Dedicated to my "insanely supportive and absolutely amazing sister" citygirl11

Dedicated to gurpreet281.

To all of you who wait for the updates, thank you so much. You people are absolutely amazing. :)

Get ready for a rollercoaster ride!

• • •

Chapter 36 | Saved

"Look for what they do when you need comfort most of all. It will tell you everything about how well they love you."

-Nikita Gill

• • •

Victoria stirred in her sleep as she felt her cellphone buzzing. Groggily, she felt for it on her nightstand. Her hand blindly ran over the wooden structure until it came in contact with a glass of water. There was a smash as it tumbled down to the carpeted floor with a faint thud. She cursed and lazily tried to find the switch of bedside lamp. After a moment or two she gave up and fell back asleep.

Just when she was on the verge of sleeping, someone knocked on the door. She groaned and patted her husband who was comfortably tucked into the blankets.

"Ed, go get the door," Victoria mumbled, face buried in the pillows.

"What...what happened?" He jolted awake.

"Mon Dieu, just go get the door!" She screeched desperately trying to drift off to dreamland.

"No," Edward reply. "It's your turn this time. I got the door for room service last night."

"Shut up! It's probably your stupid wake-me-up call, for your stupid morning walk from this stupid hote -- IS YOUR FUCKING HAND GLUED TO THE DOOR? Imbecilés!" She yelled.

"Boy, this pregnancy thing is making you cranky," her husband slipped out of the bed and switched on the light.

"Shut up before I smack you in the face," she warned and then buried herself deeper into the covers.

"Someone's not a morning person," he remarked as he slipped on a T-shirt.

"Oh, just go, tell them to piss off and then come back and warm me up."

"Your wish, my command, mon amour."

Edward Sage exited his bedroom and moved towards the entrance of the suite. It had been a few minutes, but the incessant knocking hadn't stopped. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he reached for the door, ready to come face to face with the bell boy but instead:

"Cole, what...what happened? Is everything okay?" He asked worrisome.

Cole Wilson stood in front of him looking dishevelled. He was breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon. His clothes were crumpled, picked up from a discarded pile in a hurry. His forehead was creased. His hair were a mess, which clearly became the victim of the hand that repeatedly ran through them. His eyes looked tired, but his posture was alert. He looked older, much older than a boy his age should look. He was like a soldier in frenzy whilst his lips moved to form the same sentence over and over again.

"Where is he? Where is he?" Cole repeated like a broken record; on the loop.

"Who? What happened? Are you hurt? Come on in." Edward took his arm and led him inside.

"No. No." He gaped, hungrily breathing. "Just tell me where is he?"

"Who? Who ar--"

Edward was cut off as Cole shrugged away his hand and began scanning the room. He brisk walked to the balcony door and looked around. He walked back and pushed open the bathroom door and seemingly unsatisfied he moved to the bedroom door.

Edward was hot behind his heels, "What the hell?"

"Cole, what are you doing here?" Victoria sat up in the bed. "Edward, is everything okay?"

"I don't know," he replied looking at the younger boy who was now looking through the bathroom attached to the bedroom.

"Damn it. Damn it. He's not here either! Where the fuck is he? Where is your father, Victoria?"

She got out of the bed and walked over to where he stood. "Dad, he isn't here. He must be in his room."

"He isn't. I checked." He looked dejected now.

"Come here. Sit down." She guided him to the bed.

It was like they were young again. She remembered the teenager his father used to leave with her. It was like the same thing all over again. She would console him as he worriedly talked about his troubles. Cole was the closest thing she had to a little brother and over the years she had grown to love him.

She offered him a glass of water, "Now, breathe and tell me, what happened?"

"Mallory, she called me...she is scared...he...he took her...and now I can't find them...I can't...no...I can't fail her...I couldn't save her the last time...she...she is there because of me...what if something...something happened...no... Richard...I need to find Richard," he said taking small sips of water.

Victoria knew that he had reached what she used to call the panic mode. She had seen that side of him when Emily was taken, but never after that. He was rambling, on the verge of having an emotional breakdown and she was trying hard not to let that happen to him.

Edward piped in, "Why do you think that her father has anything to do with her? I mean he doesn't even know this Mallory girl."

"Melissa...Mallory is Melissa. And Richard has her. I know it."

"Wait, Melissa? Your friend Melissa? Her name is Mallory? Why would she --" she began but stopped short. "Anyway, doesn't matter. So, what makes you think he has her?"

Even as she said those words she had a dark foreboding. She knew that her stepfather was perfectly capable of doing anything if he thought that was a part of training. He tended to carry himself forward and ignored other people's emotions to train the ones he cared for. She had seen the fire in his eyes when he saw that Cole cared for the girl.

Loved ones are a weakness, kids.

He had drilled that notion in their heads long back and she couldn't despise him more for that. He was like a kid with zero maturity when it came to his training tactics. He could go so low that it was surprising that a man like him could do something like that.

Cole told them everything he had underwent in the past hour. He told them about Mallory's claustrophobia, her frantic calls, the pseudo-locations, and every other thing.

"Mon Dieu, I'm going to kill that old man when I find him. Come here, it's okay. We'll find her. I promise." She squeezed his hand then patted his shoulder.

"But how?"

"Cops?" Edward suggested. "Why didn't you go to the cops in the first place?"

"No, no. Are you insane? If the cops find out about Dad, they would charge him for abduction. No, please, Cole, no..." She said desperately.

"What could the cops do that I haven't done already?"

"That's a fair point," Edward remarked. "Anyway, just a second, let me get dressed. I'll come with you and help."

"Yeah, me too," Victoria said.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Her husband said.

"What do you mean, you don't think so? If Cole needs help, I'm gonna do everything I can to do it."

"Except, the doctor told you, if I remember correctly, to take it easy for the next few months and let your husband do the work."

"Shut up, Sage," she scoffed.

"Wait, doctor? What happened? Are you alright?" Cole asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Umm...yeah. I'm good. As good as I can be," she blushed.

"Then, why the doctor?"

"You're gonna be an uncle soon, Cole." She said.

"What? How can I be an -- Oh." He began innocently until the realization dawned on him.

The couple smiled at his reaction.

"I mean. Wow. That's...uh...great news." He awkwardly patted her arm. "I'm happy for you, both of you."

"Thanks, man." Edward beamed, "Now, I'll just go and get --"

Cole's phone buzzed in his pocket, he immediately picked it up.

"Sameer? What's the status?"

"I did what you asked me to do and Nadira found the camera trail. And we found out the common location."

"Where? And did you get a license plate number?"

"No. She couldn't pick it up. "

"Okay, no problem. Text me the coordinates. Thanks." He sighed inwardly.

"Umm...actually that's the weird thing. The location is...er..."

"Spit it out, Aubrey!"

"Your residential address."

• • •

Andrew cursed under his breath. She had been at his house. She had been at his house all along and he didn't know. How stupid could he be? He had scoured half the town, he had driven across highways and yet he had forgotten to check his own house. But then how could he have known.

But he should have figured it out. He should have thought harder. It was his fault. Everything was his fault. He brought nothing but trouble for those around. With all the thoughts running inside his mind, he ran towards the out house, his feet worked mechanically at the top speed they could muster. He immediately pushed open the door to find Richard leaning against the wall.

He pressed the bridge of his nose and smiled at him, "It's about time you came, I was beginning to think you wouldn't. You're getting rusty, kid."

He let his gaze drift to his mentor for the fraction of a second, tempted to punch the smirk off his face but decided against it. He moved towards the cupboard and immediately opened it to find the sight that would haunt him forever.

Mallory slumped into his arms, shivering uncontrollably. It was as if she was going into a seizure but thankfully she wasn't. Her clothes were drenched in sweat

"I got you, shhhh, I got you. Everything's okay, I got you." He said and cocooned her in his arms.

• • •

Numb.

That is all she knew. She had no thoughts. She had no feeling. And most of all she felt no pain. She was on the verge of consciousness; barely hanging by a thread. She had lost hope. Maybe, that's how it was supposed to end for her. Maybe, that's what was written in her fate. After everything she had been through, numbness seemed better. At least there was no pain.

As her thoughts began to drift, suddenly she heard a click and just like that the wardrobe opened. Light flooded in as she squinted. Her surroundings illuminated and with light came back the pain. The coldness that had momentarily left her body returned as she shivered.

She was still dazed, her eyes wide as she saw her rescuer's face. Andrew's face looked both concerned as well as relieved. And in what felt like forever, the tears that filled her eyes didn't hold desperation but they held relief.

He had found her. Just like he had promised.

She tried to say something, but nothing came out, instead she just slumped forward in his arms clinging to him like her life depended on him.

"I got you, shhhh, I got you." He whispered in her ear as she shivered against him. "Everything's okay."

Her heart was thumping against her heart at a fast pace. Sweat trickled down her thin nightshirt which was almost wet now. Her body was shutting down. She could feel it. The adrenaline that was pumping in her veins was slowing down as she could feel all the pain returning.

She fisted his T-shirt as black spots began appearing in front of her eyes. She felt a jacket draped on her arms. And she pulled it closer, the warmth soothing her. She could feel her hand slipping from around him as her legs became weaker. He sensed it and immediately picked her up.

"Mallory, you are in shock. Stay awake, okay?"

"Mhmm..." She muttered not understanding what he was saying.

"Mallory, stay with me."

"It's okay." She slurred. "Everything is okay."

"Mallory, Mallory, Mallory..." And just like that his voice faded to nothingness.

• • •

"How is she?" Victoria said removing her coat and draping it on the sofa as she hurriedly walked towards the kitchen.

Andrew's hand worked methodically, stirring the cup of hot coffee. "Traumatized. What else would you have expected?"

"Poor girl," Victoria exclaimed. "Do you think I should go and see if she needs anything?"

"Um...no. Don't. I just calmed her down. She was hysterical."

"I couldn't expect anything less at this poi--"

Just then, Edward and Richard walked inside having a heated conversation in French. Andrew promptly ignored them and went back to mixing the sugar. With gritted teeth, he poured some warm milk and continued stirring.

"Cole Wilson, you have some weird taste in women," Richard's voice boomed as he walked over to the kitchen.

Andrew ignored him.

"What the hell are you doing here, Viki?"

"Tais-toi. Have you finally lost it, father?" She accused. (Shut up!)

"Don't you dare take that tone with me!"

"Why? I would! Putting a poor girl in a wardrobe. That's a new low. Even for you!" She narrowed her eyes.

Edward walked over to his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing it, trying to cool her down.

Richard glared at her, then shook his head and chose to ignore her remark, "Like I said, you have weird taste in women, son. I pumped in sedatives enough to put down a horse, but the girl won't budge. I don't know what's her deal."

"Is she a drug addict or something? I haven't seen such tolerance for sleeping gas since ages. I mean all she was supposed to do was call you and then I was supposed to put her to sleep. But how the hell --"

"Shut up. Just shut up," Andrew growled, slamming the coffee mug on the chopping board startling everyone.

"Cole, what has gotten in --" Richard began.

Andrew clenched his fists at his sides, his nostrils flaring. "For years you have been screwing up with everything. You turn my life upside down all in the name of training and I have always taken it as such."

"But this was way out of line. You don't get to barge into my life after years and then mess up with people I care about! The girl has already been through enough, she doesn't need you to ruin her life too. And next time you so much as lay a hand on her, I'll kill you with my own hands. And that's a promise."

To say that Richard Jefferson was taken aback would be a gross understatement and Andrew could clearly see the shock written over his mentor's face. But he couldn't care less.

"Cole, listen to me," Richard said after recovering from shock. He reached over to touch his shoulder only to be shrugged away rudely.

"Leave." Andrew muttered.

"Pardon?" Richard and Victoria chorused.

"Richard, please leave before I do something I regret. Just get out of my face."

"Mr. Jefferson, come on. Let's go," Edward prompted.

"No, wait a second. Cole, did you just ask me to leave?" Richard said in disbelief.

Andrew simply stared at him blankly.

"Dad, hey. Let's go. We'll come back later. We'll talk about it."

"Oh, we're going to talk right now, alright."

Andrew promptly ignored his remarks and picked up the tray to be carried upstairs to Mallory. His former guardian placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Don't," Andrew's gaze trailed his arm and then the face of the man who held him.

"Know it, son. If you leave now, there's no going back."

"So?"

"I saved you. I gave you a life. I helped you through everything. I tried to be a father to you. And this is how you repay me?"

"Excuse me? You call this a life? You made me a fucking murderer! In the name of those training sessions, you ruined what was left  of my childhood. You made me stay away from my sister. You didn't let me protect her. And now she's dead! You didn't even let me come back here when she died. I loved her you know."

"You always wondered why I left your place, right? This, this right here is the reason why I did. You're selfish. You don't care about anything except your ego. You don't care about collateral damage you do. Y-You ruin everything for me. Sometimes I wish you hadn't saved me that day."

Richard stayed silent for a moment and then he whispered something that broke Andrew's heart.

"Sometimes, I wish I hadn't, son."

• • •

Mallory laid down staring at the ceiling of the room. Her feet as inspected by Andrew didn't require stitches, but were still bandaged. Her legs were numb as if she had run a marathon. Her stomach still clenched at the very thought of the enclosed space. Her fingernails contained the remnants of wood she scratched off the door. Her eyes felt dry after almost an hour of crying and her face held traces of dried tears as her mind was trying to think about anything but past few hours.

She slowly got up and sat on the bed, leaning on the headboard. Her eyes briefly scanned Andrew's room, surprised that she never noticed it before. The early morning light flooded from the door to balcony and the open window illuminating everything.

Unlike her brother's room, Andrew's room was not unkempt. Everything was organized. From the neatly folded clothes on the chair to the study, not one thing was out of place. The tidiness was almost OCDish. The absence of clutter, made Mallory jealous who was regularly reprimanded by her mother.

The door opened breaking her train of thought.

"Hey!" She beamed, wincing at how hoarse her voice sounded.

"How are you doing?" Andrew asked cautiously, as if afraid that she'd have a mental breakdown.

With a loopsided grin she replied, "Good."

"I...uh...brought you coffee and some instant noodles. I don't know if you're hungry but..." He placed the tray on the night stand.

"Aren't you a life savior! FYI, I'm always hungry."

"Uhm...okay." He rubbed the back of his neck standing there awkwardly.

Mallory had hardly ever seen him like that. "Are you okay?"

"What?" Andrew smiled.

"I said, are you okay?"

He smiled again. "That's amazing. Just amazing. You spend hours in a closet and you still ask me if I'm okay. You are something else, Mallory Millington."

"There must be a compliment in there somewhere, Andrew Bells." She winked.

"Here," He picked up a small table from the corner. Unfolding it he placed it in front of her and then positioned the tray on it. "Dig in."

"You know I haven't brushed."

"You had a rough night. I think you deserve a pass at brushing thing for a day."

"Okaaay," she drawled as she picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip. "It's really good."

Andrew gave a nonchalant shrug appearing deep in thought. He pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.

For a while, the only sound in the room was the girl's occasional sipping and the clanking of fork against the plate. The two sat comfortably in silence engrossed in their own thoughts. Finally, Mallory cleared her throat grabbing her sole companion's attention.

"Thank you." She said, her voice barely a whisper whilst she returned the tray to the night stand and kept the table aside.

"For the breakfast? It was nothi--"

"Not for the breakfast, idiot." She rolled her eyes at his ignorance. "For today. Thank you for saving me."

"Do you know it was Richard who did it all? Because he wanted to give me some stupid teaching."

She nodded timidly.

"Do you see where I'm getting with this, Mallory?"

"Not really."

"It was my fault that it happened to you. Don't you see it?"

"Seriously? Why do you have to take blame of everything, huh? I was the one who decided to go for a midnight stroll, maybe then it's my fault, no?" She shook her head. "The only one responsible for all this is Richard. Not you. Not me. Richard. Period."

"You don't get it. Ever since the beginning, when I met you, I've tried to push this all away. I've tried to stay away from you, keep myself busy with anything and everything. I was trying to prevent this from happening."

"What? What are you talking about?" She got out of the blankets and dangling her legs on the edge of the bed she leaned down to place a hand on his knee.

"Exactly this," he motioned towards the space between them. "Today, when you were gone, you don't know what I went through. I thought that I had lost you. And I couldn't bear the thought."

His fingers brushed against her cheeks tracing the lines of dried tears. And then his lips found hers. Unlike the first time, it wasn't a shy or spur of moment thing. It was filled with multiple emotions. Mallory could feel his anger, his fury, his passion, everything in that moment as she replied with equal vengeance. Did she love him? She didn't know. But it didn't feel like friendship at least. It was so much more.

"This is a losing battle." Andrew declared pulling away but resting his forehead against hers. His thumb gently stroked her cheek as he whispered. "We're both goners."

Mallory smiled, "You look good when you smile."

"There must be a compliment in there somewhere," Andrew teased.

"Come here, Mr. Bells, let me help you find it." She said and pulled the collar of his shirt.

She kicked the table off the bed which fell to the ground with a loud noise. But no one in the room cared. The two were busy exploring each other, timidness long gone. Mallory kissed him with a sense of desperation and fervor. Nails and fingers clawing at the skin hidden under far too many layers of clothing. But they weren't ready to lose them yet, not that day.

It was all primal. There was absolutely nothing rational, nor sane about the predicament that Mallory had suddenly found herself in. It was all insanity, maybe even a mistake. Maybe it was nothing but a folly. But in that moment, she gave herself into the madness.

• • •

Vote? Maybe. ;) 🌟

Hullo people!

How have you been?!

I have been AWOL for too long, but I'm back now. I promise. Please don't hate me. *Puppy dog eyes*

Did ja like this chapter? And to answer your question, if it wasn't clear enough, no they did not do it. They just made out.

This is the most "romance" I've ever written. Thoughts? I personally feel it was too abrupt. Was it too out of nowhere? Misplaced? Do tell me! Your feedback means the world to me!

What about the chapter? Wasn't it one rollercoaster ride?

Do let me know in the comments. :)

Have a wonderful day.

-Ridhima