Rob's P.O.V.
I glanced down at my phone for the millionth time since I called my mother to beg her to come home with Christy. I had been home from my meeting for 3 hours and I was antsy to see Christy. Yes, I'm whipped. I'll admit it. But something had me on edge and I didn't know why. I felt like I needed to see her to know that she was okay. I figured it was the craziness of the past few days.
Or the craziness of our entire relationship. Whatever.
"Rob, son, you're driving me mad," my father said, pointing towards my foot tapping on the hard wood floor of the living room. He was sitting on his chair reading the paper and smoking a cigar. He looked like someone out of an old film or something when he did that and it always made me want to laugh. "They'll be here soon. Go get a beer and bring me one too."
I stood up to do as he said, huffing in the process. "Actually," he stopped me. "Scotch. We need scotch." Now that's what I'm talkin' about.
I was standing in the kitchen pouring up our glasses of scotch when I heard the front door open.
"We're home, boys!" my mother's voice called from the foyer and I nearly tripped over my feet trying to get to the door.
My mother raised an eyebrow at me, a look of amusement on her face as she passed by me to go upstairs. Christy was only a few steps behind her and I could already see something in her eyes. She was worried. But her face lit up when she saw me. She grinned and dropped her bags before throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. "You look good," she mumbled against my neck and I smirked as I smoothed my hands over her lower back and pulled her closer to me. I was still wearing jeans and a black blazer with a grey t-shirt underneath.
I pulled back to look at her and cocked my head as I studied her. "So do you," I said softly. She was wearing tight, dark blue jeans with brown leather boots that came up to her knees. Her shirt was brown to match the boots and cut almost too low but she still looked classy.
"Thanks," she grinned before leaning up to kiss the corner of my mouth. "I bought entirely too much today. Your Mom is a very good shopping partner."
I laughed, remembering the many shopping trips my Mum took with my sisters. "Oh yeah. I've heard. Are you hungry? We got italian. I got you some grilled chicken fetuccini."
She put her hand over her stomach and rolled her eyes as if she was in extreme pleasure. "That sounds amazing," she said, grinning up at me. "Let me go put these upstairs, okay?" she picked her bags up then moved to walk past me and I turned, putting my hand on her arm to stop her.
"You okay? You seem a little tense." I didn't miss her eyes widening when I asked her the question but she quickly recovered and gave me a smile.
"I'm fine baby. I'll be right back."
I decided to let it go until later. "Want some wine?" I called up the stairs, watching her delicious ass as she walked up them.
"Yes, please," she replied and I walked back to the kitchen.
"Forget my scotch?" My Dad asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"I got sidetracked," I said as I walked behind him and reached to grab my glass when he got his own.
"Finally, we can eat," he said before taking a sip. I did the same and welcomed the warmth that spread through my chest from the alcohol. While I poured Christy a glass of red wine, Dad pulled the food we ordered out of the oven where we'd put it to keep it warm. Mum came in soon after and I helped her get the plates and utensils out and on the table. Christy still hadn't made it down stairs by the time we were putting food on the plates and I was beginning to worry about her.
"There you are," Mum said and I looked up to see Christy walking in. She was smiling but it didn't reach her eyes. Something was definitely up.
"This looks amazing," she said as she walked over to me and placed her hand on my bicep. I looked down at her and smiled as I studied her features, wishing I could read her mind. She didn't seem this off when I left her earlier in the day.
"Shall we?" Dad said gesturing towards the table and we all took our seats. Christy and I sat on one side of the table while Mum and Dad sat on the other so that we were looking across at each other.
"So, did you girls have fun today?" Dad asked as he stuck a fork in one of his mushroom raviolis. My Mum's face lit up at the mention of the day and she gazed at Christy.
"It was wonderful," she said. "We had so much fun. I needed a day like that."
"Me too," Christy agreed, smiling at my Mum before taking a sip of her wine.
"How did my boys' day go?" Mum asked. Dad's mouth was too full and he looked at me to answer.
"It was alright," I shrugged. "The meeting was boring as hell." I twirled my fork around in my spaghetti, not really interested in eating it. I glanced over at Christy and she was taking a bite of her food but she seemed to be somewhere else entirely mentally.
"Did you spend all of our money, dear?" Dad joked and Mum rolled her eyes playfully at him before taking a sip of her wine. "Oh yes. All of it. You better take a second job."
Dad snorted and shook his head before taking another bite of his food. The rest of the meal was fairly uneventful. Mum and Christy told us about their outing and I watched as my girlfriend put on a wonderful performance. I'd have to tell her later about how well she'd probably do as an actress but I saw straight through her. Something was getting to her and I was about to lose my mind before we all finally retired to do our own things for the evening.
"Want to go have a smoke with me?" I asked Christy as she dried her hands next to the sink. She'd just gotten done washing the dishes which she nearly had to fight with Mum to do.
"Sure," she smiled up at me and I reached my hand out for her as I pulled out my pack of cigarettes from the pocket on the inside of my blazer. She took it and I lead her out to the back garden. We were quiet as we made our way across the grass and I opened the gate for us to walk in. There were a few lights out there so it wasn't too dark. She was staring out at the flowers as I lit 2 cigarettes and I offered her hers.
"Thanks," she said softly before taking the one I offered her. She walked over to the table and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket before sitting down and sitting the phone onto the glass table. I followed her and sat down next to her, watching her as she raised her right hand and rubbed her right temple with her fingertips.
"Okay, you've been weird all night. Did something happen today?" I asked, leaning back in my chair as I spoke.
She let out a long sigh and then brought the cigarette up to her lips before taking a drag. "Yes, something happened today," she confessed, not looking at me. Her eyes were fixated on her cell phone.
"What happened babe? You're freaking me out," I confessed.
She swallowed hard and reached out to grab her phone before handing it to me. "Read the first two texts," she said as she offered the phone to me. I raised an eyebrow in confusion and reached out to take the phone from her. I unlocked the screen and clicked on the text icon where I could see there were two texts from numbers that were not in her contact list. I read the first one and my heart sank. I didn't even want to read the second one and I probably shouldn't have because it was much worse. There was no denying it now. Someone wanted her dead.
I didn't know what to say. So much was running through my mind. Rage and fear were the most prominent feelings though. I raised my eyes to look at her and she was watching me and chewing on her bottom lip.
"I called the detective back in New Orleans while I was upstairs," she told me, leaning back on the chair and crossing her legs. "I forwarded the texts to him and he's going to see if he can get a trace on the numbers."
I sighed as I sat the phone down on the table and leaned forward, propping my elbows on my knees. "I think we should stay here for a while longer."
"I can't just hide forever, Rob. People can get your parents address online easily and whoever is doing this obviously knows I am with you."
She was right. It wasn't hard to figure out where my parents lived. Fans dropped by the house very often. "I feel like you'd be safer here than there though."
She exhaled and a cloud of smoke left her lips as she tipped her head back and looked up at the sky. "You're probably right."
Obviously she was really worried because it definitely wasn't like her to agree with me so quickly. "I cancelled our stay at the hotel when we went to get our things earlier today but I can probably get the room again unless you don't have a problem with staying here."
"Do you think your parents would mind?" she asked, looking at me again. I cocked an eyebrow and looked at her like she was crazy.
"My parents are crazy about you. They won't mind, I'm sure."
She smiled the first real smile I'd seen out of her since earlier that morning and I felt a bit better. "I really did have fun with your Mom today," she told me as her eyes moved from me down to the cigarette she was holding between her fingers.
"I'm glad you two get along so well," I told her before bringing my own cigarette to my lips. "Hey. How about we have some more wine out here? I'm sure you could use it."
She smiled and nodded. "That sounds great, baby."
"Good," I winked at her as I stood up and put my cigarette out. Before walking away, I leaned down and pressed my lips against the top of her head and inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet smell of her shampoo. "I'll be right back," I said as I made my way out.
I walked into the kitchen and my Mum was standing at the counter stirring a cup of tea. She looked up and smiled when she saw me walk in. "It's nice having you home again," she told me before taking a sip of her tea.
"Well," I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "It looks like we might need to stay a bit longer."
She tilted her head to the side, a worried expression on her face. "Is everything alright?"
"Some things are just complicated back home for Christy and I think it'd be best if she stays here for a bit longer. Is that alright?"
"Of course!" she beamed. "I adore having her here as well. I feel like she's already part of the family. She's definitely a keeper," she winked at me and I laughed.
"I think she is too."
When I returned to the garden, I found Christy pacing back and forth down one of the rows of flowers talking on the phone. I poured us both a rather large glass of wine and sat down, not wanting to walk over to her and intrude on her conversation even though I wanted to know what was going on.
She finally hung up and walked back over to me. She gave me a bit of a forced smile before picking up the glass of wine and drinking nearly half of it in one swallow.
I raised my eyebrows as I watched her and she sighed after lowering the glass. "That was the detective," she told me as she sat down on the chair. "He said the texts were made from disposable phones. You know, like the prepaid ones?"
"Ah," I nodded, dragging my fingers through my hair. "So there's no way to know who bought them or anything."
"Bingo," she said before picking up the glass again and taking another sip.
"Listen," I leaned forward and grabbed her free hand before lacing my fingers with hers. She squeezed my hand. "There's still a possibility that this is someone just fucking with you. People play sick jokes to get a rise out of people like this all the time."
I think I was trying to convince myself of this more than her.
"It'd be great if that were the case," she said softly.
I hated seeing her this way and I saw it way too often lately. I wanted the girl I first met back. The one who had no worries apart from what was going on at her bar. I wished more than anything that I could take all these negative feelings away from her.
"Hang on a sec," I told her before standing up and walking away again.
"Rob, where are you going?" she called after me but I didn't answer. I ran into the house and up the stairs before walking into my bedroom. I was so thankful for not getting rid of most of my old stuff when I found the CD player sitting there. I quickly unplugged it and made my way back downstairs before walking back out to the garden.
"Did you have to take a shit or something?" she asked, laughing and I laughed as well. Of course she would come up with that.
"Not exactly," I told her as I held up the CD player. She eyed me with confusion. I walked over to the side of the fence that had a power outlet for when my Mum had her little garden parties out there and needed to have more lighting. I kneeled down and plugged it in before scrolling through some of the stations. A soft, beautiful song finally caught my ear and I turned it up before standing upright again. Christy was watching me, grinning.
I walked over to her and extended my hand. "May I have this dance?" I asked and she nodded before placing her hand in mine and standing. I pulled her over close to the radio and placed her hands on the back of my neck before putting my hands on her hips. We began moving along with he slow rhythm, our green eyes locked on each other.
"I love this song," she finally spoke up, stepping closer to me so that our bodies were pressed together.
"I don't believe I've heard it before."
"It's called Bloodstream by Stateless," she told me as her fingers moved into the back of my hair. "The lyrics are pretty intense. Obsessive love."
"Isn't all love obsessive?" I asked, grinning down at her.
"Ours is," she whispered before standing on her tiptoes and pressing her lips against mine. I smiled against her lips and returned the kiss wishing she didn't pull away so soon.
"You're obsessed with me?" I asked, trying to make her laugh.
She giggled and pressed her forehead against my chest before looking up at me again. "I was obsessed with you before I even met you so I guess I am."
I couldn't stop myself from grinning. "Well, what man doesn't want to hear that from the woman he loves?" I asked.
She smiled up at me. "You're very good at distractions, Mr. Pattinson."
"I just needed to see you smile," I told her as I raised my right hand and rubbed my knuckles along her soft cheek. She smiled and leaned into my touch, her eyes closing for a moment before she opened them and looked up at me.
"I wish we could just stay here," she whispered. "I love it here. It feels like home. I love your parents. They make me feel like I have a family again."
Hearing her say that nearly made me let my emotions get the best of me. I tried not to think about the fact that she was basically alone in the world when it came to having family around. She made me realize how often I took it for granted that I had my parents and sisters.
I moved my other hand from her hip and held her face in my hands as I looked down at her. "You know that I will do everything in my power to protect you, make you happy, and give you everything you could ever want or need, right?"
I saw her eyes get glossy with tears but she was still smiling. She nodded and I leaned down to press my lips against hers. "I love you so much," she whispered against my lips, her voice cracking because of her unshed tears.
"I love you too," I replied, hoping that that could be enough to help her stop feeling so alone in the world.
I knew what I wanted to do right then and began coming up with my plan as I picked her up and carried her back into the house to make love to her until we were exhausted enough to sleep.
