Arch Angel - Chapter 1

"I love that idea." he agreed, and squeezed my hand. I sighed. These were the moments in life that you remember. I felt like I was in a fairytale, and my prince had come on his horse to take me to the castle.

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"What do you want to do now?" David asked, disrupting my thoughts.

"Um... I'm not sure. What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I have absolutely no idea." he replied. We laughed. I looked far into the mountains, and watched as a bird flew over the peak of one. It looked so happy - so free. The way I felt right now.

"So your dad brought your mom here?" I asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"Yeah. He said this is where they came on their first date. He brought a little picnic basket and everything. It sounded really nice." he said.

"Yeah it does." I replied.

"Sorry I didn't do that for you.." he said, sounding a little disappointed.

"No, David. This is perfect. I wouldn't have it any other way. I really love it." I told him, smiling.

"Aww, really? Good." he said, feeling accomplished. I could tell it made him feel good to think he'd done it right, and he had. I loved this. It was such a beautiful view. I looked down at my bracelet and played with the charm. It glistened in the light.

"You wanna know something?" I asked. I decided since this was going to be our new secret hideout, we may as well have a secret to start with. David turned to face me.

"When we were just sitting here a few minutes ago, I was having a sort of daydream. I was imagining that I was a princess... and you were the prince, taking me to the castle far in the mountains. It sounds really silly, but it was a nice vision." I said, and I could feel my cheeks flushing red. David smiled at me in understanding.

"It doesn't sound silly." he reassured me.

"Oh, you're just saying that. It does too sound silly." I said. He laughed.

"I like it. Prince and princess." he said, smiling. I couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes he just said the cutest things that I can't avoid the smile that crept up onto my face. I loved how I could just tell him anything, and no matter how embarrassing it was to admit, he always made me feel better about it. He wouldn't laugh and call me 'crazy' like other people would - he'd just smile and make it sound perfectly normal. I sighed in happiness.

"Do you wanna head back now?" he asked.

"Sure. What time is it?"

"It's.... 2:00." he replied. He offered me his hand to get up, and we stood up, heading back towards the car. He knew the path going back as well as he knew it getting here, and in what seemed to be a shorter route, we soon found the hybrid, looking out of place in the middle of the trail. We got in and he turned the car around. We soon arrived back at my house and my mom greeted us before we took a seat on the couch. Neither of us could think of anything to say, but I could tell that David seemed a bit preoccupied with something on his mind. I grabbed his hand and he looked at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked him quietly. He shook his head. "Tell me, please." I said, knowing that I didn't have the same power to convince that he did. He gave me a half smile and looked at me for a moment, probably deciding what to do. He finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I need your help with something." he said. I wasn't sure of my expression, but I'm sure it was somewhere between completely confusion and shock.

"Um... Sure, David, what do you need help with?" I replied with uncertainty.

"I need you to be completely honest with me, because I know you'll be honest with me even when other people won't." he said with those smoldering eyes. Whatever it was he was going to ask me was going to be difficult, but how would I say 'no' to that face?

"Of course, David." I said, hopefully convincingly. He looked at me for a moment before looking down to the ground. I was wondering what could possibly be so difficult to answer truthfully. I suddenly felt nervous.

"If I shared a secret with you, no matter how difficult it is to keep, would you?" he asked. I could tell by his expression that this was something serious.

"Of course I would, David." I said again, with less confidence than the last time. He looked me right in the eyes. I felt like turning away, and I could tell I must've been turning red. He grabbed my other hand.

"Come with me outside." he said quietly. We passed through the kitchen, and walked outside. My heart was pounding. He led me by hand under a tree and we both sat across from each other. He grabbed both of my hands again and looked at me.

"David, what's going on?" I asked with worry. He could tell this bothered me, and it was showing in his expression. I tried to appear calmer. I didn't want to scare him.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just gonna say it, OK?" he said, with a weak smile. I nodded. "I don't know if you've already realized this, maybe not, but because I'm still 17, I'd normally need a guardian on these tours." he said. My heart dropped. Was he going to tell me I couldn't go? He saw the fear in my expression and understood. He shook his head. "No, it's not that." he said. I sighed in relief. "Sorry to freak you out like that." he said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it." I said.

"OK. So here's the thing. I haven't told anyone about this, so please don't tell anyone." he said, almost begging.

"David." I said, and just gave him a look. I wasn't going to tell anyone, and he knew that.

"I know, I know." he began. "But I've had something really hard happen to me, especially in the last few months. My dad was mad at me the day after my "We can Work it Out" performance.... you know, the night I forgot my lyrics..." he said, and his words trailed off at the end. I looked him in the eyes. It was so hard to see sadness in those beautiful eyes.

"David...." I said again and squeezed his hand.

"My dad hit me that night," he said, flinching at the memory. "and that wasn't the only time...."

"Oh my gosh..." I breathed. He nodded in sadness. "Why don't you want to say anything??" I asked.

"I'm afraid of what he might do if I turned him in!" He cried. His eyes began to water.

"Oh, I'm sorry, David. I'm so so sorry." I said. My immediate reaction was to give him a hug. I held him there for a few moments. He looked up at me.

"Thank you so much, Lillie. You don't know how much it means to finally tell someone. Even my mom doesn't know...." He said.

"David, you know I'm ALWAYS here for you. If you want to tell someone, I'll be right by your side." I assured him. I thought for a minute. "Why hasn't your dad been at home lately? Didn't he come back with you?" I asked. David shook his head.

"He wanted to stay in L.A. until I get back. I begged him not to be my chaperone for the tour. He said that he didn't want anything to do with me because I didn't win... he threatened to divorce my mom! But I know what that would do to her... I promised I'd try to do better, but he just said he'd call my mom later to tell her that he was getting ready for tour, and that'd better be the same story I give her. I'm scared, Lillie. I need you to be with me when I go to the tour this summer. If you would've said 'no', I don't know what I would've done!" he said through sniffles. I just hugged him. I didn't know what else to do. I was worried for him. What if his dad hurt him again? What if he tried to hurt his mom? David would be so upset.... my thoughts were interrupted when I heard him crying.

"David. Please don't cry. That hurts me more than anything." I whispered. He wiped his eyes.

"I'm sorry.." he breathed. I realized how selfish I was being.

"Oh, just forget that. You cry if you need to. I'm being stupid." I said. We sat there for a few moments in silence, and I just hugged him. My mom came outside, and I froze. I felt David tense up. He quickly wiped his face and we turned around.

"David, are you OK? I thought I heard someone crying!" my mom said.

"We're fine." David called. "Just talking." My mom eyed us suspiciously, but decided to take David's word for it. She turned around and went back into the kitchen.

"Close call..." I said. David nodded.

"Sorry about that." he said. I took his hand.

"David. Can I ask you to do something for me?" I asked.

"Anything." he replied.

"Please stop apologizing." I said with a half smile. "Nothing is ever your fault, OK?" I reminded him.

"I don't know if I can do that." he said, looking down at my hand, but smiling.

"You're just too nice." I said, leaning back to lie down on the grass.

"Thanks for listening." he said. "I know this can't be fun for you, but you did anyway." he smiled. "I needed that. It really means alot." he said. A question came into my mind.

"David. Do you mind if I ask you something about this?" I asked. He seemed a bit worried, but nodded.

"How are you going to take care of it? He can't just get away with this!" I said, keeping my voice low.

"Lillie! I can't say anything about it. Who knows what he'll do??" he replied. "If he knew that I even told you, who knows what might happen?? If he hurt you too, I don't know what I'd do..." he said, fear in his eyes. I shuddered at the thought. I'd seen Jeff a bunch of times before Idol, whenever I'd visit David's house. He always seemed nice. I never would've thought he'd do this. I'd heard the rumors during Idol, but I never thought they could be true...

"Wow, David. This is pretty intense. But I don't want you to worry for me. You need to take care of yourself! You can't imagine I'd feel good knowing you were hurt." I said, surprised at my bravery to admit this. I knew I had to do something about this. I had to find a way to stop Jeff from hurting David again, without breaking my promise.