grew wide when he spotted her next to Katie who was crying in pain. He immediately ran and kneeled in front of them. The little girl's arm was bleeding, as was her chin, and she had a nasty goose egg on her forehead.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I was swinging really fast and I tried to jump like the older kids were doing, but I fell," Katie answered, fighting through the pain and the tears.
"Maybe we should take her to the hospital," Sean said, turning back to Alex. He was panicked, worried and needed to calm down.
"Sean, it looks worse than it is," Alex reassured him. "It's just a bad fall. There's no need to go to the hospital. Don't worry I've seen far worse. She just needs some band aids and an ice pack."
"I don't want to go to the hospital, Sean," Katie murmured.
"Okay then, how about we get out of here and I'll clean those wounds up when we get to my house?" Sean suggested.
Katie nodded and lifted her arms up for her uncle to pick her up.
"I'm sorry we couldn't get the extra special ice cream," he apologized to both of them. Looking towards Katie, he added, "I have some boring, but still delicious, store bought stuff at my place, so you can still definitely eat that." He turned toward Alex. "And thank you so much for spending the day with us and helping out with Katie."
"It was a pleasure." Alex smiled.
"Can Miss Austen come with us?" Katie asked just as they were about to separate.
"Of course." Sean answered looking at Alex for an answer.
She hesitated for a moment but then nodded. "Only if I can have some of your ice cream there, because I'm starving!"
"It hurts so much!" Katie whimpered.
Alex put her arms around the little girl and rocked her gently while Sean left the room in search of what he needed to clean the girl's wounds. She brushed her hand over the large bump on Katie's forehead that was turning various colors - black, blue, and purple.
When Sean returned, Katie was calm again. He sat his supplies on the coffee table and sat beside them on the couch.
"Princess, I promise it's not going to hurt you. In fact, the magic in this stuff is going to make it all better," he told her in a soft voice
"You still think I'm a baby don't you?" Katie asked, which made Alex chuckle.
"No, I think you're very brave. I can tell you are in a lot of a pain, but you aren't crying or screaming anymore. You're actually a pretty tough princess."
"Yeah, your uncle is right. I think I would still be crying my eyes out, if it'd been me," Alex added.
"You're a grown up; you wouldn't cry. You're just saying that to make me feel better."
Sean gently took hold of the girl's arm and carefully cleaned and bandaged it.
"Feeling better?" He asked when he was all done.
"Yes. But I'd be feeling much better if I had some ice cream too," Katie giggled.
"As you wish, your highness!" Sean said and went to the kitchen.
Later, the three enjoyed the rest of the afternoon talking and finishing all the ice cream Sean had stored in his freezer.
Sean had to call Jill to tell her what happened. As soon as Jill heard the news she came and picked Katie up even though she wanted to stay at his uncle's place for the night. When Alex found out that Jill was coming to take Katie, she had to leave. Because she didn't think that she could explain that situation to her. When Alex left, the house was all Sean's. He watched a movie on his couch and was lying there peacefully, not knowing what was about to happen.
He was startled by a knock on his front door and peeking at the clock, he wondered to himself who would be coming by his house at this time of the night. Curious, he walked to the door, swinging it open slowly.
"Alex? What are you doing here?" he asked, in shock. As he moved close enough to see her, he realized that she was crying. She was shaking and leaning on the doorframe for support.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked her, struck by the urge to wipe her tears away. It was the same feeling he'd had when he'd first seen her dancing that fateful night. "Alex, are you hurt?"
She didn't reply. She lost her balance and was about to collapse to the floor when Sean caught her. That was when Sean realized there were blood strains on her shirt and that she'd been beaten up.
"Is it that bastard from this afternoon? Did he do this to you?" He asked, anger rushing through his veins. She didn't respond.
"I'm going to destroy him!" He yelled and picked up his phone to call the cops.
"Sean, please stop," Alex pleaded with him. She looked up him and his heart shattered into a million pieces. Her once sparkling blue eyes were cloudy and red; her beautiful face tear-streaked and frightened, all traces of the once vibrant woman gone.
"I-I didn't know who else to go. I need you, Sean. I need your help. I..." She stopped, hesitating to tell him the reason she was there.
"Alex?"
"I need you to take me to rehab." She quavered.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, moving his hands over her back. His mind was reeling, trying to process the craziness and understand what she was telling him.
So... What do you think?