Let Me Love You {on your knees} book 1

Chapter # 9

As soon as I managed to drag myself up the stairs, holding tightly to the railing I made it into my room and threw myself onto my bed. I was so exhausted and overwhelmed that I don't even remember falling asleep. It most likely happened as soon as my head hit the bed.

The sun woke me up once again, except for this time, it hurt my head. I groaned and pulled my pillow over my face.

It took me a minute to remember everything that had happened last night and I jolted up in bed looking for my phone. It had fallen to the floor in the middle of the night and I reached down frantically to grab it.

As soon as I lit up the screen it was full of notifications. Ellie had sent me 22 text messages and called me 7 times. I was surprised that was all.... I had gotten more from her before.

The texts were,

'Where are you?'

'Are you ok'

'Why aren't you answering?'

'Is Andy taking care of you?'

'What's going on with you and Andy?'

'You better tell me'

'Are you sleeping with him?'

'OMG'

'BELLA ANSWER YOUR PHONE!'

'I'm dying to know, I'm drunk and I can't handle not knowing.'

'BELL IM DYING ITS KILLING ME.'

'ISABELLA LYNN BRENNEN'

'I know where you live. I'm gonna find you...'

And just before I got to read the rest, my doorbell rang. I groaned. Couldn't a girl get some rest? And where was my mother? I wondered if she had stayed the night at Craig's.... Her car wasn't in the driveway but that didn't mean it wasn't in the garage....

I slowly got out of bed and drug myself down the stairs. As soon as I opened the door, Ellie came bursting in. "ISABELLA!"

I held my hands over my ears and glared at her. "Can you keep it down just a little bit. My brain is throbbing."

She looked me up and down and shook her head. "You're still in your clothes from last night. Did you and Andy?..." She trailed off.

"No! The only thing he did was take me home... Ugh. I need some coffee.... COFFEE! s**t Ellie I have to work today!"

She gave me an upset look. "Don't call Ace to drive you, he's so beyond pissed, I'm almost certain he'll never talk to you again."

Well f*****g duh! I thought.

Did I mention Ellie lived down the street and she didn't drive yet either. And my mother wasn't home. What the f**k was I going to do.

"What time is it!?" I practically yelled in Ellies face. "Calm down Bella, your loud voice is way too loud. It's 8am."

I worked in exactly two hours. "I gotta talk to you later Ellie ok, I'll explain everything but right now I have to get ready for work."

"How are you getting there?" She asked me confused.

"I have no freaking ide-" I stopped mid sentence. Well, I had one idea but I absolutely hated it. And he was probably busy. I mean... He was probably almost always busy... I laughed at myself. Yeah, sure we'd get to hang out....

But I had to ask.

Ellie looked at me like she already knew what I was thinking. "Good idea. Damn you are one lucky duck. I'd be more jealous if I didn't have Emmett. He's the love of my life." She declared, puffing her chest out and smiling off into la la land.

"Ok-ok! I gotta get ready, go woman, go!" I nudged her out the door.

After saying bye to Ellie and telling her we could chill after I got out of work at 7, I headed up to the bathroom to jump in the shower.

When I got upstairs I sat on the toilet and opened the text box from my last conversation with 'Andythebutthead' I laughed out loud staring at it for a few seconds before changing it to just Andy. He was still a butthead though....

My stomach immediately started to knot. I couldn't ask him.... I didn't want to look like I was desperately trying to get his attention or something... Gahhhh...

I put my head in my hands and shook it back and forth. No... No no I just couldn't.

Damn. How far was Starbucks from my house? I mentally calculated in my head. It was maybe about an hour walk. Well, if I was going to walk I needed to start getting ready now. I plopped my phone down on the bowl, undressed and then stepped in the shower.

The hot water felt so good on my aching joints. I must have slept in a weird position last night, having not even remembered falling asleep.

ANDY'S P.O.V-

It had taken all that I had in me not to text Bella when I got home. Or when I woke up... I was waiting to see if she would text me. It would signify to me that she really did want to get to know me and that I hadn't scared her away. When she didn't, it worried me.

I was 100% free for the next two months, besides interviews, press and writing. But the band was done completely with touring until October.

So here it was 8:00 am and I was just sitting on my bed, twirling my phone over and over again in my hands. I kept contemplating texting her but I couldn't work up the nerve. This wasn't me. Again I felt so awkward.

I had gotten up at 7, showered and then ate and got dressed. So here I was ready for the day, with nothing to do. I mean I could find something to do... But I only had one thing on my mind, one person on my mind. And that was Bella.

After about 5 minutes of thinking about what my next move would be, I shot up from my bed, grabbed my car keys and headed for the door.

I was going to surprise her at her house. The worst that she could do was tell me to leave.

The whole drive there my heart was racing. Her smile was so contagious it made me feel so happy just to be around her, I couldn't wait to feel that again. Among other things....

As I drove down her street I caught eye of a familiar face and I slowed, rolling down my window. "Good morning." I smiled brightly at Ellie who was walking a happy looking golden retriever. Ellie immediately blushed bright red and then smiled back.

"Good morning Andy. It's good to see you. It sucks that Bella has to work the day after a night like last night but she's really serious about her job and would never miss a day for anything, she loves Starbucks so much."

Oh shit.... Bummer. She was working. "Well, do you know which one?" Ellie chuckled and the golden retriever whined a little bit and then jerked on the leash signaling to her that it wanted to keep going. She slowly started to move with it.

"You're silly, I'm sure she will tell you." She had a light smart Alec tone to her voice that I didn't quite understand but ok then....

I pulled over to the side of the road and texted Bella asking her which one. After 15 minutes passed and I smoked a cig she still didn't reply. Dammit... I couldn't call her if she was at work either.

I had to think. This was LA. There were a bazillion Starbucks around here. I'd try the 4 closest ones.

Starting up the car again I headed out. I was so anxious to see her. Not that she would be able to really talk right now but I'd order a drink and some food and sit there for a bit.

Of course the first 3 were no luck. And by the time I got to the fourth one, I still didn't see her. I sighed, feeling a bit defeated and decided to get an iced mocha and a snack before I left. I was just going to have to find something else to do today.

I got in a rather large line. A lot of people were ordering iced things and refreshers. It had to be at least 109 degrees outside today. I had even considered wearing shorts but decided against it. The holes in my pants would have to do.

Just then the door opened and a bunch of teenage girls came swarming in. I was just about to turn from looking in their direction to hide my face when, BELLA of all people walked through the door behind them. My mouth damn nearly fell wide open.

She was dressed in black pants, her green Starbucks shirt and black hat. Her hair was in a ponytail but the loose strands that fell on her neck and face clung to her skin. Her cheeks were a deep red and her face was practically glistening. She immediately noticed me and gave me a half awkward, half obviously exhausted smile.

"Bella?" I completely ignored my place in line and walked over to her. Her body was radiating heat and I immediately knew why. "Did you... Did you freaking walk here all the way from your house?" She nodded slowly.

"Sit down at a table." She shook her head. "I-I can't I have to work in 5 minutes." She was absolutely crazy and she was absolutely NOT working like this.

"You're dehydrated. Sit down you're not working like this." She finally did without another word. "I'm getting you something to drink, don't move."

I was beyond pissed off that she hadn't called me.... This wasn't the time to be pissed, because Bella was obviously miserable but seriously!? She would rather walk all that way in this dangerous heat instead of call me for a short simple ride to work!?

It made sense now, why Ellie had acted the way she acted. Bella must have told her she was gonna call and ask me... But she didn't. Why?

I looked back at her and she was biting her nails like she knew what I was thinking. Had she changed her mind about wanting to get to know me? After she sobered up did she have second thoughts. I didn't like thinking about it.

The rather large group of girls cleared rather quickly and I was ordering in no time. I got her water and a blueberry muffin. She needed more than that but I was going to take her away from here and feed her somewhere else.

By the time I was walking over to her she was starting to look a tad bit better. The redness of her face had lessened. I sat down across the table from her and she noticeably stiffened.

"Am I intimidating or something?" She shrugged her shoulders as I passed her the water. I watched her open it and chug the whole thing.

"Why didn't you call me?"

Again she shrugged.

"Don't play this game with me."

She furrowed her eyebrows at me and I sighed.

"Bella..."

"I didn't want to bother you ok?"

BELLAS P.O.V-

He didn't looked pleased with my answer one bit. And the way he arched his brow at me had me wanting to retreat. Damn those brows....

"Do I look bothered?"

I laughed out loud at his question. "Yeah you look bothered beyond belief!"

His resolve suddenly crumbled and he was grinning ear to ear. "Fuck... I guess I do. Or I should have asked, why would I have gone looking for you in multiple Starbucks just to see you and say hello if I didn't want to be bothered by you?"

Hearing him say that made my heart flutter. He went looking for me? He wanted to see me today?

"How'd you know I was working?"

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I ran into Ellie on your street walking a dog and she seemed to assume I was in the neighborhood to bring you to work today."

I rolled my eyes. Damn Ellie. Well... I guess it was my fault. I technically lied to her, insinuating that I was going to call Andy. Well mostly it was all in her head.... But still.

"What?" He asked, I'm guessing because I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing. I just should have asked you. And then I wouldn't be sitting here being scolded."

I had my moments where I wasn't afraid to be bold around Andy. And then there were the moments where I wanted to hide under a rock for fear of his soul peering eyeballs.

He gave me a quick crooked grin and then his mouth thinned out and he leaned in. "I'm not trying to scold you. I just want you to know you don't have to be afraid to bother me. I want to hear from you. I want to help you if I can. If I didn't like you I wouldn't be putting in an effort to see you. Or get through to you. You tough cookie."

I didn't feel so tough around him. I actually felt like jello... Like my limbs would surely melt again if he so much as put a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't help but remember his hand on my thigh last night. The feeling was burned into the back of my brain.

I watched him tap his fingers on the table, keeping a perfect rhythm.

"So, when are we going to get out of here?" He asked looking a little antsy.

I grabbed the muffin in the middle of the table that neither of us seemed to acknowledge and I took a huge bite out of it. "I have to work." I said with a mouth full. Andy smiled brightly at me.

"No you don't, you're sick, you have heat exhaustion remember? I need to take care of you."

His eyes lit up with his smile and he reached over and wiped the side of my mouth with his hand. "See, I'm taking care of you. Gotta start somewhere."

I could feel my whole body grow hot.

"Dammit. I guess so... I better let my boss know." How could I not ditch work to get to hang out with Andy. I wouldn't be doing if for anyone else though....