***
I found her on the floor, bent into the corner, her arms drawn over her face. Tendrils of long brown hair streaked over her face, soaking wet. It wasn’t in my nature to comfort the weak. Yet, there was something about the girl, something that always drew me in. The scent, perhaps, of something old and hauntingly familiar. Earth, warm bread and ale, a cigar and a still night, all captured within one drop of her.
She cowered when I came too close, contorting into the wall, backing up as far as she could manage to go. Her arms wrapped around her shoulders and she hugged herself tightly, casting everything and anyone away. Fear brought a glimmer of guilt to her eyes that shone oddly beautiful.
Help, I have done it again. I have been here many times before.
I crouched on the floor, kept my hands to myself, and tried to comfort the kid. I didn’t make friends. I didn’t play well with others. Still, something about the girl touched a part of me that I was certain I’d lost, or maybe never had at all. My position blocked the moonlight from her eyes and she disappeared into darkness.
Hurt myself again today. And the worst part is, there’s no one else to blame.
The obliterated light seems to pull her from her silence. Her arms, wrapped curiously in tight gauze bandages, fell from their grip about her shoulders. She stared at them uselessly, as though they were broken tools and not pieces of her. A flick of my eye in the darkness caught the tremble of her lower lip, the struggle of her chin. Her hands opened, revealing palms covered in scrapes and cuts.
Be my friend. Hold me. Wrap me up. Unfold me. I am small and needy. Warm me up. And breathe me.
I sighed slightly, staring down at the deliberate injuries. What had she called it? Poison skin? The realization hit me like a lightning bolt, piercing the flesh and tearing the bone. Vaguely, I wondered what it felt like to be able to ache, to not be able to heal. For a fleeting moment, I considered how lucky she must be, but the second was gone as soon as it appeared. Tears quivered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
Ouch, I have lost myself again. Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found.
I shed my leather jacket, allowing it’s creasing and groaning to break the silence of the room. Dust and grease clung to the hide, transferring my scent to her. The combined smells were intoxicating, and for a moment I forgot everything but the flawless devastation in her eyes. So beautiful, so gentle, she was like a doe hidden beneath a forest of cedars.
Yeah, I think that I might break. Lost myself again and I feel unsafe.
Carefully, so as not to frighten her, I slid the jacket over her shoulders. She dipped her head beneath my arm, watchful of my skin near any part of her. Could she damage me? Was it worth the effort to help her? I considered that it was more than her scent that touched me. It was her curse that struck me. This fragile mutant was me, trapped and alone, with no one to trust.
Be my friend. Hold me. Wrap me up. Unfold me. I am small and needy. Warm me up. And breathe me.
She flinched as I came near, bending over her. The moonlight played over her face, revealing and hiding the stricken features. Those jade eyes would haunt me in my dreams, I was certain. She squirmed briefly in my arms as I pulled her from the corner. The bandaged arms flailed like broken wings, struggling to fly. I held fast, my eyes glued to her strange beauty.
Be my friend. Hold me. Wrap me up. Unfold me. I am small and needy. Warm me up. And breathe me.
The mattress was soft and swallowed her whole, allowing her to find a new hiding space. I slid the covers over her slender figure, vaguely noticing the scars that danced dangerously up her long legs. Pain bled from every wound, every bruise, and every burn. Briefly, I glanced at the absent puncture wounds that should have formed between each knuckle on my hand.
A halo formed around each of her wide black pupils. She pulled the leather tighter around her and heaved in a ragged breath. My hand slid around her covered wrist, and I found my face within inches of her. Rosy cheeks stood out from her creamy skin. The words fled from my throat before I could think to halt them. Don’t do this. And to swallow them, if belatedly, my mouth pressed to her lips, drawing away a forbidden kiss from a scrap of a girl.
***
End.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is a songfic, in that it is inspired by the song chosen, though doesn't follow it *exactly*.
Song Info: Breathe Me by Sia [from the Breathe Me EP]
Song Info: Breathe Me by Sia [from the Breathe Me EP]