I’ve been cut to the point I trust nobody, my scars of distrust so thick I barely notice who I am when I look in the mirror. Who does Romeo see when he looks at himself in the mirror?
RomeoStanding just outside the door, my fingers in my hair, I’m fucking angry. No, furious. Why the fuck did she run? Why is she hiding from me? Backing up until the back of my knees hit the bed, I sit, my hands fisting the side of the mattress. She is fucked up, really fucked up. Curling my fist in on itself, it makes me want to hurt the people that hurt her, the ones that made her scared of her own fucking shadow.
I’m glad she didn’t leave when I told her to, she needs someone and I can’t let her go, not while she’s like this. I’m going to figure out what happened to her, even if it takes killing every man down the line of my father’s crew.7RomeoTwo hours later I find the keys to the bathroom, I’ve never had to use them before, so finding them was a fucking chore. Sliding the key into the knob, I unlock it, open the door slowly just in case she’s just around the corner ready to attack me with a damn shampoo bottle, but I find her asleep in the tub. She’s beautiful, more than I remember. Reaching out, I don’t hesitate this time, I touch her skin, the contact electrifying. She’s warm; soft. She moans, her eyes filtering as she dreams. Reaching into the bathtub, I pick her up, she wraps her arms around my neck, her face nuzzling into my chest. I suspect she doesn’t realize she’s doing it, in fact, if she did, she’d probably claw my ass up and down.
I don’t like people touching me, nervous of intimacy and hurting undeserving people, I keep my distance, but feeling her in my arms like this, I take my time walking back to the bedroom. Her touch doesn’t hurt, and the thought of her wanting more from me isn’t as scary for some reason. Maybe because I want her. I’ve always wanted Luna, but my mind is stuck on the kid I met years ago. Who is she today? Her hair is so long it’s wrapped around my arm and still has enough to dangle. In the guest bedroom, I place her on the bed and pull the blankets over her, she snuggles into them. I’m surprised she didn’t wake up and claw me to death, she must be fucking exhausted. Maybe knowing she’s here with someone she knows, she can let her guard down some and actually sleep. The moon outside the window shines on her face, my eyes drifting to her lips. They’re the perfect shade of pink. Sighing with my own tiredness, I rub my neck and begin to leave the room until my eyes fall on the notepad. Taking it into my hands, I flip the pages, all of them filled with a dead sunflower.
I wonder what it means to her? Glancing at her one more time, I set the notepad down. Closing my eyes, I can still hear her voice, see her face.“Did you know that on dark days sunflowers turn toward each other for energy?” She tilts her head to the side, waiting for me to reply.
Opening my eyes, I look at her sleeping peacefully.I know what I’m about to say is cheesy as fuck, but it’s something between her and I.
“I’m still your sunflower,” I whisper into the moonlit room. “And I’m going to find out what got you here, and I’m going to make everyone who hurt you fucking pay with their own pain and suffering.” I owe it to her. She took a needle to the leg just so I could stay in a straitjacket for comfort. It was the most selfless act I’ve encountered in my whole life.8LunaLight splits through the blinds of the window, casting slits of warmth across my face, waking me up from a vast sleep. For a brief moment, my mind is clear and I snuggle in on the fluffiness surrounding me, but like a gunshot, everything comes back to me, and I jerk upright. I open my eyes and find myself on a bed, tucked in neatly. I slept. All night. Rubbing my eyes, I throw the blankets off me and get up. I feel so rested, energized even. I haven’t slept through the night like that in years, I was too scared to. I was always worried about one of the other women stealing my stuff, or wanting to hurt me, or worse. The keepers trying to take advantage of my exhaustion and… I can’t think about it. I’m not there anymore. I’m here.
Yawning, I open the door to my room and step out, I don’t see Romeo anywhere. My stomach growls, hunger overpowering fear, I walk down the hall, the place clean and immaculate just like yesterday. It hardly looks like anyone lives here. Fear throbs inside me as I slowly make my way into Romeo’s kitchen. Just because I know who he is doesn’t make me any less cautious. Fear is what’s kept me alive.