Love Amongst Destruction

“Shit!” I grumbled, stretching my legs a bit too far which ended up with me falling on the floor.

Standing up, I brushed the blankets off of me and finally took notice of the surroundings around me.

This house was new to me, I’d never been in it or even seen it before. Yet oddly, there was a very calming and relaxing sense around the house.

Chance had mentioned that the owner of this house was here and I didn’t want to accidently run into them, which sent me to the kitchen.

Silently making my way around the kitchen I gathered everything I needed to make a good cup of coffee and a batch of blueberry muffins.

My first priority now was coffee, such a small silly luxury that I loved like crazy.

After I had brewed my perfect little mug full, I whipped up the batter and started placing the liners in the tray.

The smell was amazing, and made me feel so cozy.

“Somebody’s busy.” Chance chuckled in his sleepy morning voice, ducking his head around the wall in the kitchen.

“Hey, breakfast isn’t going to make itself.” I told him, lightly joking.

“You deserve a break, Bells. You should not have to be cooking.” Chance responded, finally coming closer and pulling me into a hug.

“Oh hush, it’s nothing. I love to cook and it’s actually relaxing.” I explained.

I leaned back and smiled like a happy idiot as my neck was covered in sweet kisses.

“Let me help you.” Chance whispered, letting go of me to grab the muffin pan and slip it into the hot oven.

“If you think those will be good, you should try this.” I suggested, slipping my mug of coffee into his hands.

“Oh yeah, that’s yummy.” Chance playfully moaned.

I gently took the mug back and put on my serious face.

“Chance...who’s house are we in?” I asked.

His face turned out all emotions almost instantly, that was seriously freaky.

“It’s our house Bella, I technically own it.” Chance said, obviously avoiding the question.

“Chance…” I goaded him.

“Bella….” Chance mimicked me.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, that’s the only reason I’ll let that go.” I giggled.

“I’ll give you a hint, ok? This is the only person in the world that loves you more than I do.” Chance said.

“Hey, no lying!” I exclaimed, knowing that could only be one person.

That was impossible though, it wasn’t safe for one thing, and for another, there was no way Chance could have pulled it off.

“I could never lie to you Bells.” Chance whispered, his eyes and voice getting much softer.

I watched as his gaze left mine, and wandered past me.

“No, I can’t do this.” I choked out, terrified of facing a reality I had gone so far away from.

“I’ve got you.” He promised me, pulling me in for a tight embrace.

The world seemed to stop as I took one jagged breath in.

An angelic voice cut through my mind’s chaotic clutter and it snapped me back into reality.

“Bella?” The voice whispered.

Oh my god.

“Mom?” I murmured, practically in disbelief.

“Oh god it’s you.” She cried, running to me and gripping me tight to her body.

“It’s you.” I sobbed, holding her even tighter, afraid if I let go in the slightest way she’d disappear once more from me.

Let’s be honest, there was no way to describe how I was currently feeling. Emotions rushed through me at the speed of light, all conflicting with one another, and my mind was such a jumbled mess all I could do was hold on tight and cry on my mother’s shoulder.

I had been so assured that I had lost her, even knowing my last words to her

“See you later.”

It had finally come true.

“I kept my promise.” I cried, holding her tighter.

“Oh sweetheart, I knew you were strong enough to find your way back home.” She said, her voice breaking at practically syllable.

Ever so gently, as no one else in this world could she brushed the tears from my cheeks and my eyes slowly started to dry.

It was still impossible for me to believe, I was seriously standing right in front of my mom, let alone hugging her.

“I’m sorry….it’s just I thought I’d lost you forever.” I sniffled out, now taking a baby step back to finally look at her through non-tear filled eyes.

“Shhh, don’t apologize. There’s absolutely nothing in this that is your fault.” She told me, shaking her head softly.

I let out a little chuckle in my mind, she definitely sounded like Chance.

“I love you.” I told her, finally getting to tell her that after waiting for what seemed like forever.

“I love you too, Bella.” She whispered, pulling me tight to her body once more.

“Hey, you get over here.” I whispered to Chance, who was leaning up against the wall, watching us from a bit of a distance.

The biggest smile I’ve ever seen popped onto his face, and he joined our little tight knit hug.

Without Chance, I never would’ve had this opportunity ever again in my life.

I owed him everything, my love was only the start.

I was finally home.

My mother suddenly took a step back, keeping a soft hold on my arms and was seemingly taking my appearance in.

“You’ve grown so much, sweetheart. You’re so beautiful as well, so….so adult.” She exclaimed, shock evident in her voice.

“I’m still your daughter though. I’m your daughter first and foremost, everything else can weight.” I said, finally regaining the strength in my voice.

“My wife, secondly I’m hoping.” Chance whispered into my ear.

“Of course.” I smiled back, quickly popping up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss.

“Oh, sorry.” Chance quickly muttered, realizing we weren’t alone as we’d gotten so used to.

“Young love is a powerful thing.” She chuckled, thankfully brushing it off.

She truly had no idea how powerful love was, it was the only reason I was alive.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh my goodness, I missed your cooking, mom.” I cooed, feeling safe and at home which were two things I had missed dearly.

Once she finished placing the dishes in the sink, she came back over and sat down across from Chance and I. The tone clearly changed in the room.

Honeymoon period had come and gone, this is what I had been secretly dreading since I first saw her this morning. The time where questions would be asked such as who, what, when, where and why.

These were things I couldn’t answer.

My mom would be in danger if she knew who was behind what had happened to me. Not to mention the fact that I feared I would be taken back to them and never find a way out.

“You guys need to tell me what really happened, and we need to go to the police to keep you safe, Bella.” She finally said, very clearly worried.

Oh boy.

I laid my hand out across the table, waiting for her hand.

Finally she gave it to me, and I held her hand tight.

“Please trust me. There are some things I just can’t tell you, but I’m doing that to keep you safe. You’d never be able to guess what all happened and who was behind what’s happened this past year…..and maybe that’s for the best. I’ve gone through a ton of bad shit, stuff you couldn’t even and don’t want to think of, yet I still value your safety over mine. You knowing this stuff, also puts you at risk, and lord knows I don’t need the extra pain of knowing you’re in danger as well.” I explained to her.

Silence.

Oh boy, I don’t think that was a good sign.

“What did they do to you, my baby?” She sighed.

“You don’t want to know.” I muttered, images of the last year popping through my head, each image making me shudder.

It scared me at how easily these pictures still came to my mind, the clear images of everyone of their faces, the bruises and marks left on my body, being treated like a fucking animal, having just about every right taken away and violated.

Yeah, she didn’t need to know.

Swiftly, I pulled my hand away and stood up from my seat at the table.

“Bella?” Chance asked softly.

“Nobody can know that I’m here with you, ok? The cops can’t know I’m out, no newspapers or any news at all can know that either. The second anything gets out, they’ll know and they’ll take me back and make sure no one ever sees me again. I’m sure we can all agree we don’t want that. So for now, let’s all just keep an insanely low profile, relax, and get used to the situation we’re in. I know I’ve fucked up your lives by coming back, and that’s beyond selfish of me. This is my last chance though to protect the two people I truly love, and I’m scared to risk that.” I stated, starting off angry and ending on a far more solemn note.

“We’ll stick together, love. No matter what gets thrown at us, we’ll make it through.” He assured me.

“Please don’t call me that, my name’s not love.” I quietly begged, hating that pet name from the others.

“No problem, Bella.” Chance said.

“No. Bella’s dead, she’s a broken and beaten down soul whose future was turned the darkest shade of black. It’s Isabella.” I decided, desperately wanting to move on from the trauma of the past.

I feared my last comment may have been made far to aggresive, and painted me as a bitch.

Guess I was wrong.

Taking a peek back over at my mother and Chance’s faces I saw a gleaming smile from the pair of them.

“Wait here.” Chance said, fleeing the room.

“What the heck?” I asked, peering over at my mom.

“Beats me.” She chuckled with a shrug of her shoulders.

All we heard was a few clinks of glass together, as well as the fridge and a cabinet opening.

Before my curiosity grew, he was back in the room with 3 glasses of bubbly champagne.

Chance handed the both of us one of the flutes and once we had a grip on them, he raised his high in the air.

“This is to Isabella. The beautiful and bright girl who I love so dearly. The girl with a future so bright she puts the sun to utter shame. The girl who I know is stronger than anyone I’ve ever met, the girl who loves harder than anyone else. The girl who deserves the sun, the moon, and so much more. This is to the one angel I was blessed to meet on Earth. This is to my love…...Isabella.”

Notes