Chapter Thirty Eight

I was grounded. No amount of pleading or begging on my part made a bit of difference, and Charlie was too livid to see reason. In a way, I understood why he was so upset, but seriously, it wasn't like we were doing anything untoward. Pretty Boy gave me a chance to get a good night's sleep. That was all. Of course, my dad wasn't buying it. He kept ranting and raving about remembering what it was like being a teenager and hormones running rampant. It would have been hilarious if I weren't so devastated. My freedom was already severely limited, and now I had none, zip, zero, zilch.

Pretty Boy was dead to me. I refused to acknowledge his presence and went out of my way to avoid him at all costs. I even let Dad take me to school in his cruiser. Everything was such a mess. I knew my reactions probably weren't rational, but I was so stressed out that I just couldn't be bothered with feeling bad about the way I was treating Pretty Boy. I knew I was mad at the situation and not him. There was no way I was admitting that to him though. I needed him to keep his distance and apologizing wouldn't help with that.

So, I moped around for two weeks while I waited for something to change. James continued to elude the police's best efforts at catching him, and I studiously kept Pretty Boy at arm's length. It was just easier that way. Charlie refused to lift the new restrictions, not even allowing me to go to the grocery store. It was the worst type of torture. Plus, I was so angry that I kept myself locked in my room most of the time. When I was at school, I was too busy dodging Pretty Boy to have much time for anything else. Angela was really the only person I trusted and talked to anymore. She was so sweet and understanding, letting me vent to her about all my problems. I probably would have gone insane without her around.

Luckily, Renee took pity on me and sent me a laptop. She refused to talk Charlie into loosening the chains, though. Apparently, she agreed with the old dude on that one. She claimed she was just worried about me and begged me to come live with her and Phil again. But their situation hadn't changed, so I didn't really see the point in that. She'd be back to being miserable whenever Phil traveled, and I'd go back to feeling guilty about it. Nope, I needed to stay put even if I was unhappy. I couldn't let my mom suffer because of me. That just seemed wrong to me.

I used my new laptop to research the cost of turning my room into one of those bouncy house things. Obviously, I didn't do well with being bored and actually started pacing my room when I ran out of other stuff to do. My mind was a mess of thoughts and images. I couldn't get it to stay quiet for any length of time. It was slowly getting to be more than I could take.

Then late one night there was an incessant tinkling noise at my window, but every time I looked out there was nothing there. It went on for at least fifteen minutes before my overstressed mind couldn't take it any longer. Without thinking it through, I stormed down the stairs and out the front door. It wasn't until I was standing alone in the dark that I realized my mistake. James could have been the reason for the obnoxious noise, and I could have just walked right into his trap. My body began trembling at the thought.

A hand on my shoulder sent me hurtling forward, screaming as loud as I possibly could. I felt the burn of the gravel from the driveway as my hands and knees hit the ground hard. I hissed in pain before turning around as quickly as I was able, certain I would find James leering over me. My breath left my lungs in a rush when I stared into two apologetic green eyes rather than the menacing blue I had expected.

"Oh shit, Beautiful, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," Pretty Boy exclaimed as he gently helped me up and examined my scratched palms.

My mouth opened to tell him what an idiot he was and how mad I was at him for scaring me like that, but then I noticed what Pretty Boy was holding in his free hand. There was an audible click when my jaw clamped shut in surprise.

"Wha…what are you doing here?" I asked with a huff, remembering that I was avoiding him, even as my hand reached out to accept the beautiful gift. His resulting smile nearly took my breath away.

"You won't talk to me and run from me like I'm the boogeyman anytime I'm around. This was the only way I could think to see you," he explained, holding out the bouquet of wild flowers and handing them to me.

No one had ever given me flowers before.

Disclaimer: Nope, nothing changed here - SM still owns the kids...

A/N: I won't bore you with my long list of excuses. I'm just happy I have a chance to get this posted now! I hope you're not too upset with me!

Apparently, I scared Writtenbyabex when she pre-read this one for me. Did I scare you, too?

Do you think the flowers will be enough to break through Bella's resolve? Me thinks she's afraid of getting hurt but doesn't want to admit it, even to herself :-) Keep him at arm's length keeps you safe, right? Silly Bella, I wish it were that simple...

Thanks!

~SP