The New Girl

Chapter 23

Elizabeth

In my bed we sit and he wraps his arms around me as I tell him everything that happened. What I said, what he said, his reactions, my own thoughts, every last detail. I swear to you I literally cry a river as I tell him. Even though it's only a 10 minute story it takes me almost an hour to recall because I have to stop every few sentences to calm myself down.

The whole time Tristan stayed silent, stroking my arms, back, cheeks, and wiping away the tears that fall down my face. The gentleness and sweetness of his actions make me cry even harder, and I'm positive by the time I'm finished that both our shirts are soaking wet.

He pulls me closer to him and kisses my head. My heart inappropriately flutters at his touch. "You're so strong, Elizabeth" he mutters.

I look up at him, confused. Here I am crying my eyes out and he thinks I'm strong? I look down at my hands. "I don't feel strong." I whisper. "I feel weak and pathetic that I still care about them so much, that I'm crying so much for people who never shed a tear for me. I feel stupid and naive to think that I could have stopped my dad if I were there, even though I know for a fact that he wouldn't have hesitated to do the same thing to me that he did to her." I sob.

He takes my face in his hands and lifts my face up to meet his gaze. "You're not weak, Elizabeth. Sure you're crying. But anyone in this situation would. You're strong because you're talking about it, and when you walked out of that police station you stood with your head held high." he says as he wipes a tear from under my eye. "You don't have to be rock hard all the time" me mumbles, placing little kisses all over my face. "I know you'll get through this. I'll be here when you need me."

I sniff loudly and wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist so I was sitting in his lap. I bury my face into his neck and murmur, "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me, Elizabeth."

I press my forehead against his and lace my fingers around his neck. "I love you." I whisper.

I look down to see the corners of his lips quirk up into a small smile. "I love you." he says back and kisses me. I sigh and respond quickly. Everything about this kiss is sweet and sensual. There's nothing hot or sizzling about it. Only a very low, slow burn that builds up between us. Our kiss stayed steady as our hands lazily explored each other's body. I can feel his muscles twitch before relaxing when I roam over new territory before returning to cup his neck between my hands.

We pull back and don't say a word as he hugs me close to his chest. My head rests above his heart and I can hear it hammering in his chest as his body heat starts to consume me.

All of a sudden someone comes into the room. We both flinch and turn our attention to the doorway and I only relax when I see it's just his mom.

"Oh I'm so sorry, did I interrupt something?" she asks.

Tristan shakes his head. "No, Elizabeth's just upset right now." he says lowly, still holding me tightly.

She nods her head. "I heard about that. I'm so sorry, honey" she says, her voice cracking slightly in the middle of her sentence. My heart starts beating a little faster and I can't help but think that she won't want me around Tristan anymore. After all, isn't the saying, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree"? No matter how false it may be sometimes.

I turn to face Tristan. "Could I talk to your mom in private for a minute?" I ask him.

He nods and kisses my forehead before releasing me and we both walk down the hallway into her bedroom. She closes the door behind her and takes a seat on the bed, patting the spot beside her signaling for me to sit. I plop down next to her and take a breath.