Free Stealing Grace by Shelby Fallon

I’ll take you to the couch and you can relax for a change. Watch a western,” he said and smirked.
    She laughed and did as he said. He took her and placed her on the couch carefully and propped the icepack on her knee.
    “I’ll bring you some Advil in just a minute, ok?”
    “You are so overreacting,” she laughed, “but it’s very sweet. Thank you.”
    “You don’t have to thank me. I owe you a lot, Elena.”
    “Bring me a diet Cherry Coke and we’ll call it even.”
    He laughed and smiled at her, then bent to kiss her forehead.
    “Ok. We’re not even close to even, but one diet Cherry Coke coming up.”

    * * *

    He couldn’t sleep that night, staring at the ceiling tiles, trying not to look her in the eye as she did the same with him.
    As tired as Elena was she couldn’t fall asleep either. She was still very confused about her feeling for him that had developed in the past couple weeks and still had some questions to ask. But before she could ask he was already mid sentence.
    “So, where is your family?”
    “I haven’t seen my family is three years. I ran away when I was nineteen. My family is kinda...crazy.” She didn’t know if he was just making small talk or was actually interested so she left it open with that.
    “Crazy?” he asked turning to her and bracing himself up on an elbow with a brow raised.
    She sighed. Then she told him everything.
    All about her parents and extended family. After all, she wasn’t trying to impress him either. She told him all about how they lived and respected no one or nothing, about how they resented her for wanting to go to college and make something of herself. She rejected that life and her mom was furious with her for wanting to leave.
    She told him about the physical and mental abuse; the drugs, the jail time, everything. How she ran away one night sure they would come looking for her and find her within a week, but three years had passed without a word from anyone.
    About how she felt abandoned because even her crazy family didn’t want her. And she told him about her grandma. He asked a question here and there and she answered. When she was finished they had been talking for over an hour.
    He was silent for a minute. Taking in the story he had just heard, a little shocked. He looked at her face. Her expression was odd. Then she rolled onto her back and laid her arm over her forehead. She was holding in tears, her words strained as she spoke.
    “It’s not fair. I don’t deserve to be here, safe with you. All those girls... How many are being hurt right now? How many are doing something against their will? I’ve lived my whole life fearful and ashamed. I can handle it better than them. I’m nobody, I’m nothing, I came from nowhere... I.. I-”
    He pulled her towards him and put his arms over hers, looking into her green eyes.
    “Your family does not define you,” he said so sweetly but also stern as if to make her believe it for the first time.
    “Neither does yours,” she answered back.
    Both were so ashamed of their pasts and their families. Both so scared of what was to come for each of them. How had they found each other in all this chaos?
    He moved a piece of hair laying across her face back behind her ear.
    “You are really beautiful, Elena,” he whispered.
    He pressed his lips to hers softly. He wanted to make sure she wanted this too before going any further. She put her arm around his lower back and squeezed his shirt in her fist.
    He caressed her cheek and neck with his fingertips. When his mouth opened against hers she thought she’d die right there. Then he pulled back and barely let his lips touch hers as he spoke.
    “I’ll go back and sleep on the couch if you want. If you think this won’t work now, because of what happened.”
    “No, of course not, stay,” she said.
    She pulled him the barely there space to her, once again completely shocked by her boldness. It wasn’t like her. She kissed him once, twice and then the