Patrick

Ella slides into my car with a plate covered with tinfoil, setting it down onto the dashboard so that she can buckle her seatbelt. "Don't ask." She laughs. "My grandma made you cookies."

"I love grandma Susan." I grin widely, lifting up the tinfoil to grab one. "She likes me, doesn't she?"

"A little bit too much. I'm starting to think she has a crush on you too."

"Oh, I could totally sense that the other night when we were playing cards." I joke, shoving the cookie into my mouth. "I saw the way she smiled."

She scrunches her nose up in disgust. "Patrick, that's so gross. I was just kidding."

I switch the radio on to the pop station she likes, leaning over to grab onto her hand. Her nails are painted this deep red, little sparkles shimmering back at me. I want to kiss her, but for now I just focus on the road.

"So, where are we going?" She asks excitedly. "You better not have made me get dressed up for nothing."

"I didn't." I assure her. "Trust me, you'll love this place."

__________

I drive to Conway, which is a town right near Myrtle Beach. Most people know it because Coastal Carolina University is here, so a lot of people come here for the nightlife. My parents used to take me to this little restaurant that has piano players who take requests from the audience. I remember as a little kid watching my dad twirl my mom around in circles on the dance floor looking so in love. I am so excited to take Ella here tonight.

I park on the side of the street as she looks out the window in confusion. She has no idea where we're at, and when I come around to open up the door for her she sends me a grateful smile and steps out onto the curb.

Letting out a whistle, I grab her hand and hold her at arms length to appreciate how she looks tonight. She's in a black velvet long sleeved dress that stops just above her knees, her breasts being outlined from it being so low cut. I can tell she curled her hair because it's not as frizzy, and her makeup is done heavier than normal. I appreciate that she took the time to look this good for me. "Wow." I tell her.

She allows me to twirl her on the sidewalk, happier than I've ever seen her. "Thanks. I actually love this dress."

Her confidence is radiating off of her more and more each day, and when I take her hand she holds onto it tighter before we step inside the restaurant. I watch her eyes light up once she hears the piano music, glancing back at me for a quick second. I lead her over to the bar so we can sit down, but she's too infatuated with the atmosphere to even move it seems like.

"This is so cool!" She shrieks. "How did you find this place?"

"My parents used to take me here." I say once we finally take our seats, a waiter coming over to hand us some menus. "I just felt like you had to see it before you leave."

"This is awesome. I've never been to a place like this before."

When the waiter asks us what we'd like to drink, Ella orders a sprite and I order a beer, Ella's eyes widening towards me. "Can I see a form of ID?" the man asks.

"Sure." I reply without hesitation, sliding him over the fake from across the bar. He looks at it for a brief moment and nods his head, passing it back towards me. As he walks away her mouth drops open before she smacks me on the shoulder.

"Since when do you have a fake ID?"

"Drew got me one." I shrug. "It comes in handy."

She grabs one of her curls and fumbles with it to try and untangle it before she sends me a smile. "I learn something new about you every day."

I'm looking at the menu to try to find something to eat, Ella still trying to untangle the curl from her hair. She looks deep in thought, her forehead creasing slightly. "You alright?" I ask.

"Yeah." She snaps out of it, attention back on me now. "I just keep thinking about what's going to happen when I leave."

"Don't think about it. We still have a month. That's a lot of time."

"True." She says quietly, beginning to look at the menu. "Oh, look. They have chicken wings. That sounds so good."

The jazz number being played on the piano comes to an end, a slow tune replacing it. It's one of those songs that matches my mood right now. I don't want to think about her having to leave, but now that seems to be the only thing on my mind. I really wish she lived closer to me.

I see couples starting to go out onto the dance floor one by one, Ella's eyes following them with a somber look on her face.

"Let's dance." I tell her, nodding towards the floor.

"Really?" She asks. "In front of all of these people?"

I stand up from the stool, extending my hand out towards her. "Come on."

We make our way out onto the dance floor, pulling her close to my chest as my hands move to her lower back. I can tell she's never slow danced before because she keeps glancing down at her feet and biting on her lip. "Just look at me." I reassure her. "Follow what I do."

I move side to side before I step back slightly to twirl her, pulling her back into my chest when she starts to laugh. The light is hitting her so perfectly right now, the emerald in her eyes radiating off of it. I could probably get lost in them if I stare for too long.

"That guy that stood you up for that dance was an idiot." I say into her ear above the music. "You're so beautiful Ella."

"He was an idiot." She agrees. "But, if he hadn't stood me up I might not be having my first dance with you. So, I'm okay that he did. This right now is kind of making it worth it."

We don't say anything else for the remainder of the song. She just follows my lead, the music seeming to drown out everyone else around us. For a moment it's just her and I, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I want to prove to her that I like to show her off. I may be uncomfortable around my friends still, but at least for right now I can shout it from the rooftops to a room full of a bunch of strangers.

When the music dwindles down, she kisses me gently and I pull her into me more. I feel her smile against my skin, causing me to smile too.

"What are you smiling for?" I murmur into her ear, still holding her close.

"I'm just so happy." She admits. "I don't know how to react to all of this. It's all new for me, and I just don't know how to handle all of the feelings going on inside of me right now if that makes sense. I don't think I've ever been happier."

"It makes total sense. I feel the same way."

It almost looks as if she might cry until her eyes divert behind me. I can feel her whole body come to a halt almost immediately, her fingertips clenching down into my shoulders so tightly that it causes me to wince.

"What's wrong?" I ask. She still isn't saying anything, so I hold her at arms length and see her eyes still fixated behind me. "Ella." I repeat again.

When there's a tap on my shoulder I turn my head to find a man I've never seen before staring between Ella and I. He looks old, wrinkles around his eyes and a beard on his face that looks like it needs to be shaved. He's almost too skinny for how tall he is, but when my eyes finally meet his face it's like I'm staring directly at Ella. It's only then that I piece together that this must be her father.

What the hell is he doing here? I can feel the anger begin to boil inside of me, my protective instincts coming into play. I step in front of Ella to block her and narrow my eyes towards him. "Can I help you?" I ask irritatingly.

"Ellie." He says and peers over my shoulder. He doesn't acknowledge me, he just pushes me to the side so that he can get a better look at her. She looks petrified. Her eyes are like a deer in headlights, and her hand in mine is shaking. I clutch onto it tighter and clench my jaw, diverting my eyes down towards my shoes.

"What do you want?" She finally says, her bottom lip trembling slightly. "What are you doing here?"

Do I punch him in the face? That's certainly what I feel like doing right now. I don't want to disrespect her father if she still wants a relationship with him. Does she? Why would she? I can't even begin to describe how badly I just want to take her away from all of this. I shouldn't have even brought her here to begin with.

"I saw you the other day at the mall." He explains. "I didn't want to interrupt you and your friend, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since. Ellie, I know that things haven't been the best between us, but I want you to know that I've been sober for about five years now. I'm trying to get better, and I'd really love it if you could give me another chance. Maybe not today, but eventually."

Ella's chest is rising and falling heavily, her cheeks tinted red with fists clenched. The music is too loud for all of this. He should have done this in a better place. How did he even find us here?

"I will never want a relationship with you." She says through clenched teeth. She gets closer towards him, pointing a finger in his direction. "I don't know how the hell you found me here, but stay the hell away from me. I want nothing to do with you."

"Woah." He grimaces and takes a step back. "I come here a lot with my friends, that's all." He nods towards a group of men around his age playing pool behind him. "I'm not following you, Ellie. I just think it means something that I keep seeing you. We need to talk."

"Stop calling me that!" She screams. When she goes to lunge at him I wrap my hands around her waist and pull her back into me. Now people around us have started to look, a couple of girls pulling their phones out to start recording. This is definitely not how I expected tonight to go. "I want to go." She bites on her lip and leans back more towards me. "Please, let's just go."

"I know you hate me," He pleads. "But I really think if you just let me-"

"She said she wants to go." I say more sternly. Now that I know she doesn't want to see him I step again in front of her and narrow my eyes again at him. "Have a nice night."

Grabbing tightly onto Ella's hand, I begin to pull her through the crowd of people until I feel her being tugged in the other direction by him. He may think he can fool Ella, but he hasn't fooled me. I can smell the whiskey radiating off of his breath. He says he's been sober for five years yet he's inside of a bar? Doesn't he realize that she's been through enough?

"Ellie." He calls her by that name again, and something inside of me just comes undone. I can't help myself. I'm not sure if it's that stupid nickname that he calls her, or if it's the image of his hands on her, but in seconds my fist colides into her father's jaw. Gasps sound throughout the crowd, Ella's mouth dropping open in shock.

I can't decide on whether or not she's mad or not because his fist goes into my nose next, causing me to stumble backwards. Blood begins to pour down onto my shirt, her father sending me a cocky grin. "I don't know who the hell you are, but nobody is going to keep me away from my daughter."

"Let's go!" Ella screams over the music and tugs on the sleeve of my shirt, her expression pleading desperately for me to go with her. "Patrick, come on. Please!"

He's lucky I love her. He's lucky I care more about her happiness than anything. If it weren't for her being here I would have done my best to rip him to shreds. I see security heading our way, but before they can throw us out we're already outside, the fresh air seeming to make the realization hit me as to what I've just done.

We climb into the car without saying anything, and when I pull away from the curb I still can't muster even a word. She reaches inside of her purse and takes out napkins before she quickly passes them over to me. "For your nose." She mutters.

I stuff the white tissue up my nose and rest my head back against the seat while I drive, turning to look at her. Her head is against the window, but her cheeks remain tearless. My pulse is thumping still from the adrenaline, and it's so loud that I can hear it pulsating in my ears.

"Are you okay?" I finally get the courage up to ask.

"I'm fine." She says, voice completely monotone. "I just want to get away from here."

I reach over and grab onto her hand, surprised that she actually lets me. "I'm so sorry for what happened back there. I didn't mean to hit him. It just happened so suddenly, and I-"

"You think I'm mad at you?" She looks over at me with a look of confusion, eyebrows furrowed together. "Do you know how long I've been wanting to hit him? I don't care that you hit him. I'm just sorry that he hit you back. This was supposed to be a great night, and of course he had to ruin it. He ruins everything in my life and he hasn't been in it in years. Isn't that something?"

"You should tell your grandparents that he's trying to get back into your life. Maybe even your mom, too."

"If I tell my grandparents or my mom then it will start a war that I can't mentally handle right now. I've got him, Patrick. He doesn't intimidate me as much as he used to. I've handled him before and I can handle him again. He's a liar and that's all he ever will be. Words don't work on me anymore."

I squeeze her hand tighter and pull onto the highway, feeling like the world's luckiest guy that I have a woman by my side who is so strong. She didn't even cry once after seeing him. Granted, she cried after she saw him at the mall, but I'm so proud to see her stand up in front of him finally tonight. He's not worth a second of her time, and I'm glad she's finally realizing that.

"This isn't the way to the house." She says suddenly when we miss the exit. She glances over towards me and then looks back out towards the road.

"I know." I smile slightly. "We're getting away from here."

__________

I take her back to the beach we came to before. It's a friday night, so even though it's night time the boardwalk is still flooded with people. Little kids are up late since there's no school, all of them screaming like maniacs as they run around with ice cream cones and slushies, and their parents are giving each other looks as if to wonder why they gave them sugar in the first place.

"I love this place." She inhales the sea salt air and looks down at my hand as if she wants to grab it. She doesn't though. It's nice to see her relax from tonight's events, and that's exactly why I brought her here. This place seemed to give her exactly what she needed when she ran into her father the first time.

"You can grab my hand." I try not to smile, but it's hard not to. I can tell she's embarrassed that I saw her wanting to a couple seconds ago, but she finally interlocks her fingers with mine and bites down onto her lip.

"I just didn't know if you wanted me to." She admits.

Whenever I see her get nervous like this it just makes me wonder what the hell she's been through to make her think like this. Does she honestly think she's really that ugly that I wouldn't want to hold her hand?

"You can hold my hand anytime you want." I assure her. "I like it when you do."

She's smiling from ear to ear when I bring her to the ice cream place again. She orders a chocolate cone while I order a vanilla, and when we've both got our cones we begin to head onto the beach towards the water. Out here you can hardly even tell that it's busy. You can hear the faint sounds of laughter and children from the boardwalk, but on the beach it's only us. You can't see the water anymore from it being so dark, but to me hearing the ocean is just as good as seeing it.

I sit down next to her so that our feet can touch the water, and we both enjoy our cones in silence for a few minutes while we listen to the lapping of the waves. It got kind of chilly out, and as the wind picks up speed I back away slightly from the water, Ella following my lead.

"You didn't have to bring me all the way out here." She finally says when she gets down to the end of her cone. "Why'd you pick this place?"

"I don't know." I shrug. "It seemed to help you after the first time you saw him."

"You think this is what helped me?" She smiles and looks back out towards the water. I can't help but stare at her collarbone, the way it shines so beautifully in the moonlight. I can't help but want to push the hair away from her face and leave my mark right on that spot. "This place is beautiful, but this isn't what helped me. It was you."

We lock eyes for a split second until she gets shy and looks away again. I know she doesn't necessarily like being emotional, or if she's still getting used to it, so I don't touch anymore on the subject. I just nod and continue to stare at her. "Alright." I say. "Well how can I help you now? I know you're acting like seeing him wasn't a big deal, but we both know that it was. You can cry if you need to, El. I want you to be able to come to me about whatever."

"I know." She sets down the napkin from her now finished cone and picks at her fingernails on her lap. "I know that I can trust you. I just don't want to give him that power over me. I don't want to talk about him, you know? It's not worth it. Not talking about it is what's going to help me. I just want to not talk and forget about it."

"I get that." I notice her move closer to me, and for the first time she looks up at me beneath her eyelashes with this look on her face that is absolutely breathtaking.

"So, can we do that?" She whispers.

"Do what?" I cock my head to the side and tuck her hair behind her ear, sending her a cheesy grin. Her eyes keep scanning my face, her tongue darting out to wet her lips.

"Not talk." She leans in closer, our lips almost touching. "Make me forget."

I can't resist anymore. My lips are on hers, and it's so powerful that I almost can't bear it. If she wants to forget then that's exactly what I'm going to try to do. I climb on top of her and kiss down her neck, sucking right on that spot that I was staring at only minutes ago. "Is this helping?" I mutter into her ear. She can't speak from being in such bliss, so I travel kisses down her neck and onto her chest.

I feel her hands scrape down my back before she moves them to the buttons of my shirt and begins to un-do them. My body is craving her. The only thoughts in my head wanting to take it way further than we should.

"God." I groan when she pushes me back and climbs on top of me to unbutton the remainder of my shirt. My chest is now exposed, and she stares at my body for the longest time before she brings her eyes up to meet mine. They're radiating nothing but lust in this exact moment. It's the sexiest and most beautiful I've ever seen her.

"Nobody can see us, right?" She pants and looks back out towards the boardwalk that is more than a mile away. Nobody is on this beach right now but us, but I can see the fear in her eyes that someone might be.

"Nobody's here." I kiss her hand until she pulls it away and tugs her dress above her head. She's in this red lace matching lingerie set, and for a second I almost can't believe that this is Ella sitting in front of me. From the way her breasts look so full, to the way her waist looks like a freaking coke bottle, or the way her thighs are gripping onto my sides is mesmerizing. I watch her steadily look for my reaction, but she doesn't need to. In seconds she can feel my reaction from underneath her, her cheeks growing crimson.

I need to take this slow. We can't go there tonight. Not when things just went down with her dad. She's emotional and not in the right state of mine, regardless of what she tells me. I need to try and withhold myself as hard as it will be.

Leaning up, I kiss her breasts that are being pushed up from the bra and hear her moan, causing me to become even more turned on. With Ella on top of me it's hard to stop myself. Before I know it I'm grabbing onto her ass, moving her underwear to the side, making her cry out in bliss right on this beach. Feeling her makes me want to be inside of her. I want to forget my thoughts and just say screw it, but I can't do it. I know that I can't.

Once my pants are off she grabs me through my briefs, causing me to rest my head back into the sand. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, trying to find an ounce of me to stop this right now. But if I'm honest, I can't find one.

Almost as if right on cue, my phone echoes off through the pocket of my pants that are covered with sand.

"Fuck." I mumble, fishing it out. I see my mom's name appear on the screen, causing Ella to get off of me.

"Your curfew." She says quickly, gathering up our things. "It's almost midnight, Patrick. We won't even get home until almost two in the morning. She's going to kill you."

"Hey." I grab her arm and pull her into me, pressing ignore on my phone and throwing it back onto my pants. "For once I'm going to say fuck the curfew, alright? Tonight's about you and making sure that you're okay. I'm not leaving until you're ready to."

"Trust me, I've been helped." She arches her eyebrow up before she starts to giggle and slips her dress back on over her head. "I need to get back home anyways too before my grandparents wake up and call the cops or something."

"Right." I nod, trying to hide my disappointment. I stand up and tug my pants back on and re-button my shirt before I feel her grab my face with her hands.

"Don't think that I didn't want to continue." She smiles, seeming to read my mind. "If it were up to me, I'd have you make me forget all night long, alright?"

Without letting me respond, she starts to head back to the boardwalk, looking back to extend her hand out towards me. She's grinning from ear to ear, her curly hair blowing every which way in this wind. Fuck, she's beautiful. "Hey." I catch up to her and send her a sly smirk, snaking my arms around her waist to pull her against my chest. "Just so you know, If we were to do this all night long, you certainly wouldn't forget it."

__________

I get back to my house around two-thirty. It took longer because I had to rummage around in the trunk to find one of my dad's shirts to put on, and I spent about twenty minutes wiping the remainder of blood off of the inside of my nose. As I try to close the front door gently behind me I see a light on in the living room, which means my mom is still up. Letting out a sigh, I see her reading a book with a cup of coffee in hand, waiting for the grounding to commence.

"Late again." She states, closing the book on her lap. She takes another sip of coffee and clears her throat. "Care to explain why you've been late for curfew for the past week?"

I think she is assuming I've been out partying with Drew or something, but little does she know it's actually a lot more than that. I didn't know at first whether or not I should tell my parents about her, but now that things have become so serious I think that it's time to. They're going to meet her soon, so they might as well know.

"I was with a girl." I say, my mom's eyes popping up from the mug. "Ella Carson."

She contemplates this for a moment, a look of shock radiating off of her face. I've never brought a girl home, let alone tell her about one. "Oh." She says, that seeming to be the only thing to come to mind. "This whole week you've been out with her?"

"Uh, we've been a thing for about two months. I just didn't really want to tell you until I knew if-"

"Oh, baby." She places her hand over her heart and stands up to hug me. My face gets pushed into the fabric of her bathrobe before she finally releases me for air. "I'm so excited for you. Tell me everything about her."

"Uh..." I let out a laugh and scratch the back of my neck with my hand. I didn't expect her to react this way. I expected to get into trouble and get grounded for eternity for being out until almost three. "I wouldn't be able to sum her up if I tried. You just need to meet her and you'll see. She's, uh, pretty great."

"We're going to meet her?" She gasps. "Oh, I have to make a good dinner. What does she like? What about those meatballs your grandma used to make?"

I let out another laugh, reaching my hand out to stop her. "Mom, seriously. It's not that big of a deal, okay?"

"Not that big of a deal? My baby is growing up."

She actually starts to tear up, causing me to let out another sigh. "I really don't want you to embarrass me in front of her. That's why I've been so nervous to bring her here. I don't want you to scare her off."

She cups my face with both of her hands, pressing her lips into a firm line. It looks like she's deep in thought before she finally says, "This is serious, isn't it?"

"Yes." I immediately reply, because it is. "This is very serious." 

A/N:

UGH they are perfect.

Guys that get angry are so hot.

Anyone else get turned on by toxic men? Probably shouldn't, but.... oops lol

PLEASE COMMENT/VOTE

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