SECOND CHANCE LOVE by Lisa Ann (ink ebook reader txt) 📕

10 and then when I was 12 my mom died. I finally moved in with my Aunt Robin when I 15.

"They beatings started when Tess was about 6. When she was about 15 Tess moved to her Aunt and Uncle's place. Before Tess moved in with them, her parents weren't as bad as they were when Tess was younger, but her parents still hit her. Tess, then lived with her Aunt and Uncle for about 2 years before she moved here a year ago," Leo explained with sad eyes and anger in his voice.

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to cry because Tess was my friend who really did know how I feel.

"When did you meet Tess?"

Leo seemed to smile at my question. "Well Tess moved here when she was 17. She'll be 18 a week after schools starts. Tess has been living here for 2 years and I meet her about 6 months after she came to town," Leo smiled.

I smiled, "Wow. So that means that you and Tess have been dating for about a year and a half."

"Yeah. To any person that looks at Tess, sees her as a normal person on the outside. For years Tess had learned to keep everthing held deep down inside her. When Tess is around us she knows that nothing is going to happen to her, but like what happend at the beach with those guys Tess freaks out and it could have been a lot worse if Tess had been by herself and I don't know what I would've done," Leo's voice cracked at the end.

I watched as a tear slowly slide down his cheek.

"Thanks you Leo for telling me. I know that was hard for you and I'll do my best to help out with Tess. Maybe we can learn from each other,"

Now everything made more sense. "So who does Tess stay with now?" I asked.

"When Tess first moved down here she was living in foster care. Then when my dad moved out and gave me this house Tess starting staying over on the weekends with me and then Dare moved in afterwards,"

"What if Tess moved in with me and my Aunt Robin. That way Tess would have a place to live at with more privacy," I said.

CH. 7 All Things Come Together

Leo saw Tess curled up on the couch next to Dare as they watched The Big Bang Series.

He wasn't sure if Tess wanted to move and live with Cheyanne.

It wasn't the Tess didn't like her, it was more that she liked to be in a place that was familiar with and Leo knew that.

"Cheyanne, can we wait and ask Tess some other time?"

I turned towards him, confused at what he said. "Yah, but why?"

"Well, it's not that Tess doesn't trust you or anything, cause she does. It's just that, Tess likes to be around people she knows. After what happend today I know that staying somewhere else would only freak her out more than she is actually letting on," Leo explained.

Now everything is all coming together. "Sure. We can always ask her later on. What if I ask her to come stay with me at my house one weekend and maybe you and Dare could come over too?" I asked hopefully.

"Sounds like a good idea. Tess will probaly like that cause she's so used to living here that I know a weekend away from this house won't hurt anyone," he said.

Then he slowly took a breath and continued on, "Also, I want to tell you that sometimes Tess will turn back to the girl she was before she moved here, normaly whenever something happens that reminds her of her past. Kind of like she is know,"

"I understand what you mean. How bout after school starts next week ya'll can come over and we can do something together?" I said as we walked back to the living room.

Leo just nodded his head yes and went over to the couch pulling Tess up then sat down in the loveseat pulling Tess down on his lap.

Tess curled up on Leo's lab and she put her head on his shoulder so that she could see the tv.

I sat down next to Dare on the couch across from Leo and Tess.

Dare wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me closer to his side as we all watch the show.

After about two episodes I thought about making cookies. When I said that I heard Dare cheer loudly next to me.

He always loved my cookies and we would always ended up having a food fight at some point while I was making them.

Still sitting next to Dare, I turned to look at Tess to ask her if she and Leo wanted to help too.

"Tess," I asked and she looked up at me with a shy smile, "Would you and Leo like to help make cookies with me and Dare?" I smile.

When I saw her face I thought she was gonna say yes, but what she did next had me thinking I did something wrong.

The light in Tess's eyes soon disappeared and instead in them shown fear, hurt, sadness.

Tess slowly looked at Annie then she looked at Leo. She tried to hold the tears in her eyes and the memories back too, but she couldn't take it.

Tess got up and rushed out the room as quickly as she could, trying to tell herself that she wasn't with her parents or her Aunt and Uncle anymore.

As soon as Tess left the room I thought I said something I shouldn't have.

"It's not your fault Annie," Dare rubbed my back trying to make me feel better.

"Dare's right Cheyanne. Right now, in Tess's mind she's back to how her life was before and the slightest thing said can remind her of that," Leo confessed.

I frowned, "But I've never seen her act like this before whenever I'm around."

"Normally when we are around her Tess can be herself and knows that she's safe, but there have been a couple times in the past where she has acted like this and today happens to be one of them,"

Now I was feeling worried about Tess and Dare must have picked that up from the look on my face cause he answered, "The first time was after she meet Leo. Next, was when she meet me one day Leo had brought her over to visit. Then the last one that I remember was when her parents had come to town for some that we still don't know of,"

"The only males that Tess isn't afraid to be around are Dare and I, so don't get upset if you say something that freaks her out casue Tess is still getting use to having friends other than me and trust me she does like having you as a friend Cheyanne," Leo justified everything before going off to find Tess.

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PLEASE READ ----> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok, so for those who have been reading the book know that it's been mainly in Cheyanne's P.O.V. Well for this next chapter it's gonna be in both Tess and Leo's P.O.V.S intead so you can understand more about what's going on with them if you were confused in of the other chapters. I might write a chapter in Dare's P.O.V but I'm not sure just yet and if you don't get something or want to know more then just message me and I'll try my best to help you out. P.S. I wrote a little more to the summary so that it fits better with the storyline and with what I've written so far. So make sure that you read that too!!

CH. 8 The Past Still Haunt Me

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ----> This chapter will be split into both Tess and Leo's P.O.V.S so you can see what's going on in there heads. I will talk more about Annie and Dare too cause Annie will use her past to help Tess move on with her life. Both of their pasts will help them both move on in life.


(Tess's P.O.V.)

Imprint

Text: shilohann.349
Images: shilohann.349
Publication Date: 01-26-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Dedicated to brookiesmilez and to my friends and family who have always believed in me no matter what. "YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND AND EVERLASTING COMPANION. WHATEVER ROAD WE TRAVEL DOWN, I WILL ALWAYS BE BY YOUR SIDE" "IN MY DREAM YOU ARE MINE BUT IN LIFE YOU ARE A DREAM"