Death of a Dream

Excited to finally add a new chapter! :)

Death of a Dream


        �Hallie wake up, I need to take you inside where it�s warm.�

A snug pressure unwrapped itself from around her waist, and when Hallie turned around she realized that Christian had been holding her up the whole time while they were riding his motorcycle.

�I fell asleep?� she murmured groggily.

�Yeah you kind of passed out. Not too long though.�

Could he be more heroic? Her knight in shining armor had come in the form of a bad boy on a motorcycle, which was good enough for her.

Even without looking in a mirror Hallie could tell her eyes were bloodshot. When she opened them she immediately recognized the majestically designed Plaza Hotel, and wondered why on earth Christian took her there.

�My apartment is still being investigated,� Christian answered as if reading her mind. �So we�ll just go in the hotel lobby for a little bit so you can get out of the cold.�

�Alright,� Hallie agreed. Even if she looked like complete s**t, she was in no state to put up a fight to get warm. Plus it was four in the morning, anyone who mattered was probably getting their beauty rest in the hotels deluxe suites.

Christian walked a still unstable Hallie over to the lounge area of the lobby, and sat down next to her on a plush loveseat, not once taking his eyes off her. He still couldn�t believe she was there, and had been searching for his sorry a*s while putting her own life in danger. He figured he owed it to her to protect her from harm, he just wished he could offer more than a hotel lobby where the staff was starting to stare oddly at the disheveled couple.

�I�m going to go to the ladies room, you know, freshen up after that little outing,� she joked looking down at her feet and clutching her ripped up muddy coat around her body. She had never been in such an elegant place looking the way she did, and refused to make it a first for long.

Christian helped her to her feet as Hallie gave him an exhausted but thankful smile in return. When she entered the dauntingly mirrored bathroom, she was taken aback by how much her cheek was still swelling up. She imagined this is what she�d look like if she got in a fight with her manly cousin Jessica, who would probably chomp Hallie�s face with her Chiclets size buckteeth. Concerning Jessica it wasn�t much of a stretch. The rabid b***h.

After smoothing out her hair, washing her face, and trying desperately to reapply make up with her still trembling hands, she realized Christian being the impatient person that he was, probably left her high and dry after nearly a half hour of trying to put herself back together. Could she blame him? Here he was out looking for his best friend�s killer, and there she was, getting mugged in Central Park interrupting his irrational yet tenacious plan of vengeance.

When she was finished trying to cover up her bruise with Mac cover-up, she decided she�d tell Christian she would just go on her plane back to Malibu. There was no use bothering him any longer, she found him, saw that he was safe, and should have already been on her way home, but then she remembered what she said to him before she passed out.

Maybe it had been due to the blur of the assault, maybe by saying �I love you,� she actually meant thank you for saving me. She decided that�s what she probably meant, and illogically blurting out I love you was just a natural reaction. At least she hoped that was all it was.

When she turned the corner back into the lobby she spotted Christian talking to the front desk receptionist. As if he sensed her behind him he turned around holding two hotel keys.

�What are you doing?� Hallie asked perplexed as she strolled up to him.

�We�re staying here,� he replied reaching out for her hand.

All thoughts of how inappropriate it was to go up to his room raced through her head, but she knew he wouldn�t try anything. At least not anything she didn�t want him to do. Plus she was much too tired for anything like that to happen. She just wanted to unconsciously fall back into his arms again like she did on the motorcycle, and allow him to take her wherever he pleased, so with that she placed her hand in his, and he led her into the elevator up to their room.

When they opened up the unlit hotel room, both stood in the entryway facing each other, waiting for the other one to turn on a light, but neither bothered.

�Thank you again,� Hallie whispered, her hand parting away from Christian�s to stroke his temple.

Before closing his eyes and allowing himself to fall under the softness of Hallie�s delicate touch, he turned around opening the bathroom door.

� I guess you saved me just as much as I saved you,� remarked Christian as he knelt down on the marble bathroom floor to turn on warm bath water.

�I guess that�s what we do, save eachother� Hallie laughed leaning her back against the wall.

As the bath loudly filled up with water Christian took some of the hotel bubble bath off the sink and freely used the entire bottle.

�What are you doing?� Hallie asked playfully. �Am I going to bathe you again like I did when we were little? When you�d run away from home those late nights, and I�d sneak you in the tub till you were warm again?�

�Other way around this time,� Christian said testing the water with the tip of his fingers.

Hallie shyly tilted her head gazing at him in the darkness. It wasn�t like he hadn�t seen her naked before, but she was afraid what it would escalate into. She�d had enough action for one night.

�I�m not going to try anything, I�ll go out of the room if you want,� Christian said sensing her apprehension.

�No, please stay with me,� Hallie replied. Since he said he wasn�t going to try anything she decided that she didn�t want to be alone in the room, even if he was only ten feet away.

She removed her dirty coat, shredded shirt, and slipped out of her jeans. Christian relieved the pile of clothes from Hallies arms, and went out to place them on the bed as Hallie changed out of her bra and panties and stepped into the steaming hot bath.

By the time Christian came back Hallie submerged in bubble bath, and all Christian could see were her bare tan shoulders and her long hair flowing through the water like a mermaids.

He took a small wash cloth off the towel rack, dipped it into the water and began running it in long strokes up and down Hallie�s back. She enjoyed how comfortable it felt, especially since she was butt naked and she knew nothing sexual would happen unless she initiated it. He then he took the side of her face where she got hit and lightly dabbed at the wound with the towel. Hallie gasped at the touch of it.

�Sorry, does it hurt a lot?� Christian asked concerned.

�I�ll be alright. What about you?� she said reaching a soapy arm over the tub and lifting his shirt. There was a long cut across his chest that had dried over with blood.

�Chrisitan!�

�It�s fine,� he lied waving her hand away and pulling his shirt back down. Yeah being slashed with a knife didn�t exactly feel fine, but caring for her was helping him get his mind off of the pain, even more so off of the pain still burning within him about Derek. The last thing he wanted was to be cared for. Having the focus on him would force him to face his problems, and he certainly didn�t want to do that.

�Why did you get this hotel room?� Hallie questioned.

�Because you needed somewhere to rest for the night.�

�Yeah but why The Plaza? Why this hotel? I mean it�s like five hundred a night��

�I know, practically my rent for the month,� Christian muttered. �But it was the best place I could think of.�

�I wouldn�t have minded staying at a cheaper one, because I know you arn�t��

�Know I�m not what? Rich?�

�I didn�t mean-�

�No you�re right. I�m not rich at all, not even close to it. But I didn�t spend my whole paycheck just for the hell of it. I want you to be happy, and I know being here makes you happy. Sure you could have put up with some s****y motel, but I don�t want you to put up with me. I know that some of the reason you didn�t choose me over David is because you think I can�t provide the comfortable lifestyle that he can.�

�So that�s why you did this?� she said crossing her arms over the side of the tub.

�To impress me? Christian you don�t need to spend tons of money to do that, I mean what you should do is quit drug dealing, get a job, and----wait, did you say you spent your whole paycheck? Paycheck as in you�re working legally?�

�Yeah. I mean it�s nothing big� he said reaching into his pocket, and held up a business card,

Hallie squealed excitedly when she saw the black business card, with a colorful graphic painting of a wolf, and the words Christian West, Custom Motorcycle Artist printed across the card.

�Do you know how great this is?� she exclaimed snatching the card and tugging him into a watery embrace.

�Oh come on Hallie! You wasted a perfectly good card!� he groaned snatching back the soaking wet piece of paper and looking down at his drenched shirt.

�I�m sorry,� she giggled.

�Well I guess it�s garbage now,� he said getting up to toss it into the trash can.

�Come here,� she said motioning for him to kneel back down.

She pulled his face towards hers and happily kissed him on the cheek. Just as quickly as she kissed him her expression rapidly became serious.

�What�s wrong?� Christian asked.

Resting her head on his shoulder, and taking in his cinnamon aroma that smelled better than the bubble bath, she whispered, �When I heard about Derek, the first thing I thought about was you. Thank God you�re alright, I don�t know what I would have done if something happened.�

�Yeah right, I-� and then unexpectedly, even to her, she closed her eyes, kissing him tenderly on his lips this time.

Even though he only half believed what she said, he couldn�t help but reciprocate since she had already kissed him. The touch of her lips onto his meant that it was too late for him. He slicked her wet hair back, fixated on her crystal blue eyes. They continued kissing like that for hours, with Hallie leaning over the bathtub and Christian still kneeling on the floor getting more and more soaked by the second, and hardly noticing until Hallie began shivering.

�The water got kind of cold,� she said her lips chattering.

�Here,� he quickly stood to his feet and unhooked a white bathrobe off of the door. As she stood up with the water cascading down her bare body, he was unable to keep from looking, so he quickly cloaked her in the robe. His lustful thoughts quickly turned into an observance of how adorable she looked in the oversized robe. He effortlessly picked her up, carried her to the king size bed and set her down onto his lap.

For the first time since Derek�s death, he didn�t feel remorseful that he hadn�t been the one killed. For the first time he felt thankful that he was alive, because it had brought Hallie back to him.

They continued making out and tightly holding one another as the sun rose over their view of Wollman Ice Skating Rink. By now they were spread across the bed, Hallie�s robe half undone and Christian�s shirt wrinkled where Hallie kept trying to rip it off, although he kept insisting that he keep his shirt on for some reason. Both in need to catch their breath, they laid back staring up at the royal blue ceiling.

�I can�t believe it�s morning already,� Hallie panted.

Christian tiredly laughed in reply, and reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips, kissing her wrist, her palm, her finger tips, and then something that tasted like metal. Probably one of her rings. He opened his eyes startled at the gigantic yellow thing he saw on her finger, wondering how in the hell he hadn�t noticed it before.

�What the f**k is that? It�s so tacky, did your mom give it to you or something?�

Hallie�s eyes quickly opened, bulging fearfully as if she slept through her alarm. How the hell was she going to explain this? She quickly stood up, avoiding his curious gaze and sat in a plush chair by the window.

Taken aback by her avoidance, Christian sat up against the wooden headboard of the bed, and noticed that the ugly piece of jewelry was on her ring finger. He rushed over to where Hallie was sitting and menacingly stood over her.

�What is that?� he repeated impatiently.

She twirled fingers in her hair that had started to curl, and stared down at her feet unable to look at him.

He let out a full volume scream that sounded like a roaring beast and slammed his fist against the wall behind her, causing her to look up. For the first time in her life she began growing scared of him.

�David gave it to me,� she mumbled shakily.

�Really?� he inquired sarcastically. �Well I think I figured that part out, but tell me, when is the big wedding anyway?�

�It�s not an engagement ring, it�s a promise ring.�

Hallie watched as he turned away, walking toward the center of the room laughing hysterically. She now understood why people were scared of him, until now she had now idea, but he really was coming off as a f*****g loony person.

�A promise ring,� he asked with a wide grin across his face, � I can see you really took it seriously.�

�I don�t even know what it means Christian.�

�Yeah obviously, I mean tell me, how do I fit into the equation? You run off, go get married to David, you�re parents are happy as ever, and finally decide they give a s**t about you. Then oh, every month or so you come running back to me to get laid,� he yelled while pacing the floor.

�Shut up Christian!�

�It sucks to hear the truth doesn�t it? Well I live it everyday, whether I like to or not. I don�t get to live some perfect little fake life like you do!�

Hallie looked out the window tears wildly streaming down her face. Thinking Christian was still in the middle of the room, she half stood up, then staggered back into the chair when he was only inches away from her face.

�Don�t f**k with me Hallie. Do you want to know why I really had that gun?� he asked rolling up his sleeves.

Through blurred tears Hallie could see long red cuts along his wrists and arms along with several track marks.

�I was in Derek and my old orphanage slashing myself with broken glass, shooting up for three days, just hoping I�d die in there, and no one would find me. When I came off my high, I decided it would be better to get a gun, find and kill whoever murdered Derek, and then kill myself.�

�No! Why would you do that?� Hallie choked out.

�Why not?� Christian challenged.

�You think I don�t care if you die? Well I do! You think I don�t feel anything because I�m rich? And because I was raised to be cold hearted? Well I wish I was! I wish I was like them, and couldn�t care less what happens to you! But I love you, that�s why I came to look for you in the first place!�

�And that�s why you accepted David�s proposal.�

�It wasn�t even a proposal! It was nothing, and this whole time I�ve been thinking how to tell him that I�d rather be with you, that it�s over� she said standing up.

�Don�t bother. Derek�s dead and I-,�

�Yeah Derek is dead, and you�re not!� she forcefully interrupted before he could go on. �You�re still alive, you were starting to make something of yourself and now you want to die again? Do you think that�s what Derek would want?�

Tears began welling up in Christian�s eyes, but she didn�t care.

�Do you?� she shrieked.

Christian then sunk down on the chair, hid his face in his hands finally letting everything out.

Hallie wrapped her arms around him leaning her head on top of his, still crying herself.

�I love you,� she repeated softly. �I want to tell David, just let me, and we can finally be together.�

Even through his sadness just hearing that made him happy, and forget all about wanting to end his life. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot from crying, and stood up to hug her back.

To be with her. To finally be with her. He could be a motorcycle artist, she could be a lingerie model, a business woman, whatever he didn�t care. It all sounded so idealistically perfect, but he knew it could never be. He looked out the window at the scene of Wollman�s Rink at couples skating happily around in circles trying not to fall.

Deep down he knew him and Hallie could be even happier than any couple alive, but he also knew that he didn�t want her to live in the filth that he did, he wanted her life to be pure white like the snow outside, and carefree. He touched the welt he still had on his face from Hallie�s father, knowing that Edward Harris was right all along. They were too different, no matter where he was, New York, California, Christian lived a dangerous life on the streets, and Hallie lived her life in her elaborate mansions. That�s how he was raised, that�s how she was raised, and it was nobody�s fault, they just weren�t meant to be a couple.

Christian knew if he had the money David did that they wouldn�t be fighting at all, that they probably already would have been married by now with out any problem, and he knew that�s how a relationship should be, drama-free with out any problems.

Looking down at his wrists he realized that there were definitely problems, the ones he had with himself, and the ones Hallie had with her family, and if he was the one to solve those problems for her by being out of her life, then that�s what he wanted, even more than being with her.

�I don�t want you to tell David,� he spoke calmly.

�Why not? I want to be with you. I want to help you,� she said lightly stroking the scars on his arm.

�I don�t need help,� he replied quickly pulling his sleeve back down. �Look, I�m sorry I scared you with that. When I did it I was in a bad place, I kind of always am, you know?�

�Yes, that�s why I want to help you. I can make you see what it�s like to be happy,� she sobbed.

�I need to do that for myself, and in that case I can�t be with you. I just�I don�t need this s**t,� he said pointing to her ring. �I don�t want to be in the middle anymore, I�m tired Hallie.�

Looking at his face he truly looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes and his body slumped over in the chair.

�You won�t be in the middle, we can be together, I�ll tell David.�

�You always say that. You said it on Christmas, you�ve said it many times before, and I�m saying no. I�m done, and I want you to leave me alone. I appreciate that you came to find me, but now you did, and I�m alright, so just go.�

She placed her left hand, the one with the yellow diamond ring on his shoulder, and he quickly brushed it off.

�As stupid looking as this thing is,� he said eyeing the ring, �David trusts you. He gave you this so you wouldn�t come to me anymore, and that�s exactly what you need to do, you need to stop.�

�But-�

�No. It�s daylight, it�s safe to go out now, you�re not going to get attacked again. Here.� he said handing her the pile of clothes.

�Christian please, I love you,� she said as she was practically getting pushed out the door.

�If you love me than just go home, and don�t try to find me again,� he decidedly replied. It was time to be in control, time to resist her and time to attempt to take charge of his life again.

With that Hallie opened the door behind her while Christian watched her go down the hallway. She was tempted to run back to him and before she could do anything he shut the door and locked it.

She flung her pile of clothes on the floor and sat outside the hotel room in her white bath robe not caring who walked by. She couldn�t believe how quick he was to make her leave, and wanted to bang on the door till he let her back in, but decided not to once she heard the sound of him crying. She cringed in pain at the thought of him in the room by himself upset, with her own tears falling even more than they had before. Exhausted she leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes trying to block out his grief seeping through the door haunting her like a ghost. Maybe when he came out he�d change his mind and decide that he wanted to be with her after all, but if she truly made him that miserable, Hallie hoped that he wouldn�t even notice her sitting there, and just go about the rest of his life without her in it.

Reviews

[MorganLyn]

awww come on!!! they were happy and you went ahead and killed it... again..

can't wait to see what David says about her little trip.

good job!

[Loribeth215]

Very good!
I just jumped in to this chapter, and though I had not read any of the others I was both interested and engaged by both the characters. Sounds like you have a great action/romance going here.

[Mysteral - Night Prowle..]

That was wonderful, very emotional. And I was beginning to think it was all over apart from tying up the loose ends.. i.e. finding Derek's murderer and getting rid of David and his awful yellow diamond ring.

[Tuff Stuff]

You're a really good writer.
It flowed perfectly.
And I couldn't stop reading it.
AWESOME.
Will be reading the next chapter!

[Silver_Moon]

you are really good... I just hope I can write something like this... hehehe!!!
:)

[ShadowWolf]

This is one of the best yet! The dialogue works very well.

[Mintwhiskers]

i loved this chapter i looove it

[thecoolone52]

ohhhh thats another good chapter.......... good conflict in this one........... i enjoyed it.......... hit me up wit the next one