THIA
I wake up to a phone ringing.
"F**k," I hear River hiss angrily, reaching over me. "Hello," he snaps quietly, answering it grumpily.
Slowly, I open my eyes to see him scowling at nothing in particular as he listens to whoever's on the other end. He looks so handsome.
"No," he growls, glancing down at me and his eyes soften when he sees that I'm awake. "I have to go." With that, he hangs up and drops the phone off the side of the bed. "Morning, angel," he murmurs gently, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.
"Morning," I say. Well, that's what I try to say, but only a squeak comes out. Blushing embarrassedly, I clear my throat and this time my voice works, "Morning, River."
He chuckles and cups my cheek in his calloused hand, his hazel eyes sparkling with warmth. "You're so adorable," he breathes, kissing my other cheek gently.
I giggle and lift my arms to hug him. But before I can, a sharp pain shoots through my shoulder and down my side, making me whimper and drop my arm. That is when I remember what happened before I went to sleep. I was shot...again.
"Shh," he soothes me gently, agony filling his eyes, "I'm sorry, baby. This is all my fault."
"No, it isn't," I scowl in confusion, wondering where he got that idea. "It was those men."
His expression bleak, he bows his head in shame, "But I should have been protecting you."
"But you did," I huff, becoming frustrated with how he thinks so low of himself. "You saved me, again!"
Burying his face in the crook of my neck, he inhales deeply, his whole body trembling. "Why can't you just f**king hate me?! That would make this so much easier!"
"Stop saying that word wrong," I exclaim, frowning at where this conversation is going. What can I say? I'm in a bad mood.
"I'm sorry, little one," he sighs, pulling away, a broken look on his face.
"Why are you sad," I ask him, starting to get worried. Oh my gosh! Did he get shot too?!
"I am going to miss you so much when you go home," he admits glumly, his gorgeous hazel eyes filled with grief.
My panic increases, just the thought that he's hurt has me freaking out. Add that to the fact that he acts like we won't see each other again, I'm completely blitzing.
"River! Heavens to Betsy! Don't die," I cry with wide eyes, I place my hands on his pokey cheeks. "Please! I love you, you can't die!"
He blinks his pretty eyes at me, amusement sparkling clearly there, "Angel?"
Tears fill my eyes and I shake my head passionately. "Make Caleb fix you," I sob, squeezing my eyes shut, "You're my favorite!"
"Angel."
What would I do without him?! I love him a lot, more than anyone else. "Don't leave me," I wail, burying my face in his chest.
He freezes before he wraps his big, strong arms around my carefully. "I'm not gonna leave you, baby. And I'm not dying."
Halting my meltdown, I peek up at his face through my wet lashes. "You're not?"
"No, you're stuck with me," he smirks down at me, wiping a stray tear from my cheek.
"Forever," I ask hopefully, my stress washing away immediately.
"Forever." He tucks my head under his chin and brushes his fingers through my hair. "Don't you think it's about time you go home?"
Biting my lip, I ask softly, "Will I still get to see you?"
"Yes," he confirms, a smile clear in his voice.
I smile in releif, "Yes. I should go home."
"Good girl."
•°•
River helps me up the steps to my house, his arm wrapped snugly around my waist. Lifting his huge hand, he knocks three times on the front door.
Before I can say 'Mississippi', the door swings open and mom is standing in front of me with an astonished expression. "Thia?"
Excitedly, I giggle and nod. Pulling away from River, I lung at my mom, jumping into her arms. "I missed you Momma!"
Slowly, she wraps her arms around me, as if she can't believe it's me. "I missed you too," she whispers tearfully, tightening her grip.
Unfortunately, her hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing it.
On my bandaged bullet wound.
"Owe!" I gasp, unable to move, afraid it'll hurt worse.
Suddenly, I'm ripped from my mother's embrace and into River's firm chest. He glares at my mother harshly and quickly checks my shoulder gently. "Are you okay, baby?"
Nodding, I quickly wipe away a few tears and turns to face my horrified mom.
"Oh, I hurt my baby!"
And here we go.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps thud towards us and Hayden appears in the doorway next to Mom.
His brown hair is messy and greesy, as if he hasn't showered in a while. His honey brown eyes are wide with awe...
And that is when his smell hits me.
He smells bad. But I have never been to happy to smell his horrible scent in my entire life.
Grinning from ear to ear, I pull away from River and jump towards my brother. "I've missed you -"
Just as I'm about to land on my stunned big brother, I'm pulled backwards to River once more.
Confused, I look up at his face to see him glaring at Hayden harshly.
"Who are you," he growls, cradling me to his chest possessively.
Hayden snaps out of whatever daze he was in and he blinks twice before stammering, "I'm Hayden, Thia's big bro." He stares at me with soft, apologetic eyes. "Thia?"
Giggling, I nod, glancing up at River inquisitively.
River reluctantly sets me on my feet, "Careful," he warns Hayden about two seconds before I am hugging my brother tightly.
"I've missed you, baby sis," he breathes into my hair, wrapping his arms around my waist tightly.
"I missed you too! Guess what," I ask excitedly, pulling back enough to look into his releived face.
"What," he asks, a small smile spreading across his face.
Practically bouncing with excitement, I say, "So I was lost, wandering through the dark streets all alone. I thought I was gonna die! When out of nowhere, River," I gesture towards my man standing uncomfortably a few feet away, "He saved me! He took me to his house because I don't know our address! He's so nice," I grin indulgently at River before continuing. "Anyways, so I woke up and there I was! In his big, pretty house! I like that house, can I go back there, River?"
I glance back at River who is gazing at me tenderly. "Sure, baby. If your mom says you can."
"Yes," I fist pump the air excitedly. "So I went down to have some breakfast when all of a sudden -"
"Thia?!"
I look behind an entranced Mom to see my dad gaping at me in shock. "Hi, Dad! I was just telling them what happened, come listen."
He walks closer, staring at me with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, honey! I broke it off with that woman, you don't need to worry about her anymore."
Staring at him in confusion, I ask, "What woman?"
"Lacey?" Now he looks confused. "The woman I was dating when you got lost."
It dawns on me and I smile, "Oh yeah. It's fine, Dad. As I was saying. I went down to eat when suddenly -"
"Who are you?" Daddy glares at River with squinted eyes.
"River Monroe, sir," River replies, stepping forward to shake his hand.
"Stop cutting her off, Dad," Hayden snaps, fed up with it, "She just got to the good part!"
Daddy smiles at me apologetically before shaking River's hand and telling me to go on.
"Suddenly, the windows exploded!" I make the hand gestures to add to the effect. "There was some really loud gunshots and River pushed me behind him! But it was too late -"
"What?! What was too late," Mom asks, caught up in the story, her eyes wide.
"I was shot," I admit gravely, shaking my head for the dramatic effect. "And I died."
They blink at me for a moment, obviously not amused, so I go on, "Just kidding. But I was shot. Right in the tummy," I point to my stomach, "I thought there was a huge spider inside of me, but River and his brother, Caleb saved me." I add on in a loud whisper, "Caleb has really cold hands, guys. But don't worry! River's are really warm," I reassure them before they get concerned. "I had to wait in bed for a long time and River said that I had to stay there so I could get better. And then you called, Mom! But after you called--well, actually I called you--I was nearly kidnapped! The guy that shot me was downstairs and River had to go be mad at him so he told me to stay in his room. I called Mom and then I went to sleep.
"When I woke up, there were these guys carrying me. There were two of em. I don't like them, they were mean to me." I frown, remembering what happened. "They put a gun to my head and River came in, he was super duper mad. He was yelling things and then the mean guys shot my arm!
"I didn't like it this time, because I had already crossed it off my bucket list so it wasn't cool anymore. And then they yelled at River and stuck their finger in my new boo boo. That hurt really bad!
"River saved me again, though and I got to sleep in the guestroom for a while and then we came back here!" I huff out a triumphant breath and smile at all the horrified faces.
Except River, River looks mad and sad; sad mad. He clenches his fists and grits his teeth, looking at the ground.
Feeling like he needs a hug, I wiggle out of Hayden's grip and walk over to him.
He looks at me guiltily before looking away again, as if ashamed.
Slowly, I wrap my arms around his muscular waist, laying my head on his chest. "What's wrong, River?"
"Nothing," he mutters, hesitantly wrapping his arms around me.
"LET GO OF HER!"