Destiny Disrupted (There's Always Tomorrow Book 1) (14 page)

“Just tell her that I'm fine and that she can go home if she wants,” Vance whispers.

“Van, she doesn't want to go home. She wants you back in the bedroom so you two can talk,” Dayne says, his voice hardening.

“She probably just wants to tell me that it's over. Just tell her she can leave like I'm sure she wants to.”

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Dayne breathes to himself. “Listen, asshole. She’s not breaking up with you,” Dayne grounds out as he starts to get pissed with Vance's attitude.

Vance just shakes his head. He finds it hard to believe that Melina wants to stay with him. Not after what he did.

“Ya know what? If you don't get your ass in there right now, I'm gonna go rip the sheet off Melina so I can see her naked, cause lord knows I've been dying to,” Dayne threatens. He waits for Vance to reply, but when he doesn't, Dayne gets up and stomps back into the bedroom.

Vance hears Melina telling Dayne to stop messing around. Then she becomes a little more serious and tells him to knock it off. Even Tripp and Ryder are telling him to stop. Vance feels his anger rise; he doesn’t want his friends to see his girlfriend naked. Vance finally gets up and storms back into the bedroom. He sees Dayne and Melina tugging at different ends of the sheet. Vance is on Dayne in a flash, pushing him back hard enough that he crashes into the wall.

“Knock it off!” Vance shouts at him.

Dayne smiles knowingly. “You got it, let's go guys,” he says and heads for the door.

The door shuts with a click leaving Vance and Melina alone. The lamp next to her is the only light in the room. Vance has his back to Melina, afraid to turn around. He doesn't realize how close he is to the bed until he feels her hand slide into his. Vance startles and spins around. Melina has crawled to the end of the bed where he’s standing. She’s on her knees completely naked, the sheet left behind. With her hand still in his, she tugs him toward her. When she looks up at him, he gets a good look at her neck. It’s a deep red and is starting to bruise where his fingers had been. Vance brings his free hand up and trails a couple of fingers lightly over the bruises.

“God, Melina, I'm so sorry,” Vance whispers, his bottom lip quivering with the threat of breaking down again.

“It's okay, you were having a nightmare; you didn't know what you were doing,” Melina says, her voice hoarse from being strangled.

“I can't believe I hurt you like this. How can you even stand to look me?” Vance utters, shaking his head as tears rolls down his face.

Melina reaches up and brushes the tears away. “Because, Vance, I'm so in love with you. I can't imagine ever being without you,” she says quietly.

Vance stares at her for a moment. Did she just say that she is in love with him? He attacks her mouth while his hands tangle in her hair to hold her to him. She wraps her arms around his waist and pulls his body tight against hers. Goddamn, Vance never imagined how good it would feel to hear her say that.

Vance slips one arm around her waist and holds her to him as he crawls up onto the bed with her. As soon as Melina is on her back, she pushes his underwear down so that he can kick them off. He then lays his body on top of hers and immediately enters her. They gasp against each other's lips.

“Baby, I'm so sorry,” Vance moans as he pulls out and thrusts back into her. “I never meant to hurt you,” he whispers against her lips.

Melina strokes the side of his face. “I know,” she breathes.

“I love you, too, Melina,” he confesses. She smiles against his lips.

“Really?”

Vance pulls his face back far enough to look into her eyes. “God, yes, so much,” he murmurs then kisses her softly on the lips. Melina grasps his face and deepens the kiss.

After they both come and clean up, they get back into bed. This time, Melina lays half of her body on him. Vance tucks one hand behind his head and the other is around her shoulders holding him to her, but he just stares up at the ceiling, afraid to fall back to sleep.

“Vance, I can hear your heart racing. What’s wrong?” Melina asks quietly, her breath tickling his chest.

“I think I should sleep on the couch,” he replies.

Her head shoots up to give him a “Don't be ridiculous” look. “You’re not sleeping on the couch,” she scoffs.

“If you would’ve added a ‘young man’ to the end of that sentence, you would’ve sounded like my mother.” Vance smirks.

She chuckles.

“But seriously, I don't want to hurt you again...” he starts, but Melina puts her hand over his mouth.

“You won't hurt me again, and I won't have you sleeping on the couch. Everything’s going to be fine, I promise,” Melina soothes.

Vance lets out a sigh of defeat; he isn't going to win this battle, she is too determined. So he tries to relax and fall back to sleep, but his mind keeps racing with horrible thoughts about accidently killing Melina. He just can't sleep. So once she’s sound asleep, he wiggles out from under her, puts on a pair of sweatpants, and goes downstairs to sleep on the couch.

The next morning, Vance is woken up by the front door opening and closing. He rubs his eyes and looks to see who came in. Xander gives him a nervous smile. Vance blinks a couple of times, trying to figure out why he would be here so early. Vance looks at the clock on the cable box: 6:30 am.

“What are you doing here this early?” Vance asks sleepily.

As Xander opens his mouth to answer, Bryan comes down the steps with a huge smile on his face. Bryan doesn't notice that Vance is on the couch and as soon as he hits the base of the steps, he grabs Xander's face and presses his lips firmly against him. Vance's eyes widen and he shoots up into a sitting position, his eyes glued to the scene in front of him. Bryan’s and Xander's mouths lock together as his would with Melina. After a moment, Xander rips away from Bryan, shoots a frantic look at Vance, and then bolts out the front door.

Bryan stares in confusion at the closed door then looks over and sees Vance. “Vance,” he breathes, his eyes widening in horror as he realizes what Vance just witnessed.

Vance gets up from the couch and starts toward Bryan, who begins backing up toward the steps. He bumps into the bottom step and stumbles back, falling on his ass onto one of the steps. Vance stops in front of him.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Vance whispers, unsure of his voice.

Bryan opens and closes his mouth a few times before he answers. “Xander is afraid,” he admits.

Vance frowns. “Of what?”

“How you would react.”

Vance's heart drops. Does Xander really think that he won't support him? “Shit,” Vance utters then turns and races out of the house. He looks up and down the street but doesn't see Xander. His car is still in the driveway, so he knows that he didn't leave. He walks around the side of the house toward the beach.

As Vance comes up to the back of the house and looks down the beach toward the water, he can see Xander sitting down by the water's edge. Vance sighs and starts toward him. As he gets closer, he can see that Xander has his face in his hands and that his shoulders are shaking. Fuck, he’s crying.

“Xan.” Vance sighs and sits down next to him. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't want you to hate me,” Xander confesses.

“Xander, why would you think that I would hate you? You’re my brother,” Vance reassures him and puts his arm around Xander's shoulders.

“I'm gay, Vance. Not bi, gay.”

“Obviously.” Vance chuckles.

Xander picks his head up and stares at Vance in disbelief. “You seriously don't care?”

“I couldn’t care less who you fuck, Xan. You’re still my brother and I love you,” he says.

Xander smiles and shakes his head. “You had to say it like that didn't you?”

“Of course. I'm guessing you haven't told mom or dad yet?”

“No.” Xander sighs.

“Don't worry, bro. They're gonna be fine with it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Trust me. Our parents are gonna be cool with it. They just want you to be happy,” Vance promises, pulling him closer to kiss him on the temple.

“Thanks, Van,” Xander murmurs.

“I love you, Xan.”

“Love you, too, Vance.”

“So, ah...have you and Bryan...ya know?” Vance asks and wags his eyebrows at Xander.

Xander laughs and elbows Vance in the ribs. “No, not yet.”

“Not yet? So it's gonna happen eventually? I mean, Bryan's a good lookin’ dude...”

“Van! Come on!” he groans and covers his face in embarrassment.

“What? If I were gay, I'd be all over Bryan.” He shrugs.

“Oh my god,” Xander puffs.

“Why are you being so shy...oh wait, you're still a virgin, aren't you?” he asks softly.

Xander turns his bright red face to look at Vance. “Yeah,” he whispered.

Vance nods in understanding. “Is Bryan?”

Xander nods.

“Well, that’s good. Neither of you will know what you’re doing so you shouldn't get yourself all worked up about it.”

“I guess.”

“Believe me, the first time is gonna be awkward, just ask any of the guys. It doesn't matter if it's with a dude or a chick,” Vance says with a slight smile as he remembers his first time.

“Do you think they're all gonna be okay with it? I mean, I don't want them to get weird around Bryan.”

“No, come on, Xan. You’ve known my friends for how long?”

“My whole life,” he says with a fond smile.

“Right, do any of them seem homophobic to you?” Vance says rolling his eyes.

“No, Dayne is forever grabbing Tripp's ass and I've seen Ryder grab you guys and kiss you on the mouth...” Xander laughs.

Vance groans. “Ryder becomes completely gay when he's drunk. He loves kissing us. Thank god he hasn't done it to some random dude; he'd have the shit kicked out of him.”

Xander smiles and seems to relax. Vance stands and he follows, pulling his younger brother into a big bear hug. They’re practically the same height, so Vance kisses his temple then lets him go.

“Do you feel better now that it's out in the open?” he asks as they start back up the beach toward the house.

Xander sighs. “God, yes.”

“Good.” Vance smiles.

They brush their feet off at the back door then walk into the kitchen where Melina is standing at the stove starting to cook pancakes. Tripp is putting on coffee. Bryan is sitting nervously at the table, his knee bouncing like crazy. Ryder is leaning on the counter next to Tripp, looking like he is sleeping standing up. And Dayne is at the fridge getting things out for Melina.

Xander quietly joins Bryan at the table where they whisper back and forth to each other; no doubt, Xander is telling Bryan what happened. Vance sidles up behind Melina, wraps his arms around her waist, and props his chin on her shoulder.

“Morning, baby,” Vance murmurs.

“You slept on the couch, didn't you?” Melina asks dryly.

Vance sighs and puts his forehead on her shoulder. “Babe, I couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about what might happen if I fell asleep next to you again.”

“So, are you never going to sleep next to me again?” she asks, her tone saying that she is annoyed with him.

“Not until I get some help. I'm gonna go Monday to see the department's psychiatrist,” Vance says, lifting his head from her shoulder.

Melina shoots him a worried glance. “You really think that's necessary?”

“After last night, love? Yes,” Vance says solemnly.

Melina looks at him for a moment before turning back to her cooking. “Alright, whatever you think will help you,” she says blandly, but he knows that she agrees with him…about getting the help part, not the sleeping on the couch.

“It's a good idea, Melina. He shouldn't be doing things like that in his sleep,” Tripp murmurs from their left. “He can have some form of PTSD from that case he's working.”

“Was working,” Vance corrects.

Tripp's brows shoot up. “You got off it?”

“Yeah, I pretty much gave the Chief an ultimatum: either I am off the case, or I quit entirely.”

Tripp lets out a low whistle. “It's that bad?”

Vance nods. “Yeah, it's that bad,” he says grimly.

“What about Shawn? Is he still on it?” Tripp asks.

Vance shrugs. “No idea.”

“Jesus Christ, Melina! What happened to your neck?” Xander exclaims. He’s on his way to the fridge when he notices the bruising.

“Van choked her in his sleep,” Ryder chimes in.

“What?” Xander spits out, turning his wide-eyed stare to Vance.

“I was having a nightmare,” Vance murmurs quietly and tucks his face into Melina's neck.

“It's okay, Xander. I'm fine,” Vance hears Melina say. He can tell by her tone of voice that she still isn't happy with his decision to not sleep in the same bed until he sees a doctor. 

Everyone sits down for breakfast and starts up their own little conversations. Vance watches his friends as they joke with each other, and Melina is right in the thick of it. She just fits in so well with his second family. He wants to come home from work every night to Melina and wake up next to her every morning. Right now, she will only stay over on the weekends and an occasional weekday, but Vance wants more.