Chapter 37

                                    

                                          


                          
"Dustin?" The question came out hoarse, too quiet but too loud, and shredded by fear that the man I saw standing in the center of my room was nothing more than a fabrication of my sleep deprived yet still overactive imagination.
                          
	He sauntered closer, his steps now masked by my rug in his approach, and through the blur of fresh tears in my eyes, I saw that it truly was him. The real Dustin, rugged and brazen just as I remembered. Not a dream or a vision, or a concoction of my mind in any way. It was him, really him, further confirmed when I crawled across the bed and launched myself into his arms.
                          
	His hot breaths exploded across my neck as powerful, petrified sighs of relief escaped him. One hand enclosed my back, holding me against him so tightly it bordered on painful, while his other hand cradled the back of my head to keep it buried in the crook of his neck. His breaths continued and words rode out with each exhale, "Thank god ... you're alright ... thank god."
                          
	"How are you here?" I whispered, simultaneously crying, while clinging to him without intention of ever letting him go again, "Wait, why are you here? Is everyone okay? Are you okay?"
                          
	"I'm fine, everyone is fine.." He pulled back to look at me, his fingers finding residence around my face and stretching wide across my cheeks to cover as much surface as possible. I noticed that his hands were shaking and his eyes were wide, barricaded open by apprehension. He looked terrified, "I thought something happened to you. I thought ... shit Sadie, I thought you were ..."
                          
	I placed my hands over his, weaving his fingers with my own, "I'm fine, Dustin. Look at me, see," I smiled for good measure though I'm certain it wasn't reassuring, "I'm fine."
                          
	"You said someone hit you." My eyes closed at the way his words fractured in the middle, "I heard your dad yelling and you were yelling, then the line went dead. I tried calling back but you wouldn't answer and I thought he-" Still he couldn't finish that sentence. His forehead pressed into mine, deep breaths tearing through him, unsuccessfully trying to calm down, "I came as fast as I could."
                          
	My body leaned into his, compulsively searching for further contact. My hold on his hands became tighter when his shaking didn't stop. He was so wired, buzzing with hysterical energy that terrorized him and made his skin scalding to the touch, seeking a way out but contained within and elevating his torment.
                          
	"I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say, I didn't know how to soothe his suffering.
                          
	 "You swear you're alright? Let me look at you." He examined me once over, then again, and those violent gems narrowed when he came across the purple patch just below my left eye. His thumb brushed over my bruised cheek, so incredibly delicate but still enough that I twitched, fleeting in reality but lingering in Dustin's mind like a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. That ungodly presence fell over him, malignant toxins rolling through his eyes like storm clouds, "That bastard, did your father do this? Where is he? I'll kill him, Sadie. I'll kill him with my bare hands."
                          
	He was already on his way to my door before I answered, fists swinging and muscles coiling in preparation for the beating of a lifetime. I didn't doubt Dustin's promise, he really would kill my father if I let him.
                          
	I should. My father deserved to fall under Dustin's fists for how that devil of a man has treated me over the years. But allowing this to happen would only add another body to Dustin's ever growing list. My father deserved the punishment but Dustin didn't deserve to be the one administering it. He has enough demons, he didn't need another one, especially not on my behalf.
                          
	 As Dustin reached for the door, I raced after him and latched onto his wrist to stop him. He turned back towards me in a flash but the fury creased in his expression subsided, as if he didn't dare bestow such aggression towards me.