We drove in silence for a while, I was too scared to move or talk and all I could think about was how Rhydian had not stopped no matter how many times I had asked him to. My thoughts were broken by Carter's voice, "Annabelle are you ok?", his voice was still strong but quieter. I couldn't answer him, I was still frozen. He pulled the car over and sighed. He smacked the wheel with his hands and opened his door. He spoke quietly but I still heard, "I'll kill him". He walked around, opened the back door, climbed in with me and then closed the door. Carter looked at me and all I saw was the same look that was probably in my eyes - sadness. I looked at him and remembered the anger he had in his eyes and a tear rolled down my cheek. He looked away from me and said, "I'll kill him for touching you" and I could see him breathing to try and calm down. "D-don't", I mumbled unable to muster any more words. He looked at me and in that moment I wanted to feel safe so I moved closer to him and hugged him. At first he was shocked and then wrapped his arms around me tightly.

We sat there together for a while breathing and holding each other tightly. He was warm and strong and his grip never weakened once. Then the silence was broken by his phone and it was all disrupted. He pulled it out his pocket and declined it. "Its Danny" he said quietly. He looked at me and I looked at the floor and nodded slowly. "I'll take you home if you want", he was quiet and sincere. I shook my head. I couldn't face my Dad tonight, he would ask too many questions and I'd break down. He looked at me confused and I took a shaky breath in as I said, "I feel safe here...with you ". He then wrapped his arms tightly around me once more and held me close. I could hear his heart beating and even his heart was powerful. I didn't want to be anywhere else in that moment.

I could feel my eyes growing heavy and I didn't want to close them because I felt that if I closed them that I would be taken back to the place where I had felt so powerless and afraid. Then I remembered I was with Carter and instantly felt safe again. I was so thankful that he had been there. Before my eyes shut fully I whispered, "Thank you". In that moment he hugged me tighter and I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up I was in my own bed. I was confused at first and hadn't understood how I got there and as I sat up I saw Carter asleep on the chair by my bed. His long, soft eyelashes made him look innocent but his rising muscular chest made him look powerful. As I was trying to remember how I had gotten into bed my mind was brought back to the events of last night and I felt my body curl up as I brought my knees up to my chin. I felt the tears begin to flow and no matter how hard I tried to keep them at bay, they kept coming. To restrain them I sniffled a little and looked at Carter. He was now awake and staring directly at me. "Sorry" I whispered under my breath.

He rose from the chair and stretched flaring all his muscles. If I didn't feel so broken I probably would have gone all funny. He slowly walked over to me whilst keeping his eyes on me, he sat next to me and for a minute we were silent and then he spoke. "I thought it best to bring you home last night" he said tentatively. I nodded and pulled a smile as hard as I could but I knew it was barely what he deserved. I coughed to moisturise my throat since I hadn't spoken since last night and spoke quietly, "thank you but you look so exhausted". I paused taking a breath and the carried on, "you can stay here and catch up on your sleep if you want". He smiled gently at me and at this I could fully see the exhaustion. His eyebrows then creased up on his forehead and he said bitterly, "I have to sort something...I can't". With that he rose from the bed and brushed a little bit of hair from my face and left me alone in the room.

..............................................................................................................................................................................

A/N

Carter is truly a hero! What do you think will happen next?

Leave your ideas and comments below - I love hearing from you guys.

TaTa for now

xx