Fixing Broken Hearts

54

Warnings:
-Mentions child abuse + rape

Clay's POV

~ The Next Day ~

The day after Elliot agreed to be adopted, I went to school for the first time again after another break from it. Elliot, Tristan and I wouldn't pass this year with certainty and the principal agreed to give us the time we needed to recover, so we could redo our year next year.

I was slowly walking to the entrance as I saw a stressed girl looking around her with tears in her eyes. My empathy had grown a lot over the past few months so I immediately walked up to her and laid my hand on her shoulder.

'Is everything okay?' I asked, seeing her big eyes stare at me into my eyes.

'No, I don't know where to go. I moved schools and I'm too scared to go inside. Maybe everyone will laugh at me and-.'

'Hey, you look great. I'll take you to your classroom, do you have a schedule? I know it's hard to go to school in the middle of the year, everyone is far and such, but it will be okay.'

'Did you move too?' she questioned as she looked at me, a smile appearing on my face when I realised she didn't know my past or see me as the abused kid.

'No, I just haven't gone to school in months due to some... stuff,' I replied, which made her nod.

'No need to talk about it, you look uncomfortable. What's your name? I'm Cecilia.'

'I'm Clay,' I answered with somehow a shy voice, she made me smile and caused my cheeks to heat up slightly. Her smile was so pretty that I felt something in my stomach for the first time in years.

I genuinely thought I was unable to love after everything I had gone through, but she seemed to be some magnet I was pulled to, her eyes blinding me. She looked at me with a feeling of recognition, as I had been on the news, but purposely ignored it.

'Thank you for guiding the way, it means a lot,' she said with a grateful smile on her face. I felt a blush rising on my face and nodded.

'Uh, where do you even have to go? Which classroom?' I asked with an embarrassed expression when I realised I forgot to ask after staring at her for a while. Was I still capable to love?

She chuckled and showed me the classroom she had to go to. I quickly walked into the direction and saw George and Sapnap in the distance. I gave them a glance to make sure they knew to leave me alone, which Sapnap smirked to straight away.

George grabbed his arm and pulled him away from us, Sapnap laughing loudly while they disappeared in the hallway. I rolled my eyes and saw Cecilia grin as she looked at me.

'They were clearly your friends,' she said with a secure voice. 'Only friends are allowed to bully you like that.'

'They are idiots,' I answered with a giggle, pointing towards her classroom. 'There, you're supposed to go here.'

'Thank you for taking me. Would you like me to give you my number? In case I get lost again, you know?'

'Yeah, sure...' I answered, trying to sound confident. However, my shaky hands and the tremble in my voice revealed that I was nervous and flustered as I took out my phone to write down her number.

For a moment, I froze as I saw my background. It was a picture of George, Sapnap, Elliot, Tristan and me in the hospital right before I was allowed to go home. Sweetly, Cecilia laid her hand down on mine when she noticed me staring.

'You know about my past, don't you?' I asked, a sudden harshness in my voice that I didn't mean that way.

'I do not. I may have heard stories, but as long as you haven't told me anything, I know nothing about it. I only believe the stories that come from you and won't go searching to find the truth. I don't need to know if you don't want me to, I'm not like that.'

'I don't want you to hear it from others, people at school aren't that amazing and they keep teasing me, I guess. Whatever, I have a past with severe child abuse.'

She nodded slowly and smiled. 'I'm proud of you for telling me. I did too, but more mentally than physical.'

'Really?' I asked with a gasp. 'I never met someone like me. It made me so scared to commit to things and to believe I was truly worth it.'

'Same, I totally get that feeling,' she replied, laying her small and slightly cold hands down on mine. 'But you are worth it, Clay. I'm bisexual and my parents made me believe I wasn't worth ever finding love, but I am. With a boy or a girl, I don't care, but I'm worthy.'

'That's cool, I know two people who are gay and together,' I said, turning my eyes away as I fought against my tears. 'My father made me hate myself so much and yet still, I grief for him every single day. He passed away and I thought I wouldn't care, but I guess I do...'

'And that's okay,' she comforted me. 'And really normal as well. He is your father, he raised you and even though he was a bad one, you still grew attached to him over the years.'

'He let a friend of his rape me,' I whispered for the first time. 'And he's still walking freely.'

'Oh, come here,' she immediately said without hesitation. She lifted me up and wrapped her arm around me as I bursted out into tears, letting her take me to a quieter spot. 'You can tell me about it or just let your feelings go.'

'Why me?' I cried out. 'What have I ever done?'

'Nothing, absolutely nothing. You haven't done ANYTHING wrong.'

'But he loved my brother until he- whatever... Why has he never loved me? I know I was more rebellious and I made a lot of mistakes, but I tried to be a good son, I really did.'

'No parent should be allowed to hurt you for the mistakes you make, Clay. You are a really good son, I can see the softness in your eyes and know it has always been there.'

I looked her into the eyes and out of hopelessness, I tried to lean in to kiss her. She quickly moved away and smiled softly. 'Clay, you're an amazing guy, but I don't want to take advantage of your fragile state. I would like to get to know each other and make sure I'm never doing anything you will regret later.'

'No one ever cared about my boundaries,' I whispered as I buried my face in her hoodie. 'I'm sorry for being such a mess, we just met and I'm already like this.'

'I'm honoured you felt safe enough around me to show these emotions. I'm glad you found a way to release them and would do it a million times over if it means you'll slowly start believing your own worth.'

'Thank you...'

'You look like you really could use a tight hug,' she acknowledged, which made me nod heavily. I leaned in and let her embrace me as I closed my eyes. 'I'm here for you, Clay.'

1240 words