Amanda's POV

It has been a month since Jenkins was arrested and it is now time to return home for the trial. We had just boarded the plane and sat down in our seats. I was a little stressed about going home but I wanted to get this over with. I was pretty much healed from my injuries. The bruises are gone and every once in a while I would get a pain in my ribs when I moved funny. Eric has been wonderful in taking care of me. He hasn't even pressured me to have sex with him. He has said he wants me to be healed before we try anything. He doesn't want me to feel pressured into anything. He is so amazing, how did I get so lucky? Our plane starts to taxi up the runway and soon we are lifting off the ground.

"So are you ready to close this chapter?"

"So ready. I will never have to see him again, and I can be free. I just wish I didn't have to see him again."

"You will do fine. I will be right there with you. YOu will show him how brave you are and he will not ruin your life."

"I am going to try."

Soon the plane was at cruising altitude and I laid my head on his shoulder and tried to take a nap. The trial is tomorrow and my stomach is in knots thinking about facing him once again. I can't sleep and I sit up and turn to look out the window. I feel Eric lean over and stroke my arm.

"Are you okay, love? I know this is a super stressful event for you."

"I will be. I am just concerned about seeing him again. I just want to get this over with."
"I want this to be over too, love. I hate to see you stressed out. I want us to go back to normal away from this. I worry about you."

I turn around and kiss his lips. I can't believe he is in my life. He is such an amazing and sweet man. I can't believe anyone would think of him differently. I lean back over and place my head back on his shoulder. He reaches up and caresses my cheek.

"I will be there with you every step of the way. I will be behind you to catch you if you fall and carry you the rest of the way. I love you."

"I love you too."

He caresses my arm and it calms me as I fall asleep. Next thing I know he is gently shaking me awake.

"Love, it's time to wake up. We are landing."

"MMmm, we're here? I feel like I just fell asleep."

"Are you feeling better?"

"A bit, just want to get this over with."

"After tomorrow, it will be done."

The plane finally lands and we taxi to our gate. We grab our things and head out to baggage claim. ONce we grab our bags, we head outside and my dad is waiting for us. He gets out of his car and comes to give me a hug."

"Hello pumpkin! Hello Eric. How was your flight?"

"Hey daddy, it was good. How are you?"

"I am doing well. Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"As ready as I can be. I am ready to get it over with."

"How are things with you, Eric?"

"Things are great. Business is doing awesome. I am just worried about my girl here."
"Hopefully tomorrow it will all be over with and he will be put away for a long time."
Dad takes our bags and puts them in the trunk and we all climb in the car and head to the house. Eric grabs our bags and we take them up to my old bedroom. He sets them down and sits on the bed.

"So this is where the young Amanda lived?"

"Yes, pretty typical, huh?"

"I would have never tagged you as a pink type of girl."

"It was a phase."

"Hahaha, I like it though, it suits you."

"I'm not that girly girl anymore."

"I like this side too."
"Let's head back downstairs before my dad comes looking for us."

"You got it. I finally am on his good side. I don't want to change that. He scares me a little."

"Come on, let's go." I say with a chuckle.

We head downstairs and dad is sitting in his chair.

"Hey guys, is anybody hungry?"

"Actually, I am."

"I could eat." I say as my stomach lets out a growl.

"Good, cause I was thinking of going to the diner."
"Sounds good to me. I miss that place." I could see a small smile on dad's face as we headed out to the car and out to the diner. Once there, we sit in a booth and our favorite waitress comes over. Well, dad's favorite waitress.

"Good evening, Jordan. Amanda, so nice to see you again. How are you doing? Who is this fellow with you?"

"Good to see you too. I am doing okay. This is Eric, my boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you. What can I get you this evening?"

"I will have the house special, and a sweet tea." My dad answers with a smile.

"I'll have that too." I add.

"Same for me."

"Well, that's easy. I will have it back to you in a bit."

She takes off to the kitchen to put our orders in and is soon back with our drinks.

"So how long are you here for, Amanda?"

"Just a couple days."

"That's too bad. Jordan, I will see you this weekend?"
"Definitely." He says as I see a blush crawl across his cheeks. She heads over to her other tables and I look at my dad with a smirk.

"What was that all about?"

"Okay, so I listened to you and asked her out."

"Really? Oh my gosh, I'm so proud of you, dad! She seems like a really nice woman."

She soon brings our food and we dig in. I have missed this place. Their food is always good. I am so glad that dad finally gave in and asked Stella out. I hope that she makes him happy. He has been alone for so long. He deserves to be happy. Once we are finished dad pays for everything despite our protests and we head back to the house. We sit and talk about the trial tomorrow for a while until I decide I want to go to bed. I feel exhausted from the trip and just anxious for tomorrow.

"I'm gonna go up to bed. I am exhausted. It will be an early morning and a long day. Goodnight daddy. Goodnight my love."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, you can stay down here. I will be fine."
"Okay goodnight, I will be up later."

I head up to my room and get into my pajamas. I lay my head down and am soon asleep

I wake up and it is so dark I barely can see anything. I start walking down the hall and I see a small light. I walk towards it and open the door. I see a chair in the middle of the room with a body slumped forward. I walk over and see my dad tied to a chair and his head hanging low. I run over and kneel before him.

"Daddy, what happened?"

"It's your fault. He did this, because of you."

"No, it can't be!"
I stand up and back away into something behind me. I turn around and there is Jenkins covered in blood with a wicked smile on his face.

"I told you, you could never get rid of me. I would always come for you. You will never get rid of me."

"What did you do?! Where is Eric?"

"Oh, he's hanging around here somewhere."

I start to run and I hear his evil laugh behind me. I get to the door and something is illuminated next to me. I turn and see Eric hanging from the wall and his head is drooped down. I ran to him.

"Eric baby, it's me. Wake up!"

He doesn't move. I see that he is covered in blood and there is a pool of it beneath him. I look back up at him and see the blood is coming from his neck.

"AGGGHHHH!!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Eric's POV

I hear a scream that wakes me up suddenly. I sit up and see Amanda thrashing around again. I quickly try to wake her up and hold her to keep her from hurting herself. She hasn't had a nightmare in a long time.

"Baby, wake up. It's okay. Sweetheart come on, wake up."
I caress her face and kiss her cheeks. She slowly calms and wakes up. She instantly curls up into my chest and starts crying. I caress her hair and kiss the top of her head.

"Care to talk about it?"

She sniffles a bit before she starts talking.

"I was in a dark room and saw my father tied to a chair and beaten badly. He said it was my fault. Jenkins was there and I ran from him and found you chained to the wall and dead! It was so real."
"Baby, we're fine. He is locked away, he can't hurt you. I am here. I will always protect you."

"It scares me so much to think something could happen to you and daddy."

"Nothing will happen. You will be fine. Now, let's get up and get ready."

"Okay, I need some coffee." We head downstairs and dad is already making breakfast.

"Good Morning pumpkin, Eric. Big day today. Eat up, we all need our energy. Are you okay this morning?"

"Yeah, I just had a bad dream."

Once we are finished we all get ready to head to the courthouse. I could see her nerves getting the better of her the closer we got. I place my hand on her thigh and rub it as I lean over and kiss her cheek. We soon arrived and started to walk in. Her lawyer was waiting out front for us and we all went into a quiet room to go over what would be going on in the courtroom. After we had been sequestered for a while we headed into the courtroom. I sat down with her father as she walked up front with her lawyers to sit down. She slowly turns around to me.

"You got this babe. Don't worry."
"We are right here for you pumpkin."

She smiles slightly and turns back around as I see them bring in Jenkins in chains. He looks over at her with an evil grin as he licks his lips. I see her shudder and I see red. My blood boils at his audacity. I can tell she is trying to keep herself together and try to keep the anxiety away. I lean forward and whisper in her ear and she calms down some. They sit him in a chair at the other table with his lawyers. The bailiff announces the judge as he walks in and sits down. Different witnesses are called and are questioned by each team of lawyers. I can see she is fighting the anxieties and I wish I could be with her to hold her hand and let her know she will be okay and will beat this. Throughout the morning evidence was gone over along with her medical records of that night. Soon they call her up to the stand and she is asked many questions about that night and the history of them. By the end of it she is in tears and I just want to go up and wrap my arms around her. I hate seeing her like this. I just want to beat them all for causing her this much pain and stress. Her father places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it letting me know that I should calm down. I know he feels the same way. Her lawyer walks up to her and tries to comfort her for a moment before he goes into his questions. Jenkins lawyers elect not to put Jenkins on the stand to testify. The judge then issues a recess while the jurors deliberate and we go out into the hallway. Once outside she immediately fell into my arms and sobs.

"Babe, you did wonderful in there. There is no way he is going to get out of this."

"He's right, pumpkin. He is going to go away for a long time."

It doesn't take long before the jury finishes and we are all called back into the courtroom. The juror stands up and says Jenkins is guilty on all counts, kidnapping, assault, and stalking. The judge gives his ruling and he will be serving a twenty five year sentence with no possibility of parole. They take him back through the doors and I hear her let out a breath that she was holding. We get up and she hugs her lawyers and then hugs her dad and I pull her into my arms and kiss her deeply.

"I told you baby. He is gone for a long time. No more worrying."
"I am so glad that it is finally over. I feel like a weight has been lifted and I feel free."
"So how about a celebratory dinner at the diner?"

"Come on dad, you just want to see Stella."
"Possibly, but we should celebrate."
"I agree. This was a big step for you and we need to celebrate."
"Alright then, the diner it is."
We all head over to the diner and we are seated in Stella's area.

"Hey guys, so how did today go?"

"We won and he will be put away for twenty five years." Amanda says with a smile.
"That's great! I know you feel much better."

"I do and I am ready to get on with my life."

"I am glad."
We all order drinks and our meals and she heads off to get them. After thirty minutes she brought back our food and we dug in. After we finish, Stella brings back desserts for all of us.

"These are on me. Congratulations, Amanda. Here's to a stress free life."
"Thank you Stella, and take care of my dad when we leave."
"Don't worry dear. I've got him." She says as she smiles at her dad and leaves.

We finished our desserts and headed out as her dad paid for the meal. We head home and head inside. She heads upstairs to change and I follow behind. I close the door behind us and help her change. She lays down on the bed and I crawl in behind her, and pull her against me.

"I am so glad this is over. Now we can look to the future."
"Yes, I don't have to look over my shoulder anymore."

"I feel better knowing that you are not as stressed. Our future looks brighter and can't wait to see what it holds for us."
"You see our future together?"

"Yes, I see it all, wedding, kids, a big house, maybe a dog?" she chuckles as I smile behind her. My heart is so full. I can't wait to call her my wife and feel our baby growing inside her belly.

"I see that too." I kiss the back of her head and close my eyes as we drift off to dreamland not realizing how tired we both were.