AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shakes her head definitively. “No.”
“Would you have touched him if he hadn't threatened you with exposing those photographs or anything else?”
She shakes her head again. “No.”
“Then you didn't choose to do it, did you?”
“I guess not,” she whispers.
“You were abused, Thea.”
“My therapist said the same.”
“Then why do you still think it was your fault?” I ask softly.
“Because my daddy told me it was.” I feel the wetness of fresh tears against my chest as she talks. “Why would a father call his daughter a whore if it wasn’t true?”
“I don’t know, baby. I don’t know.”
I don't say anything after that. I just keep holding her as the gravity of the conversation sinks in for us both. Never would I have considered that the reason for her disappearance was something like this. And I almost wish she really had been unfaithful to me, that she had cheated with some wannabe celebrity in California, because then at least this wouldn't have happened to her.
I'd take the pain of that betrayal over the pain she's suffered on her own for over half a decade. I'd do anything if it meant she didn't go through what she has.
“No one will ever hurt you again, princess,” I promise, my lips pressing into her hair.
I'll make fucking sure of it.
There issomething so exhausting about telling the truth. The way it forces you to confront every demon hiding in the darkest corners of your soul and feels like breaking all the bones in your body at once.
My soul feels freer for it, but my body is now a crumpled, shivering heap curled into Cole's lap on the living room floor. His hand cups the back of my head, his fingers kneading in comforting ripples. I haven't felt as safe as I do now since the night we lay side by side in the park, whisperingI love yousinto the starlit sky.
I'd do anything to go back to that moment. To feel the kiss of the night air on my cheeks as the boy I loved told me he loved me too. Life was purer then. It wasn't tainted by the amorality of men, or the unachievable expectations forced onto me by a corrupt society that cares more about the circumference of my waist than the health of my body.
Strong arms tighten around me before I feel myself being lifted into the air. The motion startles me and I grip harder onto Cole, my nails digging harshly into his skin.
“Shh, princess, it's okay,” he whispers, nuzzling his nose into my hair and calming my racing heart. “I'm just going to run you a bath.”
“Why?” I ask, only just coherent enough to be confused.
“‘Cause that’s what girls do when they’re sad.”
Burying myself deeper in his chest, I mutter, “I suppose it is.”
He carries me down the hall, through the bedroom I slept in last night and into the master bathroom. When he goes to set me down on the counter, I whine like a wounded puppy and cling to him with all my strength.
“Baby, I need to put you down so I can run the water.”
But I don't release him. I can't. The idea of not touching him right now, of not being in his arms, is unbearable.
He chuckles quietly and mutters to himself, “Guess I'm doing this shit one handed, then.”
Hooking his right arm under my ass, he carries me over to the bathtub with my body strapped to his front. I nuzzle my nose into the crook of his neck, breathing in the smoky scent of pine needles and chopped wood. Until now, I didn't know it was possible for a smell to regulate my heart rate, but the more I inhale, the steadier my pulse becomes.
Finally telling Cole what happened was the hardest thing I've ever done and yet, doing so was like purging the darkness in my heart. As worth it as it was, my body is spent and boneless now, as if I've just experienced an exorcism. Guess I have, in some way.
Already, the air isn't as dense as it was, the weight of the world is less heavy and the light in the room sparkles with an iridescence too intense for my tired eyes, but I know that I'll appreciate it tomorrow.
If I'm being honest, though, it's not just telling Cole the truth that has made me feel this way. It's his reaction too. How different it was from my father's. How he crumbled with concern instead of hurling accusations my way and confirming all my worst fears. But though the darkness may have lifted some, the memories I've relived tonight still pierce bleeding wounds into my soul.
