Sacred New Beginnings

Chapter 6- You've Got Your Demons

January 21st 2016

"Breathe, Bells," Taylor frowns as she sits on the bed beside Bella, the teenager having woken up in a cold sweat, setting into a panic as soon as her eyes opened. The commotion woke Taylor up too since she's become quite a light sleeper since sharing a bed with Bella, this scene now reoccurring.

"You're safe, I'm right here," her hand is clinging tight to Bella's, making sure that the girl knows she's there and that everything is okay. When Bella has calmed a little, Taylor reaches to turn on the bedside lamp and illuminates the dark room.

"Another bad dream?" Taylor's smile is soft and sympathetic as she scans Bella's tired and tear stained features, the girl simply nodding in response. Taylor leaves the light on but lays down beside Bella, taking her gently in her arms until she calms down enough to be able to talk about it.

"Was he there again?" She knows it's a silly question, the dreams are always about her ex-foster dad, but it's a place to start. "Yea, it was like I woke up and he was standing over the bed and I tried to scream for you and fight back but he threatened to kill you and even the baby and it just felt so real," Bella starts sobbing again as she hides her face in Taylor's shirt and the singer gently coos as she strokes soft patterns on her back, letting her cry it out.

"You are safe here, Bells. Nobody can get onto the property and even if they could, the security team would stop them before they could get anywhere near you, or me, or the baby."

Taylor made a point of walking Bella around to show her the security precautions she takes and also to introduce her to all of the security guys, that way she'll at least feel a little more secure.

"I will never let anyone hurt you ever again, Bells," Taylor sighs as she comforts the girl, quietly soothing her back to sleep as the exhaustion from crying and everything else starts to take it's toll.

Taylor has had Bella with her for nearly two weeks now and the more she learns about the girl, the more she realises that Bella hasn't had an easy time of it, even before going into Foster care. It breaks her heart to see such a sweet and wonderful girl having to go through such pain, especially now. She hasn't told Bella about it yet, but she had her lawyers send her the papers to fully start the process of becoming Bella's long term Foster parent.

Bella is finally starting to feel safe and settle down somewhere and it bothers Taylor that the teen could be moved at any moment. The way she looks at it, Bella is sixteen and she's having a baby, and whether she keeps that baby or not, they both need a safe place to live for at least the next nine months and the only way Taylor can assure that is going to happen is by taking on the role of Bella's guardian full time.

"I won't ever let anyone hurt you," the singer sighs one last time, reminding them both as Bella falls back asleep, safely in Taylor's embrace.

---

When Taylor woke up again the next morning Bella was still out cold, so she decided to leave the girl safely guarded by Meredith and head downstairs to make them breakfast.

Bella wasn't too happy to discover that she was alone when she woke up, but the presence of the cat who has surely become her best friend the past couple weeks was reassuring enough that Taylor hadn't gone too far.

"Good morning, Mere," the teenager laughs as the cat crawls into her lap, Meredith has taken to Bella really well since she moved in, but Taylor thinks it's because Mere can sense that Bella's pregnant. "Should we go and find out if Taylor's planning on feeding you today, huh?" She strokes the cat as she looks to the empty side of the bed and Mere purrs.

Bella gets up from the bed and carries Meredith with her as she ventures out of the bedroom and downstairs. She usually panics when Taylor isn't nearby but she knows that if the cats aren't congregated in one place then Taylor hasn't gone far.