Obsessed

Peter

I land my punches as hard as I can, all to the fucker’s face. Months of built up anger and frustration are loaded in every one of them. The sound of each blow drives the next one to follow. My skin hitting his, the dull crack of his bones under the weight of my rage.

Far off in the background I can hear footsteps, calls of Chief and That’s enough filtering through to me. But they do nothing to slow me down, let alone stop me. Because I’ve wanted this moment for too long. I’ve thought about it every day, even dreamed about it. I’ll stop when I’m done. When my fist rams straight through his crushed up skull.

“Peter, stop!”

Emily. Hers is the voice that reaches through the thick cloud of fury and makes the beating stop.

Out of breath, I use his smashed up face as a boost to push myself onto my feet. I stand over his limp, moaning body and the strongest disgust rises in me. I suck it back, ball it up, and spit it out. It lands smack dab in the middle of the bloody mess that used to be his face. A shining globule of my saliva. The perfect topping for the perfect payback.

“Get him out of here.”

Ross, who’s been hanging back this whole time, giving me my moment, is now the first to move. He bends down next to Trevor and begins reading him his rights as he slaps a pair of cuffs on him.

“Peter.”

I feel a light tugging on my arm, and when I turn around, I’m nearly struck down by the sight of Emily. Alive.

She rushes over to me, and throws herself into my arms with such force, I stagger back.

“Peter, oh, Peter!” she cries into my neck.

I hold onto her like I’ve never held onto anything in my life. Like I never want to let her go again. We stand there a moment longer, clinging to each other for dear life. And that’s exactly what it feels like for me. Like she’s my whole life.

I’m sitting with Emily in the back of the ambulance, my arm around her shoulders, and we watch as the squad car takes Trevor away. Only once the last of its lights fade away do we dare to shift our attention.

“How did you find me?” she asks.

“He was stupid enough to steal a stolen car. All we had to do was run the plates. The owner died a couple of years ago. It was his house Trevor was using.”

She sighs heavily, then rests her head on my shoulder. “Peter, I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, don’t.” I tighten my hold on her. God, it feels so fucking good to have her back.

“It was my fault,” she says. “I shouldn’t have met with him. And I definitely shouldn’t have kept it from you.”

“Hey—” I put my fingers to her chin and make her look at me. Her eyes are huge pools of love and exhaustion. My heart aches for her. “It’s over. You’re fine, our baby’s fine, and that’s all I care about.”

A soft smile tilts the corners of her mouth and she nods, her eyes brimming with tears. “It’s over,” she says, and laughs softly. “It’s finally over.”

She takes my face in both her hands and places the gentlest of kisses to my lips before resting her forehead against mine.

“You know what this is, right?” I ask, taking her hand and holding it to my heart.

“Tell me,” she says.

The hurried activity of the crime scene fades to black all around us as our bubble of bliss seals shut. I’ve missed it so much.

“It’s the beginning of forever, Emily. You and me.”

“And he or she,” she says with a laugh, and places my hand flat against her growing belly.

I’m so overcome with love for them both, I can barely contain it. There are no words left that could do it justice. So all I can do is show her, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life doing just that.

Epilogue

It feels like a dream. I’m looking at this woman in the mirror, and she’s absolutely radiant. The flowing white dress she’s wearing fits perfectly. Her smile doesn’t waver, and she’s filled with the purest excitement for what lies ahead. There’s no knot of anxiety in her stomach and her shoulders don’t slump under the weight of the world. This has to be a mistake. Surely she can’t be me.