Fight For It

Chapter 11.Meet the Family

A/N: Surprise! Double update! I hope you all are enjoying Fight For It. Please remember to vote if you liked the chapter you read, and comment! I love reading your thoughts on the story! XO - Sam...PS: Surprise POV used in this chapter(:

As we were en route to my house I would check the rear-view mirror often to make sure Scarlett was still behind me. It broke my heart when I caught her pounding on her steering wheel in frustration. I could tell she was crying again and all I wanted was to take her into my arms and hold her until she was smiling again.

It felt like forever before we finally made it to my house and Scarlett pulled in and parked next to my car in the driveway. I turned my car off and got out to begin toting her things into the house, but before I pulled the first bag out of the trunk, I noticed that she wasn't getting out of her car.

"Scarlett?" I said and gently knocked on her window to get her attention. I clearly startled her as I saw her shoulders jolt slightly and she quickly wiped away the dampness coating her rosy cheeks. She shut her car off and opened her door.

"Sorry, I was just checking my phone for any messages," she lied. I didn't want her to put on a brave mask, I wanted her to let her walls down and show me that she was hurting, because I knew she was; she was just trying to hide it.

"Scarlett," I sighed and crouched down to be face to face. "You don't have to pretend with me. I saw you crying the whole drive here," I admitted. She looked at me with horror and embarrassment burning in her eyes. "You don't have to hide your emotions around me. You're safe with me, I promise." She visibly relaxed and began sobbing once again. Scarlett rested her forehead on the steering wheel and curled her knees to her chest as her sobs made her entire body tense up. I wrapped my arms under her knees and behind her back and lifted her out of her car, kicking the door shut. She leaned into me, allowing me to carry her into the house.

I gently set her on the couch and kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to go grab your things from the back of my car and bring them in. You just stay here." I reluctantly walked back outside after covering her with a blanket. I couldn't stand seeing her so upset, but a part of me was glad she was able to let her walls down and show me how she was hurting.

It only took me five minutes to get all of Scarlett's belongings into the guest room she had been staying in, and as soon as I was done I was back beside her. She was still crying, but the sobs seemed to be calming down a bit. I sat on the couch and pulled her onto my lap. My arms were wrapped around her while I placed kisses to the top of her head in hopes of calming her down. I leaned back and examined her face, noticing a knot forming above her eyebrow where the wooden spoon hit her.

"Do you want some ice?" I asked her. She felt the spot where the bump was and winced then nodded her head. I retrieved a soft ice pack from the freezer in the kitchen and returned to Scarlett gently pressing the cold pack to her injury. "I'm so sorry this happened."

"It's not your fault," she whispered and kissed me on the cheek.

"But I should have gone in with you, then maybe things wouldn't have gotten so out of control. I still can't believe that your mom hit you. Just know I will never hurt you."

Her tears finally stopped and we sat there together in peaceful silence. I'm sure after all the shouting, Scarlett was relieved to get some quiet.

"What's on your mind?" I asked.

"What is your family going to think when they see me here with all my things?" Her question took me by surprise, seeing that I did not expect her thoughts to be anything about my family.

"They are going to welcome you with open arms. Scar, you don't need to worry about them at all. I want to know if you're okay."

"I'm as okay as a girl can be when she just mentally lost her mother." I felt so bad for her. She's lost so much, and yet she is still so strong...well she was acting like she was strong.

We spent the day on the couch watching movies. We watched all of her favorites: Safe Haven, Scream, The Little Mermaid, and Silver Linings Playbook.

We were getting towards the end of Silver Linings Playbook when we heard the garage open signaling that my family was home. I was excited to introduce Scarlett to them, but she definitely seemed a bit uneasy.

"They're going to love you," I whispered. She weakly smiled at me and took a deep breath.

My mom was the first to enter the house. "Asher! We're back!" she hollered.

"We're in the family room," I replied. I wrapped my arm around Scarlett.

"We?" my mom questioned walking in to see who else was in our home.

When she joined us in the family room I stood up to introduce her to Scarlett. "Mom, this is Scarlett; Scarlett, this is my mom Danielle." Scarlett was quickly on her feet to shake my mom's hand.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Jennings," Scarlett said politely. My mom was big on first impressions, and I could already tell that she was more than impressed by the way Scarlett addressed her.

"Please, call me Danielle." I was right; she was definitely impressed. "How do you know Asher?"

"We go to school together, and we have a few of the same classes."

"Oh lovely! Would you mind if I borrow my son for a moment to help carry in some of our luggage?"

"Not at all!" Scarlett replied. She smiled at me, but I could see the uneasiness behind her eyes. I kissed her cheek in reassurance and followed my mom towards the garage.

"Asher, I swear to God, if you have that girl here just to pleasure yourself I am going to whoop your ass so hard you'll be seeing stars," my mom gritted her teeth and kept her voice low so Scarlett couldn't hear.

"Mom! No! I really like Scarlett...I took her on a date Friday night and she ended up in a big fight with her mother so I offered her one of our guest rooms for the weekend. Nothing like that happened between us, but then today I took her back to her house and her mom blew up at her and they ended up in a massive fight that ended with Scarlett getting hit in the face with a wooden spoon and smacked. But mom, I swear to you she didn't deserve any of it! I will explain when we have more time to talk, but I don't want Scar to worry because I've been gone for so long. I invited her to stay here for as long as she wants because her mother basically told her she wasn't allowed back home. Please don't be angry with her or me," I mindlessly babbled on and on trying to make sure to give my mom enough information for her to be okay with Scarlett staying with us.

"Well, you certainly seem to care for her a great deal. I know you wouldn't have done this sort of thing for just anyone. So, I suppose I am content with her staying with us. She seems like a lovely girl." My mom smiled warmly and I hugged her.

"Thank you so much!"

"Now, get back to your girl. I will explain the situation to your dad and sister so they aren't confused when they meet her." I chuckled and returned to Scarlett who had sat back down and was nervously twiddling her fingers in her lap.

"Hey, beautiful." I cheerfully pecked her lips, catching her completely by surprise.

"Your mom doesn't want me here, does she?"

"No, no! She does! She just wanted to make sure that I had you here with only good intentions. She just met you and I think she was already prepared to defend you against me."

"Oh...so, she's okay with me staying here?" Scarlett was shocked to say the least!

"She's perfectly okay with you staying here!"