You're cold, and I burn
Unknown
***
I wake up with a pain in my neck. My instinct was to reach up and massage the knot but my hands were tied behind the wooden chair I was sitting in.
I look around and find myself in a very familiar place. Declan's training room. I tried to hide my surprise as Declan walked down the stairs. His steps were heavy on the rickety wood. "I'm glad you're finally awake," He said, his voice slow and slightly slurred.
"Declan, what's going on?" I ask, "Untie me, please."
"Valerie, I need you to understand something." He said, taking steps closer to me and his index finger meets my jaw, tracing the bone down to my chin. I flinch against his touch, something I've never done, but this feels dangerous. Poisonous. "In a world, this toxic, trust is a thing that shouldn't be so common."
He pulls his hand away from my face and I watch it slip inside his suit jacket, I can't see what he's after. "You make the mistake of trusting me." I feel my breath hitch in my throat.
He pulls a gun from his waistband. "Valerie, you trusted me with your life, and look what I'm doing with it." He holds the gun to my head and pulls the trigger.
When I open my eyes Declan is still asleep next to me. Tears start to spill out of my eyes, and I have the weirdest feeling that I want Declan to wake up and comfort me but I also want to steer far away from him. Am I trusting him too much? Should I put my walls back up? He hasn't given me a reason to not trust him but what if it gets too late and I can't hide anymore?
Shakenly, I fumble out of his grip and up from the bed. Standing, I realize the pill bottles that were on the nightstand when I went to sleep aren't there anymore. I start to really panic now, I open the drawer, nothing. The second drawer? Again nothing. Where did they fucking go?!
I get on all fours and start searching the floor, maybe they fell. I look all around the nightstand and under the bed. Nothing. They couldn't have just grown legs and walked away.
Searching gets harder and harder as a thin layer of tears covers my ability to see. It's endless, every time they spill down my cheeks more come. I can't find my fucking anxiety pills and everything around me feels like too much. I want to punch something. I want to break something, I want-
"Valerie?" Declan says, tiredness filling his voice. "What are you doing?"
"Where are the fucking pills," I say, opening drawers again. "T-They were right here when I fell asleep and now they–they're–I can't find them" I stutter.
"Hey, take a deep breath. Here," Declan gets up and heads into the bathroom, when he comes back he has both bottles in his hand. "I put them up after you fell asleep. Did you have another dream?"
I nod. He sighs. A disappointed sigh, but not as though he's disappointed in me. As though his disappointed in the medication. Or in Cohen. Declan dumps a pill in his hand and gives it to me, I swallow it dry before he's able to hand me water. I feel desperate at this point. I can't just not sleep as I have been. I need to sleep.
Declan wipes tears from my eyes. "I'll take you to town tomorrow," he says, pressing his lips to my forehead. "If you still want to, but you need to sleep, okay?"
"But the medication-"
"It will work, it's been just fine besides tonight. I need you to just try okay? If you wake up I'll be right here. I'm not gonna leave your side, I never will." I take a deep breath and lay down.
I let my eyes close but I worry that this isn't going to work. The thought soon goes away as I drift into sleep.
...
Turns out, Seattle is much like New York, but in a slightly different way. Still many homeless people that you can't tell whether they're crazy, on drugs, or both. However, there are also lots of people and busy streets.
"Be careful," Declan said, standing on the corner waiting for our taxi. "Pay attention to who's around you, always."
I nod as if I don't do that already. The sun was in the middle of the sky and the warmth from it touched my cheeks as we walked. Declan's arm was around my back and he kept me close to him, his head on a constant swivel.
"Relax a little," I say, "Please."
"Relaxing is what gets you killed." He deadpans.
"It's gonna be okay, Dec. We're in the middle of the city." He seems to tense a little with the nickname.
"Exactly. More people, more of a threat." The yellow taxi shows up and pulls to the curb in front of us. Declan opens the door and I get in, sliding to the other side and buckling my seatbelt.
He tells the driver the address and he pulls out into the street. Declan's hand finds my leg, resting just above my knee. I watch out the window as we drive. The tall buildings and the crowds of people. It's beautiful.
I've always loved growing up in the city. Cities aren't for dreamers, they're for do-ers. Cities are for the people who grow up in little-nothing towns with big dreams who are meant to follow them. Who get on a train, in a car, or on a plane with nothing but a suitcase and courage. The people who buy an empty apartment to start their dreams in. These are the people that I love the surround myself with. These people.
When I feel Declan's hand slide up my thigh a little, my heart jumps to my throat. I look over to try and catch his eye but it's staring straight out the window.
Slowly, I turn to look back out my own window. But it moved again. Going higher up my thigh.
Is he fucking with me?
"Declan," I start, and he turns to me, an innocent look on his face.
"Something wrong, love?" He asks, showing no sign that he knows what I'm talking about.
I shake my head. "Never mind." Then bring my gaze to the window again. Until his hand moves once again, coming so close to my heat his pinky finger grazes it slightly, putting a pulse there.
This mother fucker.
"Declan-"
"We're here," the driver says, pulling up to the curb.
"Come on, love" Declan says. Pulling his hand away from my leg.
Declan gets out first and holds his hand out for me. I take it exchanging a slight glare to him. Which he returns with a smile. and he helps me out of the car, not letting go of my hand even after we've walked down the sidewalk. Even after the taxi drove away. Even after people saw us.
We stopped at a fountain, children played and ran around the silver dome while other people sat on the benches and watched or took pictures or wrote in books.
I smiled at the sight. The children being kids and making memories. I wonder what my life would be like now if I had grown up differently. If I got to run around and play with other little kids instead of being locked inside my house for years.
I stare for longer than expected. I stare because I can't help but think about how my life would be if it turned out differently. I think about how Nolan completely ruined me in more ways than I can explain.
I shake that thought as I look up at Declan, his green eyes locked on the fountain and the children, and the artist. His eyes locked on the city. That isn't my life anymore, I'm safe with Declan in Seattle. Nolan won't find me here.
Callum's POV:
"What the hell is she doing in Seattle?" I heard as I walked into Nolan's office. I knew exactly what he was looking at the second I saw the blinking light.
"Nolan, what is that," I say, talking about the Valerie Tracker Nolan has pulled up on his computer screen. "Leave her alone, she's fine. Just because she's not right next to you doesn't mean she isn't-"
"Callum, shut the fuck up!" He yelled in my direction. I try to keep my patience with this man but he makes it very hard sometimes. "Your Girlfriend Is in Seattle with Declan-fucking-Love! I'm not just gonna be alright with this shit!" He throws his desk chair back as he stands. He swears, then picks up the chair and throws it. It hits the floor and chips it.
"Nolan, calm down. Don't jump to conclusions. I'm sure she's not with Declan Love. That's a big assumption." I say, avoiding adding that she wasn't my girlfriend. She never was, but especially now. "She's probably on her own. She'll be okay."
"Callum, her car was found at fucking Wormy-Worm." I freeze.
"No..." I whisper, mostly to myself. "No, it's just a coincidence." I try to convince mostly myself more than Nolan. "No, she needed somewhere to leave her car and-"
"God he was right there!" Nolan yells, gesturing out his window towards the driveway. "Right fucking there! She didn't even have the slightest clue! I told her and she-"
"Nolan stop talking!" Now I'm yelling. I tangle my hands in my hair and fall into the chair next to the door.
If she's in Seattle with Declan Love, that means he probably knows that she killed one of his men. He's taking revenge. But Valerie is strong. Smart too. She knows how to get out of things, and how to take care of herself. She's got to be okay. She has to be.
I can't let anything happen to her. Whether she wants me anymore or not, that woman is my world. I would hate myself if I knew I could've saved her. She may have thrown my glass heart to the ground and watched it shatter but I would still do anything in my power to protect her.
"Nolan, we need to go to Seattle," I say. Standing. "We need to go to Seattle, Now."
A/N:
Happy Monday, Horny Hooligans.
I know this chapter doesn't have much in it, but I'm giving you what I got. We have three more chapters and then I'll start writing new content for you. Which, technically this is new content for you but it isn't for me.
Have a good day :)
November Clark