Love Conquers All
Chapter 15: Struggles
(A/N: Well here is the next chapter! It's kinda long, but I'm sure you won't mind! I wanted to update sooner but I didn't like some things in this chapter so I redid a tiny bit of it. Sorry about the wait! )
Jeremy sat in their hotel room, waiting for Lucy. His eyes flashed with a devilish arrogance, as he basked in the success of his fiendish plotting. He smiled greedily in anticipation for the doorknob to turn and Lucy to enter, completely oblivious to his presence in the room. He knew he had her, and that there she would be all alone. Jeremy assumed that Kevin wouldn't want to come running after her for a while, because he knew how Lucy could overreact. "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy," he snickered, "when will you learn? Jeremy always gets what he wants." He stood in the bathroom smirking, watching his reflection in the mirror as he ran his fingers along a smooth, sharp metal blade. He slid behind the bathroom door, waiting.
Meanwhile, Lucy was exiting the elevator on the thirty-fourth floor. Tears flooded her eyes as she continued crying while she walked down the hall. Room numbers passed by, and she almost completely missed her own room she was so lost in her own thoughts. She was still in a bit of astonishment from what had just happened, and she moved as if she were in a trance. Her eyes were red from crying, and all she wanted to do was collapse on a bed, sleep, and hope that the next morning would be better. Slowly, she pulled out her room key, and slid the card into the lock. After she saw the little light switch from red to green, she slowly turned the handle and stepped into the room. She tossed her purse onto the bed and looked at herself in the doorway mirror. Her makeup had run, and she looked horrible. She turned on the light in the bathroom and set her makeup on the counter, failing to notice the dark figure lurking behind her. As she set it down on the counter, she looked up into the mirror, and what her vision met in its reflection would forever be ingrained in her memory. There was Jeremy, standing behind her, with the most horrifying yet arrogant glare she had ever seen. "Hello Lucy," he said in a low, dark tone. She instantly screamed, but it was quickly muffled by his hand covering her mouth. He grabbed her forcefully and kissed her, as she tried everything in her power to release herself from his strong grip. Their struggle left the bathroom and directed towards the central part of the suite. He shoved her onto the bed and she kicked him hard in the ribs, causing him to howl in pain.
"Help!" she squealed. Jeremy slapped her face, as he hissed
"Shut up or you'll regret it!"
Kevin had left the restaurant and was walking on the beach outside, in an attempt to rid his mind of the mixture of hurt, confusion, and anger. He thought Lucy would have let him at least defend himself. She pushed him away so fast that it quite frankly scared him. As much as she had hurt his feelings, he couldn't stay angry at her. He loved her, they couldn't fight forever. After a few minutes of walking, he turned and swiftly headed for the hotel. He had to speak to her. He had to set things right.
The scuffle with Jeremy persisted as Lucy repeatedly shouted for help from anyone that was close enough to hear. At this point, Jeremy was getting angry with her cries, and he placed his hand on her throat, beginning to choke her. "You had better be quiet Lucy. There's nobody to help you. You're husband isn't coming to rescue you. Do you really think he's going to come chasing after you after you immediately stormed off on him?" he whispered into her ear. Her eyes widened, and she looked at him with question in her gaze. He loosened his grip on her throat as he spoke.
"You haven't figured it out? I set him up, Lucy. Kinkirk didn't do anything wrong. I paid Liz to kiss him in front of you. I knew you would get mad, don't you see? That's how I would get you alone. That's how I would keep Kinkirk away. And now I have you all for myself. I told you I would get what I want," he snickered. He forced his lips upon hers once more as she slapped him across his face. With anger in his eyes, he pulled out a smooth, metal item, which shined in the radiant glow of the lamps. He stared at her with a sinister gaze, as he slowly positioned the blade of the knife to her throat, causing her to gasp in fright. "This is your final warning. Go ahead and resist some more, and it will be the last thing you will ever do," he said, pressing the knife blade a little harder. Lucy heaved one last blow to his face, and he howled out in pain. He struck back and punched her hard in the side of her head, sending her into a dazed state. The last thing Lucy saw before she lost consciousness was the wicked smirk spread across his features.
Kevin stood in the elevator, impatiently waiting for it to reach the thirty-fourth floor. He ran his hand through his hair, and let out a long sigh of exhaustion. It had turned into a long day, and he would feel much better if he cleared everything up with Lucy. Finally, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, allowing him access to the thirty-fourth floor.
Kevin unlocked the hotel room only a couple minutes after Lucy had been knocked unconscious. He opened the door to find her lying on the bed, bleeding on the face, with Jeremy about to bind her wrists behind her back.
"Lucy!" he shouted, entirely ignoring Jeremy, who was smirking.
"Well, well, well. What have we here? Is Lucy's man coming to save her?" Jeremy said, with a spiteful grin plastered to his face as he stopped what he was doing with Lucy and confronted Kevin. They stood only a few feet apart.
"Get out before I kill you with my bare hands," Kevin warned, anger escalating in his tone. Jeremy just cackled contemptuously. Kevin stepped towards Lucy, but his path was hastily blocked by Jeremy.
"Thanks to you I got what I wanted. I'm not about to leave now," he said about to touch Lucy.
"Don't touch her! You've hurt her enough!" Kevin yelled furiously. He hurled a punch at Jeremy, hitting the side of his face with astonishing strength. Jeremy stumbled backwards and dropped the knife. Jeremy shook his head jolting himself from the short daze, and lunged at Kevin, knocking him to the floor. He then placed his hands over Kevin's throat, beginning to choke him. Kevin gasped for air as he tried to loosen Jeremy's grip on his throat. He could not get rid of Jeremy, as he began to get more and more lightheaded. The room was beginning to get foggy for Kevin, as his consciousness fought to stay alive. 'Lucy needs you,' Kevin thought to himself. Then, with a surge of energy, he slammed his knee into Jeremy's middle, knocking the wind out of him, and hurling him a few feet away. Jeremy coughed as he caught his breath, and looked up at Kevin with a defiant stare, only to find that Kevin had already caught his breath and was preparing to strike again. Kevin glared at Jeremy through eyes radiant with tremendous anger. Then without warning, Kevin grabbed Jeremy by the shirt collar, and slammed him up against the wall. "I love that woman more than anything in the world, and you hurt her. So what goes around comes around," Kevin almost whispered. He shoved Jeremy forcefully into the wall. Jeremy then sank to the ground, knocked out. Or so Kevin thought. Kevin wiped his mouth and glanced at his hand. His lip was bleeding and his face was sore, but he didn't care. All he cared about was making sure that Lucy was all right.
He hurried into the bathroom, turned on the water, and ran a cloth under the cool water. When he returned to Lucy, she was conscious, and Kevin let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. As he walked over to her, Jeremy began to rise behind Lucy until he stood at his full height, with the knife held tightly in his hand. Kevin's eyes widened and he dove at Jeremy, causing them both to go slamming through the glass doors leading to the balcony. Bits of glass flew threw the air and scattered across the floor, but not before cutting them a bit. Soon, the two were on their feet again. Kevin stood their staring at Jeremy, his face, hands, and arms bleeding mildly. Jeremy lunged at Kevin, knocking him back against the railing. "It appears you've come to the end of the line, Kinkirk," Jeremy sneered, pushing him further and further against the railing. Kevin was not going to give up that easily.
"That's what you think," Kevin spat, shoving Jeremy with force. He stumbled backwards, losing his footing, and the next thing Kevin saw was Jeremy topple over the edge of the balcony. Kevin ran to the edge and looked on as Jeremy grew smaller and smaller until he was no longer visible. Kevin stood there, gazing vacantly at the ocean for several minutes before he turned around and walked back into the room, exhaustion and relief coursing through his veins. He looked down at the shattered glass, and then up at Lucy. She got up slowly and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his middle.
"He's gone," Lucy said half questioning and half stating, as she looked into Kevin's eyes. She had seen most of what had happened, but thought it might all have been a dream, and not real. He nodded, closing his eyes as he kissed her gently. He opened his eyes again to find tears streaking down Lucy's cheeks.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Kevin," she whispered, wiping his cuts with the cloth he had left on the nightstand. He listened as she continued, "He told me about his plan when he was trying to…hurt me. I'm so sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain. I…Please forgive me." Kevin put a finger to her lips to quiet her, as she stared at the floor. With a hand under her chin, he turned her face to meet his.
"You don't need to apologize, Luce. Just know that I love you and only you. I wouldn't go kissing some woman in a bar. I'm sorry this happened. I'm just thankful you're all right and that he wasn't able to do anything to seriously hurt you. Although I do think you…we should see a doctor, especially since you were unconscious for a little bit. It would be a g-."
"No!" she interrupted hastily, resulting in Kevin flashing a questioning look, "I-I'm fine, really. I don't want to see a doctor. I…I just want to go home."
And they did the following day.
Approximately two uneventful months later, Lucy sat in her bedroom, waiting for Kevin to come home from work. The twins were down for their afternoon nap. She sat on the sofa trying to read a magazine, but could not focus because she had something important to tell Kevin.
"Lucy, I'm home," Kevin called as he walked into the house. She greeted him with a soft kiss, and motioned for him to have a seat on their living room couch. She had a serious look on her face, which made him nervous, and he immediately asked her what was wrong.
"Nothing is wrong. It's just that I need to talk to you about something," she said, averting his questioning but concerned gaze.
"I'm listening," he said. There was a long pause before Lucy spoke.
"Kevin, remember our first night of the cruise?" she asked. A grin widened across his face.
"How could I forget a night like that?" he replied, wiggling his eyebrows and kissing her neck playfully. She gave a tiny laugh but pushed him off.
"Kev, come on. This is really important."
"Sorry. What is it you need to talk about?" Their eyes met. He could tell by the look in her eyes that he had better brace himself for what he was about to hear.
"Well…my period completely missed twice and I think I'm pregnant in fact I've thought that since about a week after the first night of the cruise but I was just afraid to talk to you about it because I wasn't sure how you'd react to hearing about it," she rambled insanely, a tiny, but awkward smile spreading across her face as she took a short but deep breath and avoided his gaze, staring at the floor uneasily. A look of complete surprise spread across Kevin's features. He said nothing for agonizingly lengthy minutes. Lucy could not look him in the eyes as tears began forming in her own. 'Great, now he's upset. He should be happy! He was when we had the twins! Why would he change his mind?? After all we've always wanted a big family and this would be one step closer. I thought he would b-.' Lucy's thoughts were abruptly halted as a hand pulled her face up and forward and her lips were captured in a passionate kiss. She slowly opened her eyes after it was broken to find Kevin with a huge grin on his face.