forum Under The Painted Sky (O/O CLOSED)

Started March 18, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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Eden shook her head desperately, eyes squeezed shut. A sob broke through her lips, which she immediately stifled.

“You can’t help,” she croaked out, desperation seeping into her voice. “Making it worse. Go. Please.”

He was making it worse by simply being there, by speaking… Whatever had happened to her must have been horrible for her to be acting this way. And, from how she was acting with him, it must have been a guy who did it to her.

Sterling silently vowed to hurt whoever had done this to her if they ever tried something like it again.

Silently, he stood and grabbed his things. If he was quiet enough that she didn’t even know he was there, maybe it would help her calm down faster. So, without a word, he slipped out the door, closing it behind himself with a sigh once he was on the other side.

When Sterling left, the dam finally broke. Tears spilled from her eyes as sobs broke through her lips. She hadn’t cried that badly, not even the day he’d completely shattered her and left. She’d been so broken that she could barely produce any tears. He’d left her hollow and empty and he returned and now Eden knew it was over for her.

Razor licked her tears away, but even his presence wasn’t helping. Her body burned each time she remembered his hands on her, touching places she had never given him permission to access. Bile rose up her throat.

Eden didn’t come out from the bathroom until her skin was wet, raw and bleeding. And even then, the pain wasn’t enough to numb the storm inside her.

Ashley followed Lucas into his apartment and glanced around. It was quiet, more so than normal. Razor came plodding out of Eden’s bedroom, mewling pitifully.

“Raz? Where’s Eden, buddy?” she asked softly, bending down to pet him.

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows as Razor took Ashley’s shirt in his mouth, tugging on it before he took off, running into Eden’s room. Worry gnawed at the older twin’s heart and after exchanging a look with Ashley, he followed after the cat. Why was he so worried?

When they entered the room, Lucas realized exactly why the cat was acting strange. His sister was on the bed, a towel wrapped around her body, arms red and scratched, hints of dried blood on them. Her face was red, tear stains on her cheeks and Lucas felt like his world was shattering. She’d had an episode again. He wasn’t there to stop it.

“Oh, God…” Lucas ran a hand through his hair, his breathing heavy. “God, what—what is she doing to herself?”

Ashley let out a puff of breath, covering her mouth with her hand as she shook her head. “No, no… What happened? It’s been so long, I thought— I thought she was getting better,” she whispered, stepping toward her best friend. Her hand hovered over the broken skin of the other girl’s arms, and she looked back up at Lucas. “Luca… How are we supposed to help her now?”

Lucas swallowed the hatred that shot up at seeing his little sister so broken and completely done. She’d never admitted to him or anyone about what happened to her, but he and Ashley had somewhat connected the dots. It had something to do with her ex. What exactly it was, they didn’t know. And what happened today… it must have been because of him.

He bent down next to her, fingers reaching out to touch the bruised skin, and he winced, blinking back tears. He sighed, pulling the blanket over her just as Razor jumped on the bed to lick the scratches she’d given herself

“We should probably dress those wounds,” he murmured. “What are we going to do with her, Ash?”

“I don’t know, Luca… It scares me. What if she does more than this one day?” Ashley whispered, leaning into him. She generally reserved the nickname for intimate times or when she was afraid, so if she was using it now… she was definitely fearing for the girl she thought of as her best friend. “I can grab the first-aid supplies from the bathroom if you want to stay here with her.”

Lucas swallowed thickly, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. He shared her fears. Eden barely stopped to think what her actions would do to other people. She just hurt herself again and again until the pain was enough to numb her senses—until it was easier for her to fall asleep. He hated that she didn’t trust them enough to tell them what happened.

“I hope that never happens. I hope she keeps fighting. I just—I don’t know what to do…” Lucas released a shuddering breath. “You stay with her. I’ll… go get the first aid. If she wakes up and sees me with her while she’s not properly dressed…”

Ashley nodded and reached up to softly kiss his lips. “Okay. That does sound like a better idea. Go quickly, love. I want to do this before she wakes up,” she murmured, pulling herself from his arms and gently pushing him toward the door.

“Yeah,” Lucas nodded before hurrying to the bathroom, taking out the first-aid kit and returning to his sister’s room. God, what was he going to do with her? He didn’t want to wake up one day to find her gone. He wouldn’t be able to handle it. It would destroy him to lose his other half.

“Here,” Lucas gave her the box, eyes glistening with sadness as Razor curled up in Eden’s arms. She didn’t even move an inch. If it wasn’t for the constant twitch of her eyebrows and the way her chest rose and fell with each breath she took, he would have thought the worst. “I’ll look away as you do that. And tell me—tell me if she’s injured herself elsewhere.”

“Okay,” Ashley promised in a whisper, drawing him close before she did anything. She held him tightly and hid her face in his neck. “She’ll be okay. She has to be okay, so she will be.”

Lucas hugged her back, releasing a shaky breath. “I hope so, Ash… I don’t want to lose her… you know what she means to me. I’m constantly failing to protect her and I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t keep an eye on her twenty-four-seven otherwise she’ll grow suffocated. I can’t stop her from going anywhere without you or I or she’ll get even worse. I don’t know what to do at all…”

Ashley wove her fingers into her boyfriend’s hair, rubbing his head comfortingly. “I know, love… And it’s hard for me, too. I wish we could help her more, but we can’t do anything more than what she’ll let us do. No matter how much it hurts. Unless we know she’s about to do something g she will regret, in which case we need to intervene, anyway.”

Lucas exhaled through his nose, nodding slowly.

"I just wish she'd get better…" he murmured, pulling away slightly to look at Ashley. "You should start now before she wakes up…"

Ashley nodded, kissing him once more before then grin attend to her friend. “Don’t forget to turn around, Luca,” she murmured as she got everything ready.

Lucas nodded, sitting on the floor, turning around and leaning against the bed. He sighed softly before he furrowed his eyebrows.

"She mentioned briefly that she was going to be studying with Ainsley," he said, recalling their short conversation in the morning. "Do you think… do you think he has something to do with this?"

“I most certainly hope not,” Ashley muttered, slipping the towel from her friend’s body so that she could attend to her scratches. “If he does, I will hurt him as badly as he made her hurt.”

"I'm with you on that one," Lucas exhaled, closing his eyes. "But that day… he was really holding on to her like he wanted to protect her. And she seemed so peaceful in his hold… It's almost hard to believe he'd be the cause of this."

Ashley hummed, nodding her agreement even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “I know… And that’s why this is so confusing. How did this even happen?”

“I don’t know, Ash,” Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I want to tell our parents. This is going too far. One day, she’s going to hurt herself permanently and I don’t think I can wait around for that day.”

“Luke… You know if you do that you’ll betray her trust. As much as I agree with you, I think we should wait and try to talk to her,” Ashley sighed.

“I know. And we should,” Lucas bit his lip, “Has she hurt herself anywhere else?”

“No, she’s just scratched up everywhere,” Ashley sighed, wiping the blood from some of them. “How did she even do this?”

Eden shifted slightly, wincing when Ashley wiped the blood, but otherwise she didn’t wake up.

Lucas sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “A few days ago, she got into multiple fights as well. I understand the effort she puts into her position, but…”