Chapter 9

Edge roamed the hall looking for Tasha. He had already checked her room and Jami's room, but she wasn't in either place. He groaned and slammed his head against the wall in frustration. He barely heard the elevator chime.

Tasha stepped out of the elevator and saw Edge banging his head against the wall. She walked up behind him and asked, "Doesn't that hurt after awhile?" Edge turned to her. "Tasha! I've been looking for you!" "Really? Did you think I was hiding in the wall?" She gently teased. He smiled at her, "Can we go talk somewhere?" Tasha nodded and they headed for her room.

Tasha made herself comfortable, resting her back against the head board of her bed. Edge sat in front of her, indian style on the bed.

"Tasha...first off...I want to apologize for what I said to you earlier. I...I guess you just suprised me. I guess, that's one thing that scares me about you. You're so...independent. And my first reflex is to protect you. To shelter you from ever getting hurt-but instead, I keep hurting you. I'm just worried that pretty soon you'll get tired of being with me-and you'll want to go off on your own way. So, I guess I just over-do it sometimes." Edge told her, looking down at the bed.

Tasha sat there, shocked by this revelation. "Edge, I'm sorry for some of the things that I said too. Sometimes my temper does my thinking for me. And yes, I am very independent, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be with someone forever. I really care for you Edge. And I could never just get tired of you. Sometimes I try to be hard on the inside because of what happened to my brother, Austin (Author's note: Remember..."Take That step"). When he killed himself...it really hurt me. and I've always been afraid to feel that kind of pain again." Tasha stopped speaking as a few tears ran down her cheeks.

Edge joined her at the head of the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "Tash, baby. you don't have to be scared. I know that sounds dumb, but I will do everything in my power to make sure you never feel that pain again." he told her, kissing her forehead.

Tasha leaned against him, enjoying the feeling of his arms around her. "Uh, Tash...this may not be the best time to bring this up or anything...but, I want to, well....start seeing you...only you. What do you think about that?" Edge asked her nervously.

Tasha grinned before looking up at him with a straight face. "Sure, you can date only me." she told him. "O...okay...and you?" he asked, not seeing the teasing smile that was beginning to play on her lips. "I guess I can date only you." she laughed and a relieved look passed across his face. Then he offered her his famous grin. He was about to kiss her when a knock came at the door.

Chapter 10