My Hero

Chapter 12

Richards POV:

When I woke up the next morning Raven was still fast asleep. One of her legs was between mine with her back against my chest and my arm draped over her waist. I could feel her hands lightly squeezing mine. Hmm, wonder where she got the idea to turn it into a pillow? Somehow during the night she had managed to put my hand under her cheek, where it was still kept prisoner. Shes too precious. But none of this bothered me. She is so cute while she's sleeping. Raven released my hand and rolled over, trying to get as close as possible. She was shivering. I pulled the blankets higher around her shoulders. She fits so perfectly against me... She tensed as I wrapped my arm back around her. I frowned. She knew that she was free from her father and that she was safe here with me, but I worried about the mental scars that he had left behind. "Richy?" I looked down at her. "I'm here." I reassured her. "Last night was amazing. Thank you so much." Seeing her smile...it was contagious and I couldn't hold back one of my own. "I need to go out for a bit and get some food. Will you be alright on your own for a while?" I moved to sit up. She snuggled against me whispering, "Just stay for a few more minutes...please?" Raven quietly begged. Chuckling I relaxed and wrapped my arms around her again. "I love you Rich." She said quite happily. "I love you too Rae." I never knew how persuasive Raven could be when she didn't want me to leave. I had gotten up to leave several times but she kept asking for just a little bit longer and before I knew it 'a little bit longer' had turned into two hours and she had fallen back asleep. So, quiet as possible, I got dressed and went out to run errands.

When I got back to the house at sundown I went right to the kitchen to start dinner for the two of us. When dinner was cooking I decided to go find my beautiful girlfriend. I wandered the house, checking all the rooms for her. I steadily made my way up to the attic. I was just starting to think she had left the house when I heard coughing. Following it led me up to our low ceiling attic when I saw that its window was open. And there was a chair below it. Standing on the chair I stuck my head out the window, looking around the roof. She was still coughing, sitting a few feet from the window with her legs pulled up to her chest. "What are you doing up here?" She jumped at my voice before relaxing and patting the spot next to her. I sat down mimicking her position. "You told me the other day that I couldn't leave the house, especially without you knowing, so I went ON it." She was smirking, proud of herself for finding a way outside. "Ok, you found a way to get outside." I was grinning at her. "But you're still sick and you shouldn't be crawling around rooftops." She shrugged, still looking out into the woods where the grave was. "You used to. Besides I needed some fresh air." And opening a window wouldn't have worked, I wondered. Getting to my feet I stood up and stretched before extending a hand to her saying, "As much as I would love to stay out here watching the moon rise with you, there's soup on the stove that should be just about ready to be eaten." She took my hand in hers and I pulled her to her feet as I led her back to the window.

Hand in hand, we went back downstairs for dinner. She stopped at the living room, removing her hand from mine. I went to the kitchen and put our soup in some bowls and brought it back to the living room. I don't think she knew I was standing there, watching her. She was kneeling on the recliner with her arms on the back of it, chin resting on her hands. "I know you're miserable Rae..." She didn't move. I put our food on the coffee table and closed the gap between us. "Just a few more days, then you can go. I promise." She slowly pushed away from the chair and stood up. "Don't make anymore promises to me. Ever." Her voice was emotionless as she walked over to sit on the couch and eat. The spoon was halfway to her lips when it paused, "I don't want you to break another. One is hard enough to deal with." I watched as the spoon continued on its way to her mouth. "What promise did I break Raven?" I was always careful with what I said and did around Raven. She always noticed every little detail and remembered each and everyone of them. "You said we could go to the grave, together, all soon as it STOPPED raining." Crap. "Raven, I haven't forgotten. I was just waiting for you to get better." It had stopped raining four days ago when Raven went to the doctors. And I honestly hadn't forgotten, I just hadn't been ready for her to visit the clearing yet. "Let's eat, then we can go down there for as long as you want. That sound fair?" She looked at me. Violet found blue and she smiled a small smile. I knew instantly that she was satisfied.

Her eyes shined as she went to our room to find her sneakers. I laughed lightly, kinda shocked at how excited she was. "Are you ready to go yet?" I turned around on the couch to see her standing in the doorway ready to leave. I got up from the couch with our empty bowls and brought them to the kitchen with her trailing behind me. "Just give me a minute and we can leave."

Ravens POV:

I wanted to run ahead. But I forced myself to walk the steady pace Richard had set. If felt like hours before we finally turned the last curve before the clearing. With a small smile I ran ahead for the last few yards. When I reached the clearing I looked around in amazement. There was a half circle of flowers planted around the far side of the grave. The grass was freshly cut. There was a bench on the right side of the entrance from the woods where it would get the sun in mornings but be nice and shaded in the afternoon heat. And directly in front of the grave along the edge of the woods, was a wooden swing. The who clearing was lined with small solar lamps giving off a soft glow. I turned to look at my boyfriend, only to realize that I had unconsciously walked up to the grave while I was looking around. He was grinning by the entrance, looking extremely pleased with himself. "Do you like it?" I ran and jumped into his arms. If it wasn't already obvious to him I whispered "I love it." He held me against him for a moment before we walked up to the grave, taking a seat in the grass. "Mom," my voice shook slightly. "This is my boyfriend Richard. He's the best thing that happened to me since I lost you." Richard wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "I promise you, I will always take care of her."