Sanctuary

Monday morning, I woke up eager to get to the courthouse and find out what the verdict was.

“How you feeling?” Alex asked.

“Good. Not stressed out. How about you?"

He smiled and took my hand.

"I'm ready for things to start getting better again. Lord knows how much you deserve to have the best life possible."

I practically melted into him.

"And I can get a hold of my mom. I'm hoping she didn't think I forgot about her."

"I'm sure she hasn't."

"I love your optimism."

We headed to the courthouse for the last time and it was only Alex and I today. I'd give my sisters the, hopefully, good news later today. This time, sitting in the courthouse didn't cause me as much anxiety as usual and I want to spit in my rapist's face, instead of cowering in a corner. Alex wrapped an arm around my waist and I sat as close to him as possible. Seeing him with the same old smug look on his face disgusted me as I saw Alex throwing daggers at him, not literally, of course. We were only in the courtroom for fifteen minutes when the verdict was read.

"In the case of the People of California vs. Lawrence Mars, how do you find the defendant?"

"In one count of rape, we find the defendant, guilty."

I hugged Alex.

"In one count of aggravated assault, we find the defendant, guilty."

I cried tears of happiness into his shirt.

"It's over."

I knew we didn't know how much time he'd be spending in prison, but the most important part is done and I can wait. I know my rapist will be behind my bars, away from me and other potential victims of his horrendous and disgusting crimes. We looked at him as he was being taken away and I waved; he was pissed off which caused me to laugh.

"What?" he asked as we got up to leave.

"He's so pissed off. I'm taking so much joy in that."

He laughed as well.

"Me too."

We left and I continued to smile when we walked out of the building.

"I wanna dance." I said out of the blue.

"What?" he asked laughing.

"You heard me. Not here, of course. I just gotta find the perfect song."

I got my phone out and opened up my music and began scrolling.

Not All Time Low, Abby; that's too predictable and cheesy, I might add.

I then felt his presence over my shoulder.

"Why not us?"

"Isn't that a bit too obvious?" I asked as I briskly scrolled past it.

He made a sound of protest and I swear that the man sounded like a child.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I want to listen to something else."

I turned around and looked up at him to see him with a sad look on his face.

God, he's so fucking adorable.

"I’ll listen to any ATL song afterward. Ok? Your choice." I said, raising an eyebrow.

He smirked.

“Promise?”

“Promise. You can’t forget that you guys have been my favorite band forever. That will never change.” I said emphasizing the word, that.

“I love you, Abby Shaw.”

“I love you, Alex Gaskarth.”

We kissed and I didn’t want us to part. I heard someone yell out at us to get a room as we were at the bottom of the steps. We each gave him a middle finger as we continued to kiss.

“We should go.” I said as we parted.

“No.” he whined.

“We live together. We can continue this at home.”

“And that’s a proper place to do this.”

“Yes. It is.”

We walked to his car and got in. I shut the door and attached my phone to a USB cable and played Youth Authority by Good Charlotte, a band who also is one of the bands that inspired All Time Low. A smile appeared on his face when he heard the first few notes of Life Changes.

Let’s go now. It’s open season.

“You’re the best.” he said.

He squeezed my hand before he pulled out of the parking lot; I smiled back at him.

“Wanna come to the studio with me?”

My work gave me leniency while this trial was going on that if I decided to stay home, I could.

“Just let me call work, first.”

He nodded and I proceeded to call them to call off. This would be a first for me, to head to the studio with Alex. To say I was excited, would be a complete and utter understatement. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face the entire way there and even getting out of his car.

“Excited, babe?”

I gave him a look.

“Well, of course. I get to go with you to the studio.” I said in a sing-song voice.

He laughed.

“You are hilarious.”

We walked into the studio and I managed to keep my composure. I saw the rest of my extended family and held the urge to go and hug them. Jack, on the otherhand, came dashing over like the dork he is to come hug me; I laughed.

“I’m so happy to see you, Abby.” he said, hugging me.

“So happy to see you, Jack.” I said hugging him back.

“It’s about time Alex brought you here.”

Alex shook his head.

“I’m sure he would’ve brought me, but my schedule is all over the place. You know, he wouldn’t even let me listen to that demo of Dirty Laundry he sent you.”

We both looked at him; while I gave him a look, Jack gave him a look of shock.

“I wasn’t ready to let you hear it. I want it to be absolutely perfect before you hear it.”

As sweet as that was, I still wanted to hear it.

“Ok. I get it, but you have no idea how much I wanted to hear it.”

“And now, it is. Isn’t that right, Alex?”

“You two are ridiculous.” he said, shaking his head.

“I already know I am. You’ve told me that before.” I said with a smile.

He smiled back.

“Is there something going on that I don’t know?”

“That’s none of your beeswax, Jack. Now, where are we going?” I said in the nicest way possible.

“Come with me, my dear.” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

Jack is truly like one of my brothers, so are the rest of the band. And off the three of us went to where all the other guys were. I was greeted instantly with my open arms by my extended family.

“It’s so good to see you. It’s been too long.” Zack said.

“You can say that again.” Rian echoed.

“Have things been going well? I heard about what’s going on.” Jack asked.

I honestly didn’t mind that they knew; if my friends knew, why wouldn’t the guys?

“Well, Alex and I literally just came from the courthouse. He’s been convicted, but we don’t know his sentence. I am elated.”

“That is so awesome to hear.”

“Glad to have you guys’ support.”

“There’s no way we couldn’t.”

I smiled. I love these guys.

“Anyway, what’s going on today?”

“We have a few tracks to record, including the one Alex didn’t let you hear.”

All of the guys looked at him.

“Seriously, dude? She’s your fiancée.” Rian asked.

“I can’t believe she hasn’t heard it yet.” Zack said.

Alex hung his head.

“Could you let it go?”

“That’s okay as long as I hear it today, babe.” I said kissing his cheek.

“How about we start with that?”

Everybody was in agreement. Listening to it was amazing; I loved it.

I don’t believe in saints
They never make mistakes
I know it’s not my place
Who am I tell you that you need to change?

Her closet’s such a mess
Filled up with all the skeletons
She’s kept
Nobody’s perfect, I confess
But she’s perfect enough
Without ever dressing up, yeah

Dirty laundry is piling in her room
She’s got her secrets
Yeah, I got mine too
Don’t care about what you did
Don’t care about we do
Dirty laundry looks good on you

Now, here’s some honesty
Sometimes, I trip over your history
Wish I could change my mind
It’s the things I shouldn’t see
That always catch my eye

Dirty laundry is piling in her room
She’s got her secrets
Yeah, I got mine too
Don’t care about what you did
Don’t care about what you do
Dirty laundry looks good on you

Dirty laundry is piling in her room
She’s got her secrets
Yeah, I got mine too
Don’t care about what you did
Don’t care about what we do
Dirty laundry looks good on you

Dirty laundry looks good on you
Looks good on you

Dirty laundry looks good on you
Looks good on you

It looks good on you

“That is a fantastic song, guys. You guys sound so good.”

“Thank you. Glad our hard work pulled off.”

It was awesome listening to them record a few tracks which included, Last Young Renegade, Good Times and Nightmares. To say I got goosebumps, would be an understatement, especially during that last track. I was looking forward to discussing these tracks with Alex because this is the first time with me being around while All Time Low is recording a new album. I honestly don’t know how he concentrated with me around; sure, I want to be here, but I thought that I might be a distraction. Alex is so into recording his vocals, it just shows how much he loves what he does for a living; not to mention, it’s incredibly sexy and it turns me on.

“Hey.” he said once he had a break.

I was sitting on a couch, scrolling through my contacts, trying to get the courage to go ahead and call my mom.

“Hey.” I said smiling.

“What are you up to?”

He sat close and peeked over to see what I was doing.

“Well, aren’t you nosy?”

He laughed.

“I’m trying to get the courage to call my mom. I’m not avoiding it. I’m just...” I groaned.

When he saw that my finger was hovering over her name, he pushed my finger down. The phone began ringing and I pushed Alex as I got off the couch and walked away.

Seriously?

“Abby!”

I gave him the middle finger. I walked out of the studio, so I could talk to my mom.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mom.”

“Oh, hi honey! How are you?”

“Great. You?”

“Fantastic. I’m actually at lunch right now. What are you up to?”

“Just hanging out with my fiancée.”

“Ooh... fiancée?”

“He proposed a month ago. I wanted to let you I didn’t forget about you, Mom.”

I felt terrible.

“I know you didn’t, Abby. I figured you had a lot going on.”

“That’s such a relief.”

Alex was across the street while I leaned up against his car to talk to my mom.

Go away, Alex.

“I’m thinking about the end of next month for you to come. There was something awful that happened and my work has been lenient with my schedule.”

“That’s great. Are things better?”

“They are. They really are. I’m glad I finally called you.”

“I’m glad you decided to call me, sweetie.”

He walked over to the parking lot and I proceeded to walk further away.

Can’t the man take a fucking hint?

“Well, I gotta go, Mom.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Bye.”

I angrily stared at Alex who was now in front of me.

“Bye.”

Once I hung up my phone and put it away, I opened up my mouth.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You know not to push me. Literally and figuratively and this time, you physically pushed me.”

I was fuming.

“I apologize, but I’m in the right here. You just needed to do it and you see? You had a good conversation, did you not?”

“That’s beside the motherfucking point. You shouldn’t have done that. You know what? I’m gonna stay here till you’re fucking done.”

“What am I supposed-"

I cut him off.

“Tell them I wasn’t feeling well. I don’t give a flying fuck.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, too.”

He walked away and once he was back in the building, I bursted into tears. I walked over to the car and got in, lying my head against the dashboard.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” I asked sobbing.

I looked at the time and saw that it was four and none of my friends were off work; it’d be another hour till I could get a ride. I honestly don’t know if my crazy ass can ride in a vehicle with Alex. As angry and upset as I was, I went to my music and put on ATL; I just couldn’t help myself as they make me feel better even if their lead singer was being a douchebag to his fiancée. Something’s Gotta Give began playing which is always a good choice for me. I was near sleep when he got in the car; I turned my music off and looked out the window. Even as he started the car, I refused to look at him. The entire ride home was awkwardly quiet and I couldn’t have gotten out of the car faster. I walked straight into the kitchen to find myself something to eat. When I found a frozen dinner, I read the instructions and put it in the microwave before I sat down comfortably on the couch.

“Wanna talk?” he asked, standing in front of me... again.

“I’d rather not.”

“You’re gonna have to talk to me sometime.”

I was breathing heavily as I was still angry. I should let it go, but what he did was wrong even if it was something as small as that. He walked into the kitchen and found himself something to eat and began cooking. I set out to go in the kitchen, open the microwave and stir it then put it back in. I waited the agonizing two minutes while it cooked before taking it out to cool. Seeing I couldn’t take being in the kitchen with him any longer, I walked back into the living room and waited. Just as I was about to get off my ass, I heard footsteps and smelled my dinner that was sat down in front of me along with a soda.

“Thank you.” I said quietly.

I couldn’t help but be polite; it’s in my nature.

“You’re welcome.” he said in a surprisingly non-snippy tone.

He left and came back in a couple minutes later with his own dinner and we proceeded to eat in silence aside from what was playing on television.

“I’m a bitch.” I said after he finished dinner.

“Sometimes.”

That was fair.

“And you can be such an asshole sometimes.”

“You’re right.”

“Could you try and not do things that you know will set me off?”

“Yes, but to be honest, I didn't think what I did today would."

"Well, thank you for the apology. I appreciate it."

I wanna kiss him now. I may have been furious at him for the past ninety minutes, but I can't stay mad at him for more than a day or hell, less than two hours today; it's incredibly pathetic, I know, but I truly cannot help myself.

"Can I k-"

I crawled into his lap and cut him off in the best way possible by pressing my lips onto his and he made it deeper, adding some tongue.

"Fuck." I said.

He smirked.

Him and that fucking smirk.

"Sorry, I interrupted you. I just couldn't help myself."

"I don't blame you."

"Don't get so cocky; no pun intended. You might not get any."

"I'll behave."

"Good boy." I said before those lips overpowered me again.

"Wanna take this to the bedroom?" he asked as I felt his erection against my crotch.

"What do you think, big boy?" I whispered seductively into his ear.

I pressed myself into him causing both us to moan. We left a trail of clothing in the hallway as we went into our bedroom and fell onto our bed, having animalistic sex that we hadn't had in so fucking long.

"That was so wild and-" I said.

"... so fucking hot."

He sat up and I saw the red scratches on his back; I licked my lips and smiled at the sight.

"How's your back feel?"

"Like you dug your claws into me."

I sat up and laughed.

"Wanna take a look?" I asked with my head on his shoulder.

"I do."

He got off the bed and walked over the full length mirror and saw the oh so beautiful damage.

"You did."

"It's a good look for you."

"You think?"

"I know."

He laughed and picked me up.

"You know what's a good look for you?" he asked, kissing my neck.

"What?"

"Hickeys."

I actually had some nice bite marks that I'd need to cover up before I headed to work tomorrow. I laughed again.

"We need to have sex like this more often. It's my favorite kind." I said.

"Mine too."

He pressed his lips to mine and things quickly started heating up again.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you, too."

It was such an emotional day and aside from Alex and I's huge fight, it ended up being one of the best days I've ever had.

Notes