Not my characters. I make zero dollars from this. Completely AU! Just plugging our favorite characters into my original story.
WARNING! Some things will be alluded to and not described in excessive detail. I'm not a doctor or any medical professional. This means there will be some creativity with the scenario to fit my goal. If something is a trigger for you. I apologize, this story will reference abuse, rape, and domestic violence. There is a great deal of drawing your conclusions on those fronts.
Thanks yall for sticking with me. I am hoping to regularly schedule an update. I'm trying to get my life together LOL! Enjoy!
Stephanie POV
"Yeah, a good plan," I whispered to myself.
I jumped with the knock on the door. Here goes nothing.
Smoothing my hands over my legs I walked to the door. God, I was ridiculously nervous and it was just dinner with Ranger and his grandmother. I'm a trainwreck.
Pulling open the door Ranger was holding up his hand as if to knock again.
"Sorry, I got distracted. My mind drifted. Come in, I need to grab my phone I plugged it in to charge in the bedroom. After grabbing my phone I headed back to the living room to meet Ranger.
"Ready Steph?" He asked.
"Can I be honest?" I ask him as we head to the stairwell.
"Please, I would prefer it."
"I'm sure your grandmother is very nice but I am so nervous." I huffed out quickly.
I watched Ranger still when we came to the landing.
"Stephanie, If you don't want to eat dinner with us it is okay. I know she would understand."
"No! I really do want to have dinner with you both. It is just I really don't get out very often. Especially, since I've been at the lake."
"Okay, how about if it gets too overwhelming you can just take dessert to go." Ranger opened the door to his floor.
"There is going to be dessert? Lester said you don't eat dessert?" I rapid-fired questions.
"My cousin is correct. That is normally not something I consume but when Abuela Rosa is around, she is in charge.
I laughed as we walked in the door.
"You mean there is somebody who bosses you around?"
Ranger POV
Before I realized it, Abuela Rosa had turned in and Stephanie and I were heading back down to the 6th floor. Once she was comfortable enough she and Abuela her were getting on like a house on fire.
As I guided her inside the apartment, I watched her take off her shoes and plop down on the couch.
"Thank you. I really enjoyed dinner. It is easy to forget how nice company is when you spend most of your time alone."
"You're welcome," I told her as I sat down on the couch opposite her. "Are you excited to back to the beach house?"
I watched her curly hair move as she nodded her head.
"Yeah, I always need time at the beach after dealing with this circus. Uncle Joe's late wife took me to the beach a lot with my recovery when I was younger." She told me with a yawn.
"I think you need to get to sleep. I'll head back upstairs and we can leave early tomorrow."
"No, do you think we can hang out for a bit longer? I'm still not thrilled about the prospect of being here alone."
"I would love to. Why don't you go get changed and I will start some popcorn with a movie."
'Perfect! I will be right back,"
I watched her walk away to the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. I knew Tia Ella kept it stocked in the apartments as an easy snack. After locating it and cooking it in the microwave I reached the couch at the same time Stephanie came out wearing pajama pants covered in doughnuts. Her blue tank top had a graphic of a doughnut with the words, "Doughnut mess with me."
I tossed my head back and laughed.
"What? It was a gift. Daddy knows how much I love Boston Cream Doughnuts."
30 minutes into the movie, I look over and Stephanie has fallen asleep. Before I can go to wake her up, she bolts upright screaming.
"Steph, it was a dream. Look, at me. You're okay. Nobody is going to hurt you."
I watched as she tried to control her breathing.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I whispered to her.
That's all it took and she burst into tears. I pulled her into my lap and hoped that I could get her calmed down.