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“So what’s this important mission you have me on? Is it dangerous?” Kamaria asked, walking around the kitchen island to wrap her arms around Bruno’s torso, looking up at him with a small grin. She was getting used to his ways by that point, having just a few weeks prior moved into his apartment. The dorms weren’t safe anymore for either of them after Kane’s antics.
Bruno laughed and cocked his head to the side, his usual trademark look. “Well, if you must know how dangerous this mission is, I am completely out of Nutella. I can’t survive without it, love. You know this.”
Her eyebrow quirked up, pulling away enough to stare at him. “Is that so? Nutella over me?”
“Okay, you know you are so much better than Nutella, but I cannot put you between two bread slices. You’re not edible. You’re adorable.”
“Adorable???”
“Deadly and adorable?”
“...Better.”
“So you accept?”
“If that means I don’t have to cook at all, I guess I can do that for you.”
He looked so pleased with himself, leaning down to kiss her forehead gently. “I love you, Kamaria. Thank you.”
~~~
It was atrocious walking around the crowded grocery store, the random bouts of people brushing up against her arms, being too close for comfort. Kamaria could barely breathe in there, the memories of Kane and his fraternity brothers floating up to the surface again.
She thought it would never end, even when the police showed up and the ambulance took her and a half-dead Bruno to the hospital. The trial was supposed to start soon enough once the police were done gathering evidence. After all that happened to her, she still couldn’t admit it was over. There was always a shadow looming behind her.
She could see Kane’s face wherever she went, whenever she was awake or asleep, and it drove her to the point of near isolation. The grocery store was her personal minefield of unwanted memories, touches, murmurs, and stares she could feel burn at her. Next time Bruno wanted his precious Nutella, he could come get it himself, because she wasn’t ready yet to leave the safety of their apartment. Not yet. It was all a mistake.
Her panic attack worsened, her vision darkening around the edges while her heart pounded in her chest so loudly, she was sure the others in the aisle could hear it. She wasn’t yet approved for having a service dog, but Bruno was more than certain it would happen. She wasn’t exactly sure how that would work, but she trusted him.
She trusted him with her life.
The panic started to settle down as she snatched the largest jar of Nutella she could find, taking it to the front of the store and grateful the cashier wouldn’t do their small talk with her. As if she was going to open up to a stranger. Her day was already in shambles, but the thought of getting home was the only silver-lining.
Slipping out of the store and finally tilting her head back to breathe in the fresh air, she was able to ground herself, her hand holding onto the bag tightly. Just a couple more blocks and she would get to feel safe again.
That was until she walked through a shortcut between the buildings and felt an ominous presence again. Just behind her. She was about to turn her head, but a gun was pressed right against her spine.
“Ah ah ah. Not yet. Do you remember me, darling? I’m the one you tried to put in a cell for a long time. I had just enough money to make bail,” a dark voice murmured, the gun pressing a little harder into her.
“Y-you… You shouldn’t… How could they let you out?” Kamaria asked, turning her head, her green eyes boring into his soulless, grey ones. Even in her fearful state, anger bubbled right up and she growled out, “You asked me if I remember you. I think the world should forget about you. You’ll rot in a cell until you’re nothing, because you’re just that. Nothing.”
Kane’s smile reached his eyes, genuinely amused somehow from her words. “Money makes the world go ‘round, darling-”
“Don’t call me that!” She shouted, but she didn’t have long to enjoy his silence before he hit her against the head with his gun, dazing her long enough to throw her against the floor. Her breath was knocked out of her, her eyes focused on the Nutella jar rolling away from her.
Kane pressed against her throat with his left shoe, glaring down at her in silent rage. Unfortunately, silence wasn't suited for Kane. “Did you think I was going to let you go? To him? To that stupid jock that has half a brain? I won you fair and square! You don’t get to leave me for that brute!” He kicked her in the stomach, sending her into the wall. “The best day of my life was knowing you had to watch him die for a little bit. So how was it? Watching those paramedics break his ribs and try to bring him back from the dead?” He crouched down, rubbing her cheek as he held the gun to her head.
It had to be a dream. It just had to be a nightmare. This couldn’t be happening to Kamaria. Not again. His touch was like fire, burning her skin and tainting it with his vile existence. “I love him more than I hate you.”
She saw the way Kane went still from that declaration of love and hate, and before she could regret anything, he straddled her, pinning her hands under his knees. “That’s it. You are going to learn your place! You can either die alone or live with me. Take a pick.”
Kamaria had an answer. She always did. She spat on him while she tried to scream for someone, anyone to help. That was before his hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing hard and snarling down at her. “Fine. You can die in this filthy alley. And then he can find you dead and blame himself. If that doesn’t kill him, then I eventually will. Once he has nothing left in life.”
She wasn’t ready to die yet. She had so much left to do. To see the world Bruno always told her about; one that was always so gorgeous and lovely. To give him his stupid Nutella. To finish school and do something noble like him. To marry him… To tell her mom that she finally found the right person to protect and love her for who she is.
She kicked and struggled while her vision went dark, Kane’s vice grip unyielding until it wasn’t there anymore, the sounds of a scuffle happening near her. There was no way she could tell what was going on yet, everything was still a blur to her, but there was something different. Then she heard a voice.
“I told you if you ever touched her again, you’re dead!” Bruno roared, trying to fight against the man that almost took her away from him.
Kane’s laugh was dark and cruel, holding the gun up to aim it at Bruno. “You ready to say goodbye?”
“What? You’re gonna shoot me? Kill me? Go ahead! I already died once. I’m not afraid to die. Just leave her alone.”
“You misunderstand, brute. I was never going to shoot you.” He fired at Kamaria’s stomach and leg, her screams ripping through the air as the bullets lodged in her body.
Bruno turned around so fast, but he was unable to stop the bullets from piercing her, from watching the blood seep through her clothes. “Kamaria!” He screamed, rushing to her, Kane just a blip of nothing in his mind, his hand holding her cheek. “Stay with me, love. Just stay with me.”
Kamaria looked up at him, tears falling down her face. “Is it over?” She asked, pain radiating through her, pressing into Bruno’s gentle touch.
“That’s my cue to leave you two at it. I’ll find you later, brute,” Kane mocked, finding safety in a black car waiting for him at the end of the alley.
Bruno’s jaw was tight, shoulders shaking from rage, but Kamaria’s question still rang through his mind. “Yeah, love. It’s over. We’re gonna get you help. You are going to be just fine.” His hand reached for his phone, dialing for help. “Please get me an ambulance. Someone shot my girlfriend. Yes! Hurry! I’m gonna try to stop the bleeding, but I won’t be on the phone. Just send someone to my location.” He tossed the phone to the side, leaving the call on for the dispatcher to use.
She wanted to say something, but she’s so tired. She can barely keep her eyes open, the shock finally getting to her. She gasps when she feels a belt wrap around her leg tightly, spine arching as his hands place pressure on her stomach. “It hurts!”
“I know! Love, I know it hurts, but you aren’t leaving me behind! You are going to live the longest life I can give you!” His head is bowed, tears falling onto her, trying his hardest to keep everything at bay for the professionals to save her life.
She turns her head, the jar coming back into view. A small smile paints her face. “I at least got you… your Nutella…”
“To hell with the Nutella, Kamaria. I love you. Come on, eyes on me,” he grunted, looking around to see if anyone was going to come to her rescue.
Forest green meets ocean blue, and she lost herself in his eyes like she has in certain instances. She understood what he meant when he mentioned feeling as though he were in a forest when looking at her. She was wading in the ocean, the waves so powerful and mighty like the heart at its center. She felt at peace for the first time that day, a dark wave passing over her as Bruno’s screams only got louder. He loved her, and he was going to always love her.
By the time the sirens wailed in her ears, she wasn’t fully there anymore, but someone was holding her hand tightly. She could guess who it was, and even when she was in the ambulance, fighting for her life, someone threw out a life line to her. And she held on until the darkness took her.
~~~
When her eyes opened, the light came through the windows, the white room of the…
Hospital.
She’s in a hospital.
She was about to rip off her mask and IV lines when a hand grabbed hers.
“Please don’t do that, love. You really need to keep them on.”
She looked at a different sort of Bruno; one that had bloodshot eyes, stubble, and looked like his shirt should have been changed days ago.
“H-how-”
“Six days. You were asleep for… for six days. I didn’t want to leave. They couldn’t drag me out. I…” He bowed his head over her chest, crying softly. “I shouldn’t have sent you out to the store. I didn’t think he… I’m so sorry, love. I’m sorry.”
She reached up with her hand, holding his cheek and making him look at her. “I love you.”
“R-really?”
Idiot. “I said it, didn’t I?” She forced a smile and laughed genuinely for the first time in so long. She had her brute, and he had her. They were going to make it, even if Kane was still out there, they would make it.
They had to.