The Boy Who Paints Me (26 page)

"Right, food is coming in five, what did I miss?" Megan asked as she slid onto the bench opposite me.

"Erm...not much," Caroline lied. I knew that it was for my benefit.

I could hear the sound of giggling and talking from behind me and it was getting harder and harder to ignore. I tried to pretend that it wasn't
affecting me but it was. I tried to listen to Megan, Caroline and Layla's conversation but they might as well have been speaking in Spanish. My mind was focused on one person and one person only. I couldn't even see him and he was having a massive effect on me. I could hear a conversation on Leighton's table that finally drove me over the edge.

"So, Leighton you're single again...that's good news, right-"

"I need some air," I cut off the stranger's voice as I stood to my feet and stared at my friends.

"Ok, I'll come with you," Megan said.

"No, I'll be fine. You guys just wait for the food, I won't be long."

"Ok, if you're sure," she said as they all looked at me with worried expressions on their faces.

"I'm sure." I walked away as fast as my legs could take me. I didn't make eye contact with Leighton as I walked past his table but I knew that his eyes were on me. I could feel them. It was as if he was touching me. I needed to get out. 

I was so happy as my face finally
felt the outside breeze and silence fell around me. I quickly walked to the side of the diner, leaned against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted to cry, I wanted to cry so bad.

You caused this...you can't cry. You have no right to.

The voice in my head was right, I had caused this. Feeling sorry for myself wasn't an option but that fact didn't help to ease the pain. I suddenly felt a presence in front of me and warm hands suddenly rested on my shoulders.

"Rai," my eyes snapped open and were met with two beautiful brown ones. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore...this was too much. "Don't cry baby."

"Leighton...go, please."

"No. Rai, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he whispered still not taking his hands off my shoulders.

"You didn't," I lied.

"Yes, I did. I came here with her on purpose, I wanted a reaction...I needed...gosh...I needed to see if you still cared, if you meant what you said. Rai, it's killing me...I miss you."

"Don't do this-"

"Do what? Be honest?"

"It doesn't mat-"

He cut me
off as he lifted my face up and turned my cheek toward him.

"What happened?" he asked, confusing me.

"Huh?"

"To your face. What happened?"

"Oh," I quickly moved my face away from his grasp and looked down in shame. "I walked into the door."

"Why do you keep lying to me?" He said angrily.

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are. I'm not stupid, Rai. I need you to trust me. Did somebody do this to you?"

The tears were my answer.

"Oh gosh, baby, come here," he said before pulling me against his chest. I instantly took in his smell. It made me feel safe and warm. It was the place where I wanted to be but I couldn't. The bruise on my face was proof of that. "Do you remember what I said to you that day on the beach?"

I didn't answer, I just listened.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again, do you understand? I meant what I said the other night, Rai and it
doesn’t matter how much you push me away, I'm not going anywhere. That night...it was...gosh, Rai, it was the best damn night of my life, don't you get it? I've 
never 
felt that way before. I've never experienced that before...it was like a magical moment and I want a lifetime of magical moments with you."

"It's complicated-"

"Then un-complicate it. I love you, Rai. I've never said that to anyone before not even my Grandma, don't you get how I feel about you...I'm not losing you."

"I don't want to hurt you," I whispered.

"Then don't leave me." We stood in silence for about ten minutes just holding each other. I emptied my mind and let it be free of all the doubts and fears just for that moment. I just let myself enjoy the moment because the truth was that I needed it. "I'm going to go and get Megan, let her take you back to hers and then I'm coming to pick you up later so that we can talk."

"I don't understand-"

"You don't need to, ok?"

"Ok." I said before nodding my head.

"Good," he replied as he kissed me gently on the lips.

After five minutes of standing around Megan finally appeared.

"Right, your carriage awaits," she said pointing towards her car. "Let's go." I nodded my head and walked beside her in silence to the car.

* * *

Just as he had promised he was outside of Megan's house waiting for me.

"He's here, now you take care of yourself ok," Megan said with tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked in confusion.

"Nothing...just remember what I said," she said before throwing her arms around me and squeezing tight. I was surprised by her sudden emotional state but I hugged her back anyway.

"Ready?" Leighton asked as I stepped outside the door.

"Bye," Megan whispered as I looked on in confusion.

"Bye," Leighton said in a sad voice. They were both acting weird and I felt completely out of the loop.

"Lets go," he mumbled as his fingers slipped between mine. It still sent an electric feeling through my body but it's a feeling that I wished that I could remember forever because when I left that's all that I would have...memories.

We had been driving in silence when I finally decide to speak.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that he was back?" He asked sadly.

"Who?" I asked in confusion.

"Your stepdad."

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" He said as he gripped the steering wheel angrily.

"I don't know what you're talk-"

"Don't lie, Rai. I know, ok. I know. I know that he is back and I know that he put that bruise on your face," he growled as he glanced at me.

"Megan?" The realisation finally hit me. "She promised."

"Yeah, well she didn't have a choice. You should have told me, Rai."

"It's not your problem."

"Not my problem," he laughed humorlessly. "Your problems 
are
 my problems."

"I just can't...I can't tell you. It'll make everything worse...you'll hate me," I whispered, knowing that if I ever told him that his dad
was the man who had destroyed me that he would never look at me the same way again. I would be the girl that destroyed his family.

"I could never hate you, Rai. I wish you could trust me-"

"I do-"

"Not enough but it doesn't matter because everything is going to change now."

"What do you mean?"

"We're leaving, Rai," he said as he gestured to the back seat of the car. I glanced back and noticed my duffel bag lying on the backseat.

"What have you done?"

"What I should have done a long time ago, I'm taking you away from here," he said.

"No, you don't understand what you've done; I've got to go back. I can't let him get to her, you don't understand-"

"Stop!" It was the first time that I had heard him shout. I went silent. "Just stop, ok. You're my concern, keeping you safe is what I care about. Megan told me everything, I know that he has
threatened you with Sarah, she's safe."

"Where is she?"

"It doesn't matter just trust me when I say that she's safe," he glanced at me again. I instantly calmed down but I was still confused but I was tired, so incredibly tired. I just needed a day off.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe, somewhere away from here."

"What about your grandma, you can't leave her?"

"She's fine, Rai, just stop panicking. I promised to keep you safe and that's what I'm doing. While you are keeping this secret I need to keep you safe. That's just how it has to be."

"Ok," I whispered. I couldn't tell him, I wanted to but I couldn't. I remember the first day that I realised that my mom wasn't the superwoman that I had thought she was...I didn't want him to ever know what that pain felt like because that sort of pain destroys you and there is simply just no cure.

I felt his warm hand slip inside of mine as I stared out the window wondering what tomorrow would bring. 

"I lied," I whispered as I
started to drift in and out of sleep.

"Hmm?"

"I do love you...Leighton," I whispered before my eyes fell shut.

"I love you too, Rai, so much,"
were the last words that I heard before I fell into a long and deep sleep. 

Chapter 15

I wasn't sure what I had done to deserve it but I think that God was allowing me a tiny sample of heaven. Since Leighton and I had left town yesterday it was almost as if my problems had never even existed. I keep pinching myself to make sure that I'm awake. I mean, is it even possible to meet someone as perfect as Leighton? I keep waiting for him to do something wrong or mess up and then I'm reminded of the rest of my life. My life is already a mess, and he's the one good thing in it so I want to enjoy it for as long as I possibly can.
 
It had taken about an hour to get here yesterday, and I had spent the entire journey sleeping. It gets pretty tiring when you're trapped in a constant battle of emotions inside your own head. It's only when you get a day off that you realise how bad it really is. When we arrived, I had jumped into the hotel bed quicker than ever. To say that I was tired was an understatement. Leighton never complained, he just kissed my forehead and tucked me in. I'm not sure what he did once I was asleep but right now he was disappointing me by pulling a grey sweater over his head and covering his 
amazing
 abs. I stretched my arms and yawned as he smiled at me.
"Sleep well?" he asked as he walked towards me.
"Like a baby," I smiled. 
"Good. I spoke to Megan this morning," he said cautiously. "She wants to know if you'll call her."
"I'm not mad at her, Leighton. She did the right thing."
"I know, I told her that but she needs to hear it for herself," he said as he stroked the side of face, causing my eyes to close from the feeling that his touch gave me.
"I'll call her later," I whispered almost unable to speak.
"So, what do you want to do today?" He chuckled, pulling his hand back. I could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what he did to me every time that he touched me.
"Stay in bed all day?" I offered as I began to chuckle.
"Sounds good to me. Popcorn and films it is," he laughed as he got up from the bed, grabbed his wallet off the dresser and slipped it in his back pocket.
"Where you going?" I asked with a smile on my face.
"To the store, to get some popcorn and find a good movie. Will you be ok till I get back?"
"Mmm hmm, I'll be fine."
"Good," he said before kissing me on the forehead and then disappearing through the door.
I was left lying in the bed with a big smile on my face.
I turned towards the dresser to grab my phone and was surprised to find no calls or messages from Mitch. I'm sure they will start soon but for now I'm going to enjoy the silence.
I quickly opened up a new message and began typing.
Hey, I'm not mad at you...you did the right thing, thank you. I will call you later, Rai xx
I smiled down at the screen when I noticed that I had signed the message as Rai. Leighton really was rubbing off on me. I scrolled down to Megan's name and hit the send button. Then I focused my attention of something that I needed to do.
I scrolled through the contacts on my cell until I found the one that I was looking for. I pressed call before holding the phone to my ear. I used one hand to push my body weight up so that I was sitting up. Just as I was about to hit the cancel button a voice filled my ear.
"Hello," the voice repeated when I forgot to answer.
"Erm...hello, Jessie?"
"Rainie? Oh my gosh is that you?" She asked as though she were about to burst into tears.
"Yes, it's me-"
"Thank God! I thought that something had happened to you, Mitch went missing and I didn't have your number to warn you, I was so worried!"
"No, I'm fine, honestly," I whispered. I felt strange hearing how much she cared after what a bad friend I was to her.
"What happened? Where are you?" She asked quickly.
"I came to stay with my aunt," I replied, not really wanting to talk about the whole story.
"Ok, so are you ok? Are you still there?"
"No, I've left with Lei-I've left."
"Rainie, is something wrong?" I hesitated for a moment and then I thought about what she had risked to help me escape. She deserved the truth.
"My aunt wasn't here when I arrived-"
"What? So, what did you do?" She asked in a panicked tone.
"I met someone-"
"A guy?"
"Yeah, he lives next door to my aunt, she was away and he was house sitting. He recognised me from the pictures that she had of me and let me in her house."
"What's his name?"
"Leighton, well it's Daniel but everyone calls him Leighton."
"Oh my gosh you like him, right? I can hear it in the way you said his name."
"No, I don't."
"Oh."
"I love him."
"Oh.My.Gosh. Then why do you sound so sad?" She pushed as I took a deep breath.