New Reason for Living
Chapter 13: Never Alone
Back at Leanne's place, I was asleep still thinking about what had taken place tonight. I couldn't believe what had happened; Leanne and I had kissed. I never expected it, but I didn't realize that it could be so amazing. It was almost as if Leanne and I were meant to be; I couldn't deny it any longer than I already was.
I woke up and decided to check on Leanne in her room. But when I came inside, I noticed that she looked very unsettled even though she was asleep. It was like she was finding it hard to sleep; something was disturbing her. I sat down next to her, just so she wasn't by herself. I thought it would be best that someone was with her for tonight; it seemed like she needed that.
But then to my surprise, Leanne woke up in a fright. I jumped, surprised and nearly fell over. After she looked around, Leanne turned to notice me. "Aaron?" she asked, surprised and confused at the same time. I sat up and shook myself off from that.
"Leanne, are you all right?" I asked, concerned as I sat down next to Leanne. She looked at me and I was surprised that she looked very frightened, as if there was something that really scared her while she was asleep.
"I was having a nightmare, Aaron." Leanne said. I was shocked to hear that; as far as I could tell, that didn't happen very often expect to me when I was little. But that hadn't happened to me ever since, so that meant that I was all right. What mattered to me right now was helping Leanne because it was what she needed.
"What happened?" I asked, worried. Leanne looked at me and she could see my worry, but she immediately looked away as if she was scared to tell me. "I can't tell you, Aaron. It was so awful!" Leanne cried. I was surprised to hear that, but there was no way I was leaving Leanne by herself when she was like this.
"Leanne, I don't want you to be upset. I want to help you, but I can't if I don't know what making you feel like this." I explained. Leanne could tell that I meant this, so she looked back at me and decided to tell me what happened in her nightmare.
"Well, not long after our dance, I could see that Blaze was furious. It was as if he felt like he was being neglected again, because we were both enjoying ourselves. He threatened to hurt you unless we stopped, but you refused and told him that I deserved better than someone like him. That got him worked up and he started to hurt you, and I wasn't able to do anything because I was so alarmed by that." Leanne explained. Her eyes built up with tears and she looked away upset. I was shocked hearing this; I couldn't believe that I had heard this.
"I don't want to be the one that causes you to get hurt, Aaron. I don't want you to get hurt because of me!" Leanne cried. I could tell that she was clearly very worked up by this, but I knew that she wouldn't be the one that would get me hurt; that wasn't possible of her.
"I'm not going to let that happen, Leanne." I said. Leanne looked at me in surprise. "There's no way that I could get hurt because of you, Leanne. That just isn't possible of you." I said. Leanne shook her head and responded "Aaron, you could get hurt by Blaze just because you're with me. That's how he was when he was young too; he wouldn't let anyone else be with me. So, that's why I just think it's possible that it could happen now."
I knew that this was harder than I expected, but I wasn't going to let Leanne think that this was possible, because it wasn't in my eyes. I wanted Leanne to know that, one way or another.
"I won't let that happen, Leanne. Even though you might think it's possible, it really isn't. It might be something that worries you, but that doesn't mean you should think that it could happen. It could, but I won't let that happen to you. You've been through too much now, and I'm not going to let you go through the same thing again. I'm not going to let you get hurt, Leanne; it's something I can't stand." I explained.
I was amazed when I realized what I was saying, but I could see that Leanne was looking at me amazed. She still had tears in her eyes, but this time it was because of happiness from hearing this from me. "Oh, Aaron..." Leanne gasped, amazed.
"I know; even I can't understand how I was able to say that." I said. But Leanne brightly smiled at me. "No one has ever said that to me for a long time. It makes me feel so happy to hear you say that." Leanne said. I smiled to know that she was happy at last.
"All I want is for you to be happy, Leanne. And I'm going to do that, no matter what." I said. With that, I held Leanne close as she nuzzled against me. I knew what I was saying was true; I was going to make Leanne happy, even if it meant doing things that were extreme.