All Chapters of Protecting My Heart: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Walking was still very painful and Finn needed to avoid the stairs for another few weeks, but he hobbled home, this time in daylight with Lili, Anders, Stacey, Russel and Reese surrounding him to welcome him home.  The doctors removed the wiring on his jaw, but he still had restricted movement and it hurt like hell to talk.   Poor Lili when he tried to talk for the first time in weeks, she wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry at the little squeak that managed to escape from his mouth.  It was pure embarassment! He was elated to be sitting in his own kitchen, with his fiancé and their friends.  Holding a cold glass of sweet tea and sipping it was just amazingly plain and simple, but somehow managed to bring overwhelming joy.   Oh - the beauty in the simple things. The beauty of just being content and not harboring anger.  Yes, in this instant!  Closing his eyes for just a second, he

Finn heard the incessant knocking at the front door and he hobbled along to answer it.  Lili was out in town so he was alone.   He froze when he saw Billy's truck sitting out front and he stayed where he was and he pulled out his cell phone and called Drake.   "Billy is on my front porch.  Why the hell is he here?" Finn asked with concern in his voice. "I will be there as soon as I can.  Are you planning on letting him in?" "Hell no!" Finn yelled into the phone. He saw Billy look up and he realized Billy knew that he was home.   "Crap! He knows that I am in here." "Try to stall him.  I am still fifteen minutes away and you still couldn't win a fight with that old dude in your current condition." Drake said sarcastically. "Screw you, Drake!"  Drake laughed and said, "Listen, I will call you right back.  Let me see if Anders is closer." While Finn

Slowly she took the ring off of her finger and handed it to Finn.   He tried not to take it, begging her to reconsider her actions.  He felt like a knife stabbed him in the heart and thought that this was worse than any beating that he had ever experienced. "Lili, please.  We can't run away from things when we are hurt.  That isn't how relationships work." "I have spent three years in an abusive relationship and I cannot start a new one, especially marrying you, when we are in a relationship based on lies."  "I didn't lie to you about that night.  It was Drake who saw it.  I blacked out from all of the drugs.  I didn't know that happended until he said it.  How was I supposed to tell you something I couldn't remember?" "I doesn't matter.  You are a liar and a manipulator and I should never have gotten in a relationship with you." She was sobbing uncontrollably as she didn't really

Philadelphia at Christmas time is the most magical time of the year.  The snow, the lights, City Hall, Reading Terminal, cheesesteaks, ice skating and the food at the Weihnachtsmarkt!  Don't forget Macy's at the old Wanamaker building and the The Christmas Carol display. The city is magical!Well, to Finn, the city used to be magical and now as he walked the streets alone, he was one step away from his old man and the magic that he could create inside of himself.  How he wanted to numb his pain but so far he had managed not to relapse. He decided to move in with Drake and his wife instead of with his parents.  Drake lived in a two bedroom condo over by Eastern State Penitentiary and it was good to be in the city without a car.  He stayed away from Kennsigton and the other places that he haunted when he was addicted and he had managed not to call Jyllian. Yet!Everyday it was getting harder. He

Wondering if the heartache will ever go away, Lili tried everythig to free her mind of TJ Finnegan, but it wasn't working.  She was truly miserable.   She was numb to the world around her and she desperately wanted him back but she was just to scared to give it another chance.  She felt that she was protecting herself and wasn't willing to risk her safety for her happiness.   So life went on and she was slowly dying on the inside. She couldn't concentrate and she was way behind on her next book.  The words were just stuck inside of her brain.   She would sit down and write, erase and rewrite, never accomplishing anything of value.  For the thousandth time, she picked up the phone and put it down.  She wanted to call Anders to get Finn's new phone number but she always hung up before she actually called.    She knew that she would at least need to reach out to him