forum Under The Painted Sky (O/O CLOSED)

Started March 18, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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Since he was holding her, Eden snatched the keys from the table when they got closer. She gripped them tightly, trying to pretend his smirk hadn’t bothered her. “You certainly are a very touchy person, aren’t you?”

Sterling shrugged and started back toward the door. “Only when it comes to certain people.” Like girls that I seem to like…

“Ah, I see,” Eden murmured, her fingers reaching up to play with his hair gently. “Certain people.”

Sterling hummed, leaning into her touch slightly. “Mmhm. Certain people indeed…”

“Your arms are the safest I’ve ever felt,” Eden admitted quietly as they walked out of the apartment. She slid the key into the keyhole, turned it around, locked the door and then pulled it out. “Every other, if you exclude my family, just repulses me.”

Sterling looked down at her and gave her a small smile. He tightened his grip on her slightly. “Yeah? Well, I’m glad. I’m really glad.”

Would you be, if you knew why? Would you be, if you realized just what exactly you were keeping close?

“We should hurry up,” Eden muttered, breaking her train of thoughts. “I don’t exactly want to get a tardy.”

“Right, of course,” Sterling murmured as he stepped away from the door. He began to make his way outside, toward the car.

God did she want him to dip his head and kiss her right there. But she didn’t know how she would react if he did, so she supposed it was a good thing he didn’t. So she stayed silent as Sterling walked to the car.

[TIME SKIP: Wednesday Afternoon]

Eden was flipping through her book, laying on her couch, one leg over the other. She furrowed her eyebrows at one specific part in the chapter she was currently going through.

“This is… rather harsh,” she scrunched her nose. She uncrossed her legs and set them on Sterling’s lap, who was working on the math reviews their teacher had assigned them. She had, without hesitation, rested her legs on his papers. It surprised her how easy she felt with him, as if he wouldn’t hurt her. As if his touch felt more safe than dangerous. “Have you read this book, Sterling? Lord of The Flies?”

Sterling was chewing on his lip as he wrote problems down on the worksheets. He stopped writing to push some buttons into his calculator. With a satisfied hum, he set it down and was about to write down his answer when a pair of legs were set down on his lap. He blinked and turned to raise an eyebrow at Eden.

“No, I have not. Is it any good?” he asked, setting a hand on her leg.

When he set a hand on her leg, Eden bit back the burn that came with it, and it wasn’t the good kind. It disappeared after a few seconds, though, and spared Eden the nausea and the slap of pain. It left behind a feeling of want in its wake.

“Well, I suppose. It goes a bit fast, and it’s a little unrealistic in some parts, but it’s rather good,” she replied breathlessly. “The kids just tore apart another rather brutally.”

Sterling raised his eyebrows at her explanation. “I really shouldn’t be surprised that you’re reading something so violent, but here I am… Are you enjoying it, then?”

Eden removed her legs from his lap, unable to withstand his hand on her. It had been okay in that moment, but she felt the fear creep up again.

“It’s an okay book,” she replied quietly. “It depicts the evil human, but it takes human boys instead of adults. It talks about civilization and dictatorship and all sorts of other symbolisms. It talks about how one person can change drastically if provoked. A kind person can change into a vicious human given the circumstances.”

Her eyes became distant, her words sending her off in her own memories. She swallowed the bile that rose up in her throat, exhaling deeply to get rid of the ghost touches on her body.

Sterling watched her carefully, noticing the way she reacted to her own words. She seemed almost in pain. Like the memory was hurting her. What had she gone through to give her so much grief?

“You know what? I think we need a distraction,” he declared, putting his books to the side as he stood. He reached out a hand to her, grinning. “Come out with me. Please.”

Eden snapped out of her memories when Sterling stood up, offering her a hand with a bright grin on his features. It was warm. She looked at his hand and then at him before marking her spot with a bookmark and closing the book shut. She set it aside and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.

“Why do we need a distraction?” She murmured, though she knew very well she needed one. If she didn’t… if she kept being chained to her past, she knew she’d do things that would end up hurting her and those who cared about her. “And where will you be taking me?”

“Well, I am bored with this math work, and you just seemed like you needed one. As for where we’re going… Somewhere. Anywhere. Just out,” Sterling said, pulling her into an unnecessary but much wanted embrace. He buried his face in her hair and kissed the top of her head. “Dinner. I can take you to dinner. Just go out with me.”

Eden stiffened when he first embraced her, but now she was well aware of his touches that she could easily differentiate. She relaxed in his embrace, wrapping her own arms around him. Just like that, the terrors in her mind left her alone. All it took was one hug and a kiss to her head and she felt free, even if it wouldn’t last long.

“A walk sounds good,” she murmured into his chest. “I… I don’t have much of an appetite for dinner.”

“A walk sounds fine,” Sterling agreed softly, not questioning her last statement and taking in a breath of her. Gosh, he loved the way she smelled… It could almost put him asleep, he was sure. “Can you maybe stomach an apple? I think you should at least eat a little bit of something.”

Eden silently hoped he would hug her tighter. He breathed her in and she could feel his breath fanning her neck. She felt both an uncomfortable yet a pleasant shiver run down her spine. “I can try,” she murmured, though she had wanted to say no. “Maybe not all of it, but half, I guess…”

“Good. That’s all I ask,” Sterling said softly, kissing her head again before pulling away. “Why don’t you get one while I clean my stuff up? And then we can head out.”

Eden merely nodded, closing her eyes when he kissed her head and opening them when he pulled away.

“Okay, I’ll do that,” she murmured, turning around to walk to the kitchen.

Sterling watched her for a moment, a smile tugging on his lips. He shook his head and made his way back to where he had been sitting, picking up his textbook, notebook, pencil, and calculators. After shoving them all into the bag he’d used to carry them in, he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the wall as he watched Eden again.

After taking out an apple from her fridge, Eden washed the apple, sighing as she looked at the fruit. Could she stomach it? If she got triggered, she knew she’d throw up. She hated throwing up. That was one of the reasons why she never felt hungry enough to eat. He’d taken that away from her, too, along with her sanity and peace of mind.

Then she felt eyes on her and she looked up, masking the pained expression she knew was clear on her face. Instead, she let her lips twist into a smile as she walked toward him.

“All right, I got it,” she said as she held up the red fruit. “Ready?”

Sterling had gotten a glimpse of the pain in Eden’s face before she tried to hide it. He knew she didn’t eat much, but it would make her sick if she never ate. That was why he pressed her to just eat a little because something was better than nothing at all.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” he confirmed, grinning at her. He offered her his hand as he pushed off the wall. “Let’s go.”