Burning Bridges

Chapter 05

Holy shit, what a crazy dream. I thought while laying down in the warm bed. But then I remembered, I don't have dreams, only nightmares.

Instantly, I opened my eyes to a small and dark room with a window. It was still dark outside, and this wasn't my room. I thought back to what had happened in the past twenty four hours: A big burger, handcuffs, Ember, tattoos, Ember. Fuck, he's clouded up my mind.

I remember now. He gave me a room in his little house here at the compound and put a tracker in my ankle. That one didn't hurt, but looking at my wrists, they felt tender. Ouch. It still hurts from the cuffs.

Getting off the bed, I decided to go soak my wrists in the bathroom sink. That's actually something I taught myself when working with the gang. A dull light emitted the beige bathroom walls. Ember seriously was a simple man. Minimal furniture, light colors.

That's quite a contrast to our messy lives with being in gangs. Maybe he's looking for the good things in life. Not that the gang life was bad, but there were surely better options. Just options that we didn't have access to.

Turning on the tap water, my wrists immediately softened at the sensations. The warm water was healing the bruises. There may be many dark moments with my lifestyle, but short times like this bring out the light of it all.

I wouldn't call myself an optimistic person, but it's moments like this where I can slow down. I used to do a lot of yoga in my childhood before things turned a lot more, well, chaotic. Yoga used to solve my problems.

But it was no use as of now. There will never be time for me to slow down, not until I die. It can't solve my problems now. No, they are far more complicated and could get me killed. Not some drama that leads to my happily ever after. Those don't exist. Death is the only answer, but I'm not ready for it yet. Not until I'm done fighting.

A small knock on the open door took me out of my thoughts. "Hey, are you okay?" Of course, it was Ember asking me. I guess I was in his house. And of course, he just had to be shirtless once again, his tattoos on full display. At least he was wearing sweatpants, but his hair was as messy as my mind right now. And I would be lying if I said it wasn't due to Ember's appearance.

"What? No, I'm fine," I responded back, trying to hide my wrists from him. He couldn't know that I'm hurt. It would be my weakness.

"Right," he muttered. Before I could say anything back, he swiftly latched onto my wrists, staring intently at them. Shit.

"Hey!" I yelled at him, but it was too late. He was too quick. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I heard him mutter a few curses under his breath as he stroked the skin softly. There was hardly any space in this bathroom for me, let alone for him as well. He must've mistaken my panic as pain because his face instantly calmed from his usual angry look.

"It was the handcuffs, wasn't it?" Ember questioned, but it sounded more like a statement. I nodded in return, avoiding all eye contact.

"That's not an answer. I need to hear an audible reply."

"Yes." My voice was shaking too hard, and it wasn't from the pain.

"Fuck, Bones," he grumbled under his breath, but I heard the name loud and clear.

"Y-you're not going to anything...right?" I couldn't cause problems here.

His concentration on my wrists turned to my eyes. It was like he could see into my soul. It's fucking creepy if you ask me.

"Of course not." I may not have known him for long, but I think I sensed sarcasm in his voice. "You need to ice it if you want the pain to go away." He gestured at my wrists while getting back to work.

"What pain? It doesn't hurt."

He stopped his movements instantly to look at me with his dark blue eyes again. They reminded me of the ocean. I haven't been there in so long.

"Stop trying to pretend with me. It's okay to be scared sometimes."

"Who said I was pretending?"

"Your shaky hands say otherwise," he retorted before walking away to the kitchen. Shit, was it really that obvious? Looking down at my tan hands, I realized he was right.

"Here, put these on with a little bit of pressure and go back to sleep," Ember commented after coming back with two small ice packs. I gladly took them from him.

"Whatever dad," I snickered before swiftly walking away to the room. I had to get out of there as fast as I could because I realized that my hands weren't shaking from the pain. But rather from being near him.