Irresistible Love

Chapter Seventeen// Savior & The Girl Who Needed Saving

Elle Summerall~

While Ethan was my savior, Lance and Tiffany were the culprits.

The next morning, my mother, Ethan, and I sat around the kitchen table with a police officer and two detectives. With all of my senses fully functioning and my memory thoroughly returning, I was able to detail to everyone in the room--through stutters and sobs--the horrors of the previous evening.

It went like this: When I saw Lance at the ice cream parlor, he mentioned that there was a party at Paul's house later that night. He said that if I wanted to relieve myself of some of the pain I felt, I could go there for a good time. I declined the offer, but Paul's house was on my way home from the parlor. As I walked by, Lance stood at the entrance, beckoning me to join him. So I did, thinking that his generosity was just the cure.

When I cried rape towards Lance, the police took him in for questioning. He admitted to his sin, but brought Tiffany Anderson down with him; Lance told the detectives that Tiffany was the one who gave him the idea to do what he did. She had teased him, saying that Lance shouldn't let people like Ethan and Devon get in the way of his desire to date me. Her motives for doing such a thing were to get me out of the picture and away from Ethan. Tiffany's obsession with Ethan was what drove her to being the mastermind behind the evildoing.

While she was with Devon that evening, Tiffany was fully informed of what was occurring in the room next door. And that sickens me.

Although Tiffany denied all of the accusations towards her, she was taken into custody and sentenced to a juvenile detention center along with Lance. For the damage that they caused me, if could've been far worse.

As soon as the police and detectives left, I snaked my arms around myself and my mother embraced me. "I'm sorry, Elle. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

"It's okay, Mom," I croaked. "You're here for me now, and that's all that matters."

My mother pulled away and offered a small smile through her glassy eyes. "And about your father..."

"It's fine," I stopped her. I knew she was going to apologize for him as she always did. I'm sorry he's not here on your birthday. I'm sorry he didn't send you a present this Christmas. I'm sorry he isn't here to see your success in school. And the apology she was about to say... I'm sorry he isn't here to comfort you. Although it pained me to say it, I mumbled, "As long as his other family makes him happy, that's all that matters."

And that's what made my mother and I so upset; after years of him not contacting us, the first message he sends is to inform us about the birth of his baby girl with his girlfriend. Who does that? How could the man I call my father abandon Amelia, my mother and I for another family.

I loved my dad, but why didn't he love me?

~~~~~

And then there was Ethan...

I had been meaning to talk to him, and as I sat on the steps of my front porch, I watched as his white Corvette rolled into my driveway. He got out, locked his car, made his way towards me, and sat on my left side.

It's been two weeks since my attack, and I've barely surpassed a word count of ten each day to him. It's not that I didn't want to talk; I just didn't know what to say. In a way, I blamed Ethan. I knew that he has helped comfort and take care of me since, but I couldn't help but think that none of this would have happened if I hadn't associated myself with Ethan in the first place. He's the one that dragged me into this. Yet there he was, still by my side...literally.

"Hi," he said, offering me a charming smile. "How are you today?"

Typically, I'd answer Good and that would eliminate one word from my word count. But today, I had much more to say. "Gina visited me yesterday."

"Gina?" Ethan seemed taken a back, and his grin slowly faded.

"Your Gina," I responded, fluttering my eyes at him.

 "Oh."

"I know what happened between you two."

 "Oh."

"She told me something, too."

"And what was that?"

I paused. Gina had visited me the day previous. She heard what happened to me, realized that Tiffany Anderson was the mastermind behind my pain, and offered me some fair advice.

I know the only reason Tiffany did this to you was because Ethan likes you, she had said. And I know that he really does because, trust me, Ethan had never been so hooked on a girl before like he is with you. And you may be mad at him for everything he's put you through, but you can't let him go, Elle. I made that mistake before, Gina had said somberly, and I've never regretted anything more. I bet you're wondering why I did it...why I ended it with him. It's because, like you, Tiffany threatened me, and I was scared. She said that if I didn't leave Ethan, she'd hurt me. That's why I broke up with him, and that's why he is the way he is today.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

She slightly tilted the tips of her lips upward. Because the different between you and me is that I gave up and was willing to sacrifice my relationship with Ethan to save myself.

But Ethan rescued you, Elle. He chased after you. He never did that for me.

After I explained to Ethan what Gina had said to me, he leaned forward and was silent.

"Ethan, for once, tell me how you really feel. Get rid of his playboy act because we both know who you really are. Stop thinking about what you want. Rather, think about what you need," I lectured, ready to voice all of my anguish at him.

I wanted to tell him he hurt me. I wanted to tell him I partially blame him. I wanted to put the condemnation on anyone but myself... I knew that I was the only one to blame, but I didn't want to admit it. Instead, I remained quiet.

"You're right," Ethan agreed.

After a moment of silence, he cupped my face in his hands gingerly. "I need you." And then Ethan kissed me.