Alette

9: leave

N I N E

♡♡♡

Alette's POV

The truck swerved once again before it sped away, and Aresius pulled off the road and parked onto the side of the street. He removed his hand from me and unbuckled my seatbelt. My body was still hunched over and I was heaving, trying to think of all the breathing techniques that I had been taught to help me through my panic attack.

I looked up at him through my tears, and he hooked his hand around my upper arm. He pulled me towards me him, and without thinking twice, I manoeuvred my body across the console, and climbed into his lap. Shaking out another sob, I buried my head into his chest, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt in my hands.

He wrapped one hand around my waist, and used the other to rub soothingly up and down my back.

"You're okay now, you're fine," he whispered repeatedly, and his lips brushed against the top of my head.

He cradled my head in his hand, while I continued to sob into his chest.

I cried for what seemed like ages, my fear taking over every inch of my body. I finally calmed down, hiccupping before wiping my eyes with my fists.

He immediately grabbed my wrists, pulling my hands away from my eyes. He reached over and grabbed a soft tissue from the glove compartment.

He placed two fingers under my chin and tilted my head up. With his fingers still under my chin, he used his other hand to carefully dab my wet eyes. Once he had meticulously cleaned my tears, he cupped my face in his hand, the other steadying my waist.

"You're alright?" he asked, his tone was uncertain, and his eyes darted all over my face, as if checking me for injuries.

I nodded slowly and hiccupped again.

"Home now, please?" I asked, my voice scratchy and embarrassingly small. What must he think of me? I hoped I could explain to him one day, that I wasn't an overly emotional child that was afraid of everything. I hoped he would understand.

I looked into his stormy eyes and my heart skipped a beat. In that moment, I knew he understood.

Taking one more breath, I tried not to think too hard about the fact that I was in his lap. Our proximity made me feel nervous, but safe. I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I shifted away to get back into the passenger seat and he helped, moving me as if I weighed something insignificant.

Once I was seated, he reached over and buckled my seatbelt in. As he was about to remove his hand away from me, I grabbed his arm, clutching his firm forearm with both my hands. Holding onto him made me feel protected, and I wasn't ready to let that go yet. Especially considering we had to be back on the road again.

"No," I whispered, and he nodded, placing his hand on my knee, allowing me to hug his arm close to my body.

He started the car, and looked over at me again.

"Okay?"

I closed my eyes and nodded my head, ready to get into my bed.

He pulled away from the curb, and drove slowly onto the road. I kept my eyes shut, but I could tell he was driving even more carefully, which was saying a lot because he had been driving perfectly well before.

I laid my forehead against his shoulder, my hands still clasped around his arm, and my eyes tightly shut. The feeling of his strong arm and scent must have had an effect on me because I dozed off at some point.