Page 176 of Under the Waves
Her eyes widened in panic. “No, please you can’t take me back there,please—”
“Hey,” I cupped her cheeks in my palms, gently stroking her skin with my thumb. “It’s okay, Wellsy. You’re safe. We’re safe. No one is forcing you to go back there, okay?”
Her entire body was shaking beneath my touch. She was completely and utterly terrified of going back home.
“You’ll stay with me?” she whispered, slowly starting to relax into my palms.
“Yeah,” I smiled softly, leaning my forehead against hers, letting my eyes fall closed for a brief second. “I’ll stay with you, Wellsy.”
Poppy Wells had always been the toughest girl I knew, besides Lia. She was a fighter, and a damned good one at that. People in this town were truly oblivious to what went on inside that house—what had been going on all these years.Hell, even I had no idea it was that bad. I’d heard about Oliver’s death years ago, just small town gossip about a child who drowned, but I had no idea he was herbrother.
I had no idea about any of it…
She said that his death was the catalyst that started it all. That once he was gone, everything went to hell. It was bad before, but after…her own fuckingfathertried to rape her for fuck sake, mistaking her for hiswife, and hermother? She nearly beat the entire living daylights out of her.
It was a fucking miracle that girl was stillbreathing.
“Matilda,” I whispered, the pieces slowly falling into place inside my mind.Nothing about the way you were treated ever seemed especially alarming till now, so you tie up your hair and you smile like it’s no big deal…“Poppy—” I croaked out heavily.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, somehow knowing exactly what I was going to say. “You didn’t know.”
“But I should’ve,” I countered. “All these years…”
“You couldn’t have known, Jasper. It isn’t your fault.”
“It isn’t your fault either, Poppy.”
She went quiet and I could tell she was thinking over my words, unsure if they were true or not. I knew she would blame herself for this—I knew because it was what I would do.
I dipped my finger underneath her chin so I could see her face as I said, “It is not your fault, Poppy. None of this was your fault.”
Tears started falling from her eyes, one by one, as she looked at me, completely unmoving. “It feels like it is. Italwaysis.”
“It’s not,” I gritted out before calming myself back down again. It was her parents I was angry with, not her.Neverher. “It’s not, Poppy.”
“And—” she sniffled, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes, collecting each tear as it fell down her cheek. “And you still want to be my friend? Even though my life is a fucking mess andI’ma fucking mess?”
I wanted to be so much more than your friend, Poppy Wells.
“Yes,” I rasped. “Give me the messy, Wellsy. Hell, give me all of it. There is no part of your life, no part ofyouthat could ever scare me away. I’m your Spiderman, after all,” I grinned, quoting her words from back when we were in the bathroom together at Jakson’s party. “And you’re my Gwen Stacy. Nothing could ever change that.”
“You know how that ended, though…” she whispered, looking down as she scratched the back of her neck, brown curls fanning gracefully across her shoulders.
“We’re going to rewrite it, Wellsy,” I said, completely dedicated to getting that girl her happy ending, even if I wasn’t a part of it. “I’ll get you your happy ending, Wellsy. I promise.”
She glanced at me with these sad green eyes. “Don’t make me promises we both know you can’t keep, Jasper,” she whispered.
“Then it’s a good thing I can keep that one,” I grinned. “Come on,” I held out my hand for her to take. “Let’s find you some more comfy clothes.”
Hesitantly, she placed her hand in mine. I led her down the hallway and into my bedroom. Compared to the one Jakson had given me, this one was a whole lot smaller and less extravagant, yet when I glanced back at Poppy, she looked more at home here than she had in my bedroom at Jakson’s.
Walking over to my bed, she plopped herself down on my mattress cross-legged as I raided my closet for my Spiderman hoodie and a pair of sweat pants for her to change into. When I found what I was looking for, I chucked them back at her.
“Hey!” she gasped, letting out a small laugh. I turned around almost immediately at the sound, utterly drawn to her like a magnet. Her eyes widened when she saw the hoodie I had thrown at her, before glancing back up at me with grateful doe-like eyes.
I flashed her a small smirk as I closed my closet doors, placing one of my hands in my pocket as I ran the other through my hair. “I can show you where the bathroom is, if you’d feel more comfortable changing there. You can use any of the products my mom has if you want. Same with the shower and everything.”
She looked at me for a second before nodding. Slowly, she rose off of the bed and walked towards the door, giving me a small smile as she passed. When she left, closing the door behind her, I collapsed onto my bed, letting out a deep groan. My chest felt like it was suffocating, beating heavily like someone had taken a jackhammer to my heart.