August

Chapter Seven

The following day Cal brought her to another nice beach. They had started to visit more crowded beaches in the past few days but that day there were very few people in that one, which gave them a really good privacy as they could move their towels wherever they wanted and still be far away from the nearest couple.

"I'm gonna go swim, do you wanna join me?" he asked, his question meant her keeping her feet into the water like she did every day, not really swimming with him.

"Yeah, let's collect our things" she answered.

Since they both had to leave their bags they used to bring them near the seashore along with their towels so they could dry themselves in case the day was windy. He took off his shirt and she looked at him, her eyes finding the scar on his back.

"I can't remove it but I don't want it to control my life" his words were loud in her head as he caught her staring.

"You coming?" he asked confused.

"Wait I just wanna... I need a second" she moved her eyes to the sea, staring in front of her.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" he asked worried.

"Yeah, just..." she looked at him before looking down.

Her hands reached her shorts unsurely, unbuttoning them and taking them off.

"You don't have to if you don't feel comfortable" he reassured her.

She nodded. He had always thought she didn't feel comfortable enough to be in a bikini in front of him, alter all they had met slightly more than a week before, it was pretty normal. However, as she took off her shirt he understood what she was unsure about. He tried not to stare to make her uncomfortable so he could quickly spot at least five scars going from her shoulder to her belly. What could have happened to her? He didn't really want to ask, she would have told him if she had wanted to, her private life was no one of his business... but what if someone hurt her? What if that person was someone close to her?

As she turned around to put her shirt down he could see her back, it was even worse. The scar on her back looked older, healed, but still visible. Those kind of scars could take almost a year to heal, at least he knew it wasn't a recent thing, but he couldn't really see the ones on her torso without awkwardly staring at her. She faced him again, wrapping her arms around her chest, shyly looking at the ground.

"You ready?" he asked.

She looked up at him and he gave her a comforting smile. He didn't make questions, he didn't ask. He just gave her a sweet smile, obviously understanding her insecurities but making sure not to push her in telling him something she wasn't ready to. She really appreciated it, not being questioned about something she was still processing, moreover if he had asked she couldn't really have told him the truth.

She nodded slowly, staring into his eyes, he was looking back at her softly, not even once glancing at her body. She saw him offering his hand to her and raising his eyebrows. She smiled and took his offer, softly holding his hand and letting him guide her toward the sea. She felt his grip loosen when her feet touched the water, he didn't want to push her, he knew she had to take her time into the water and he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. Cal was probably the kindest and most patient man ever, she was no one to him, just a stranger that had become a friend, but still he was acting like he had known her for years, he definitely was a good listener and someone who payed attention to details.

"Take your time" he reassured her, keeping his hand in hers.

She hadn't left his grip so it was sure she wanted him to stay there. Emily smiled softly at him and she started to take some little steps. A lot was going on in her mind, the water, which she feared, slowly raising till her knees; then her body, completely bare this time, just wearing her swimsuit, all her scars visible. It was a lot to take in, but she wanted to.