�She wears makeup to hide the scars
Got bruises up and down her arms
And the coward�s name tattooed on her wrist
She says that she�s afraid to leave
She says someday he�s gonna kill me
�Cause when he�s drunk he talks with his fists.�
After he�d left, I replaced his guitar into its case and leaned it against the wall like I�d found it. I closed and locked all the windows before walking down the hallway, trying to ignore Nick�s side of the phone conversation as I walked past his bedroom.
He sounds slightly annoyed.
Shutting the bedroom door, I walked into the bathroom and scrubbed off the thick coat of base that I�d shellacked on my face that morning. Taking out my contacts, I pushed on my glasses and glared at my reflection, hating my red, bloodshot eyes and the pale skin that contrasted so deeply with the bruises around both my eyes.
He knows now. Not everything, but� the big one is out now.
Walking from the bathroom, I climbed up onto the bed I�d remade when I�d gotten back this afternoon and laid on my stomach, burying my face in the mattress before screaming at the top of my lungs.
*
Even though I knew she was upset, it still seemed comical to see Kara screaming into her mattress. After the phone call, it was needed to prepare myself for handling her correctly.
Mike is such an ass; how the hell did he become my best friend?
When she stopped screaming, I walked silently through the room to the bed and leaned over her, pressing my lips against the tattoo on her lower back.
I�ve never seen a girl jump so high while lying down before.
I started cracking up as she spun around and sat up, slapping at me for scaring her.
�You jerk! Hasn�t anyone ever taught you that it�s not nice to sneak up on people?!�
Still laughing, I pretended to try to protect myself from her light slaps against my chest.
�That�s the second time you�ve done that to me in the last hour!�
When she climbed up onto her knees to get a better aim, I stopped my half-hearted attempt at catching her wrists and just wrapped my arms around her waist before body slamming her back into the mattress.
�My god, Nick. You�re a fucking giant!�
And that�s when I noticed it.
�I can�t breathe you goober! Get off of me!�
She�s laughing.
*
Each time I see Nick, he gets weirder than he was the time before.
He looked up at me, removing his head from where it�d landed against my shoulder, a stupid grin plastered on his face.
�You�re laughing.�
Well, yeah, you�re weird.
�You�re on top of me, Captain Obvious.�
Rearranging himself above me, Nick transported the majority of his weight on to his knees, which rested on either side of my legs. Able to breathe again, I attempted to push him away, giving him clear access to my hands, which he used against me. With my hands pinned above my head, I found myself in a risky position.
�That song you were playing earlier� I�ve never heard it before.�
He�s barely three inches away from me and he�s asking about that stupid, not-even-half-written song?
�Neither have I.�
He looked down at me, perplexed, capturing both of my wrists in one hand and leaning on his elbow, so he could move the other to my face.
�So you wrote it?�
I attempted to shrug and to not give into the chills as he drug one of his fingers down the side of his face.
�I was trying to.�
His face grew serious.
�I�m sorry I interrupted you.�
�It�s okay.�
It came out as a whisper, his finger having just traced over my lips. Before I could say something else or move, one of his thumbs was running across the faint mark still under my left eye. I flinched more out of memory than the faint pain his touch caused.
�I can�t believe anyone could ever do this to you. Tell me this guy isn�t coming on Sunday.�
He�s my stepfather, Nick.
�Nick, it�s easier to talk to you when you�re not lying on top of me.�
*
But I like lying on top of you. It means I get to touch you and be near you and you can�t run away. I�m too big for you to move.
I sat up despite my own inner protest, running my hands up her raised arms until I grabbed her hands and proceeded to help her up as well. Once we were sitting in front of each other, her all cute and kid-like with her legs crossed and me still sprawled out everywhere, she surprised me by reaching out for my hand.
�Better?�
She nodded, keeping her eyes turned to where she�d placed my hand between hers.
�He�s going to be there, isn�t he? Your� step dad?�
Kara still kept her eyes on where she was playing with the ring on my middle finger, twisting it around absentmindedly. She hates looking at me when she has to tell me something she knows I don�t want to hear.
�Yeah, with my mom.�
Fuck. I�m going to get into trouble.
�Don�t tell me who he is.�
*
I looked up from where I�d been studying every minute detail of his hand. His voice had taken on a stern yet pleading quality.
�All right.�
He stared down at me with determined eyes.
�Don�t tell me who he is. Don�t let anyone else tell me either.�
With the hand that I wasn�t squeezing between mine, he reached towards me and touched my cheek right below the fading bruise. Feeling safe for the first time in months, I leaned into his opened palm.
�I�ll kill him. I don�t care if he�s eight feet tall and can bench press me� I�ll kill him.�
I could feel my eyes well up with tears again at his declaration to ensure my safety.
�I mean it. No one has the right to hit you� or even touch you for that matter.�
His hand fell and brushed against my bruised arm. My eyes instantly dropped away from the serious look in his eyes. I could feel yet another tear slipping down my cheek, and his hand rose to wipe it away.
�Don�t cry anymore baby. You can�t let them crush you.�
*
Kara wouldn�t look at me again, but just watched her thumbs brush against the top of my hand.
I love you. Why can�t I tell you that? How do I know you won�t believe me?
I was pulled out of my thoughts when she pressed her lips against my hand. When she finally pulled her eyes back to mine, they were sad again.
Why did I do this? I had her laughing and I ruined that. She was smiling and giggling and I ruined that just because I didn�t want to kiss her and mess everything up.
And I was going to kiss her if she didn�t stop laughing.
Slipping off the bed, she released my hand and walked towards her backpack. The strap of her tank top had fallen off her shoulder again and it took major self-control to keep myself from rushing to her side to push it back up. Her hair was falling out of where she�d pulled it up, so more strands fell halfway down her back.
My studying of her came to a halt when the doorbell rang, soon followed by a short series of loud knocks.
That can only be one of two people.