broken|| ahs kyle spencer and zoe benson

chapter four: the night of

tw: mentions of rape

word count: 1136
——
zoe came back into her room after dinner and noticed that the shower was on. she hardly ate that night because she was so worked up and anxious over kyle.

she wanted to lay with him that night, so she pushed together the two twin beds and tried to make sure they were stable.

she heard the shower turn off.

kyle put back on his clothes and just sat there for a few minutes. he was super embarrassed.

when 10 minutes passed, and kyle still hadn't came out zoe decided to knock on the door.

"kyle?" she said.

he snapped back in after zoning out and got up to open the door.

zoe wrapped her arms around his as soon as he walked out. she never wanted to leave him. kyle hugged her back. he loved her, but he was embarrassed and wanted to leave.

"i'm gonna go, zoe." he said, letting go of her.

"where?"

"not sure. i don't want to stay here."

"did i do something?" she asked, her heart kind of sinking.

"no." he said, "i shouldn't be here."

zoe was confused on what he meant. she grabbed her arm and tried to get him to stay.

"please stay."

kyle sat down on the bed, and zoe sat right next to him.

"if there's something you need, i can get it for you." she said into his ear, softly.

he shook his head. "i just want to be alone."

zoe understood, but she was scared to leave him alone.

"okay, i'll go for a while. there's a remote over there. i can get you food or water." she told him, getting up to go.

"no zoe. i want to go."

zoes eyes filled with tears as she sat down beside him. kyle pushed his hair out of his face and looked to the ground.

"it's not you. i just want to be alone."

zoe thought about her last boyfriend, the one that died on the bed with her. zoe was worried that if kyle left, he would hurt himself and she would loose him too.

"okay." she mumbled, trying not to cry.

kyle felt his eyes sting with tears, and eventually he was sobbing.

"hey, it's okay." she whispered, putting her hand on his face so that she could look at him.

kyle let his body relax onto zoe's shoulder and she put her arms around him.

"how long has this gone on?"

"she started touching me after my dad left." he said, continuing to hold onto zoe. "3 years."

tears fell down her face as kyle spoke about the trauma he's been going through.

"i figured it would stop after she got a boyfriend. it didn't."

zoe tried to stay quiet so that kyle wouldn't know she was crying. but kyle knew. the sound of her heartbeat as she hugged him calmed him. he felt safe, really safe for the first time in years.

"it won't happen again. i promise you." zoe didnt know exactly how she would keep this promise, but she would figure it out soon.

kyle sat up to look at zoe. he felt bad that he made her cry.

kyle placed his hands on her face and pulled her in so that he could lay a soft kiss on her nose.

they laid down on the bed and just held each-other in silence.

"kyle?" zoe said, still holding him in her arms.

he looked up at her.

"are you gonna stay here tonight?"

"if that's okay."

"it is."

kyle had never felt so down, alone, and beaten up but also so loved and safe at the same time. how could she love him? he felt so broken. too broken for love.

zoe's hair smelled like vanilla and coconuts. her room was warm and cozy. her skin was soft and the sound of her breathing was comforting.

it was dark out now, and the room was nearly pitch black except for the sliver of light the peeled through the bedroom door.

"i'm tired." she whispered.

kyle pulled the blanket up to cover the two of them.

"sleep."

"i want to stay up with you." she told him.

kyle figured what that was about. she was scared that if she closed her eyes, kyle would fall apart during the night and she wouldn't be there to help him.

kyle pulled his body up so that his face was at the same level as hers. her layed his hand on her cheek and caressed her face.

"kyle."

kyle was edging to open up to her, but he was worried he'd regret it.

"yeah?"

"does it still hurt?"

"not as much." kyle broke eye contact with her. he let go of her, aswell.

"i'm sorry that happened." she whispered. "i wish i could take away all the pain."

zoe's eyes filled with tears as she imagined what kyle had been going through.

"i blame myself." kyle admitted. "there were a few times i didn't fight back. i knew it wasn't worth it."

"that doesn't make it your fault."

kyle felt numb. he looked up and saw the hurt in zoe's eyes.

"i don't have to tell you about this all, if you don't want to hear it."

"keep going. it's good to get it out." zoe said, squeezing her eyes to stop the tears.

it took a minute for him to respond.

"there were a few times when i woke up with her on top of me or touching me." kyle mumbled.

zoe felt tears fall from her eyes as she got closer to kyle to hug him.

she laid with her head on kyles chest as he talked.

"i was always scared to go to sleep." he told her, "she took off the lock in my bedroom door."

zoe could tell that kyle was getting himself worked up.

she held his face and kissed him.

"shh. it's okay. just breathe." she whispered, "today is the last time she'll is ever going to hurt you."

kyle believed zoe. he took a deep breath before closing his eyes. he fell asleep holding zoe in his arms.

zoe stayed up most of the night, out of fear until around 3 am when she finally fell asleep.

kyle woke up at 4 am to zoe whimpering. he knew that she was thinking about what happened to him. he didn't want to wake her, so he just rubbed her back slightly until the whimpering stopped, and it did. this hurt kyle though. it made him feel like he put someone he loved through pain.

he was already worked up from the awful day he had, so he feel back to sleep crying while holding the sleeping girl that he had just met a little over a week ago.