***Hunter's POV***

I'm leaning in to hug her (finally) when her phone rings. She runs toward it like her ass is on fire and I feel a flash of jealousy. Who is so important that she's running like that?

But when she picks up, it isn't with a smile. I watch as her face pales and her spine straightens. She's only on the phone for a couple of seconds before lowering it, not having said a word herself.

She stares out into space, looking confused and terrified at the same time.

"Persey," I say, quietly so I don't spook her, "who was that? Are you ok?"

She looks at me, her face still far too pale for my liking. "My dad, he's coming to collect. I ... I think he's on his way here."

For a second I feel nothing. Her words fully numb me, until I realize exactly what she said. That fucker she calls dad is on her way. All of a sudden, a sense of terror seizes me. I may have hated the man but he was powerful, and I still wasn't prepared.

"C'mon sunshine," I tell her, trying to mask my fear, "let's get you home. If he comes, I'll stay right by your side. I promise."

"Oh... ok." Right as she started to look dead to the world again, she gasped and jumped towards Hayden, tackling him in a hug. "Hayden, you have to stay here. Or stay hidden. I don't want you getting hurt again, you hear me? Under no circumstances do you come near my house until I've told you he's gone."

"You're stupid," he says to her, his tone as serious as I've ever heard, "I'm not leaving you alone with him. I know Hunter will be there but so will I, goddamnit. He's gonna have to get through me to get to you."

"Bitch me too, and if you try and leave me out," Brandi says, staring Persey down, "I'll hunt your ass down. Don't test me on this, either you bring me or I come in guns blazing."

"I'm coming too." the fucker, otherwise known as Jordan, says, " Y'all are my family. And family protect family. Also, I don't like feeling left out."

"Guys..." Persey starts but at the sight of all three of them glaring at her, she stops, "ok fine. You can come. But DO NOT get hurt or else I'll kill you. But I love you guys, even if you're all too loud."

"And annoying," I say, chuckling, "can't forget annoying."

I lead them out to my jeep, making sure Persey is sitting in the front with me.

After making sure everyone is buckled (no idiots in this car) I start out of the parking lot, starting on the road to get home.

I can see Persey stressing out of the corner of my eye. She's obviously affected by this, but she's trying to put up a strong front. I grab her hand with the hand I'm not driving with, squeezing it. I want her to know I'm here, and I'm not leaving again.

She looks over at me with a grateful smile, her pale hand looking ghostly in my dark one.

I quickly pull my eyes to the road, knowing I need to stop focusing on her, but it's so tempting. I haven't been able to stare at her like this for 2 years, which is too damn long in my opinion.

We arrive at her house, hopping out and heading in. I notice Hayden heading to the kitchen, Jordan right behind him.

"C'mon lovebirds," Brandi says, walking towards the living room, "let's watch a movie. And please stop staring at each other like that or I might barf."

Hayden comes in with ice cream, Jordan holding spoons. Only 2 spoons I notice. Huh, they both hog. Interesting.

"This is payback hoe." He tells Persey, who lifts her eyes and laugh.

"Y'all still doing this?" I ask, surprised they still steal each other's ice cream. They've been doing that since they were 10 when they realized they could just walk into each other's houses and take the food they wanted.

"Uhm... of course," Hayden says, his mouth already full of the damn ice cream. Damn, my brother is a pig. "What the fuck else are we supposed to do? Hang out like normal people? Biatch no, I'm good."

I have no fucking clue how I'm related to him, let alone how he is my twin. I glance over at Persey, thankful that she's looking between the two of us with a small smile. I hate when she's stressed over something.

I go to sit down, but when I notice that Persey is heading to a different seat, I pull her with me onto the love seat and put a blanket over us.

"You're stuck with me now," I whisper in her ear, loving how she gets goosebumps.

"So...uhm..." she clears her throat, looking to Brandi, "what movie do y'all wanna watch? I vote for a comedy."

"Well, I vote for a horror," I tell her, looking straight into her eyes.

Her eyes widen, surprised. She thought I forgot.

"You think I don't remember that?" I ask her, raising one eyebrow, "It was my favorite part of watching any horror movie, I could cuddle with you without it being weird."

"Oh... uhm.." she stutters out, her pale cheeks turning red. God, I love her.

I can hear the other three chatting in the background but don't bother listening in, instead I give all my focus to the angel in front of me.

I have no clue what they picked until I turn and see The Conjuring playing, silently thanking the three morons for finally doing something right.

Halfway through the movie, Persey falls asleep on my shoulder, making me feel so damn lucky for even being in her presence. I know I needed to leave, but I'm forever going to hate that I did.

All of a sudden, a phone rings. I look at mine but it's not mine. Must be Persey's.

I dig it out from under the blanket and notices it's a local number, but not one she has saved. I answer the call while lightly shaking her awake.

"Hello," a lady says, "is this Persephone Harton?"

"One second," I say, "she's in the other room."

I hand her the phone, hoping she's alert enough to take a phone call.

"Hi," she says and after a pause, "this is she."

She listens for a second, her face slowly paling. A few seconds tick by and she lets out a sob and throws her phone. I'm about to grab her in a hug and ask her what happened when she jumps up and runs upstairs.

I leave the three morons to pick up the mess because she's not leaving that easily.

I'm not leaving you this time, sunshine. And that means I'll chase you down even when times are tough.

***A/N***
Hey guys! Sorry for the short chapter but the next one is a bit of a doozy. Hope you enjoyed :)