I was woken up the next morning to my cell phone going off, I groaned and rolled over, not feeling Nate next to me, I grabbed my phone and looked at the caller ID and rolled my eyes, it was Mason. I hit ignore and put my phone down, I could smell something delicious cooking, I get up and go out of the room, looking into the kitchen part of our hotel room, Nate was making breakfast, rapping quietly and writing stuff down in between cooking, I smiled big, ignoring the pounding headache,

"That's really good," I say smiling more.

Nate turns around seeing me standing there; I didn't realize I wasn't in my outfit from the night before, but one of his t-shirts, with no pants on,

"Morning beautiful, how'd you sleep?" he asks then goes back to cooking.

"Good, you?" I ask, sitting at the island while he cooks on the other side of it.

"Great, there's coffee would you like a cup?" he asks.

"yes please that would be great," I say, getting up I go to the bathroom and grab a bottle of aspirin and take out a few then head back to the kitchen.

Nate sets a cup of coffee down on the island; I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and take the aspirin.

"Thank you, Nate," I say smiling as I sit down and take a sip of my coffee.

"You're welcome," he replies.

A few minutes later, Nate finishes breakfast, plating it up on two plates, he sets on in front of me then sits next to me, he leans over and kisses my cheek softly, causing me to blush. He chuckles a little at the redness,

"That's a nice color on you," he teases.

"Thanks, Nate," I mumble and then begin to eat.

He was truly something else, I felt things I shouldn't just yet towards him, but I still had no trust right now, it sucked so badly to not be able to trust him, but he defiantly was patient with me, he understands and that's all I ask for from someone. I can't even think of a relationship right now, I just want to make it through each day, the pain was intense today but I didn't let the pain show, I hid it. We eat our breakfast after we're finished, I wash the dishes, and that's when I realized I had no pants on, took me long enough. Oh well, he's respectful at least, he doesn't push and he doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. He went back to working on a song, while I went to shower and get dressed; once I was I looked at Nate,

"I'm going to go for a jog on the beach, I have my cell if you need me," I say.

He looks up, then gets up and walks over to me, pulling me into a hug, "Okay, be careful and stay safe, if you need me to call don't hesitate I'll be there before you know it to help, if Mason appears, call me right away."

I hug back, "okay I will."

I put my headphones in, hit play on my playlist, I Mean It by G Eazy begins, I walk out of the hotel room, heading to the elevators, I get in and get off on the lobby floor, I leave the hotel and begin to jog towards the beach. Our hotel was about a 15-minute jog away from the beach, I sang as I jogged, once I hit the sand I went near the water, jogging along the wet sand, I sang as I went and jogged for a while, then turned around and jogged back. When I was about to leave the beach Mason showed up, he stuck his foot out in front of me, and I went down hard, hitting half sand and my top half hitting pavement, I screamed out, pushed myself off the ground and threw my hardest punch at Mason knocking him out, I pulled out my cell and hit Nate's number on my speed dial #1, I waited for him to pick up,

"Lexi? You okay?" he asks as he picks up.

"No, Mason tripped me, I knocked him out," I feel the blood running down the side of my face from where my head hit the pavement, "oh god, no too much blood."

My body starts to shake and I don't hear Nate telling me he's on his way, I ignore all the intense pain, I don't hear Nate calling out to me, I barely hear the sirens, I stare at Mason as he begins to come too, the police as pulling him off the ground and looking at me,

"Did he attack you miss?" one of them asks.

I look over at him and nod, then they cuff him and take him away, next thing I know a paramedic is in my view, I look around, my eyes landing on Nate, whose face is full of anger at Mason, I can barely read the pain in his eyes but I see it, he truly cares about me, and we've only been living together for a few days, I don't remember what it's like to have a guy feel this way besides Daryl, but then that's how it's always been with Daryl, I've known him my whole life, Nate, however, was different, I felt so attracted to him, but I couldn't put myself out there just yet, I needed time to heal before I started something new, I wouldn't want to ruin a new relationship, if I can't love or trust a guy right now it's not fair to be with them, I can be their friend that's it until I'm ready. As they check me over they notice my knee is swollen and bleeding, they make me sit on the gurney, then they put me in the ambulance, I hear Nate call out,

"I'll be right behind you!"

They close the doors and the sirens wail loudly, as we pull away, I felt at ease, now Mason was going to be behind bars, I was going to make sure of it by testifying against him in court, this would get messy, but I needed to make sure he stayed behind bars so I could go on with my life, I needed to change my number and my life, I needed to get away from here, we pulled up to the hospital and they got me out and into an ER room to access my injuries, they send me for scans, they end up doing surgery on my knee, when I wake up I'm in a private room, Nate's asleep in the car next to my bed, his hand on mine, I accidentally move my hand, which causes Nate to wake up,

"Lexi? How you feeling?" he asks, leaning on my bed, his hand holding mine.

"Sore," I reply.

"I'll get the nurse, the cops would like to speak with you as well okay?" he says.

I just nod, he leaves the room, and the cops come in,

"We just need a statement from you Miss Booth," one of them says.

"Okay I'll tell you everything you want to know, I just need to make sure he stays behind bars for a while," I say.

"He will be away for a while if you testify in court," the other one replies.

"Okay, I will," I say.

Then I tell them what happened and my history with him, I end up spilling every wrongdoing he's ever done to me, I don't realize Nate is back in the room, listening to me tell my horror stories, the nurse gives me my meds and the cops finish up and leave, thanking me for my time, promising me they would make sure he gets the maximum punishment for the history we have. Nate sits next to me,

"Mason really did all that shit to you?"

I look at him, "Yes, he did, he's a horrible person and I didn't know it until it was too late, I distanced myself, started working later and later, that's when he started accusing me of cheating on him, when I was saving lives not spreading my legs for every guy that paid attention to me, I crashed at Daryl's a lot or one of my best friends houses mostly, the moments id go home, id regret it instantly, I set myself up to fail and I could have left soon as this all started but I didn't, I thought he would get better, but he got worse."

He hugs me gently, "You never have to go through that ever again."

I smile at him, "Thanks."

He kisses my cheek softly, "You're welcome."

Nate leaves the room for a few to get some food, I flip through the channels until I end up finding Grey's Anatomy, I drift off to sleep before Nate returns, when he does he gently wakes me,

"Lexi wakes up, you need to eat."

I wake up, rubbing my eyes, then groan since I accidentally touched my head as well, he puts the food on the tray table and wheels it so it's in front of me,

"Thank you, Nate," I smile at him.

"You're very welcome Lex," he smiles back.

We eat, when we finish, Nate takes my hand,

"I have something to ask you."

"Go ahead," I replied looking at him.

"I go on tour in about 3 ½ weeks, Europe I wanted to ask if you would like to come along, you will have full all-access passes, I even want you on stage with me for a few songs, showing the world how good you are at my songs, you have a real talent Lexi, I also know you need this, to get away from here and forget some stuff," he gently squeezes my hand, "what do you say?"

I stare at him in awe for a moment before I reply, "I say yes."

He smiles at me and I smile back, "I'll let my manager know, some of it will be boring but I'll make sure there's plenty for you to do while I'm busy, but mostly you'll be by my side, or in the front row, so I can see you."

I lean over despite the pain and hug him tightly, "thank you."

He hugs back, "you're welcome."

He was the answer to all my prayers, how did I get so fucking lucky to have someone like him? How did I get so blessed to be a part of Nate's world? I couldn't wait for these weeks to fly by, I was stuck in a knee brace for 6 weeks so I'd still be in when we left for tour, but Nate said he already talked to my doctors and they would fax my medical papers over to whatever hospital I went to once those weeks were up. I think my life would start to get better from this day forward; I think I could finally be at ease and enjoy my life without wondering when Mason would strike again. For the first time, I felt safe.