Tattooed Scars

Chapter 22

Mariposa's POV
"You've had a shitty day. I'm trying to make it a little bit better. Is this working?"

"Kinda."

"Do you want me to keep going?"

"I have no idea."

He stopped.

"Wow. Something really is wrong."

I started crying. He started hugging me.

"Hey turn around."

I turned around. He cupped my face.

"I'm sorry. You've been through worse."

"No no. It's fine. You're okay."

"Ho-how do you do it?"

"Do what? How do I do what?"

"Act like everything's okay. How do you do this? That-that seems impossible."

He pressed our foreheads together.

"I know. Trust me. I know. I honestly don't know how."

"You make it seem...so easy."

"I-I guess it's since....I'm so used to shitty crap happening to me. You're shaking again."

"Help..."

"Okay. Okay. I'm gonna help. Let's get outta here."

I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I watched the water drain. Felix got out and I couldn't move. He held his hands out and I looked up. He got dressed. I grabbed his hands and slowly got up. I got out of the bathtub. He started helping me get dressed.

"Breathe."

He picked me up and brought me to the bed. He sat down without putting me down. He put me in his lap. I curled up into a ball. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. He kissed my forehead.

"Th-this proves you're not an assh-hole."

"I'm still an asshole. I'm just a different person around you."

My eyes started getting heavy. They ended up closing. I woke up in bed. The house was silent for once. I stood up and started walking around.

"Hey Lix?"

I heard the front door open. I heard the girls laughing. I walked to the door.

"RACE YA!"

Katrina and Destiny started running.

"Girls don't run in the house."

I ran up to Felix. I started hugging him.

"Hey."

"Hi. Do you feel better at all?"

I shook my head.

"Damnit. Your body does still seem tense."

"H-how were the girls?"

"Okay. Nobody messed with Trina today so that's good. I talked to my sister about the whole Richard situation."

"Oh no. How'd that go?"

"Well. We called the cops. Oh uh there's something you have to know. You won't like it though."

"Oh no."

"I saw your brother."

I jumped back.

"Huh?!"

"Before you freak out, I was civil with him."

"No no!"

"Baby relax. He wasn't an asshole to me."

"H-he wasn't?"

"Well...at first he was. I put him in his place though."

"Wh-what did you say?"

"Okay don't kill me for saying this but..he's a fuckin idiot."

"What does that mean?"

"He didn't understand he was homophobic yesterday."

"Th-that's a lie. Y-you believe him?"

His eyes widened.

"Woah! No! I-I'm just saying what he said!"

"Oh...s-sorry."

"You're okay. Are you telling me everything?"

I gulped.

"Uhhh....please don't get mad. I-I don't know. I-I was to try to forget about it. Wh-what day is it?"

"It's Sunday. I let you sleep. You needed it. Mental breakdowns, take a lot outta you."

"Wh-where is my brother?"

"He was at your mom's. I let the girls stay at her house for the night. I-I figured you needed to be in a quiet zone for a bit."