Take Two

Chapter 38

-xx-

Whitney looked up from her spot on the cement next to her car and let out a deep breath when she recognized Derek's truck. She held her hair back in one hand as she dry heaved in the middle of the parking lot.

Nothing would come out however not a lot was helping her feel any better. She tried her best to fill her lungs with the fresh air, but every breath she took was shaky. She continually rubbed her hands against her jeans just trying to get rid of the feeling of his hand on hers.

The slightest touch made her nauseous. The smirk he wore for most of their conversation was most likely going to give her nightmares.

But she faced her fear – she sat down across from the man responsible for making her life a hell. And she was proud of herself. Though every fiber in her being told her not to step foot in to the restaurant, she went through with it. She voiced her opinions and felt damn good about it.

"Whit," Derek said softly as he rounded the front of his truck. "Are you okay, babe?"

She slowly nodded as she pushed back to rest against her heels. He watched her take deep, repetitive breaths as she did her best to calm herself down. "I'm okay," she mumbled as she pulled her hair in to a messy bun at the base of her neck. "I swear – I'm good," she repeated as she saw the expression on Derek's face.

He was tough to read; it was a combination of compassion, anger and worry. He kept glancing between the blonde and the front door of the restaurant. Derek knew deep down that he was not going to be able to keep his calm if he saw Mason step out of those doors.

He crouched down in front of the blonde and offered her his hand. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that," she muttered. The wind caught her long bangs and blew them in her face.

Derek reached across and tucked them back behind her ear. "You're stronger than you believe you are," he explained. "Let's get you home."

She looked up at his much larger figure and nodded. "Yes, please."

She fumbled with her car keys and she stood from her spot on the ground with Derek's help. "My place?" Whitney nodded.

-xx-

Derek followed behind her sedan as she drove back to his house. She was still shaking just slightly as she got behind the wheel. He knew as soon as she got on the road, she was going to drown out her thoughts with music, but he had not expected the rock music that was blaring through the speakers when she pulled in to his driveway.

"You are full of surprises," he said with a laugh as he opened the driver's side door for her. She attempted a smile as she gathered her belongings from the car and followed him in to the house. "What are we going to do for dinner?"

Whitney shrugged as she took a seat at the kitchen island. "I'm not even hungry," she muttered. Derek's sigh caused her to lift her eyes from the counter top to meet his gaze across the room.

"You need to eat something," he reminded her. She shook her head and let out another shaky breath. Derek leaned across the island to take her hands in his. "We'll take care of this, Whit."

She sniffled causing him to give her hands a soft squeeze. "It's not even Mason that I'm worried about right now," she mumbled before pulling her lower lip between her teeth.

Derek let his shoulders sag. "You're worried about what I heard," he mused. He closed his eyes for a second to calm himself down. The fact that Whitney would not catch his eye answered his question. "You don't need to worry about me," he answered softly. She rolled her eyes at his words; she knew deep down that there was no way he was going to forget it. "What did he do to you?"

She pursed her lips. "Which time?" she asked with a sarcastic scoff. "You know about my face meeting the door," she said sharply. "I can't even count the number of times he would-" She lost her train of thought as she glanced towards the man across from her.

She watched Derek's sharp intake of breath at her words. Whitney took a moment to collect her thoughts and forced herself to take a deep breath.

"He's an angry drunk," she admitted, "and he doesn't know his limits. I knew we weren't going to be able to have a civilized conversation when I saw the drink sitting on the table in front of him." Her eyes glazed over as she fought to forget their meeting. "He doesn't know how to say no to liquor."

"Who's Raina?" he asked quietly as he ran his fingers over her knuckles.

Whitney smirked at the name. "He always thinks that I don't know about her," she said with a roll of her eyes. "But she was the constant hook-up that Mason had."

Derek nodded; he was not sure of how to proceed regarding her based on Whitney's facial expressions.

"What he didn't know though," she added with a laugh, "was that she had other options." Whitney held her hands up to Derek's and sighed contently when she slipped her fingers around his. "I remember running in to her not too long before I left LA. She thought I would hate her, but I don't." She licked her lips. "I could always tell when Mason saw her – he was in a better mood when he would come home. I can't hate her for that."

Derek lifted a brow. "How come?"

She tightened her grip around his hands. "When he came home happy, I was in the clear." She pursed her lips as she pondered her wording. "As selfish as it was, I guess, I was happy too."

Derek leaned towards their joined hands and pressed soft kisses to her knuckles. "Let's get you something to eat and then head to bed."

She pursed her lips and watched the man in front of her. With one last squeeze to her hands, he placed them back on the counter top as he went to work whipping up something for the two of them to eat.

Her mind was spinning and she still felt physically sick as she replayed snippits of their conversation at the restaurant. Tomorrow would mark one week since Mason showed up at her apartment, and she had to admit that the entire week sucked. She kept looking over her shoulder, something she had not done in over a month.

She made it a routine to go directly to work and usually right home after with the exception of stopping a few times to pick up dinner. But when he texted her she became more concerned. He was able to figure out her cell phone number and address without many people knowing either of them.

Her biggest fear was the man across the kitchen from her. Mason would stop at nothing to get her to go back to LA and she worried that Derek would get caught in his cross-hairs.

-xx-