“Don’t worry sweetheart, nothing’s going to happen to you, today at least. I was curious and thought I’d come and say hello,” He has his head cocked to the side. It reminds me of a dog that hears a strange noise but it can’t quite figure it out.
“What do you want?” Trying to act cool and collected is hard to do, despite the frigidity in my room.
“Use your ears to listen Henleigh, I just told you I was curious. I wanted to meet the girl who has everyone in a tizzy. From guys and girls, to students and even prisoners. You sure do get around,” he says, his eyes just as dead as before.
“You don’t know a thing about me, just fuck off will ya,” I say back and his hand shoots around my neck.
“Girls shouldn’t use that kind of language Henleigh. You know, I hear you got quite excited when Harrison did this to you, was it the guy or the action?” His head is still cocked to one side and his eyes are worse than his voice, no warmth, inflection or emotion to be seen. “And don’t worry I’m going, don’t want your boyfriends to find me just yet. But I can’t leave without giving you a little something to remember me by.”
My whole body is shaking, I’m petrified. What is he going to do? He lights a cigarette before blowing the smoke straight into my face and stepping closer.
“I think you may prove to be my favourite target, see you around pretty girl,” the stubble on his face scratches my cheek as he drops a kiss onto me before a searing pain starts in my hip.
He smirks at me, but there’s no emotion to fuel it. It’s just an action. My hand shoots to my hip as he walks over to my window and drops out of sight.
I think I’m going to be sick and my hip now has a circular burn the size of his cigarette. Guess I better clean it off and get a plaster. I think I may be in shock.
My door is locked and I won’t answer it, no matter how many times someone knocks on it or calls my name. My phone is off and my curtains are drawn, I just can’t be around anyone right now. He came into my room and left me with a reminder of him, I want to cry but the tears are refusing to fall. It’s becoming too much to handle, I might as well just go to sleep and say goodbye to this craptastic day for good.
An hour, that’s all I get. My heart is racing and I can’t get the nightmare out of my mind, it feels like someone is here with me, watching me. I’m becoming paranoid yet another thing to look forward to and my hip is still smarting like a bitch. I don’t think I can stay in here and it’s eleven at night. Where am I supposed to go? I ignored my guys, well done Henleigh, but I know Noah won’t hold that against me. My heart and my head are in agreement for once, Noah is the only person I want to be around right now.
Donning my burgundy leggings and black knee length jumper I’m good to go, my hair is up in a messy bun and I look like hot mess but he won’t care. Please let me in.
He opens the door, his hair is all over the place but more from having fingers ran through it then being woken up. His eyes are widening slightly at the sight of me before he’s opening his door wider so I can get in.
“What’s wrong?” So much emotion and feeling, I feel as though I could fall into the ocean and the strength of how deeply he cares for me will keep me afloat.
“Nothing, everything I don’t know. Look, you can say no, but could I stay with you tonight?” I can’t even look at him, come on Henleigh get a hold of yourself.
“Of course you can, do you need something to sleep in?” he asks, such a sweetie.
“A top would be great, it’ll probably be like a nightie on me anyway,” I say with a nervous laugh.
Why do I feel so nervous around him all of a sudden?
He grabs me a top and I duck into his bathroom to put it on, it falls just above my knees. Having big boyfriends comes in handy, they’re all huge compared to me. And this top, mmm, it smells like my Noah. I think I’m going to have to steal this.
He’s staring at me intensely as I walk out, was I supposed to leave my leggings on? It’s not like I’m wearing a thong or anything, oh no, clearly I’ve done something wrong.
“What’s wrong Leighbear? You wouldn’t answer your door earlier, your phone was off and now you’re coming over to stay. Something clearly happened, you can trust me you know,” his eyes are gentle and of course I trust him.
I climb into bed and pat the spot next to me, I’m even getting an eye roll, I love it.
He slips in beside me and as he wraps his arm around me and guides my head to his chest, I finally feel safe and settled.
“Someone came into my room earlier, the same guy who did a number on me last year. He said he was curious and made it clear I’d see him again. I don’t feel safe Noah, he terrifies me and I don’t know what he’s capable of. His eyes look dead, there’s no emotion in them I’m not exaggerating,” my chest is beating hard and I can barely catch my breath, great I’m starting to hyperventilate, even just talking about him affects me.
“Did he hurt you?” Noah’s jaw is ticking and there’s this danger lurking beneath him that I’ve never noticed before.
My hand is shooting to my hip, I don’t even mean to do it and there’s no chance he won’t notice it. His eyes are narrowing as he takes me in and slides the covers down to my knees. His eyes are looking straight into mine as he pinches the hem between his thumb and finger, my heart is racing but I’m not so sure it’s out of fear anymore.
“Can I look?” he asks, endearing me to him even further. Please don’t break my heart.
I’m nodding slowly, and the tip of his finger brushes against my skin as he starts to pull the hem up. He breathes in sharply as it rises over my knickers and I’m watching as his pupils dilate but he doesn’t stop until my hip is bared to him. The plaster is well and truly on show and his fingers dance across it, but he doesn’t try to remove it.
“What did he do Henleigh?” I could be forgiven for assuming his tongue was forged from steel with the way he asks it.
I’m breathing in deeply, trying to build up my courage. “He burnt me with a fag, it’s not bad and I’ve cleaned it up and applied burn cream. It’s fine, really.”