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We've reached the end!

Please Excuse the Mistakes.

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"This is really embarrassing."

"No, it's not."

"Griffin, you're not the one who is standing here half naked."

Griffin burst out laughing and my cheeks flushed redder then they already were, if that was even possible. "Can you please just help me get my shirt on?" I asked shortly, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Yeah," he replied, and he grabbed the t-shirt off of the hospital bed and unfolded it. I raised my arms and bit my lip to keep from crying out. Even with the strong pain meds, my shoulder and ribs hurt 24/7. I barely managed to get my bra on by myself, so I'd opted for Griffin to help with my shirt and I'd decided to leave the hospital pants on.

Griffin pulled the shirt gently over my head, and he helped me find the arm holes. When I put my arms back down at my sides, I gasped loudly and leaned against the side of the bed. "Are you alright?" Griffin asked, his voice full of concern.

"Just grab the sling," I replied breathlessly, and I watched as he picked up the blue piece of fabric pulled the long strap around my neck. Thankfully, the shoulder that had gotten shot was connected to the broken wrist, so I only had to wear one sling.

After connecting the whole sling together, Griffin ducked out of the hospital room to tell the doctor that we were ready to leave. When he returned, I noticed the nurse following behind with a wheel chair. I raised an eyebrow at Griffin, who just shrugged and picked up my small duffel bag. "She said it was protocol."

The nurse nodded and I groaned. "It's not like I just had a baby or something," I grumbled as I set myself down gingerly in the wheel chair. Grandma Aggie was waiting in the car, along with all the flowers, cards, and stuffed animals, since she'd already checked me out.

The nurse wheeled me through the hospital to the pickup door, and every time I looked over at Griffin, I found him trying to stifle his laughter. He wasn't doing that great a job.

Griffin helped me into the backseat of Grandma Aggie's car and then he slid in next to me. "Took you long enough," Grandma Aggie said, "I hated seeing you in that damn hospital bed."

"Not as much as I hated laying in it," I replied with a laugh. It wasn't that much of a secret that Grandma Aggie blamed my dad for what had happened to me. She'd straight up told me that he was putting everyone she loved in harm's way.

I leaned into Griffin's arms as we drove home, and I felt the slip pressure of his lips against the top of my head. I smiled and snuggled in closer, and I could hear his heart beating through his chest.

"I love you," he whispered, and I felt my heart jump to my throat.

"I love you, too." I looked up into his dark eyes and found myself lost in them. Griffin tipped my chin up, and our lips brushed lightly. Then, as Griffin's fingers wove through my hair and the kiss deepened, I heard someone clear their throat loudly.

I jerked back from Griffin and looked up to find Grandma Aggie eyeballing us using the rear view mirror. She raised an eyebrow at us and said, "I may be old but I'm not blind."

Griffin laughed nervously and my face just flushed with embarrassment. I burrowed my face in Griffin's sweatshirt and groaned loudly. I stayed there and ended up almost dozing off, since my pain meds made me drowsy, but then I heard Grandma Aggie say, "Who is that?"

Frowning, I looked up to see a car parked on the curb outside Grandma Aggie's house. Grandma Aggie pulled into the driveway and Griffin hopped out of the car. He hurried around to my side, opened the door, and helped me out. Just as I started walking towards the house, I heard it.

"Sawyer."

I stopped dead in my tracks. Could it be him? I turned around slowly and gasped.

"Dad?"

*

I placed the poorly made mug of coffee that Griffin had helped me attempt to make down in front of my dad. Then, I perched on the chair on the other side of the dining room table. Griffin was upstairs in my room, and Grandma Aggie was stewing upstairs in her room, probably clutching her phone and counting down the seconds.

As soon as she'd figured out that the stranger was my dad, the man she'd blamed for my mom's death, Grandma Aggie had immediately threatened to call the police. It took awhile, but I finally convinced her to give me fifteen minutes with my dad before she did.

We sat there for a few moments, the awkward silence stifling. Finally, I'd had enough. "What are you doing here?" I asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in Mexico?"

"I was," he replied, tearing his eyes from my sling. "But, when I heard what happened, I came here as fast as I could."

"What if someone sees you?" I asked, "There's an outstanding warrant out for your arrest!"

"I know," my dad said. "That's another reason why I'm here."

"What do you mean?" I questioned slowly, my damaged mind struggling to put the pieces together.

"Sawyer, I'm turning myself in."

"What! Why?"

My dad sighed and propped his elbows up on the dark wooden table top. "I have made some bad decisions, Sawyer. I got mixed up with dangerous people. The only way that I can keep myself from screwing it up and making more bad decisions is to put myself in jail, where I don't have enough contact with the outside world."

"I don't understand!" I cried, my voice starting to tremble, "Why can't you just stay out of the country? Why do you have to go to jail?"

"It's the best way I can think of to keep you safe," my dad stated simply. "There are people I've made deals with who are more lethal than Marcus. If something happens, and you somehow get kidnapped again, I wouldn't be able to live with all of the guilt."

The guilt.

Suddenly, I remembered the conversation I'd had with Grandma Aggie the day after I'd moved in. "Dad," I said, "Can I ask you something? Will you be completely honest?"

"Of course," he replied, leaning towards me.

"How did Mom die?"

The question hung in the air, and my dad looked as if I'd slapped him with all my might. I started to feel awful for asking him, but just as I formed the words to apologize, my dad started to answer my question.

"I'm sure your grandmother has told me that's it's all my fault," he said, "And I agree with her. I fell in love with your mother from the moment I met her, and I swore to myself that I'd never let her go. That's when I signed her death certificate. I kept her in my life, and I exposed her to the drug that would eventually end her life. I pulled her away from her family and tried to keep her as my own. I was selfish, and I killed her."

I didn't know what to say. I'd been expecting him to deny what Grandma Aggie had said, not agree with it whole-heartedly. I could feel the tears streaming down my cheeks, but I didn't do anything to wipe them away. I didn't know what to feel.

"I'm sorry, Sawyer," my dad said quietly, "I took your mom away from you."

From the look on my dad's face, I realized that he felt the guilt of mom's death crushing down on him. I remembered those moments when I'd catch him staring at their wedding picture, but it was only now that I understood the pain he felt every second.

"I love you, Dad," I whispered. I did love him, despite the things he'd done. "I can't say I understand why you've made the decisions you've made, but I'll always love you."

"I love you too, Sawyer, with all my heart," my dad replied, reaching across the table and gripping my non-cast covered hand. "I've done everything to settle all my debts, but if anything happens, Danny's staying in town to watch over you. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe, I promise. I've done bad things, and I need to pay for them."

"Thanks, Dad," I said, smiling at him. I heard the sound of feet hurrying down the stairs, and I turned to see Griffin standing in the doorway.

"I just thought I should let you know that you have approximately sixty seconds before Aggie calls the police," he said, his face completely impassive. I knew he also blamed my dad, but he did a better of job of hiding it than Grandma Aggie did.

My dad let go of my hand and stood up, straightening his suit jacket. "I should go. I don't want to give Agatha the satisfaction of turning me in." As I stood up to walk him out, my dad walked around the table and approached Griffin. "Danny told me what you did for my daughter. You saved her life, and for that, I have no idea how I can thank you."

My dad stuck his hand out and Griffin stared at it for a moment. Just as I began to think that he wasn't going to shake it, Griffin did. It was just another reason why I loved him.

"I'll walk you out," I said, and I slipped my hand into my dad's. Together, we walked down the front hall and out the door. My dad pulled me in for one last hug, and I had to use all of my will power to keep from falling apart.

He was leaving, turning himself in, and with all the charges stacked against him, I doubted he would ever come home. My dad was about to walk down the driveway and into a small cell in prison.

"I'll miss you," I breathed, pulling away from the hug.

"I'll miss you, too, Love," he replied, kissing me on the forehead. Then, he hurried down the front steps and left me standing alone on the porch. I watched as he climbed into his car and it peeled away from the curb.

Instead of going back inside, I padded over to the set of chairs on the porch and sat down. I couldn't go inside to face Griffin and Grandma Aggie just yet. I needed time by myself to think.

My dad was gone. Not completely, I mean I could still write and visit, but for the most part, he was gone. In that moment, when he'd told me he was turning himself in, I realized how much he loved me. My dad just threw away his entire career away to protect me.

At the sound of the front door opening, I looked up to find Griffin standing there, looking at me. "Are you alright?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah," I replied after a moment. "I am."

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THAT'S THE END!!!!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with this story! It meant a lot to me, and you're all so amazing! This is my second completed story, and have such awesome fans and readers support throughout was just a fantastic feeling. I love ya'll!

Check out my new story, "Nevermind."!!!

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