The Dress Shop (A jonatello story)

Truth

Casey pov:

"... Donnie... It's about the adoption center... And my time there." I told him.

He looked confused and concerned.

It felt like brick was on my chest, I was shaking badly for me.

"Casey, don't force it if you don't want to-"

"I do!... It's just hard... You'll be the first I told." I tell him, taking a deep breath at the end. He held my hands and looked me in the eyes with his ruby ones.

"It's ok, take your time." He told me with a small, soft, and loving smile.

The gods, I love this boy! Holy shit!

I thought to myself, reliving some of my anxiety.

"I... I was abused much more than just by Jack... A-and... I was... R-... Ra-..." I cut myself off and covered my mouth as I began to cry, freeing my hand from his gentle and loving touch.

He seemed to understand what I was trying to say, pulling me into a hug.

"I-it happened mo-ore than once... H-he was s-so v-violent!... I-I have so many sca-ars f-from him!... A-and that wasn't th-the worst part... Th-the center o-often s-sold kids wh-who weren't ad-dopted f-for drug money, i-it was t-terrif-fying!" I finally let it all out.

He started playing with my hair, helping me calm down.

"... And you've survived all of it. Babe, you're so fucking strong. Stronger than me and my brothers put together... I love you so fucking much." He tells me as he brings me in closer, if possible, and places a kiss on the top of my head.

I snuggle into him, getting tired, plus Donnie is suuuuper comfortable.

He chuckles a bit, whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

For the first time in a long time, I felt completely safe.

No Jack.

No adoption center people.

No anything...

Anything, except Donnie.

My arms and legs wrap around him, koala style hugging him, my head stays tucked in his chest.

"Mí amor, are you feeling better now?" He asked me.

"Yes... A lot better, now that you know... And you aren't leaving me." I told him.

He hums contently, rubbing my back now instead of playing with my hair.

"Now now, I'm not leaving you... But do you have anything else you want to tell me since we're here?... Maybe something a little less demanding on your emotions?" He comforted and asked me.

"Umm... Yeah... You know how April and Kirby worship the "one true God"?" I ask him.

"Yeah even though it's highly unlikely any one person would create the galaxies as we know them, but yes, I do." He tells me.

"And you know how they're called Christians?... And that they hate witchcraft?" I ask him.

"Yes to both, but they seem to blindly hate the witchcraft." He tells me.

"Well... In my beliefs, I practice witchcraft... And I call myself a witch." I tell him with a slight chuckle at the end.

"Cool. I'm atheist." He tells me.

It shocked me, not that hes atheist, but how easily he just accepted the fact I just told him that I'm a witch.

"... What?" He asks me after I stared at him in shock for a few minutes.

"It's just-, you're actually ok with the idea that I could hex you or something like that, I'm not going to hex anyone, but still!" I yelled a bit, aware that the others can't hear us.

"Yeah, as long as it doesn't put anyone in danger, why should I care what you believe in that much?" He asked me.

I shofted a bit, getting a bit uncomfortable with the topic.

"Um... People are not all like you... Jack and the adoption center were hardcore Christian... And they made it very clear that I would not be doing any of my practices as long as they could help it... Still have the scars to show for it..." I told him, saying the last part under my breath.

"Wait, scars?! You have scars?! Show them to me. Now!" He flips out.

I lift my head up so you could see higher up on my neck, showing a 6 inch scar under my chin.

"Jack gave me this one when I told him that I'm a witch, Melanie took me to the hospital and said it was a gang instead of her husband." I told him, he ran his fingers across it gently.

Then, I stood up, turned away from him, and took off my shirt, showing how many scars I had there.

"I got a few of these cause I told the person that I was under the care of that." I told him. When I put my shirt on and turned around, I saw his shocked and concerned face.

"Babe..." He said, he looked like he wanted to cry.

"Hey, I'm ok now. I'm with you." I give sim a loving smile, sitting in his lap and wrapping my legs around him again.

"... Is that... Is that why you didn't want... My help a few days ago... Your scars? And your past?" He asked me, I wiped his, now falling, tears, cupping his cheeks.

"Yeah, it was... But, I promise that I'm getting better." I tell him, he laughs a little.

"You promise a lot of things." He said as he leaned into my hand, placing his own hand on mine.

"And I keep and mean them." I tell him, finishing with a kiss on his forehead.

He blushes a bit, then he stares into my eyes.

'Oh gods, I could stare into his eyes forever.'

I thought to myself. I felt my own cheeks get warm.

"Babe... Can I kiss you?... Like, on the lips?..." He asked.

"What about our braces?" I ask him.

"I don't mind getting us unstuck again if we get stuck." He tells me.

"Go ahead then." I tell him.

I blush as he smiles, then gets closer. His lips inch to mine, I shorten the distance a bit before moving my arms around his neck, him moving his to my waist.

When we were almost touching, he stopped advancing, looking into my eyes for a moment before closing the gap between us.

When he finally kissed me, I watched his eyes close, me closing mine right after.

I kissed back the best I could, but Donnie is a fucking natural and so addicting.

The kiss itself was full of emotion. Sadness, happiness, love, anxiety, everything. It was almost overwhelming, but it was fucking amazing.

When we pulled apart for air, I was attempting to catch my breath.

Thankfully we didn't get stuck as we kissed, so for a moment, we sat there, me panting, Donnie with the biggest smile, and both of us completely red.

'If only I had kissed him before we got braces, how addictive is he?'

I thought to myself, finally having caught my breath.

"I love you so much." I tell him.

"I love you too." He says back.

We both smile and got comfortable.

"We should get some rest." Donnie says.

"Yeah, let's do that, but I'm not moving."

I told him before we both fell into a comfortable, deep and peaceful slumber, despite the crazy hell-ish week.
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1220 words