forum Under The Painted Sky (O/O CLOSED)

Started March 18, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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Sterling chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head. “But once it stops smelling like me, I can trade you that one for a different one. And then I can have something that smells like my beautiful girlfriend.”

Beautiful girlfriend.

“All right,” she smiled in agreement. “So we’ll keep trading. I’d… like that. To have your shirts and hoodies remind me of you.”

“And I’d like my things to smell like you, so that works out well,” Sterling murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead again. “Now… I was going to carry you to your bed, wasn’t I?”

Eden nodded mutely, just looking at him. From his sharp jawline to his careful eyes, pupils dilated as he looked down at her.

“I don’t think we ever decided if I was going to walk, or if you were going to carry me…”

“You should definitely let me carry you,” Sterling chuckled, taking her face in his hands gently. He swept a quick kiss across her nose and smiled down at her. “What do you say?”

“Carry me,” Eden breathed, transfixed by the smile on his face, the smile reserved only for her. He looked far more handsome with that smile than with any other expression. “I say carry me.”

“Deal,” Sterling agreed, bending down and scooping her into his arms in a bridal-style. “When we lay down… would you be okay with me kissing you? It’s completely fine if you say no.”

Eden threw her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest as he carried her. “I I’ll be fine,” she answered. “It’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure,” Sterling murmured as he carried her over. He laid her down, then carefully laid down beside her. He cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb over her cheek. “You’re my favorite… You know that?”

Eden leaned into his touch, a smile on her features that grew as he spoke. She nestled against his side, feeling as if she was… safe, protected, even, in his embrace.

“I didn’t,” she said quietly, resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes as his heartbeat filled her ears. “But now I do. Thank you, Sterling.”

“Just speaking the truth, sweetheart,” Sterling said softly, bumping her nose with his. “Now… I had a request. You still okay to fulfill it?”

Eden looked up at him, and then at his mouth before she returned her gaze to his eyes. She slowly nodded.

“Yes,” she answered quietly, propping herself on the bed so she was sitting. “I want you to.”

“Tell me of you want me to stop,” Sterling whispered as he sat up as well. He took her face in his hands with a small smile. His thumbs slid over her cheeks before he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. With a slight smirk, he kissed the other corner of her mouth.

“Jerk,” Eden mumbled when he teased her, kissing her anywhere but on her mouth, where her lips had already begun to tingle. She was glad wherever Adrien had touched her today, he hadn’t claimed her lips.

Slowly, she gripped his collar in her small hands and brought his mouth down on hers softly, tilting her head slightly to the side for better contact.

Sterling chuckled, grunting softly when she pulled him down. He slipped a hand around to cup the back of her neck, holding her closer. His other hand took her waist as he kissed her back, their lips moving together softly.

Eden kept her hands on his collar as they kissed, lips burning where they touched his. How was it that each of his kisses rendered her completely vulnerable? They were always soft and tender when they needed to be—when she needed them to be. At times like these, she realized how grateful she was to have him the most.

But she needed something to tell him, too.

So gently, she pulled away from him, eyes still closed, taking deep, soft breaths.

“I… have something to tell you,” she said quietly, her grip around his collar tightening with each word. “And… I don’t know how you’ll react to it, but don’t turn away from me.”

Sterling slowly opened his eyes, frowning slightly. “I would never dream of it. Whatever it is, I’m sure I will think no less of you. I don’t think I ever could.”

Eden smiled sadly at him before letting go of his collar, fisting her hands in her lap. She took another deep breath before she finally started with a heavy heart and a trembling voice. What she had told Lucas and Ashley… that wasn’t everything. Just the brunt of it. So continuing from the start… suddenly, she couldn’t find her voice.

“I met Adrien in middle school,” she started quietly. “He was always alone. It wasn’t like he wasn’t liked or anything. He was, but somehow he always preferred the silence. I ran into him one day after school. He was limping, but it was barely noticeable,” she paused, trying to recollect her memories, “I don’t know what compelled me to do so, but I approached him and demanded he show me his leg. He never limped. I’d observed him for so long to know that much. He had a cut, and I ended up bandaging it.”

Eden straightened her back, running a hand through her hair, the other gripping her sweatpants tightly. “We… became friends. Adrien was sweet. He was kind to me. Back then, I was taken for granted. I was a nerd—big glasses, always having my nose in books, always getting straight A’s. But the day I patched him up, everything changed. People… stopped bothering me. It was nice having someone do that for me, you know?” she let out a bitter smile, shaking her head. “Adrien grew up in an abusive household. His father was a monster. Adrien was always afraid of becoming like him. He hated his father.

“Then in freshman year of high school, he asked me out. For the most part, it was great. We were great. But then his fear became a reality and he… stopped trying to fight it. His father really got to him,” her voice started to crack, her head ducked down. “He first struck me when I thought it would be best if we broke up. I was really started to fear him—I was only fifteen. He’d been horrified then, apologizing, telling me he didn’t mean it. I… believed him. I was too afraid to do anything else. I thought, like he promised, he wouldn’t hurt me again. But he lied, because he did it again. And again. And again and again and again until he really became that monster he feared.”

Eden didn’t know how she managed to keep calm while talking, but did it. Though her voice broke off, though there were parts where she couldn’t speak, she continued.

She told him about the time she was tutoring her classmate, a guy, and Adrien had gone nuts. How he’d pinned her against the wall. How he’d wrapped his hand around her neck and squeezed until she was begging him to stop. She told him about the countless times she had to hide her bruises, and about the one time she tried to tell her brother. How he’d found out, she didn’t know. But he had abused her until she sobbed and her throat had felt raw. She told him about his forced touches, how he claimed he gained her consent the day she said yes to him. He never went far, but it hadn’t mattered. He had made her dirty. Used.

Then she got to the part where he had to move away. That was where she stopped speaking, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them off. She continued, voice breaking and cracking at every other word. She narrated the story of how he had been so nice to her that day. He said he had planned something for her and had her wear a blindfold. He’d pinned her, touched her without her consent, again, not going too far. How he had told her she was his and only his, and that he’d come back for her. He did that to make sure she never let another man touch her again.

Then came the other hard part. The time she tried ending her life. She told him about that, choking back sobs. And then she fell silent, taking deep breaths.

“And here I am,” she whispered quietly, not daring to look at Sterling. “Still alive. Still haunted.”

Sterling’s mind was a whirlwind of emotions. Anger and pure rage and hatred of Adrien for doing that to this girl. Pain and fear and… and love for Eden, for what she had been through. He wanted to hurt the man who had done this to her, who had touched her without her consent. He wanted to comfort her and take her in his arms and never let her go.

Most of all… he just wanted to keep her safe. And happy. And loved.

“Eden… Oh, Eden… I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” he finally managed to whisper after a silence heavy with raging feelings. “Thank you for telling me this. That had to have taken a lot out of you to do so, and I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud of you for even lasting through that. So proud…” He reached over and gently took her hands in his. “I will not let him do that to you again. Ever. All right? No one can touch you like that and just get away with it. That’s not right. And now I know why you don’t like being touched, and I can be more careful about it. If you ever need me to do anything, I’m here for you.”

Eden was sobbing at his point, her body trembling at his words. Proud of you. He was proud of her. Why were those words ringing through her like they meant the world?

Because they did. Because he acknowledged how hard it was for her, how hard it is for her. Because he understood. Let her know she wasn’t alone and that she was cherished. That she made it.

“Every day—until you came into my life, I wished Lucas hadn’t found me that night,” Eden confessed, choking back on another sob. “I wished he hadn’t been so worried. Because I wanted to die that night, and I hated him for taking that chance away from me. I hated him so much for it…”

“I’m so glad he did. I’m so glad he found you. I would be so lost if I didn’t have you,” Sterling whispered, bringing her hands to his mouth and kissing the backs of them. “I will never leave you, but I hope that you will never leave me, either.”

“I told you that day,” Eden squeezed her eyes shut, sniffling. “I won’t leave unless you give me a reason to. If you raise a hand against me, if you hurt me, I will leave. Because once was enough. I will not be hurt again.”

“I would never even dream of hurting you. Ever,” Sterling promised vehemently, an intense look pooling in his eyes. He cupped her cheeks in his hands again and leaned forward so that their foreheads rested together. “I care about you. A lot. And I could never do anything to hurt you.”

Eden closed her eyes, releasing a shaky, thankful breath. She rested her hands on top of his before leaning into him more.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For all of this. For your words. For listening to me. Thank you for everything.”

“I would do anything for you, E,” Sterling whispered, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. “Anything at all.”