"So, one night..." Slade started. Him and Lacey were sitting on the porch swing, slowly rocking back and forth. His left arm was around her waist as she laid against his chest. One of Lacey's arms was around his right bicep; the other was fingering his hand that was wrapped around her waist.

       Slade was about to tell Lacey about a very huge part of something that happened in his childhood. Lacey was thankful that he trusted her enough and felt comfortable around her enough to begin to open up more about his younger days. "It was about a week after my mom left us. My dad had drank the most that I had ever seen him drink. I had tried time and time again to get him to stop that night because it was gettin' really bad. Like...a lot worse than usual." 

       Slade took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily. Feeling Lacey give his left hand a soft squeeze, Slade continued, "I had my siblings locked in the kitchen with cartoons on the television. When my dad wasn't looking, I grabbed his bottle of whiskey from the living room and ran to the kitchen, unlocking it as fast as I could. He saw me takin' the whiskey from him, but I was finally able to make it into the kitchen before he could. As I was pouring the whiskey down the sink, I heard my dad loading his gun. We had kept it hidden for so long, but somehow he found it." 

         Swallowing hard, Slade looked down at Lacey' the look in her eye was the strength he needed. "When I realized what was happening, I told the kids to get back and close their ears, so they did, and my dad shot the lock off the door. He would have kicked in the door, but since he is in a wheelchair, that would be hard for him to do. Anyways, when he came in, my little brother, Taylor, told me that he was scared. Well, my dad heard that and didn't like it very much, and he acted like he was about to come after Taylor with a knife, but I put myself in front of Taylor, and attempted to wrestle the knife out of my dad's hands, but instead of succeeding, my dad dug the knife into my arm. That's how I got this scar." After clearing his throat and clenching, then unclenching, his jaw, Slade took a deep breath for the first time. It honestly felt good to tell someone about what happened. 

       Lacey took a deep breath, wanting to say something to Slade about how sorry she was that he went through all of that in his childhood. No one should ever have to experience what Slade had. She was sad that it took this much, but she had finally realized why it was so difficult for Slade to talk about his past. Running a finger over Slade's forearm, she stared down at his scar.

       Slade followed Lacey's gaze down to his arm. Resting his hand on top of Lacey's, he said, "You asked about my tattoo the other day? Well, I have never been able to forgive my dad for everything he did to me, my mom and my siblings. The verses are a reminder that no matter how hard it is for me, I have to forgive my dad. And not just once, but 70 times 7. I just pray that one day I will be able to forgive him because I know that that is the only way I will be able to fully move on from my past." 

            Lacey stared into Slade's eyes that were only visible thanks to the porch light. Slade let out a small chuckle. "I've never told anyone that before." Reaching up, he caressed Lacey's face with his right hand. Slowly, his lips closed over hers in a long kiss. After the first once, Slade pulled back, and rested his forehead against Lacey's, keeping his hand on her cheek. 

           Lacey fingered Slade's hair as she whispered, "Thank you for telling me." Falling against him in a hug, Slade wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead, laying his chin on top of her head. He never wanted to let her go. 

            At least an hour had passed before headlights lit up the driveway. Slade and Lacey still sat silently on the porch swing in each other's arms, even as Lacey's parents parked the truck, spilling out of the cab. Willie and Ryder were the first ones onto the porch. Ryder didn't even acknowledge the couple as he ran inside; the kid never ran out of energy. Willie gave his greeting before following his hyper little brother inside. 

          Neither Slade or Lacey made any motion to move from their spot, even as Luella and Zane walked onto the porch. 

           Luella, smiling, bounded up the porch steps with Zane close behind her. "Aww. Aren't y'all so cute?! How was supper?" Luella said excitedly. She obviously missed the seriousness of the moment between Slade and Lacey. 

        "Delicious." Lacey said quietly. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. Slade's arms never loosened once as he held Lacey against him. 

        Zane stepped onto the porch behind Luella. He placed a hand on the small of her back as he said, "C'mon honey. Let's go inside and let these two have their time alone." Luella's smile faded as she looked between Slade and Lacey once more. She seemed to finally realize that Slade and Lacey had just shared a very serious moment. Without a word, Luella followed her husband inside. 

           After several more minutes later, Slade and Lacey finally pulled apart. "I need to do night check on the horses." Slade said in a quiet, sad voice. The telling of one of the biggest events that had happened in his childhood must have brought back the memories and the flashbacks. Lacey knew that he was in a very dark place right now.  

          "I'll come with you." Lacey said with no hesitancy. She reached out for her wheelchair, but Slade wrapped his arms around her and carefully set her in it before Lacey could really react. Grabbing the handles, Slade silently pushed Lacey to the barn. The situation was the same once they got into the barn. Slade didn't say a word as he flipped on the dim aisle lights and peeked in each horses stall to make sure they were all okay for the night. He gave water to the horses that needed it, and an extra flake of hay in each stall. 

           After all of the night chores were done, Slade walked over to where Lacey sat between the door and stairs. His head was hung low. He stopped right in front of Lacey, opening his mouth as if he would say someting, but instead he just tucked his hands into his pockets, staring at his boots. 

          "Are you gonna be okay tonight?" Lacey asked the dumb question. Of course he wasn't going to be alright. He just shared one of the hardest things about his childhood. 

         However, Slade, being the tough guy he is, said, "Yeah." 

         Lacey knew that was a lie. "Would you like me to stay with you tonight?" It wasn't a question. Lacey was going to whether Slade wanted her to or not. 

         Slade met Lacey's eyes. "Please? Would you?" The look on Slade's face broke Lacey's heart. She knew he was reliving the horrific memory in his mind. Lacey felt  guilty because she was the one who asked him about the scar and asked him to share the story. 

       Lacey nodded in response. She locked the brakes on her wheelchair and Slade placed an arm under her legs and another behind her back as he carefully picked her up out of her chair. Slade's feet seemed to drag as he carried Lacey upstairs and into his small apartment above the barn. 

          Carefully setting Lacey on the bed, Slade didn't say anything as he went back down to get her wheelchair. He was back upstairs in less than a minute. Slade placed the wheelchair next to Lacey's side of the bed, then sat down on his side. He slipped off his boots, and took off his pearl snap shirt and white undershirt. Slade then crawled underneath the covers. Lacey was already laying down in bed, watching Slade. He rolled over and she could see his face fairly well in the moonlit room. 

         Slade stretched an arm over Lacey's waist as he moved closer to her. "I'm sorry, Lace." Slade said, his voice a sad monotone.

           "For what?" Lacey asked. She moved her ponytail out of her face as she looked at Slade.

          Slade let out a sigh. "I should've told you about my dad and the scar and all of that much sooner. I'm sorry I waited so long. I just..." Slade didn't finish. 

        Lacey reached a hand out to finger Slade's light beard. "No, Slade. It's okay. This is something that you needed to tell me at your own pace. I don't expect you to tell me anything until you are ready. I know it's hard for you, and I don't ever want you to think I'm pressuring you into anything or whatever. I'm sorry if it seemed so tonight."

          Slade pulled himself closer to Lacey, propping up his head on his hand. The other hand rubbed over Lacey's waist. "No, Lace. I was ready. I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't. It's just that those memories...I've tried so hard to block them out and erase them, but I know I will never be able to. I still have nightmares about what happened and scars that are deeper then flesh, but now I have God to get me through. Before, I didn't and I was even more miserable. Lace, there's so much more that you don't know about me...that you need to know about me." 

           "We have all the time in the world, Slade. Don't worry about it tonight, okay? You have a lot on your mind right now and I think it's best if you try to go to sleep." Lacey rested her hand on top of Slade's on her waist. 

            Slade nodded. "You're right...thank you, darlin'." 

          "For what?" She asked, reaching a hand up to Slade's cheek. 

         "For bein' there for me and here with me right now."

           "You're welcome, Slade. Thank you for sharin' the story...I just wish that there was something I could do." Her hand traced its way down to rest on his neck.

            "Trust me. You just bein' here is more then anything else you could do. Except for prayer...and Lace, I want to tell you that often, after I think a lot about my past or something, I tend to get upset and lash out at folks and I'm not always a great person to be around. I just want you to know that so that if I'm off tomorrow or for the next few days, you know why. I'll probably need a lot of support these next few days, even if I reject it. Support just like how you're here with me now." 

           "Absolutely, Slade. Anything."

          "Thank you, hon. I'm sorry."

          "Slade, there is nothing to be sorry about. I'm just glad that I can be here for you." 

           Slade closed the gap between them as he leaned in and kissed Lacey's forehead. "Goodnight honey. Thank you again." Slade stretched out his right arm that was propping up his head and Lacey laid her head on top of it. He scooted closer to her and wrapped his left arm around her abdomen. "Thank you, Lacey." Slade whispered into Lacey's ear again. 

           Lacey responded by snuggling up closer to Slade. She tried falling asleep, but found that she couldn't. As she tried, Lacey fingered Slade's arm, primarily the scar on his forearm as she thought about how he got it. Lacey felt Slade's body relax and his breathing slow and steady out. He had fallen asleep, but Lacey was still wide awake, staring at the moon through the west window of Slade's barn apartment. Her eyes drifted to the analog clock on the bedside table. It was after three in the morning and they had only been in bed for an hour. 

            Slade usually wakes up at five to start his work on the ranch. Lacey tried closing her eyes and falling asleep, but sleep never find her, but she closed her eyes anyways. At five sharp, Slade's alarm blared it's ring. Slade stirred beside Lacey, carefully slipping his arm out from under her head. He stood up from his bed and went over to Lacey's side to turn off the alarm clock. Lacey rolled over and pushed herself up so that she was leaning back against Slade's headboard. "Hey, sorry for waking you." Slade said. 

         Lacey wanted to smile at how cute Slade looked. His hair was in need of a trim, and as a result, the right side of it was smashed down due to laying on it all night. Slade crossed the room to his dresser where he pulled out a white T-shirt, boxers, and jeans. "You didn't. I was already awake...I mean I didn't fall asleep." 

            Slade looked over his shoulder at Lacey. "You didn't get any sleep at all?" 

           Lacey shook her head. "I couldn't."

           Slade stopped what he was doing to walk over next to Lacey. "Why? Was I snorin' or sumthin'?" He sat down on the corner of the bed, wrapping an arm over Lacey's knees.

           "No, I just...I was thinkin' about stuff. That's all." Lacey looked away from Slade as she anxiously began to twirl the end of her hair in her finger. 

          "You were thinkin' about our conversation from last night, weren't you?" Slade said and looked away from Lacey before she could so much as nod a response. "I'm sorry I kept you up all night. I never meant for that to happen." There was an edge to Slade's words. 

            "It's okay, Slade. I'm not upset." Lacey forced a smile. Slade didn't say anything as he walked back to his side of the bed and slipped on the clean tshirt. Lacey tried not to look at Slade's nicely toned abs, even tough she'd seen them several times because he works outside shirtless most of the time. 

            Slade then took his boxers and jeans and told Lacey he'd be right back. He went into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Lacey could hear the faucet running. A couple minutes later, Slade came back out. His hair was wet and combed out, and his jeans were changed. When he came out, Slade smiled a weak smile at Lacey and walked over to where she still sat on the bed. Slade lowered himself onto the bed, right at Lacey's knees. He grabbed her hand that was twirling her hair, lowering it to rest on her lap, and intertwined their fingers. "Thank you for stayin' with me last night. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't. I know I'd be much more worse off then I am right now."

           Lacey ran a finger over Slade's thumb. "It's okay. I'll stay with you tonight, if you think it'd help you."

           Slade nodded. "It would. I can't thank you enough, Lace."

            Lacey chuckled and reached out a hand to caress Slade's cheek. "You don't have to keep thankin' me, Slade. I was fixin' to come up here last night whether you wanted the company or not." Turning more serious, Lacey said, "I know that what you shared with me last night was very hard for you and I can only imagine what kind of turmoil your mind is in right now. But, I want you to know that I am here for you. If you ever need to vent about something, get something off your chest...if you need a shoulder to cry on..." Slade looked up at Lacey and Lacey continued, "I'm here for you."

            "Thank you." Slade said, leaning forward to kiss Lacey. 

            Lacey pulled her head back before Slade's lips could meet hers. "I have morning breath." Lacey said, covering up her mouth.

           "I don't care." Slade replied, pulling her hand away from her mouth, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before she could protest. He pulled back from the kiss and stood up. "I need to get goin' on workin'." Slade walked over to his closet to pull out a pearl snap. Slipping it over his T-shirt, Slade asked Lacey, "Do you want to help me with stuff around the ranch today? I have to fix fences along the north and west fence lines and work on some gates and such. I could use some help, if you want to come with me." 

             Lacey could tell he wasn't asking, he most likely wanted Lacey there for moral support; Slade needed her. "I would love to." She replied as she watched Slade continue to get ready for the day. Closing her eyes for a second, Lacey said a prayer for Slade. She could already tell that he had changed since last night; his mind was in a dark place, and she knew that this was the time to learn how to best help him. She just prayed that God would help her to do the right thing.