“I’m not going to,” she told him.

“I’m serious, Belle,” he said, brushing his lips against hers again.  “Watching you walk out the door was like hearing that my dad had died all over again.  I don’t want to let you go.”

“I never wanted to let you go,” she said, swallowing back the tears.  “But…I had to for your own safety.”

The tears flowed freely then, and the pounding in her head intensified.

God, it hurts so bad, she thought.

“Shhh,” he said, pulling her into him.  “It’s okay.  You don’t have to worry about my safety.  I can take care of myself.  I only worry about you.”

“I didn’t want him to hurt you,” she blubbered through her tears.

“That guy?  Your ex?”  He really looked at her and examined her swollen eye.  “Did he do this to you?”  He sounded equal parts shocked and angry.

Well, maybe he was a bit more pissed.

Devon nodded, but that was a bad idea.  “I don’t…feel too well,” she said, resting her hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, look at me.”  He softly cradled her head in his hands.  “What did he do to you?  Do you remember?”

“Yeah,” she said, trying to focus on the task at hand.

“Hey, hey, now.  Just look at me.  Look at me.”  He stared into her eyes, looking at them under the light.  “Just tell me one thing that happened.”

“He tried to rape me,” she whispered, saying it because it was the one thing that stood out.

Brennan hissed between his teeth as his eyes hardened.  He looked murderous.  She had never seen him so angry before.

“Anything else?” he said through gritted teeth.  “Did he shake you really hard?  Or did you hit your head when this happened?”  He pointed at her eye.

Did she hit her head?  She was having a hard time remembering what happened.  She had a foggy thought about a side table.  Wait…yes, she had hit a side table.  Stars.  She had seen a lot of stars.

“I hit the corner of a side table,” she said, her voice slurring.

“Okay.”  He scooped her up in his arms before she could collapse.  “I think you have a concussion.  We should get you to a hospital.”

“I can’t go to a hospital!” she cried hysterically.  “He’ll find me!”

“Devon, please let me take care of you.”

“No hospitals!” she repeated.

“You’re not exactly in a condition to argue with me.”

Carrying her over to his bed, with one hand, he pulled the comforter back on his bed and gently placed her down.  He grabbed an extra pillow and stuffed it behind her head, so she would be more comfortable for the time being.

“Please,” she said, drawing her knees up to her chest, “I’ll let you take care of me.  Just no hospitals.”

Brennan sighed in a way that showed he was going to give in.  How could he deny her anything when she was in such a state?

“Alright.  I know a thing or two about concussions, but if it gets worse, I’m taking you to the hospital.  You might need an MRI to check for brain damage.  I’m not going to fuck around with head injuries just because your ex might find you.  Deal?” he asked.

“Deal.”  She was able to relax now that she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’ll be right back.  I’m going to get you some ibuprofen and an ice pack.”

He returned with the medicine and a large glass of water, which she took without complaint.  She placed the glass on the nightstand and then leaned back into the bed.  He adjusted the ice pack to the back of her head and Devon winced slightly at the tender spot.  She already felt much calmer and so comfortable.  She just wanted to sleep.  Her eyes fluttered closed.  It felt nice.

“Hey,” he said, sinking into the bed next to her.  “No sleeping just yet.  I want to make sure you’re alright.”

“No sleeping.  Got it.”

Brennan found her hand and circled his thumb against her palm.  “Can you tell me what happened?  It might help you stay awake.”

She nodded slowly.  She had been planning to tell him that night anyway.  Now, she was here, like fate had reasoned that this was their night together.  Too bad fate had taken a pretty disastrous turn.

“Yeah.  Where should I start?”

“The beginning, I suppose.  Wherever is good for you.”  He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it.  “I’m here for you.”

Devon smiled and started from the beginning, the very beginning.  “When I was in high school, I was dating this guy, Mason,” she began.  “I’d known him all of my life.  His mom was my mom’s best friend.  I think they had arranged for us to be married while we were still in the womb.  I think it’s how I got my nickname, Dixie.”

“Dixie?” he asked, unable to hold back his chuckle.

Devon nodded.  “Mason and Dixie.  Mason Dixon.  I’m sure you get it.”

“How Southern, Belle,” he said, squeezing her hand lightly.

“Exactly.  My mom still calls me Dixie even though I’ve told her a million times that I hate it.  Anyway, long story short, Mason and I dated through almost all of high school.  I was a cheerleader, and he was the quarterback.  I know, big surprise.  It’s really cheesy and embarrassing.”

“That sounds like everything in high school.”

Devon smiled faintly.  “Yeah.  Well, as we grew up, we grew apart.  It was only natural.  We weren’t the same people anymore.  I didn’t want to be a country music singer or Dixie or anything related to my parents’ life, which included him, and he just wasn’t okay with that.”

“I could see that if you had been together all your life,” Brennan said.

“We had this abandoned house that we used to meet up at.”  Devon’s cheeks flushed.  “I’m sure you can imagine what for.  Anyway, I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore.  He freaked out and slapped me.  I started crying and swore I was going to tell everyone, but he apologized and then freaked out even more.  It never happened again, but I think it was part of the reason I chose to go to Wash U,” she whispered.  “When Reid hit me the first time, I just thought that he was like Mason …that he wouldn’t do it again, but he did…”

“You made the right choice by leaving,” Brennan said, drawing her closer.

Devon shook her head.  “I’m not sure my choices were ever right.  If I’d made the right choices, then I would have outted Mason.  I would have outted Reid.  Then, maybe all of this would have turned out differently.”

“And maybe then, I never would have found you,” he said, softly kissing her swollen cheek.

“I would have found you,” she whispered.

“Good.  I wouldn’t have wanted another life that didn’t include you.”

“Me either.”

He smiled.  “Tell me the rest of the story.”

And so she did.  She told him everything she had told Garrett that night she had mistakenly decided to trust him with her secret.  It hurt just as bad the second time.  She hoped that the pain would dampen over time.  She also hoped that she wouldn’t have to tell the story that much.  She knew at least two other people who needed to know—her mom and Hadley.  Maybe if she was completely honest with them, they would be able to forge a better relationship again.  She knew it would take time.

When she finished, she found that her tears had dried up, and Brennan had his arm around her shoulders.  She didn’t feel like he was trying to control her.  She only felt that he wanted to comfort her…be there for her in any way that he could.  She turned her face up to him, and then she felt his lips land softly on hers.

“Belle,” he whispered against her lips.

“Yeah?” she asked.

He said stared down at her intensely, and she found herself gripped in his gaze.

“I think I knew you were running the first time I saw you,” he said.  “Those big stormy eyes telling me you were lost with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.  I just didn’t know what you were running from, but I think, all along, you were running toward me.”