Chapter 7 – Journey
Tommy lifted the last case into the trunk of the car and closed the boot with a sigh, he stood in the middle of the drive with his hands on his hips watching Grace lock the door behind her. He should really ask her to move in, she was around his house most of the time anyway and he'd even given her a key, mostly because it was nice to come home and find that she'd cooked dinner. He smiled at that thought, it was a little selfish but it was one of those little things that had changed everything, he hadn't realized that his house had felt lonely and empty when the four ravenous teens hadn't been in it but Grace's presence there made it better. She turned and smiled back as though she'd felt him watching before turning back to the door, the lock was always a little stiff.
They hadn't really spoken about the events of two days ago, Tommy had been glad of that; he hadn't wanted to talk about it, he still didn't understand and the memory of her pale and frightened face still haunted him. A life of fighting and karate had left him well trained and strong, he could quite easily have snapped her neck. He had worried about her being afraid of him but after what had seemed like hours of sitting on the floor they had simply clambered onto the bed where she had fallen asleep straight away. He had been tired but too afraid to go back to sleep, what if he strangled her in his sleep? It was probably silly but still the thought troubled him, if he wasn't in control when he slept what else could he do without realizing?
Grace hadn't spoken about it either; Tommy was sure that she must still be frightened about it but strangely she had taken to staying closer to him, keeping an eye on him no doubt and looking after him. It said something that she hadn't kept away and had even taken it upon herself to look out for him, in fact the only time she had left the house was to pack her clothes. When she had woken she had simply asked him how he felt, when he'd told her he was okay she had just hugged him long and hard before going in the shower. It was the bruises that made him feel guilty; evidence of just how hard he had held her. Small grey bruises could be seen on one of her arms, when he had touched them she had gently told him that he had been dreaming and trying to stop her when she had been trying to wake him. The worst were on her neck however; luckily they were hidden by her hair and she had not mentioned them, if anything she seemed to be going to a concerted effort to hide them from him.
Part of Tommy just wanted to push her away in case he hurt her again, he sometimes felt like he couldn't be around her because it just reminded him of what a danger he was to her. The rest of him wanted to keep her close, hold on to her and promise never to hurt her again. The truth was that he was starting to get frightened, he didn't understand what was happening to him; the irrational spurts of anger, the nightmares and that voice inside of his head. He settled himself into the front seat of the car and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. Perhaps he was going crazy and Grace was the only thing that was keeping him sane.
Grace finally managed to lock the door and slipped the key back into the pocket of her jacket. When she turned towards the car she saw Tommy sat waiting, he had that expression she had seen a lot over the last few days; his face was carefully blank but his eyes looked sad and serious. She could guess only half of what he was thinking, he hadn't told her all of it, of that she was sure but she couldn't force it out of him; whatever it was he seemed determined to work it out himself.
She slid into the seat next to him and smiled again. "Ready?" he asked, sliding on his sunglasses.
"Yep, I think I managed to lock your hellish door. I'm sure you only asked me because you like watching me struggle!"
Tommy simply grinned at her. "Ready to meet the rest of my dysfunctional family?"
Grace took a deep breath. "Lets hope so."
Tommy squeezed her hand in reply. "You'll be fine." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Grace watched the house disappear behind the trees and took another deep breath. It was now or never and strangely despite her nerves she was looking forward to meeting his friends. They hadn't spoken about what had happened and she was sure that bringing it up wouldn't help, but something had to be done because something was definitely wrong. Tommy's friends may be just the people she needed to help her.
A/N Yet another bridging chapter I'm afraid but now hopefully we'll get onto the good stuff! Yey! Anyhow please tell me what you think and the next chapter should be along soon, probably the next two weeks as I'm off to visit a friend for a few days. See you soon! xxx