Beautiful

Chapter 14

Theo POV

The drive to our hotel is short because it's closer to the airport than the last one. Marc goes and checks us in and brings us two separate room keys. Something is wrong with Ronnie, I know it. What I don't understand is why she won't tell me. I hope it's not about what happened this morning with Layla. I need her to know that I have no feelings for that greedy bitch whatsoever.

"Hey," I say once we're in the elevator.

"Hi," I she replies with that radiant smile. She turns to face me.

"So I was thinking, what would you say if I were to tell Marc and Camille that we don't need separate rooms?" I asks. I can't look her in the eye. I'm so nervous. 

"I'd say that I don't have any objection," she says still smiling. My heart lifts and I smile at her.

We arrive at our floor a second later. We enter our once again adjoining rooms. I unpack my bags and realize that I haven't seen Veronica in a while. It doesn't take her long to unpack and she usually comes over to see me. It's unusually quiet around here. I open the door that connects our rooms.

"Veronica? Ronnie?" I say as I enter her room. I see the bathroom door stands open and the light is on. Veronica sits there with her head resting on her knees that are pulled up to her chest. Her fingers are in her hair as she sobs. The sight breaks my heart. Nothing has ever hurt me worse than seeing her in this much pain.

I rush to her and scoop her up in my arms. "It's okay, baby. Whatever it is it'll be okay," I tell her as I pull her into my lap. We stay there on the pristine bathroom floor. She shakes her head at me.

"Shh shh, sweetheart. It's okay," I say. She finally goes quiet and lifts her head. Her face and eyes are red and splotchy. My once smiling angel lays broken in my arms and I feel so helpless for the first time in a long time.

She wipes away her tears without looking at me. "I haven't been completely honest with you," she croaks out. Her small voice breaks my heart all over again. I push her hair back behind her ears.

"What is it, angel? You can tell me anything," I say.

"Um, well, the summer after my senior year of high school, I met this guy in my favorite coffee shop. We talked for a while and got to know each other. When we found out that we both got accepted to NYU, we started going out and once we'd gotten comfortable at school, we made it official. A year later, when we were celebrating our one year he. . . he hit me for the first time," she says. Her voice goes quiet on that last part. A red hot flame of anger rips through me.

"For the next three years, he would, um, hurt me on a regular basis. It wasn't just physical but emotional, psychological, sexual. He would take my phone so I had barely any communication with my family or friends. A year after he started beating me regularly, my doctor at the time diagnosed me with bulimia nervosa, after one of my many hospital visits," she continues.

"I ran away in secret and erased any sort of trail so he wouldn't find me. My friend Zeke is the only other one who knows about any of this because he helped me escape. My family doesn't even know. He recommended that I go see someone so I went to his therapist. She diagnosed me with PTSD and gave me different meds for my anxiety and depression which I'd already had way before I met him. I got other opinions from different specialists and they all said the same thing about my PTSD, that it's there and it probably won't ever go away," she finishes.

She doesn't look at me the entire time. She fiddles with her hands. 

"So what's wrong with Chicago?" I ask her gently.

She swallows and says, "that's where we lived. He's the chief of the Chicago PD. And I know that the cops are going to be there tonight." She starts to choke on her own words.

"Look, I get it if you don't want to be with me anymore, really I'd understand, and I don't want you feeling sorry for me, but I really need to know now if this is something that you want to take on," she says as she's finally able to bring her eyes up to meet mine. In them I see so much pain and fear, but not just because of him. She's afraid of what I might say. Afraid to lose me.

I take her chin and lift her face up so that she has no choice but to look directly into my eyes. "Listen to me, I have never really loved anybody before. My father would beat me as a kid and my mother would float in and out of my life whenever she felt like it. I've never really had strong feelings for any of my past girlfriends and in my last relationship, I was cheated on. You have changed everything. You showed me what it is to love someone and I am so helplessly in love with you I can't even see straight. When I wake up in the morning, you're the first thing on my mind. When I go to sleep, you're the last thing I see. I dream about you. Veronica Agrest, I love you with all of my heart and I swear on my life that I'll never leave you as long as you'll have me," I tell her.

"Are you sure?" she asks. "It's a lot. I'm a mess."

"You might be right, but you're my mess, and I can handle you any day," I tell her and kiss her forehead. "Now come on, you're going to want to get some rest before we have to get ready."

"Do you have anything to eat in your room? I have to eat something light after I throw up," she says as she stands. My heart stops for a moment. I hate that she thinks so little of herself that she'd force her body into doing something like that.

"Don't worry, angel. We'll get you some water and crackers or something," I say as I help her into my bed. She lays down and her eyes close.

"Sweetheart, can you stay awake for me?" I ask as I go over to one of the snack trays that was in each of our rooms. I grab her a can of Sprite, a Fiji water, and some saltines. "Here, sweetheart," I say as she sits up. I join her on the bed with the tray and turn on the tv. I switch the channel to Friends because we both love that show so much.

After finishing her snacks, Ronnie lays her head on my chest and falls asleep. I pull her closer to me. I know that she has her issues but don't we all. I meant what I said.

I swear on my life I'll love and take care of her for as long as she'll have me.