Beautifully Obsessed

Chapter Fifty-Four: How did it all come to this?

11-03-2022

Attached is the song Embry hums within the chapter, feel free to check it out!! Let me know what you think and thank you amazing human beings once again for your comments which simply brighten up my day <3

I hope you enjoy,

~Aphrodite

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(Noah's POV)

My stare was blankly focused on the screen in front of me. The screen that made her visible to me, where I could keep her like a bird in a cage, stop her from doing the stupid shit she does. Stupid shit like having sex with my brother, my hands balled up on my lap, anger flaring within me once again. But I knew it was all a cover. I wasn't raised to show negative emotions other than anger but fuck did this hurt so bad.

She had slept with somebody else. My Embry. My little bug. Did this mean she didn't love me anymore? The unfamiliar lurch of my heart made its appearance once again, I thought her running away was hell but this feeling right here, now that was some sort of eternal damnation. My eyes stung and my throat was tight as I fought back the urge to sob, not even cry. No, I wanted to scream, to sob, to weep, I wanted to go back to when nothing hurt because I had her.

I watched as her limp and chained body stirred on the bed in the basement, where she lay awaiting her fate. But I wasn't mad at her. I was mad at the world, I was mad at Sebastian and our father and our mother and at myself. She was my Embry so of course she was right, I was mad at myself because it never should have come to her having to run into his arms, I knew her and I knew her feelings for him weren't real, but that didn't mean they couldn't become real.

But mostly, I was mad at myself because I didn't want to go down there and hurt her, I wanted to go down there and cry in her arms as she comforted me, I wanted her love and protection.

Rising from my seat, itching to see her, craving for her presence. I refused to let this drive her into the arms of Sebastian. She underestimated how much we were made for each other, how much we needed each other.

But I was determined to show her,

(Embry's POV)

My head was throbbing relentlessly, as if metal was being hit against metal in my brain. With a groan, I pushed myself into a seated position on what I had observed to be a bed. My chained body screaming in protest at every move I made, the agony being a harsh reminder of everything that had just gone down with Noah. Was it even still Christmas day?

Slumping against the wall I frowned at the cold feeling of the chain around my ankle, a chain which would give me at most a meter of movement from the bed which it was attached to. In an attempt to alleviate the pain in my head, my fingers gently massaged my temples. I would kill for some painkillers right now.

Despite the circumstances I strangely didn't feel scared, instead, I was tired, I was fed up, I just wanted to take one big fat nap. Hibernation sounded so good, oh to be an animal in a cave surrounded by stashes of food.

Regardless of my unusual numbness to the situation I couldn't help but freeze with anxiousness at the sound of the lock being turned. He waltzed in, no longer sporting formal clothes. A sullen look on his face, as he silently sat himself on the end of the uncomfortable bed, his leg disturbingly close to my feet.

"Embry" his voice had a desperate tone as he called out to me, his hand coming to rest on my shin, vulnerability running off of him in waves. My heart twisted as I watched his pained body language, pain that I had caused. I didn't like that, he had always been the one to bring me pain and I hated him for that. And now, I was doing just as he did. It didn't feel anywhere near as good as I thought it would. It felt terrible.

Biting back the chorus of apologies that wanted to escape me, I scolded myself. It wouldn't get me anywhere, except a deep pit of self hatred. "I-I'm so sorry, I don't want you to hate me" his panicked face trained on me, the tears bubbling around his eyes hitting me like another smack to the face. Sighing, I dropped my gaze, ashamed, "I want to, so bad Noah, but-but, I don't hate you" I weakly whispered. Following his lead as salty tears made their way down towards my jaw, the cries increasing the pain of my head ten fold.

"I miss us" he shuffled closer, his movements cancelling out the silence in the room as he scooted beside me, lying down. "I want to go back to what we used to be" his words rang out through my ears, they were familiar. So familiar because they were the words I had chanted to myself too often, and now he wanted it.

His head moved to rest on my stomach, my hands reflexively resting against his head and shoulder. His secure hold on me felt more comforting than it did confining. "L-like when we used to walk around together and see who could do the best bell kick but we were bought terribly so we'd be bent over laughing as all the cars passed and sent us odd looks" he muttered against the fabric of my shirt, his eyes closing peacefully.

A frail smile overtaking my features, "I don't know what you're talking about, I was amazing at it." His body vibrated with a delicate laughter, his head turning upwards. "You're amazing at everything Embry" his gaze was piercing as it burned into me, eating away at me slowly from the inside. The sincerity within him caused the tears to fall at a faster pace.

"You were always amazing at cheering me up" he frowned, pulling himself up slightly so his head now lay on top of my chest, his head moving up and down with each breath I took. "I'm not feeling very good right now, c-can you cheer me up again?" I could physically feel my heart shatter, a childlike innocence about him at this very moment.

He wasn't an asshole, or a killer or a monster. He was my Noah. Scratching my nails softly against his scalp was like muscle memory. Something we had done so many times before when we were growing up, sadness rarely consumed him but when it did it hit hard and he never could quite open up about it. I understood now why, it was his family. It had always been his family.

"Can you hum that song you always did" he softly breathed out  content, his tears coming to a slow stop. And so I did. "I remember your Twilight phase, you used to play those songs on repeat everyday that summer, this was my favourite song because it always sounded so beautiful when you hummed it."

The moment continued for a minute or so more, until he finally interrupted my humming, asking a question I knew had been bugging him. "D-do you love Sebastian more than me?" I noted as his eyes scrunched up anticipating the blow. His question resembles that of a fragile kid questioning their mother over sibling favouritism. "We both already know the answer to that" a pained look crossed my face. Would life have been easier if the answer was yes? Maybe, but life wasn't made to be easy. It was simply made to be.

"I don't know how to stop loving you" my dried tears stained my face, a tired look encapturing me. "Then don't" he quickly sat up, taking my face in his hands. "We can start fresh, we can be who we were before" his hopefully eyes swallowed me. My heart was beating with an unfamiliar feeling, "r-really?"

"Just tell me you choose me over Sebastian, I can make things right" he beamed. "I-I don't know, Noah" I chewed on my inner lip, everytime I had done this before I regretted it. This time he just seemed so different, so promising.

"Please Embry, I need you." And just like that I fell to pieces in the palm of his hand, he had a skillful way of pulling me around like a puppet on a string. Or maybe I was simply too weak, too tired. I was so tired. "Okay" I swallowed warily. He jumped up in excitement, steadily pacing the room deep in thought.

"I'm going to make things right, okay baby girl" he grinned happily, caressing my face. I went to ask him to remove the chain, convinced his little promise would mean there was no more pain for me but as he reached for his belt. I realised I was wrong, once again.

Well I simply wasn't sure how it came to this. But I was assuming the reason was something along the lines of my blind trust and blatant stupidity. 

Maybe just maybe I could blame it on a concussion.