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Chapter 14

Izzie flung open the closet door, grabbing a shirt off a hanger and pulling it over her head. Her eyes caught sight of the heavy wooden bat in the corner. She had forgotten it was there, a phase Finn went through once. At the time she didn't understand why he all of a sudden gained an interest in baseball and joined a local team. Later on it became blazingly obvious when he started leaving for practice without the bat, a week later he left her…for Olivia.

She gripped the handle tightly, lifting it out of the closet. It felt heavy and powerful in her hands, but now wasn't the time to daydream about how it would feel to take a swing at a certain redhead.

What would Alex do if he found an intruder in her house? He was naked and unarmed; she knew she had to do something.

Her foot tentatively stepped down onto the staircase, with each step the fear increased. Images flashed through her mind of what she would find when she reached the kitchen. Alex was only gone a minute or two before she made the decision to follow him, she was starting to wish she stayed put like he told her to. The silence of the house never made her feel so scared, usually she found it calming.

As her foot stepped off the last step she took a deep breath and continued down the hallway toward the kitchen. Her grip tightened on the bat that rested on her shoulder. She passed the bathroom, not giving a thought to the closed door.

The fear took over as she heard the click of the door opening behind her. 'This is it, you're going to die' she thought as she turned, closed her eyes tightly and swung. She screamed as she felt the bat connect with something. Her eyes flew open and she witnessed the man slump to the floor before her

Alex had gone to the kitchen, it was empty. He found shards of glass from a broken vase in the sink. On the countertop lay a dozen red roses, the wrapper was cut opened and whoever placed them there must have cut themselves because he saw a small drop of blood on the floor. That's when he heard her scream. She was close…too close to still be upstairs in her room.

He pushed away the sick feeling he had and ran. He had to get to her…make sure she was alright. "Izzie!" He yelled as he left the kitchen.

There in the hallway she stood in only a shirt and a pair of underwear, holding a bat over the sprawled out body of a man. She heard Alex approach her and turned, looking him in the eye. A small smile crept up on her face and she broke out into laughter. "Oh god, I hope I didn't kill him." Her body shook, she was trying to control herself. The bat fell to the floor with a thud and she backed up against the wall, sliding down. She pulled her knees to her chest. After checking to make sure the man wasn't dead, Alex sat next to her. She silently cursed herself for laughing, it was inappropriate and Alex would think she was crazy. "I'm not crazy…I just always have inappropriate reactions to this kinda thing."

"You must have been so scared. I'm sorry." He reached for her hand. Why didn't she stay upstairs? Maybe she didn't feel that he could protect her, he cared about that more than he thought he would.

"That's Finn….on the floor. He came out of the bathroom and I just swung….I didn't mean to…." Her giggles turned to sobs.

Alex cupped her cheek with his hand and softly kissed her lips. "It's okay Iz; you thought you were in danger. He's gonna be okay….might have one hell of a headache but he'll live."

"What's he even doing here Alex? Why now….what if he had walked in on us? He could use it against me in court." She knew she was starting to panic; she couldn't help but feel that this was her fault for daring him to face her. Now it was the last thing she was ready for.

Finn groaned as he started to stir. "Alex you have to go…before he finds you. Please?" Alex saw the desperation in her eyes and nodded, he didn't like the idea of leaving her with a man who hurt her so badly but it was what was best for her and he would do it. He stood and pulled the sheet along with him as he left her alone with her husband. Her husband….it made him cringe.

Izzie watched him go, wishing she didn't have to ask him to leave. It should be Finn who left not Alex. Alex wouldn't hurt her, her heart told her so.