• Chapter 9
    Cuts
    I sat there, crying at the pain, both physically and emotionally.
    My left wrist was bleeding freely, the blood covering the perfectly even cuts. Not enough to kill myself, but enough to feel the pain.
    Dropping the long, blood covered knife in my right hand onto the floor, I leaned forward, crying what was left of my heart out. And soon enough, I fell asleep.
    The beach was there again. In the dream. And once again, Keaton stood there, singing his song. He was also wearing that same outfit from the first dream.
    But I wasn’t.
    I was wearing a sleeveless and strapless dress. It was midnight black, and rested on the ground by my feet. The dress had many cuts and holes in it, and blood splattered on various spots. My hair flew away from my face, revealing my face scar, and all my other scars on my skin looked like they had just been made. Especially the ones on my left wrist that had just been made in real life. The blood was also dripping from those marks, too.
    And I was sobbing.
    Keaton spun around, shocked at the sound. When he saw me, his eyes looked shocked, then angry, and then shocked again when he finally took in my appearance.
    “Charlotte….” His voice trailed off and he took a step forward, his arm raised and his hand reaching out.
    “LEAVE-LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!” I choked out. The pain from my shattered heart got even worse, and I cried harder.
    “Charlotte, what’s going on?” Two more steps forward.
    “I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!” I screeched and looked up at him through my tears. He was concerned now.
    “But……” His eyes turned wide. “Charlotte, is this your dream, too?” I didn’t reply. Then four more steps forward. “Charlotte, what are you doing in real life?” The image of me cutting my left wrist flashed before my eyes, and by the look on Keaton’s face, I guessed he saw it too. “CHARLOTTE!!!!!!!!”
    His scream echoed through my mind as reality came over me and swallowed me back into my real pain. Still crying, still hurting.
    I could hear running footsteps from the floor below. They climbed the stairs, and then ran down the hallway towards me……then the lock on the door got picked…...then the door swung open and closed….and then Keaton rushed over and knelt down before me.
    “Oh my God, Charlotte….” He grabbed my hands and forced me to look at him. “Why!?”
    I didn’t answer. I just kept crying.
    He stood up and shot over to the bathroom, tearing through the cabinets. Then, he grabbed what looked like a first aid kit, and came over to clean the cut. My hysteria slowed and then came to a stop. He looked through the kit for a bandage to wrap around my wounds, but there were none. Instead, he looked down at his signature white and black checkered scarf that was wrapped around his wrist, at the moment, and took it off. Without making a sound, he tied it around the cuts on my skin.
    “But….but that’s your scarf….” I protested while shaking my head. A few more tears spilled out and flew everywhere.
    “I know.” He smiled a warm smile and looked up into my eyes. “I know……” He repeated himself as he suddenly leaned closer to me, his eyes closing. My instincts made me lean forward too, but I abruptly jerked back, out of reach. His eyes went wide as he realized what he almost did. “Charlotte….I’m….I’m sorry….”
    “You were the one who said it’d be better off without each other, yet you try to make a move on me.” My eyes narrowed in an attempt to glare at him, but it didn’t work. At least, I thought it didn’t. Keaton seemed guilty as he leaned against the bed, and brought his knees up to his chest.
    “God, I’m stupid….” I crawled a bit forward.
    “No, you’re not.”
    “Yes, I am.” He instantly protested. “Stupid for feeling this way about you…..” I felt my heart speed up.
    “What way?”
    He was silent, but then looked up and into my eyes once again. He sat there and stared for what seemed like forever, as if he could see down into my soul.
    He then broke the gaze, and stood up. I did the same.
    “Hey, shouldn’t you be with….” I gulped.
    “Oh….uh...…I left. A minute after I got there, I realized it was all just stupid, and then left. Hey, it’s the last night here. I bet she’s got plenty of other guys to sleep with.” I couldn’t stop the giggle that popped out and the small smile that flickered onto my face. Speaking of my face, Keaton suddenly stared at it.
    At the right side.
    The top right side.
    He took a hesitant step forward. My heart, which had slowed, seemed to skip a beat. He took another step forward.
    And then, when he was in front of me, he used the back of his left hand to gently brush the hair away from my face. He looked at the scar that lay there.
    “I…..I got it from those guys. They gave it to me.” The lie popped out. I could barely even breathe. His legs kept touching mine, the tips of the clothes on our torsos barely touching. And his face, oh, his glorious face, was only inches away from mine.
    He shook his head at me. “I was there when they first saw your scar. I saw their reactions when that one……examined you.” I could see the hatred glint in his eyes, but it was gone almost as soon as it came. “Plus, the scar looked like it had been there for a week or two.”
    “Week and a half….” I whispered quietly. He gave me an odd look. “Please, I do not want to talk about it.”
    Seeing that the subject really bothered me, he nodded in agreement. “Okay….” His head tilted over to the side, and the hand that had brushed back my hair now lay on my shoulder. He leaned his face forward, and his body went with it, pressing against mine. My heart seemed like it started skipping two beats at a time, and I found it hard to breathe.
    “Keaton…..” I whispered, my voice coming to a stop.
    “Yes?” His breath fell against my neck, and my knees turned weak.
    “We can’t…..”
    “I know.”
    But he kissed me anyway.
    He lowered his mouth down to mine, and then gently kissed me. And there were sparks. Major sparks. Like The Fourth of July fireworks kind of sparks!
    As soon as his lips met mine, I instantly relaxed, and leaned into his body. He smiled through the kiss and slid the arm that was on my shoulder down the side of my body, under my black corset and rested it on my side. The other arm wrapped around my entire waist.
    His hand sliding down my side sent shivers through my veins, and the arm around my waist made me feel safe. Secured.
    A feeling I hadn’t felt for about four years.
    During those four years, however, I did date three guys. NO, NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!
    Each guy liked me, though, and I tried to distract myself from my depression and get out of it by dating them. Yeah, I kissed each one a couple times, but none of them made me feel how Keaton was making me feel right now. He made my heart speed up and skip beats. He made my knees go weak. He made my arms and hands shake.
    He made me fall in love.
    My right arm wrapped around his neck, and my left hand got lost in his hair and gently held onto part of it. He inhaled sharply, and then slowly let it out.
    But the kiss was over too soon. I didn’t want it to end. I wanted it to go on forever. And, by looking into Keaton’s eyes, I could tell he felt the same. His hand caressed my cheek and I smile at him, then burry my face into his shirt. He hugs me tight until I feel a sudden jolt of pain and I snap back.
    “Was it something I did?” He asks, confused. I turn without a word and walk over to the faint light shining through the window, then silently lift up my shirt a quarter way. Not for him, but to examine what had made me flinched.
    And then he sees my scars.


    Chapter 10
    Promises
    “Charlotte, what….?” He blinked two times and stared at my scarred and bruised skin in disbelief. I quickly spun around and dropped the edge of my shirt, and then his eyes flickered back to the scar on my face. “Who’s giving you all of these???”
    I could see the concern in his eyes. Very, very strong concern. I knew I couldn’t tell him. But looking into those eyes, I couldn’t hold back.
    “My parents beat me.” The words flew out before I could stop them. I placed a hand over my mouth, looked down and squeezed my eyes shut.
    A moment of silence passed, and I grew impatient.
    “…..What?”
    “When I was thirteen, my parents came home from a party drunk and killed my older brother, David, Scarlet’s twin. Ever since then my parents have been alcoholics, and they abuse Scar and I whenever they get the chance.”
    Another moment of silence, and I decided to look up.
    Keaton stared back at me with wide eyes. The concern and worry grew even deeper.
    “Charlotte……I’m so sorry……I never knew…..”
    “Nobody did, or does.” I replied stiffly, averting his eyes. Instead, I stared at a place on the bare white wall behind him. Soon, I grew tired and weak, and I dragged myself to the bed, lay under the covers and carefully rested my head on my pillow. I expected Keaton to just leave. But soon, the sheets on the other side got lifted and he got under them, and then put them back into place.
    His warm, muscular arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me into him. I instantly relaxed and exhaled a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. I hadn’t even known had tense I’d felt.
    “Charlotte, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. I promise.” I turned into his chest and closed my eyes. His free hand stroked my hair and then he bent his head down to it, and kissed it softly.
    “Don’t make promises, because they only end up broken.” I whispered so quietly I wasn’t sure if he even heard me. But I wasn’t going to find out soon, because after I spoke the last word, I fell asleep.