Counting Sheep

Chapter 9

Layla sighed, letting her eyes fall shut.

God dammit, she cursed. In her dazed state of mind, she hadn't been thinking exactly when she left Frank's house, her only thought that she needed to get away from him to gather her thoughts and at that time, the thought of having to have Frank help her in any other way was a large and very bitter pill to swallow. He had already done so much to help her with everything, but she had to admit that she was stupid for not even thinking about how far she would have to walk. She didn't even know where she was, exactly.

Opening her eyes, she met Danger's kind gaze. "It's a long story." She muttered and hoped that he would let it be.

Thankfully, he did.

"Well, hop in. I'm heading that way and Alice would skin me alive if she knew I left you out here to walk home alone," He bent over the middle console to pull the door handle, pushing it ajar. "Get in."

After a moments of hesitation, she walked over and got in. Thankfully, the truck wasn't too high up and she knew that if it had been any higher she would have been unable to get in the car with how bad her arms hurt and how just the action of lifting her arms made her see stars.

The warm interior of the car smelled of the pine scented air freshener that was sandwiched between the air vents. She turned to Danger, completely forgetting about the state of her face and how beat up she looked.

Literally.

She heard him take in a sharp breath of air, his features tightening with rage.

"What the fuck happened to your face?" He growled out, teeth gnashing together. Layla lowered her head, feeling Danger's finger catch under her chin and lift it as he examined the damage done to her face.

"What happened?" He asked again in a deadly low tone. Layla swallowed hard and let her eyes fall shut, shielding herself from Danger's gaze. "I will tell you later, but I just want to get home." She opened her eyes again, letting him see how much she wanted-no, needed-to be back in her safe zone.

It didn't even matter that it was her very own prison she was going back to.

She just needed time. "Please. Just until we get back to my house. Please." She pleaded softly.

The man's jaw tightened but finally after a moment he gave a sigh of reluctance and resignation.

"Fine." He said and turned back to the wheel so he could begin driving again. Layla let out a deep breath as she deflated and sunk back into the passenger seat. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pulled her legs up in front of her.

The radio played softly, but other than that the cab of the truck was silent and it wasn't long before they finally got back to her house. It was shrouded in the murky gray overcast light from the large and lurking storm clouds overhead.

Layla gingerly extracted herself from the truck, wincing when her injures pulsed with new pain. 

Some painkillers would be awesome right now, she thought with a sigh.

Once they were inside the house, Layla turned to Danger, hoping that maybe-possibly-hopefully, he had forgotten about how her face looked like someone had used it as their very own basketball, football and soccer ball combined. As soon as her eyes met his, the hope deflated in an instant. He very much so remembered and he was very much so awaiting an answer.

Grimacing, Layla held up a hand. "Let me go change. Then I'll make us some tea." She said and without waiting for his answer, turned to trudge to her bedroom. As soon as she made it into her bedroom, she shut the door behind her, leaning against it as though her body was about to give out. Sure as hell felt like it.