Pawnshops and Carousels
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Alright guys, here's the next chapter. So Sabrina and Seth's first date will not go as planned but I promise that it will be super cute. So don't forget to leave a review and I'll see you guys next Sunday.
Chapter 11
Do you have any idea how hard it was to work right beside Sabrina after that kiss in my office? Do you know how hard it was to stand beside her, to sit in my office watching her, and not pull her to me to go for another round?
Do you know how hard it was to go home, to go home without her? Or how hard it was to then sit at home knowing that the following evening she'd be on a date with me?
And do you have any idea how upsetting it was to have her be late for work the next morning? It was pathetic how quickly I jumped to my feet the second I felt her near-by. But nothing was as heart stopping as when I saw her face.
I came out of my office to greet her, to say good-morning, to ask why she hadn't called like she said she would when she officially ended things with her boyfriend, and to ask why she was late. I was not emotionally prepared to see half her face practically swollen.
She had this glaring red bruising across the right side of her face, looking like someone had hit her with a baseball bat. She hadn't even looked that bad after the car accident. And I'm immediately on her, my hands on her shoulders trying to assess the damage.
"Oh my god… Sabrina… what happened?"
She seems surprised to see me. Like she didn't think I would be in today. Like this wasn't my job, or my dad's store.
"I… uh… I fell."
She's lying. Why is she lying to me?
"I uh… I'm sorry, I was hoping to speak to your dad, is he here?"
I nod, a hand coming up to brush against the bruise which causes her to wince. I know she didn't fall but I can't think why she wouldn't want to tell me what had happened to her. Didn't she trust me? I mean, I know things are still new between us but… I mean… she could trust me.
"Can we talk later?"
I didn't want to but I agreed and then let her go into my dad's office and shut the door. But I didn't go back into my office, instead I stood outside my dad's office until she came out again.
She jumps when she sees me and that worries me. She's startling easier than she usually would. I'm starting to think that this wasn't an accident but something has happened to her. And it has to be bad if she won't tell me about it.
"What's going on?"
"I'm uhm… I'm going to go home for today," she says and I nod, I get that. Her face probably hurts. "Can we… uhm… can we postpone? I don't really want to go out looking like this."
It's disappointing but I get that too. "Yeah, uhm… sure, take all the time you need and when you're feeling better let me know, okay? Or just you know… call me… if you need me or you're bored or something."
She nods, she thanks me, she pulls me into a tight hug and kisses my cheek before leaving again and I watch her go. Something's wrong, and I want to ask my dad but he's on the phone and waving me off so I can't do it now. But best believe I will be finding out what happened. ASAP.
I'm on the phone for the better part of the morning. Lunch rolls around and I'm thinking foot long subs and sugary drinks my wife doesn't want me to have. And then Seth is in my office.
"What's going on with Sabrina? What did she need to talk to you about?"
Wow right down to business. He always did have a lazer focus when it came to that girl.
"We talked about what happened," I say with a shrug.
"Okay but what happened? Why did you need to know about it?"
The and not me was implied, I'd have to be an idiot to not have heard it, even if Seth hadn't said it. I realize she hasn't told Seth and that doesn't surprise me. He has anger management issues where she's involved so I get it, but I can't leave him in the dark when her situation could affect the store.
"She filed a restraining order against her ex and needed me to know not to let him into the store," I tell him. Understanding has hit Seth, and I can see it in his posture and the sudden stiffness in his jaw.
"He hit her?" he asks, his voice low.
"Yep. More than once."
The confirmation is what gets Seth. He shifts in his chair, his eyes blink rapidly and I swear I can see the anger building up inside him.
"She's already gone to the cops, and filled out everything she needs to file. She's provided us with his information and his picture so we can make sure he doesn't come here," I tell him and Seth nods.
"Well let's hope he never comes to the store, cause if I see him I'm going to break his fucking neck."
Seth gets up and storms out. I can only wonder when the hell he's just going to tell that girl he still loves her.
Seth: My girl got attacked. That fucking asshole Ex of hers hit her. She has a restraining order that she had to fill my dad in on, but that doesn't make me feel better. And how could it? My girl got beat up and I wasn't there to help her. I wasn't the one who protected her. Well… I can tell you right now that that's not going to happen again.
I'm in my apartment but I don't feel safe. Eric, my ex, had been arrested, and handed his restraining order. I told the officers he had a key but they didn't find it on him. I want to leave the apartment but my cat, Escobar, doesn't like leaving the apartment and I don't even know where I'd go.
I'm sitting on my couch trying not to have a panic attack when someone knocks on my door. I jump. I'm startled. It can't be Eric… he's still in lock up… has he given the key to someone else to beat me up? No they would have just used the key by now.
I stand up and quickly cross to the door. I glanced through the peep hole and straighten. Now I don't want to open it up for a completely different reason.
Why the hell was Seth at my door?
I know better than to ignore him. He's not going to leave. He will stand at my door and knock until I open it up. And to be honest, I kind of really want to see him too. So I open the door.
I hope to god he doesn't recognize the hoodie I'm in, the one I'm using to hide the bruise on my face.
"Hi Seth," I whisper and suddenly he's pushed past me and into the apartment.
"Hey, hope you don't mind, but I brought over all your favourites," he tells me. He's already heading for the couch, dropping a pizza box onto my coffee table. He takes a carton of chocolate ice cream out of plastic bag, followed by a bottle of baileys. "That is… you know… if these are still your favourites."
I smile warmly and shut the door behind me and then realize he's staring at me. "Uh… is that… is that my… is that my missing UofM sweater?"
Oh god. Deflect, deflect, deflect. "Not that I'm not happy to see you but uh… what are you doing here?"
He looks down at the floor and then back up to me. "Well we said tonight we'd go on a date tonight. I know you're not up to going out, but I thought you might like to stay in," he tells me and I almost break out in tears right then and there. "I brought movies for us to cuddle and watch together. No horror. I promise."
"Okay… well… I guess you can stay," I say to him moving forward. "Let me just put the ice cream in the freezer."
He lets me think he's going to let me take over but he shakes his head and pulls the ice cream out of my hand with a big grin. "I can do that for you. You should be resting, go on, sit down, I'll get everything put away and sorted. Why don't you start with the pizza?" he says.
I select a movie from the ones he brought over and set it up before I settle myself down on the couch and watch him mill around my small kitchen like he knew where everything was before he got here. It was like he had been here before, or like he belonged here. He comes back with glasses and plates and I open up the pizza box. A large meat lover's from my favourite place. He knew me oh so well.
As he sits down beside me, I note that he's still looking at the sweater. "Seriously though, is that my sweater? Did you keep my sweater?"
I look down to it and then back up to him. There's no point in lying now, he's definitely caught me red-sweatered. "It was the only thing I had left… I couldn't bare to let it go."
Seth half laughs. "I swear to god! I knew you had it this whole time. I knew it," he crows before laughing at the situation. "Nice to see that you've been treating it well."
He slings an arm over my shoulder and I snuggle into his side. I look up to him and find that he's no longer smiling. Instead he looks at me and I swear his heart is in his eyes and it looks broken.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you," he whispers before I can ask him what's wrong. "I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I'm sorry you had to do this by yourself. Why… why didn't you call me?"
I avoid his eyes. "I don't know… I guess… I didn't want to… bother you… and it was late… and…"
"I want you to call me," he tells me, his fingers resting along my jaw line so he'll look at me. "If you ever need me, literally for anything, at any time and I will be here. You are and never have been a bother to me, okay?"
I look into his eyes. I can tell he means it and it's everything I needed to hear right at the moment. I pull him to me, pull his lips down to mine and when he's nothing but a groaning unintelligible mess I decide that after the shitty fucking birthday I had yesterday, I deserve to live a little, to feel wanted… to feel loved.
So, I lead him to my bedroom.
