Irving looked up in surprise, and so did I. As I saw the shadow of the man who had spoken the words making his way toward us, joy and relief surged through me.
“This is your last chance, kid, or you will not be leaving this alley on your own, free will,” he said to Irving.
That’s when it hit me. I knew that voice. Knew it as well as my own.
Wade.
“The only one leaving here in a body bag will be you, asshole,” Irving replied.
He darted forward and took a vicious swing at Wade, but Wade was able to duck under the attack. He dropped down and tackl
ed Irving to the ground, and they started wrestling. Although Irving was bigger, Wade soon got the upper hand and got Irving pinned with some sort of arm lock. Even in the darkness of the alley, I could see the look of intense pain twisted in Irving's face.
“I only have to pull a little more, just like this,” Wade pulled just slightly up on the arm he had twisted behind Irving’s back, “and your arm will break, kid,” he growled. “And I promise you, if you struggle any harder, you'll break your arm yourself. Do you wanna walk around with your arm in a cast for the next two months? Lose all that muscle you’ve built up in the gym?”
“No,” Irving whimpered, who seemed almost on the point of tears. “Please let me go. Please.”
“I really don’t want to let you go, ya know? What I really want to do is snap every bone in your punk-ass body for what you tried to do to this girl – but I won't. I'll let the law take care of you. I don't give a shit who your dad is. I'll step in front of any judge and jury and tell them exactly what I saw you try to do to her.”
This time, Irving had nothing to say. Wade pulled Irving’s head up and slammed it into the ground once, then got off him and shoved him away.
“Get the hell out of here,” Wade said. “And go enjoy your last few sleeps in your own bed because you're gonna be sleeping in a prison cell soon enough. I'll make sure of that, I promise you.”
Irving stumbled away, whimpering in pain and gripping his shoulder as he fled. I ran into Wade's arms, hugging him as tightly as I possibly could. He returned the hug, holding me as close as was humanly possible.
“Oh my God, Wade. I don't know how you came to be here, but you just saved my life. You saved my life.”
“I'm just relieved I was in the right place at the right time,” he whispered in my ear.
“But...how? How did you come to be here?”
“I flew out to L.A. this afternoon, and then drove up here. I had to see you. I just couldn't go on without you any longer; it was driving me crazy.”
“But how…how did you know to come out here, to this bar?”
“I didn't. I was planning on calling you tomorrow. But this cab driver in L.A. recommended I come see the band playing here tonight, so I figured I'd do that, have a beer, get an early night, and then, yeah, get hold of you tomorrow. And then when I was watching the band, I just happened to spot you in the bar.
“I assumed this jerk whose ass I just kicked was your new boyfriend, but just to be sure, I followed you guys out to the parking lot. Your body language told me you weren’t comfortable around him, so I followed you both to this alley – and the rest is history.”
I still couldn't believe it was him – that he was really here. We both stared at each other for a while, and then I hugged him tightly again and he pressed a warm kiss to my forehead. A calm spread through me.
He took my hand in his, and it felt so good, so right.
“Come on,” he said, leading me out of the alley toward the parking lot. “Let's go. I'll drive you home.”
I leaned over and kissed him on his cheek.
“Thank you, again,” I whispered. “I'm so glad you came.”
“I am, too,” he whispered. “I am, too.”
*****
Back at my apartment, I sipped slowly on my coffee and stared into Wade's eyes, and in them I saw the same love I felt for him reflected right back at me. And at this moment, it felt stronger than it ever had. I reached out with my free hand across the table, and he placed his hand on mine, caressing it softly and gently.
“God, I can’t believe you’re here. I'm so glad you came,” I said to him. “I really am.”
“Me, too. I've missed you so much, Eryn – I really have. I was going crazy without you. I felt like I was lost – like everything was lost. I’ve just been miserable.”