“Mom jumped in to shut him up but he hit her and she got hurt. I moved to help her but she backed away from me. Then, she gripped my arm and pushed me out on the porch and said to not come home.”
Marie’s cries get quieter as she listens and clings to me.
“I stayed with my neighbor. She is kind and called Heath for me.” I hug her tightly. “I spent the night with Heath.”
“You can stay with me, as long as you want.” She tells me in a muffled voice.
A smile breaks out on my face. “I will, but he is insistent that I stay with him.”
“Of course, he is. He loves you.”
“Yes,” I whisper, feeling my heart jump.
“What else happened?”
“He told me he loves me, which is crazy. I never expected him to fall in love. I thought he only liked me.”
Marie huffs out a laugh and pulls back to wipe her tears away. “Loving someone means liking them a whole lot.”
“I love him too. I told him.” I rush out.
“I’m glad you did. He needed to know that. You’re the only person who’s made him feel anything after Emery’s death. He was a walking shell, angry at the world and hating himself. He hated everyone — he still does — but you’re his exception.”
I’m his exception.
I smile. “He’s the only person who’s made it easy for me to trust him.”
Marie smiles.
I continue. “And I love how he makes me feel safe. I’ve never felt safe before because of the home I grew up in. I’ve always seen my father hurt my mother, and it was terrifying. He’s tall and built. He hurt her with such ease and made sure that she was afraid of him and only loved him.” I fidget with the ends of my sweatshirt, feeling my chest fill with so much air. “That’s the kind of love I’ve seen. The one I read about in books was fictional and unreal. To me, love was beautiful, trapped inside books. But ugly in real life.”
Marie reaches forward and grabs my hand. Just having her so close to me gives me strength. “Now you have the kind of love that you once believed in.”
I nod. “I love Heath a lot. It scares me, sometimes.”
“You’ll be okay,” she assures me quickly.
The pain gathered inside of me is because of the fear of losing him. I have someone who listens to me, cares about me and fights for me. I’ve never had that before. Heath is my best friend. I can talk to him and he pays me attention. Whenever I’m wrapped in his arms the rest of the world goes quiet — even the wild thoughts in my head. He makes it easy to believe in love that I wished for but thought that I would never find.
Now all I want to do is protect him.
“Did you sleep in his room with him?” Marie asks excitedly.
My cheeks turn red. “Yes.”
“On the same bed?”
I nod.
“How was that?”
“It was good.” With shaky hands, I tuck my hair behind my ear, making it so obvious that there’s more.
Marie smirks. “So you guysjustslept?”
“Not really… we…” my skin burns red as the memories from last night come back.
Marie screeches. “Oh my God! I knew it. What happened? Tell me.”
