Page 21 of Under the Waves
Laid theirhandson her.
I was going to be sick.
I stepped backwards, blinking and rubbing my eyes nearly a hundred times. I’d imagined that. I had.Please, for the love of fuckinggod, say I’d imagined that.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered, eyes squeezed shut as tightly as humanly possible. “Please, I’msorry. I promise.Don’t!”
“Poppy—” I rasped.How the hell did you even ask someone if they were being abused?
Was she safe? At home, was she safe? Was it people in town? DidNatedo that to her?
“Hey, Wellsy, look at me. You’re okay,” I coaxed, desperately wanting to protect her from whoever it was that washurtingher. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
She recoiled backwards into the pillow as if she’d been slapped across the face, tears streaming down her reddened cheeks as her eyes remained squeezed shut.
“Poppy?” I rasped, falling to my knees by the side of my bed. “Wellsy?”
“I didn’t mean it!” She cried, flinching backwards. “I swear!”
“Who is it, Wellsy?” I gasped, the pressure in my chest constricting my airway as I continued to look at the helpless girl in my bed fighting off demons alone inside her mind. “Tell me who’s hurting you and I swear to god Iwillhelp you, Poppy. I don’t give two shits about our past, I will look after you. I promise you.”
The room began to spin as I gripped her hand in mine. Using my free hand to cup the side of her cheek, I gently tugged her face towards me. Her lips were slightly parted and trembling together as beads of sweat began to cluster across her forehead. Brushing each one away with my thumb, I gripped her chin. “Poppy,please. Open your eyes, Wellsy. I know you can do it.”
As I lifted my hand to push away another rogue curl, Poppy gripped my hand so fiercely my blood circulation nearly got cut off. “D-don’t leave m-me,” she stammered, brows pinched together as air tumbled out of her in harsh, uneven breaths. “I don’t w-want to be a-alone.”
I stopped breathing. If she knew it was me she was so tightly grasping onto, she would’ve told me to leave. Notstay. But for some reason, I was kind of glad she’d asked me to stay. Not that I had any intention of leaving her side until she fell asleep after that anyway. I may have been a complete asshole to her all her life, and even though I hated her entirely, I wouldn’t have left her like that. I was raised better than that.
She deserved better than that.
Sinking back onto my heels, I exhaled deeply. “I’m not going anywhere, Wellsy. You’re not alone anymore.”
And I meant that.
Until I knew she was safe.
Until I knew those bruises weren’t intentional.
I’d watch out for her.
Rival or fucking not, I wouldn’t letanyonehurt her.
Her grip loosened at my words, hand falling almost limp in mine as I rested our conjoined hands lightly above her stomach. It only took a few minutes for her breathing to even out but I still stayed by her side for an extra twenty just in case she woke back up again.
Slipping my hand out from beneath hers took a lot more convincing than I thought it would. The further I stepped away from her, from my bed, the greater the pressure pushing against my ribs became, pounding that I was making a mistake.
She wasn’t mine to look after.
She wasn’tanythingto me.
I just needed to remember that.
Water. Yes, right. She needed water.
I walked out of the door without looking back. She was a distraction that would never happen again.
But the bruises…
Nope. Not going there. Maybe it was because I felt sympathy for her. I mean, getting knocked outtwicein one night was a big fucking achievement.Shit. I should’ve apologized for what happened at the surf school…right?