Sanctuary - Side 2

Monday morning came fast and we were due to hear a verdict on Abby's rapist's trial.

“How you feeling?” I asked.

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

I smiled and took her hand.

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

She practically melted into me.

"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 Abby and I today. We'd give our friends the news, hopefully, good news later today. This time, sitting in the courthouse didn't cause her as much anxiety as usual and she is as brave as I have ever seen her. I wrapped an arm around her waist and she sat as close to me as possible. Seeing him with the same old smug look on his face disgusted her as I was 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."

She hugged me.

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

She cried tears of happiness into my 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 we can wait. I know her rapist will be behind bars, away from her and other potential victims of his horrendous and disgusting crimes. We looked at him as he was being taken away and she waved; he was pissed off which caused her to laugh.

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

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

I laughed as well.

"Me too."

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

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

"What?" I asked laughing.

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

She got her phone out and opened up her music and began scrolling. She swiped past All Time Low and I wondered why as I looked over her shoulder.

"Why not us?"

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

I made a sound of protest and likely sounded like a child having a fit.

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

She turned around and looked up at me to see me with a sad look on my face.

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

I smirked.

“Promise?”

“Promise. You can’t forget that you guys have been my favorite band forever. That will never change.” she 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.” she said as we parted.

“No.” I 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 my car and got in. She shut the door and attached her phone to a USB cable and played Youth Authority by Good Charlotte, a band that also is one of the bands that inspired us. A smile appeared on my face when I heard the first few notes of Life Changes.

Let’s go now. It’s open season.

“You’re the best.” I said.

I squeezed her hand before I pulled out of the parking lot; she smiled back at me.

“Wanna come to the studio with me?”

Her work gave her leniency while this trial was going on that if she decided to stay home, she could.

“Just let me call work, first.”

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

“Excited, babe?”

She gave me a look.

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

I laughed.

“You are hilarious.”

We walked into the studio and she managed to keep her composure. She saw the rest of my extended family and held the urge to go and hug them. Jack, on the other hand, came dashing over like the dork he is to come to hug her. She laughed.

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

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

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

I shook my 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.”

They both looked at me; while she gave me a look, Jack gave me a look of shock.

“I wasn’t ready to let you hear it. I want it to be absolutely perfect before you 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.” I said, shaking my head.

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

I smiled back.

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

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

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

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

She didn’t mind that they knew; if her 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.”

She smiled. She loves 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 me.

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

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

I hung my head. I hated being ganged up on.

“Could you all let it go?”

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

“How about we start with that?”

Everybody was in agreement. Listening to it was amazing; she 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.”

I could see the look of joy on her face from time to time and that motivated me; I just hope she doesn't think she's a distraction because truly isn't.

“Hey.” I said once I had a break.

She was sitting on a couch, scrolling through her phone.

“Hey.” she said smiling.

“What are you up to?”

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

“Well, aren’t you nosy?”

I laughed.

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

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

“Abby!”

She gave me the middle finger and ventured out of the studio. I followed her, needing to know why she acted the way she did toward me. I was across the street while she leaned up against my car to talk to her mom. I walked over to the parking lot and she proceeded to walk further away.

“Well, I gotta go, Mom.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Bye.”

She angrily stared at me when I was directly in front of her.

“Bye.”

Once she hung up her phone and put it away, she opened up her 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.”

She was fuming as was I.

“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-"

She cut me off.

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

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, too.”

I walked away and headed back to the studio trying to calm down and figure out what to say to the guys.

“Where’s Abby?” Jack asked.

“She wasn't feeling well and decided to stay in my car.”

“In that case, let her know we hope she feels better soon.”

“Will do.”

I hated lying to them, but would they really want to hear about what actually happened? I know I wouldn’t. I managed to focus for the remaining hour and not think about how irritated I was. I didn't even bother looking at her when I gotten into my car; I just didn't care. The entire ride home was quiet and I honestly didn’t mind the silence. When she sat down after putting a frozen dinner in the microwave.

“Wanna talk?” I asked, standing in front of her for the second time today.

I was ready to talk to her now.

“I’d rather not.”

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

I could feel the anger coming off of her. I walked into the kitchen and I found something to eat and began cooking. She came out and stirred her food before putting it back into the microwave. She waited for the two minutes while it cooked before taking it out to cool. She went back into the living room; I sensed she couldn't stand to be in the same room as me. I decided to be nice and brought in her dinner, setting it in front of her along with a soda.

“Thank you.” she said quietly.

Seems like the anger is wearing off.

“You’re welcome.” I said nicely.

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

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

Obviously.

“Sometimes.”

“And you can be such an asshole sometimes.”

Accurate.

“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 want to kiss her now.

"Can I k-"

She crawled into my lap and cut me off in the best way possible by pressing her lips onto mine and I made it deeper, adding some tongue.

"Fuck." she said.

I smirked.

"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." she said before my lips overpowered her again.

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

"What do you think, big boy?" she whispered seductively into my ear.

She pressed herself into memcausing both of 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-" she said.

"... so fucking hot."

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

"How's your back feel?"

"Like you dug your claws into me."

She sat up and laughed.

"Wanna take a look?" she asked with her head on my shoulder.

"I do."

I got off the bed and walked over to the full-length mirror and saw the damage.

"You did."

"It's a good look for you."

"You think?"

"I know."

I laughed and picked her up.

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

"What?"

"Hickeys."

She actually had some nice bite marks that she would need to cover up before heading to work tomorrow. She laughed again.

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

"Mine too."

I pressed my lips to her‘s and things quickly started heating up again.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you, too."

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

Notes