Now he was standing outside the house of the Quinn household in Boston.
"Sully", Rebecca answered the door with a smile and a hug, but he could not help but notice that she looked a little tired.
"How is she?" he asked, putting his bag down on the floor. He quickly scanned the hall noticing the artwork and the expensive furniture.
"Considering the circumstances, Michaela is doing well –maybe a little too well", William spoke as he just entered the hall from the kitchen.
Sully turned and looked at the man. He was tall blonde, good-looking and held an expression of both care and empathy at the mention of Michaela's name.
"Sorry, Sully. This is Dr. William Burke – a close friend of the family. He has been monitoring her, and he was also the one who stopped David", Rebecca introduced him.
"And you must be the mysterious Sully", William smiled extending his hand, and Sully shook it.
"Thank you for helping her, I appreciate it."
William eyed the man in front of him.
He was very different from David or himself –dressed in jeans, boots and a shirt, but mostly it was the shoulderlength hair that made him stand out.
"I did what I had to do. Michaela is dear to me."
William gestured that they should go into the family room, and Sully followed him.
A moment later Elizabeth came downstairs clearly frustrated.
"I wish someone would talk some sense into her…"
She walked briskly into the family room not noticing Sully, but looking at William.
"William, tell her she must rest. She is fretting and insists on working up there. My, she even wanted to start sorting out her old closets, but at least I managed to stop
her doing that."
Elizabeth looked exhausted, and Rebecca said: "Mother…", "
Yes?" Elizabeth turned to her daughter, and her eyes widened at the sight of the man next to her. He looked rough.
"This is Sully, Michaela's friend".
It took Elizabeth a brief moment to gather herself.
"I'd like to see her." Sully simply stated glancing at William, as he was the doctor, and then back at Elizabeth.
"I'm not sure, she's in a state to see any… men." Elizabeth was hesitant, but William cut her off: "Michaela asked for him all the way home last night.
There is nothing medical that speaks against him seeing her."
"Okay then" Elizabeth motioned for Sully to follow her upstairs.
"She'll probably tell you she's fine," she stated before opening he door to Michaela's room.
The moment Sully saw her he could tell that she was not fine, and Elizabeth was about to see something remarkable happen before her eyes.
"Michaela…?" his voice was soft, and she turned around hearing it.
"Sully…?" she looked a little baffled. Then she frowned.
"Rebecca called me" he stated at her questioning look.
"Why?" she was fidgeting a little.
"You know why."
Their eyes locked, and she whispered "I'm fine…. I just need…."
She paused. She felt like he was watching her soul.
His insisting gaze, the blue of his eyes drew her in, and she moved across the room into his arms.
"Sully…" she sniffed into his shirt as her tears started falling down her cheeks.
"No, you're not fine, Sweetheart" he whispered into her hair gently stroking her back, and her knees buckled under her, and he rocked her in his arms as they both
ended up on the floor.
"It's gonna be okay, Michaela".
Elizabeth watched her daughter's reaction.
All day she had tried to convince her to slow down and stop pretending everything was fine, and Sully had only had to spend 2 minutes with her to make her realise.
Watching Sully sitting holding the crying Michaela in a tight embrace on the floor in Michaela's old room, she decided to leave them alone.
That night Michaela woke up shaking. "You're a worthless little whore. No man will ever want to be with you once I am done with you. You know women like you are only
good for one thing … "
She could almost feel him touching her again … "Always playing hard to get, huh Michaela? Not so hard to get right now."
He had traced his finger along her jawline down to her cleavage. She shivered under his touch, and he whispered in her ear "I always liked your breasts."
His voice sounded in her head, and she closed her eyes at the memory. She had to find a way to stop this.
"Hey are you okay?" Sully had fallen asleep in the chair watching over her, and now he had woken up at her stir.
She shook her head a little. "I… I am fine" she whispered, and he got up and sat down next her on the bed.
"You don't look it." Their eyes locked, and she felt like he was watching her soul.
"Sully…"
He opened his arms and she went into his warm embrace. She buried her face in his chest. He made her feel safe.
He caressed her back and placed a kiss on her temple.
"It's gonna be okay, Michaela", his voice was soft and soothing and the comforting touch of his hands sent tingles through her body.
She didn't speak, but simply brought her lips to his in a gentle kiss.
Her kiss was insisting, and she opened up to him.
He kissed her back softly, and soon they were lost in a long erotic kiss as her tongue entered his mouth.
It felt good, and she wanted more. She wanted to feel him closer –to feel his skin.
He felt her hands pulling his t-shirt, and soon she was running her fingers over his chest making him quiver with goose bumps.
She was pressing her body into his.
Her kisses driving him insane, he could clearly feel her breasts against him.
They were both breathing heavily, and she moaned as his fingertips grazed her bare arms.
Her hardened nipples were aching for his touch, and she grasped his hand and brought it there.
"Touch me", her voice was husky and insisting."I want you…"
She reached down between them, but he caught her hand.
"Michaela…." He gasped into her ear. "I… we…. Have to…stop."
She was cutting him off with kisses, and it took all of his strength to finally push at her shoulders and pull away.
"Michaela…" his eyes met hers. They were both out of breath, and she moved away from him.
Maybe David had been right. Why would any man want her?
He watched her reaction. She looked away and wrapped her arms around herself tears welling into her eyes, and his heart reached out to her.
"Hey…" he whispered, touching her arm lightly.
She shook her head hiding her face in her arms.
"No… I understand now. I don't blame you … I just thought maybe …"
He suddenly realized what she was talking about.
"Michaela, look at me."
His voice was insisting, and she raised her head, her eyes meeting his blue.
He looked sad, and touching her wet cheeks he said.
"Now listen, because I got to say this. You think I don't want this? That I don't want you? To be with you like that? It's all I think about."
Now was the time, and he could finally utter those words that he had not been able to say before.
"God, Michaela. You're beautiful, smart, funny… Every night I think of what it would be like to wake up with you by my side.
Watching you makes my heart beat faster, and I want to touch you all the time, but I can't."
She frowned a little as if to ask "why?" and he took her hand kissed it lightly and brought it to his chest.
"I can't because if I do I'm afraid I'll lose you. What happened here just now… what was about to happen… it is wonderful and special, but it happened for the wrong
reasons."
She started talking but he cut her off:
"You're hurting right now, and I want to be here for you –to be with you. I don't want you to do anything you'll regret afterwards."
His eyes searched hers, and she took a deep breath "Sully…"
"No don't talk. I do want to be with you, but not like this. Not because of him.
I want it all –all of you, all of who you are, because you are wonderful, and I love you… But if you just want to be friends. I'll be your friend.
Above all I want you to be happy, Michaela."
He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame and she let herself be absorbed by the warmth he radiated.
He placed a light kiss on her hair and closed his eyes.
"Take your time to think about what you want in your heart. I'll wait for you, and I'll always be your friend no matter your decision."
She nodded into his chest and said "Would you mind just holding me?"
In the early morning hours Elizabeth Quinn went to check on her daughter, and she was met by a sight she had not expected:
As she entered Michaela's darkened room, she realized that her daughter was not alone.
She had thought that Sully had retired to his own room down the hall, but clearly she had been mistaken, because there they were curled up together on the bed.
He had his arms wrapped protectively around Michaela, and their legs were intertwined.
"Thank God, he's still wearing his jeans and a t-shirt", Elizabeth thought to herself, eyeing how his hands were resting possessively on the small of Michaela's back
while she was snuggled up against his neck.
Elizabeth did not see any reason to wake them up, so she silently left the room. She needed to talk to Rebecca about this.
A few hours later Michaela started waking. Being in Sully's arms felt wonderful, and she didn't want to move and wake him.
Then she remembered what had happened in the middle of the night, and she felt her cheeks turn red, and shejust wanted to disappear.
"Are you awake?" He whispered into her hair, and she opened her eyes still blushing.
"I'm sorry, Sully… I don't know what got into me… I'm so embarrassed".
She lowered her gaze, and he stroked her forehead and cheek.
"It's okay, Michaela… we both got a little carried away."
He knew he had been just as much a part of their kisses escalating as she had.
Yet she wanted to explain –she needed to talk to him about what was going on and what had happened with David.
"I guess I was just … I needed to feel safe."
She sighed deeply, and continued "David said some terrible things to me, and if William hadn't come along he would have done more than just touching me up.
It would have been a lot worse.
He said that I wasn't a real woman, and nobody would find me attractive or would want to be with me when he was done…"
Tears were in her eyes now, and Sully could not help but kiss her on the forehead.
"You know I meant everything I said last night" his voice was soft and caring.
"I know Sully, but as you said, I need time to think and to heal."
They were silent for a while just lying there listening to eachother breathing.
"Now I know…" he finally broke the silence, and she looked up at him.
"Now I know how it feels to wake up next to you."
He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "You look pretty when you smile, do you know that?"
He really wanted to pull her closer and protect her, but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea.
"What do we do now, Sully", she asked in a hushed voice.
She didn't want her mother to find out that they were awake…
"What are the rules for 'best friends' like us?"
"I don't know, Michaela – we can make our own rules, I guess".