【ＨＥＲＯ】
Josephine hugs the sheets to her chest as she curls into me.
She brushes her wet hair behind her ear.
Lets out a heavy exhale.
"You think I'm insane, don't you?" Her voice is soft. Uncertain.
Embarrassed.
I don't.
I don't quite get it, but I don't think she's insane.
Not even close.
"No." I wrap my arm around her waist.
"What do you think?" She murmurs as I pull her closer.
"It's okay you're overwhelmed."
Her nod is heavy.
Her everything is heavy.
The easiness from before is gone. I'm not sure if it's nerves or something else. I was drunk as hell before my first time, but I was still scared.
And Jo...
She's not exactly the picture of cool.
"I love how flustered you get, baby." My fingers find the hem of her tshirt. Well, my t-shirt. Then it's the soft skin of her stomach. "I love that I do that to you."
"That I start crying in the shower while you're fingering me?"
"Yeah."
"What?" She rests her hand on top of mine. "Why?"
"You weren't holding back."
"I was trying to."
"I don't want you to."
"But... I'm... I'm weirder than I seem."
"Not possible."
"Hey." Her laugh is uncomfortable. Forced.
That was the wrong thing to say.
Fuck, how can I articulate this?
How can I make it clear I want her exactly as she is?
I love that she's comfortable enough to start bawling in the shower.
All the weirdness in the world is a million times better than the stifling feigned normalcy I'm used to.
"You're letting me in." My fingers brush her stomach. "That's what I want."
"Okay."
"For the last year, I've been banging my head against the wall, cursing my inability to understand other people."
"Because of Titan?"
"Yeah. But not just because of Titan."
"You didn't see it."
My chest tightens.
"It's not your fault."
"I know." Intellectually, I get it. But there's a part of me that refuses to accept it. To see my brother's suicide as anything but my failure to protect him.
"Do you?"
"It's hard to believe that."
"I know what you mean. My parents... they got so much worse after the first time I..." Her voice gets soft. Shy. "The first time I got into trouble. At school."
"You got into trouble?"
"I called out our teacher's sexist book list."
"Really?"
YOU ARE READING
BROKEN (Herophine Fanfic)
Chick-LitI lost her once. I won't lose her again. After my brother's death, I was drowning.She was my life raft. Josephine and I were opposites, the outspoken art student and the brooding athlete. She was passionate where I was apathetic, bright where I wa...
