scars

16

"Secret?"

he rolls his eyes before attacking Nikki with tickles,

"Stop!....Stop!"

Nikki squeaks out in her fists of laughter,

"It hurts!"

Caleb pulls back immediately,

looking sorry for what he has done,

Nikki leans back and ducks underneath the covers,

"No, Nikki....I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you...look..."

his hands wave towards me gesturing me over,

He laces his hands through mine and leans over to one side of Nikki,

pressing his lips to her left cheek,

He pulls me down and I do the same,

on her right side,

"Listen baby girl, no one's gonna hurt you....okay?"

his voice cracks,

I've never heard this side of him before,

so soft,

so weak,

like he's holding onto water,

but it just slips through his hands.

he pulls my hands tighter,

feeling at my cuts.

He pulls me away from the bed and walks out the door,

"bye, Nikki."

I say to her watching her eyes droop down,

as she falls into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caleb's all the way down the hall as I catch up to him.

"You've been cutting again haven't you?"

his voice clearly regained its original sincerity,

Unexpectedly, he reaches out for my hand,

and wraps it closely to his chest,

pulling me in closer to him,

so much closer that I can feel his breath on my face,

Him gazing directly above me,

while I look down at where his grasp hasn't let free.

his fingers tilt my chin up as he lowers down,

closer,

and closer,

he touches his forehead with mine,

locking his eyes within mine,

"don't ever hurt your self like that ever again, love understood?"

he pulls away,

not letting go of my wrist,

leading me back to his car.