Oneshots!

#45 Don't Hurt Me (Full chapter)

It wasn't often Meliodas showed the trauma he had experienced during his childhood. He was strong in every sense of the word. Which is why most didn't consider that even someone like him could have triggers to the worst parts of his past.

He was a victim of physical and emotional abuse, had been killed several times as well as watch his lover be killed over and over again for three thousand years, and had to fight his father and siblings who were determined to kill him. It may not have showed, but that kind of trauma did have an impact on him.

Seeing his brother would always make him tense, any time even the slightest wound happened to Elizabeth he would shake and remember every time she had been lifeless and covered in blood, any time he saw one of his own scars he would remember the beatings his father would give him and the deaths he himself had been forced to experience.

He had needed to be strong for Elizabeth's sake and for the sins he was commanding. He was their leader after all. But now that the fighting was over and he could relax, how was he supposed to make the feelings go away with no danger to distract him from it?

Fear, anxiousness, anger, stress, sadness, powerless, he felt all of these in waves that seemed to consume him when even the slightest thing went bad.

It was like his body was reacting to tiny things in big ways to make up for him reacting to the big things in tiny ways. And it was making it harder and harder to hide.

He would tell himself and others he was fine, but how was he supposed to make others believe it when not even he did? He didn't know what to do anymore, and it was starting to become unbearable.

It was all just so much.. but he didn't want to worry anyone. After all, he should be able to handle this, he had to handle this. Elizabeth had suffered too so why would he get to cry and whine about it when she didn't? Sure maybe he went through some bad things, but everyone hurt sometimes, it wasn't right for him to complain about it when others didn't.

"Hey Cap'n. Ya okay? You've been spacing out all day."

He was startled from his thoughts by one of his closest friends, someone who was currently cooking for the crew.

Putting on the biggest smile he could, he responded like he always did, only it sounded hollow in his head even though his tone didn't change.

"Yeah! I'm fine Ban. So how's the food coming?"

He changed the subject as quick as he could so Ban didn't get suspicious, and luckily Ban bought it.

"It's coming good I guess... A-are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course! I'm perfectly fi-"

He was cut off by a certain goddess entering the room, luckily giving him an excuse to leave the conversation.

"Ellie! How was your trip? How's Gelda and my baby bro doing?"

She gave him the sweet smile she always wore, easing some of his nerves.

"They're doing great! They said they're planning on coming to visit sometime in the next few days."

He ignored the tense feeling in his gut at hearing that. After all, it was his baby brother, why would he be tense about him visiting? Sure they had their differences, but they both forgave each other for them. So he shouldn't be feeling this way, it wasn't the big brother thing to do... right?

Forcing his smile to stay on his face, he continued to listen to her talk about her day. Once more suppressing the thing building inside of him that he didn't know was about to snap.
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