forum If Tears Left Scars // One-On-One // CLOSED

Started May 05, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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She felt the tension in the air and looked down at her hot chocolate, eyes glancing over her small scars on her hands.

Nathaniel put his hand over hers. "You're safe here with me."

"I know," She said, looking at him with tears welling in her eyes. She blinked as she looked back down, tear falling from her eyes and landing on the whipped cream of her hot chocolate.

He pulled her closer to him. 'It's okay." He took her chocolate and carefully placed them both on the coffee table. Then with both arms around her he began to rock her slowly back and forth, his hand gently sliding up and down her back.

It was at that point that the tears really came. She sobbed into his shoulder, all of her emotions coming out at once. She'd been holding them in for years, but the flood gates suddenly opened.

He cradled her head in his hands. "It's alright. It's okay."

"Why…why do they do it?" She croaked out through sobs. "Why don't they care? What did I do to them."

He sighed deeply. "I don't know." There was a silence as he simply held her. "But one day… you won't be broken. I promise you that."

She looked up at him, fresh scars under her eyes and eyes still welled with tears. "How do you know that? My life isn't going to change."

He smiled gently. "It's unlikely that you will live with you family forever." He gave her a curious look. "Now if you mean having me with you, I doubt that will change."

"There’s always a glimmer in those who have been through the dark," She sighed, remembering a quote. "My mother used to tell me 'You don’t need all that armour. Because what lives inside, they can’t break.'"

He nodded. "That's right. And you- you have quite a bit of light inside of you still." He traced the scars on her cheeks. "Sometimes you have to break something to see what is truly inside. And sometimes…" He swiped his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the tears. "The cracks are the way for the light to shine forth."

"Just like a glowstick. You have to break it's spine for it to shine," She said, using a well known but cheesy metaphor. "I just think that it'll take a while for me to heal."

"That it might." He looked at his watch. "Are you ready for bed now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I could use a sleep right now." She yawned, suddenly struggling to keep her eyes open. She yawned again.

She lead the way up to his bedroom and he followed behind her up the stairs, not yet sure how they would be sleeping together.

She yawned as she flopped onto the bed, wanting to sleep straight away. She yawned again, tired.

Nathaniel grabbed some pajamas and ducked into the bathroom to change. A moment later he emerged and turned off the lights, leaving the room dark except for a single night light shaped like the phial of Galadriel.

Isla had crawled under the covers while Nathaniel had changed, her shivering stopping from the warmth. She had fallen asleep relatively quickly, although she had a feeling she would have a nightmare or two.

Nathaniel scooted under the covers, careful not to wake her. As he pulled up the covers something twitched inside of him. Though the bed was big enough for two people he still felt her body pressing gently against his side. Unsure of the feelings inside of him he twisted and tried to fall asleep.

It was the middle of the night, but Isla was restless in her sleep. Her hand clutched the bed sheets, and she had a cold sweat on her forehead. If her eyes were open, they would have been glowing a scarlet red.

Nathaniel was woken by the twitching body next to him. "Isla? Are you awake?"

She didn't reply, too deep in her nightmare. Her eyes suddenly shot open, glowing a vivid scarlet red. She sat up quickly, breath heavy, eyes slowly fading back to their normal green and grey.

Nathaniel jumped. But seeing she was asleep he laid his hand on her head and stroked her hair till her breathing was easy again. His own breathing soon grew soft and steady, and soon, within a few minutes, Nathaniel too was fast asleep.

Once again, Isla returned to a nightmare. She sat up quickly in another cold sweat and got out of bed, sitting on the edge. Her heart was racing, and her hands were sweaty.

Nathaniel felt her body shifting and he began to wake. His eyes stayed closed but the rest of his senses were awake. "Isla?" he mumbled. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, I…I just had a nightmare. I'm…fine, really. Go back to sleep."

His eyes opened. "Are you able to go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, I should be able to." She stood up, walking over to the door and opening it. "I'll come back in a few minutes."