Hide (Sequel to RUN)

Chapter 15

I watched in complete and utter horror as Aaron leaned in. At the same time, I longed for what was to come. His lips captured mine, soft and gentle. The little me in the back of my brain was surprised when I kissed him back. Then again when he pulled away first.

"We don't wanna miss the poker game," he sighed into my ear.

"Lekia?" I turned from Aaron to see Em standing in her doorway. Aaron stood steadily at my side.

"You've been out here a while. You okay?" There was no disgust in her voice, no surprise at all. I turned back to Aaron, but he wasn't there any longer. He'd disappeared. In a rush, I took back control of my emotions and my body.

"He was just here," I stated, looking around. "He was just here." Em approached me cautiously, as if approaching a spooked animal.

"No one was here, Lekia." She gently cupped my elbow to get my attention. I looked around again, convinced that Aaron had been there.

"I...I was so confused," I remembered. I was being distant, I realized that somewhere in my mind. But all I could think about right then was Aaron and the terror he'd left in his wake.

"It's okay now. Our therapist said stuff like this might happen. It's completely normal." Em seemed to be a million miles away. Aaron had been here. It'd felt so real. But it hadn't been.

"I'm good," I mumbled, still dazed, but managing to pat her arm. "I'm good now." She grabbed my face and made me look her in the eye.

"Stop lying to me," she ordered. "Just talk to me." I looked down at her mouth, avoiding her eyes at all costs.

"I think we should go inside," I murmured, trying to get out of the situation as fast as possible.

"Lekia, please!" I finally looked her in the eye, setting my jaw.

"I was just confused. I'm fine now." She searched my eyes for several moments before finally removing her hands. Her eyes kept hold of mine. I stared back into hers, almost indignantly. She quailed and finally broke the gaze, setting her jaw like mine. I could tell she wanted to say something. Maybe she wanted to hit me. But her mouth remained closed.

My feet were the ones that began to move back into the house first. Hers took a couple of beats to follow, but they did.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, my mask fell back into place. I turned to check on Em behind me, smiling broadly. She'd plastered a smile on her face as well, but it was small and it didn't quite reach her eyes. I pushed all the worries out of my head and told myself to be happy. Most of me had lightened up by the time I planted my butt on the couch, but there was a small part at my core that still held the terror Aaron had left.

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Emily followed closely behind Lekia, watching her intently. It was obvious that she didn't want to talk about her feelings. She couldn't really blame her either. Em herself hadn't wanted to open up about it at first. Sure she hadn't been through near as much as Lekia, but that didn't mean she hadn't had problems with it.

She'd been raped. She'd been drugged. She'd been molested. And, no, it wasn't just something you got over. It took time and a lot of support from others. She still wasn't back to normal. Her therapist said that she would probably never get back to how she was before. The trauma was part of her now.

The problem with Lekia was that she wasn't accepting any of the help that others offered her. It was like she didn't trust anyone. On the other hand, it was like Lekia's social skills had improved since they'd been rescued. She had more relationships than Em had ever known about, anyway. Sometimes Em thought that maybe the incident had actually helped Lekia.