Page 177 of Under the Waves
Restlessness coursed through my body, and if I didn’t get up and do something, I think I might very well have exploded. Walking over to my desk, I picked out one of my Spiderman comics and flicked through the pages, letting the story wipe the heaviness of reality away.
After three comics, the echoes of running water hadn’t stopped. Each second that passed without her felt like I was being tortured. I was buzzing, riding out an anxiety high. Jumping up from my desk chair, I walked over to the bathroom.Just to make sure she was okay. Just to calm the panic flooding my chest like a rising tide.
Knocking on the door, I said, “Wellsy, you okay in there?”
I was met with silence.
So I knocked again.
And again. Andagain.
I called out her name.
No response.
“I’m going to open the door, Poppy,” I rasped, giving her a few seconds to cover up and think over my words before Islammed my entire body weight into the wood separating her from me. The door swung open and my eyes immediately locked onto the small figure slumped against the shower wall. Slowly walking over there, I knelt down in front of the glass, clearing a small patch free of steam.
“Hi, Poppy,” I breathed.
Her face was emotionless—an impenetrable wall of steel. Once bloodied clothes hung to her frame, completely soaked through as crimson water dripped down her body and was swept under the drain. Stepping into the shower, I let the water hammer down on my clothes. They could always be washed but people couldn’t always be fixed.
Kneeling down in front of her, I tilted her chin up to face me. There was no life in those sad, green eyes. No happiness.Nothing. Just desolate emptiness, as if the weight of her past had finally drained the remaining life from within her. Delicately, I swept a loose strand of hair from her eyes and tucked it gently behind her ear.
I reached for the lavender scented soap before turning back to the girl who had become my entire world. “I need you to give me your consent to touch you, Wellsy.”Because I don’t want you to regret this—regretme.
She blinked once at me, the most human-like interaction I’d gotten out of her so far.
“I need you to say it,” I rasped. “Can you do that for me, Wellsy?”
“Yes,” she croaked out, gasping heavily. “Yes.”
I let her words sink into me as I squirted some of the body wash onto my palms. Starting at her shoulders, I delicately massaged the soap into her skin, taking my time to wash away any remains of what she faced tonight. I knew there was a much deeper battle she’d have to face, but if by doing this, I could help in some way…then it would be worth it. I just hoped she knew she didn’t have to fight through it all alone because shewasn’t.
From now on, there wouldn’t be a day that passed where she didn’t have me to count on. I was completely and irrevocably dedicated to that girl, and if a higher power did exist, then Poppy Wells was his greatest masterpiece.
“Where’s that beautiful smile gone, Wellsy?” I smiled, letting the words roll lightly off my tongue. I’d give anything to see hersmile just one more time.
Her reddened, glassy eyes stared right through me like she was haunted by a thousand ghosts, yet I was not deterred nor afraid. Poppy Wells was feeling the weight of the world right now, and I’d stay by her side until feeling turned to healing, and nightmares turned to forgotten memories. At whatever pace she needed, I would be there for her, every step of the way.
Bundling her body up in my arms, clutching her against my chest with a firm grip, I stepped us both out of the shower. I turned the water off as I reached for one of my gray towels, wrapping her up warm in the soft fabric. Bumping my shoulder into hers in an attempt to get her to laugh, my heart seized from beating completely when I saw a glimpse of a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
There’s my fighter.
I was utterly captivated by the essence of her soul. By every inch of her. Ruffling her towel, I captured any loose water droplets clinging to her skin before letting it fall to the floor. Poppy looked up at me, completely vulnerable beneath my touch.
My gaze fell down to her lips—those beautiful lips that haunted my every dream. I glanced back at her once more, noting the way her eyes softened and her shoulders dropped down. My fingers grazed the skin by her shoulder ever so gently, igniting sparks inside my soul. I slowly dipped my fingers under the thin straps of her tank top, pulling it lightly over her head.
I didn’t look away from her eyes—I wouldn’t let myself. That girl had every inch of my respect. My ungodly thoughts would always come in second to making sure she felt safe and comfortable. Tugging down the waistband of her shorts over her hips, I waited for her to shimmy out of them before reaching for her face, cupping her cheeks in my palms. Poppy melted into my touch, leaning into me despite the desolateness lingering in her exhausted gaze.
“You are the strongest person I know, Poppy. So fucking strong and brave,” I rasped, needing her to know—what exactly?
That I was a complete and utter fool for her? That she was a fighter and a damned fucking good one at that? That she had been my every thought from the moment we first met and I’d go to the ends of the earth on her behalf?
“You are not weak because of this,” I tapped the skin above where her heart lay gently, “you, Wellsy, are fierce and determined and kind…but most of all, you arehuman.You feel and you cry and you get angry and you get sad all because you are human. Poppy…you were never broken to begin with, you just needed a little help to find your way back to yourself.Para encontrar o caminho de volta à vida.”
Tears started rolling down her cheeks, mirroring the ones falling from my own eyes.
“Why are you crying, Spiderman?” Poppy sniffled, glancing up at me with a softened gaze as she wiped her thumb across my cheek in a smooth motion.