Someone grabbed Sam’s shoulder as she stood to brush the sand off her pants and the panic shot straight through her. She whirled around and came face to face with a completely panicked AJ, who looked as though he was on the verge of crying.
“What were you thinking?” he said in a loud whisper. “Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be out here like this?”
“I just needed some fresh air.” Sam squeaked as he wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could. “I couldn’t sleep and when I saw the beach, I thought it might help.”
AJ finally eased his grasp to grab her by the hand; he dragged her up to the house and deposited her in a lounger by the pool. Racking his hand through his hair, he thought about the scare she just caused and what he wanted to say to her.
--------------
Ryan slunk back into the bushes as he watched the idiot drag his wife away. One more minute and he would have had her exactly where he wanted to! This jackass kept getting in the way of his plans and as Ryan sat there and watched them together, he thought of all the possible scenarios he was going to have to implement in order to get rid of the moron.
---------------
“You cannot ever, ever do something like this again.” AJ said, a little louder and harsher than he should have. “Waking up and not being able to find you scared the shit out of me.”
Sam felt bad because she could see the worry all over his face. He was always looking out for her, taking care of her and she really didn’t want to cause all of this stress.
“I’m sorry AJ, I just needed a little bit of space and quiet time.”
He sighed and slumped down onto the lounger next to her. “I don’t mean to tell you what to do; I’m just concerned about you.”
“I know you are.” Sam said as she reached out and squeezed his hand. “I guess that trip of ours reminded me of how much I loved being out. I just felt like I needed to get out again.”
“You could’ve woken me up, I would have some out with you.” he said and he saw a small smile cross her face. “I guess that would kind of defeat the purpose of alone time huh?”
“A little.” she replied as she held her index finger and thumb a little apart. “But I understand what you mean. Can I ask one favor?”
“Anything.”
“Can you give me five minutes out here by the pool? I just need a couple minutes to think.”
AJ cocked an eyebrow, what did she need time to think about? He reluctantly agreed to give her the space and slowly made his way into the house, repeatedly looking over his shoulder to make sure she was ok. She gave him a smile and a wave as he finally entered the house and closed the slider.
Sam sighed and stretched out on the chair by the pool. She knew why AJ was concerned and she agreed that it was stupid of her to go outside without at least letting him know. He was absolutely terrified that something had happened to her and she felt awful about causing him to worry like that. After taking a deep breath and thinking about what she wanted to say to him, she turned and waved at him to come back. She knew that, even if she couldn’t see him, he could see her and it made her laugh.
He came back outside, sitting down next to her with a sheepish grin. At first she didn’t say anything and simply took his hand in hers. His eyes searched hers as he was waiting for her to speak and he could have sworn he saw a different person in there.
“I need to tell you something.” Sam said after a few minutes. “And I need you to listen without saying anything. Can you do that?”
AJ started to open his mouth but changed his mind and nodded the answer to her request.
“There are some things that I should have said to you a while ago but I didn’t know how to do it.” Sam said and paused for a few seconds. “I love you AJ.”
“I love…” AJ started to say before Sam raised her eyebrow and he quickly closed his mouth.
“I love you and I should have told you a long time ago. You have told me over and over again that you love me but I’ve never said it to you. That was a mistake on my part and I want to make sure you know how I feel about you.”
She waited to see if he was going to cut her off but he was trying as hard as he could to do what she asked.
“The other thing is that I need to thank you. You have been there for me through all of this and I know how much you’ve sacrificed for me.”
“But I haven’t….”
Sam cut him off by putting her finger against his lips.
“You promised to let me talk remember?”
AJ simply nodded and let her continue.
“You have sacrificed your time and your freedom to be here with me all the time. That means more to me than you could possibly imagine but it’s not been fair to you. There are things that you need to take care of outside of this house. I know the guys want to work on a new album and your management wants all of you to get back out there so you have more visibility…”
“None of those things is more important than protecting you!”
“You really can’t be quiet can you?” Sam asked with a laugh.
“Not when it comes to you.” AJ replied with sad eyes. “I couldn’t imagine not being here to keep you safe.”
Sam was touched by what he said but she had already thought long and hard about it. She couldn’t keep him tethered to her and this house like Ryan did to her, it just wasn’t fair.
“You need to get out AJ. I promise nothing will happen.”
------------------
Ryan was seething as he watched the two of them walk back into the house. She just told that idiot she loved him! Sam hadn’t said that to him in years and he was her fucking husband! That little bitch thought that she was escaping from the life they shared but she’d come to find that there was no way he would let that happen.
Old Wounds by Kyrie
