forum Under The Painted Sky (O/O CLOSED)

Started March 18, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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“Just speaking the truth, sweetheart,” Sterling said softly, bumping her nose with his. “Now… I had a request. You still okay to fulfill it?”

Eden looked up at him, and then at his mouth before she returned her gaze to his eyes. She slowly nodded.

“Yes,” she answered quietly, propping herself on the bed so she was sitting. “I want you to.”

“Tell me of you want me to stop,” Sterling whispered as he sat up as well. He took her face in his hands with a small smile. His thumbs slid over her cheeks before he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. With a slight smirk, he kissed the other corner of her mouth.

“Jerk,” Eden mumbled when he teased her, kissing her anywhere but on her mouth, where her lips had already begun to tingle. She was glad wherever Adrien had touched her today, he hadn’t claimed her lips.

Slowly, she gripped his collar in her small hands and brought his mouth down on hers softly, tilting her head slightly to the side for better contact.

Sterling chuckled, grunting softly when she pulled him down. He slipped a hand around to cup the back of her neck, holding her closer. His other hand took her waist as he kissed her back, their lips moving together softly.

Eden kept her hands on his collar as they kissed, lips burning where they touched his. How was it that each of his kisses rendered her completely vulnerable? They were always soft and tender when they needed to be—when she needed them to be. At times like these, she realized how grateful she was to have him the most.

But she needed something to tell him, too.

So gently, she pulled away from him, eyes still closed, taking deep, soft breaths.

“I… have something to tell you,” she said quietly, her grip around his collar tightening with each word. “And… I don’t know how you’ll react to it, but don’t turn away from me.”

Sterling slowly opened his eyes, frowning slightly. “I would never dream of it. Whatever it is, I’m sure I will think no less of you. I don’t think I ever could.”

Eden smiled sadly at him before letting go of his collar, fisting her hands in her lap. She took another deep breath before she finally started with a heavy heart and a trembling voice. What she had told Lucas and Ashley… that wasn’t everything. Just the brunt of it. So continuing from the start… suddenly, she couldn’t find her voice.

“I met Adrien in middle school,” she started quietly. “He was always alone. It wasn’t like he wasn’t liked or anything. He was, but somehow he always preferred the silence. I ran into him one day after school. He was limping, but it was barely noticeable,” she paused, trying to recollect her memories, “I don’t know what compelled me to do so, but I approached him and demanded he show me his leg. He never limped. I’d observed him for so long to know that much. He had a cut, and I ended up bandaging it.”

Eden straightened her back, running a hand through her hair, the other gripping her sweatpants tightly. “We… became friends. Adrien was sweet. He was kind to me. Back then, I was taken for granted. I was a nerd—big glasses, always having my nose in books, always getting straight A’s. But the day I patched him up, everything changed. People… stopped bothering me. It was nice having someone do that for me, you know?” she let out a bitter smile, shaking her head. “Adrien grew up in an abusive household. His father was a monster. Adrien was always afraid of becoming like him. He hated his father.

“Then in freshman year of high school, he asked me out. For the most part, it was great. We were great. But then his fear became a reality and he… stopped trying to fight it. His father really got to him,” her voice started to crack, her head ducked down. “He first struck me when I thought it would be best if we broke up. I was really started to fear him—I was only fifteen. He’d been horrified then, apologizing, telling me he didn’t mean it. I… believed him. I was too afraid to do anything else. I thought, like he promised, he wouldn’t hurt me again. But he lied, because he did it again. And again. And again and again and again until he really became that monster he feared.”

Eden didn’t know how she managed to keep calm while talking, but did it. Though her voice broke off, though there were parts where she couldn’t speak, she continued.

She told him about the time she was tutoring her classmate, a guy, and Adrien had gone nuts. How he’d pinned her against the wall. How he’d wrapped his hand around her neck and squeezed until she was begging him to stop. She told him about the countless times she had to hide her bruises, and about the one time she tried to tell her brother. How he’d found out, she didn’t know. But he had abused her until she sobbed and her throat had felt raw. She told him about his forced touches, how he claimed he gained her consent the day she said yes to him. He never went far, but it hadn’t mattered. He had made her dirty. Used.

Then she got to the part where he had to move away. That was where she stopped speaking, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them off. She continued, voice breaking and cracking at every other word. She narrated the story of how he had been so nice to her that day. He said he had planned something for her and had her wear a blindfold. He’d pinned her, touched her without her consent, again, not going too far. How he had told her she was his and only his, and that he’d come back for her. He did that to make sure she never let another man touch her again.

Then came the other hard part. The time she tried ending her life. She told him about that, choking back sobs. And then she fell silent, taking deep breaths.

“And here I am,” she whispered quietly, not daring to look at Sterling. “Still alive. Still haunted.”

Sterling’s mind was a whirlwind of emotions. Anger and pure rage and hatred of Adrien for doing that to this girl. Pain and fear and… and love for Eden, for what she had been through. He wanted to hurt the man who had done this to her, who had touched her without her consent. He wanted to comfort her and take her in his arms and never let her go.

Most of all… he just wanted to keep her safe. And happy. And loved.

“Eden… Oh, Eden… I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” he finally managed to whisper after a silence heavy with raging feelings. “Thank you for telling me this. That had to have taken a lot out of you to do so, and I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud of you for even lasting through that. So proud…” He reached over and gently took her hands in his. “I will not let him do that to you again. Ever. All right? No one can touch you like that and just get away with it. That’s not right. And now I know why you don’t like being touched, and I can be more careful about it. If you ever need me to do anything, I’m here for you.”

Eden was sobbing at his point, her body trembling at his words. Proud of you. He was proud of her. Why were those words ringing through her like they meant the world?

Because they did. Because he acknowledged how hard it was for her, how hard it is for her. Because he understood. Let her know she wasn’t alone and that she was cherished. That she made it.

“Every day—until you came into my life, I wished Lucas hadn’t found me that night,” Eden confessed, choking back on another sob. “I wished he hadn’t been so worried. Because I wanted to die that night, and I hated him for taking that chance away from me. I hated him so much for it…”

“I’m so glad he did. I’m so glad he found you. I would be so lost if I didn’t have you,” Sterling whispered, bringing her hands to his mouth and kissing the backs of them. “I will never leave you, but I hope that you will never leave me, either.”

“I told you that day,” Eden squeezed her eyes shut, sniffling. “I won’t leave unless you give me a reason to. If you raise a hand against me, if you hurt me, I will leave. Because once was enough. I will not be hurt again.”

“I would never even dream of hurting you. Ever,” Sterling promised vehemently, an intense look pooling in his eyes. He cupped her cheeks in his hands again and leaned forward so that their foreheads rested together. “I care about you. A lot. And I could never do anything to hurt you.”

Eden closed her eyes, releasing a shaky, thankful breath. She rested her hands on top of his before leaning into him more.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For all of this. For your words. For listening to me. Thank you for everything.”

“I would do anything for you, E,” Sterling whispered, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. “Anything at all.”

“Then stay with me tonight,” she whispered, clutching his shirt pleadingly. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“I will. And tomorrow, we will walk into that school like we own it. How about that? Don’t let him see that he gets to you,” Sterling said, pulling away to look at her. “Also… Do you think Lucas has some pajamas or something that I could borrow to sleep in? Otherwise… I could sleep in just my boxers. You probably wouldn’t want that, though, would you?”

“Even if I try otherwise, he’ll know. He knows he gets to me,” she said quietly before her cheeks flamed at his next comment. Despite herself, she imagined him in just that, and a hiccup escaped past her lips. She wasn’t entirely embarrassed. She was still… upset. Broken. Scared. But the thought of her boyfriend, barely clothed… “The sweatshirts in my closer. You can—you can borrow one of them.”

“And pants, sweetheart?” Sterling asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He heard her hiccup and was confused for a moment, especially when she didn’t hiccup again. “And what was that?”

“I can get the pants,” she muttered under her breath, looking anywhere but at him. “And um… it was a hiccup…?”

Sterling gave her an amused yet disbelieving look. “All right, babe. It didn’t seem like that was all it was. I’ll let it pass for now, though. And thank you. If you grab them for me now, I’ll change in the bathroom quick.”

“That was all it was. A hiccup,” Eden argued. Why did she always do that whenever she was flustered? Eden could never understand why. She pushed herself off of the bed, stretched slightly, and wiped at her cheeks. “Give me a minute for those.”

“Will do,” Sterling said, leaning back into his hands. He smiled as he watched her, glad that he could do something to make this at least a little easier on her.

Eden rubbed her arms, the harsh scratches rough against her fingers. She quickly headed to her brother’s room, pulling out a sweatpants that would fit her boyfriend.

How did she feel right now? Numb, if Eden was being honest. For the first time, she told her story. It had always been a silent part of her, but now it was out in the open. She felt exposed, like the girl she thought she was—the strong, tough girl… like that wasn’t real.

Shaking her head, Eden returned to her room, tossing the cloth to Sterling.

“Here,” she murmured. “Hope it fits…”

Sterling blinked as he caught the clothes, thrown off by the time of her voice. He frowned slightly, standing and making his way over to her. Gently, he reached over and took her hand in his own.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” he asked softly. “Anything at all?”

Eden pulled a smile on her face. “I’m okay,” she assured him gently, squeezing his hand. “Just stay with me.”

Or get the feeling of his hands off of me…

“I can do that. I’ll go get changed, and then I’ll come back and lay with you. Sound good?” Sterling murmured, squeezing her hand back.

“Sounds good,” Eden reached up to gently kiss his cheek. Then she pulled away to let him go. “Go now.”

Sterling smiled down at her before letting her go and stepping away. “I’ll be back in a moment. Don’t go anywhere,” he joked with a wink, already making his way into the bathroom.

Eden didn’t say anything. She merely smiled, shaking her head before making her way to the bed. She crawled under the blanket, hugging one pillow, and closing her eyes while waiting for her boyfriend.