Celestial Worlds

Chapter Twenty-two

“What are you doing here, Victoria?” Daniel asks concerned. “A-Are you hurt? I thought—”

    “Can I stay the night?” I ask him, looking up at his tall frame with my red eyes.

    “Look,”—he rubs his eyes—“can we talk? I feel like shit seeing you like this. This is wrong,” he says angrily. He grabs my hand and pulls me inside the house, seating me at a plush chair. “I’ll go get some blankets. It’s cold here.” He goes up and comes back with stacks of blankets, thick and thin, fleece and cotton. He drapes one around my shoulders, tightening then until it’s hard to move. It was cold, but now it’s so warm. He sits next to me so close draping an arm around my covered shoulders. I can smell him now, vanilla and soap. I lean against him feeling my energy drained out and spilling from my body.

    “What’s wrong?” he asks quietly, like a whisper. It soothes me, his tone and his scent and his company.

    “I-I’m…Jonathan…did something to me,” I whisper.

    “What?”

    “No! Not like that,” I explain hastily. “He…I…We…kissed.”

    He tenses, not saying anything. I feel the urge to continue, to spill everything out.

    “He—He k-kissed me and he—” I break off my voice wobbly. “He kissed then he didn’t talk to me the day after. Like, I was something disposable. He gets angry when I talk about it, when I b-bring it up. But earlier, at the house—”I start to cry and he runs his hands up and down my shoulder. “In the house, I saw him k-kissing another girl—” I stop, the tears overpowering my ability to speak.

    “To be honest? It feels like I’m listening to an eight-year old girl bawling about not getting a Barbie,” he looks at me smiling his full dazzling smile. I laugh a little which comes out a choke. But it helps. I break free of the blanket and hug him tight, the tightest that my arms can give. He hugs me back, his chin resting atop of my head.

    “The other rooms are not clean and there are no mattresses,” he states, his chin bobbing up and down against my scalp. “You can sleep in my room. I’ll sleep here.”

    “No, I’ll sleep beside you.” I do want to sleep beside him. Not do anything but just sleep. Just because I can’t afford to be alone right now. I’m sick and tired of being alone. I feel him stiffen in my arms.

    “A-Are you sure?” He stutters.

    I laugh softly and say, “Oh, I’ve never been so sure in my life.”