The Lonely Hearts Club

Chapter 61: Happiness (Bree)

I found my happiness.

My happiness has pretty blue eyes, dark curly hair, and tattoos covering his entire body.

I know people say you should find fulfillment in yourself, but that is quite difficult to do when you despise yourself more than anyone else.

"Tell me if I hurt you," Hades says.

"Okay."

He runs a brush through sections of my hair, making sure he's gentle. At the rate at which he's brushing, it would be impossible for him to hurt me.

He's braiding my hair because... well because I want two braids in my hair, and I don't have the ability to do it myself.

"I want to talk to you about something." He says, meeting my eyes in the bathroom mirror.

"Yeah?"

"I like being around you angel," He says. "I do, but..." he trails off.

Is this the part where he tells me we can no longer be around each other? Please no.

The last time he felt things were progressing too quickly between us, I didn't see him for two weeks and then he fucked a random girl.

Back then, I didn't care about him hooking up with another girl, but now, I definitely would.

"But what?" I ask, trying hard to make sure my voice sounds stable.

"You have to promise me something." He says.

"Promise what?" I chew the comer of my mouth nervously.

"If I do anything, and I mean anything at all that hurts you, you have to leave," he says seriously."You have to leave and never see me again."

I wasn't expecting him to say that.

"My dad was so shitty to my mom-and she never left him for good, she'd come back after a while and you can't do that with me, alright? You can't do that."

His hands tremble as he begins braiding my hair.

"I can't see myself doing that to you, but they don't call it the cycle of abuse for no reason." He draws in a shaky breath.

"Oh, Hades,"

"Please angel," he begs. "If I do anything, you have to go, please promise me that."

I think the fact that Hades used to go to therapy and his terror at the mere thought of being abusive is a positive indicator that he's not going to be like his dad.

"I promise," I say anyway. If he needs to hear me say that, then I'll say it.

To be honest, I don't think he will do anything. If I thought he was, I wouldn't be living with him. I've already lived with abusive people before and I've gotten out every time.

You're not like your dad." I say quietly and he looks down at my hair so we're not making eye contact anymore.

"I don't want to be like him." He mumbles, moving on to braid the other side of my head.

"You saying that is a good thing," I tell him. "I think a lot of the time the cycle perpetuates because people don't try to heal-but you're doing that."

"I mean, yeah."

He finally finishes my hair and I turn around to face him, hugging him tightly. His arms come around to rest on my lower back.

"Everything will be fine," I tell him.

Someone starts bashing on the door loudly to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

It's Nicks.

Obviously.

He claimed he needed something to set him apart from other people ever since the room key card got taken off of him.

"Guys I have something serious to talk about!" He yells, voice partially muffled.

"He's worse than a rat." Hades mutters.

"A rat?" I laugh.

"Yeah, he's a fucking pest."

"Guys! Let me in! I have an idea for Christmas!"

"It hasn't even been Halloween yet you fool!" A feminine voice snaps.

Savvy.

I smile.

I've never been happier.

*

As the days slide into weeks, I begin to relax into a new routine.

One with the absence of unsettling surprises.
I find myself obsessed with painting the walls. I forgot how much I enjoyed painting, it's incredibly therapeutic.

I don't dream at all anymore and not having any nightmares at all is an incredibly freeing feeling.

Now I actually see people and don't fear for my life every day, the flashbacks have stopped.

I see Savvy, Coco, and Lana a lot.

More than I even see Hades.

He's always needed for something.

Like always.

If it's not work, it's an errand Joey needs him to do. He's a little secretive, but I'm choosing to push that all aside for the sake of preserving the happiness I've accumulated lately.

One thing I will say though, is I hate his phone ringtone more than anything in this world.

Every time it rings he has to leave, no matter what time it is.

The only positive thing about it all is that It makes me appreciate the limited time we have together.

Like showering together, something we both have to compromise on. I like burning hot showers and he likes freezing cold showers—so we've settled on warm showers,

I'd never thought I'd like showering with someone, when you're showering you're in your most vulnerable state.

There's a reason why people in horror movies are always getting killed in the shower.

And yet, despite the harsh lights highlighting every imperfection of my body, I find myself still standing with Hades.

Water slides down my body, he's behind me, one hand holding my waist, the other gently resting on my neck.

"How was your day?" He asks in a soft voice.

"It was nice."

"But?" He prompts.

"I don't know," I sigh.

"Talk to me." He says, mouth dropping down to kiss the side of my neck he's not holding.

"I'm scared something bad's going to happen," I confess and Hades' mouth stalls against my skin.

"Why?" He asks quickly.

"Because everything's going so well."

"Nothing bad will happen," He says confidently. "I promise you Bree, nothing bad is going to happen."

I don't know if he's saying it to me or himself.

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A/N: y'all I'm sorry I've been slacking, I've been planning the rest of the story and trying to tie up loose ends to things I spontaneously added 🙄

If everything goes to plan, there's gonna be roughly 20 more chapters 🍁

Thank you so much for reading this story, it means so much to me, and I promise this story is going to be finished soon!!! 🩷

(I have so many other things I want to write so trust me, this will be getting done soon 🤭)

Hint: a lot is about to go down, the chapter after this will be sweet and fluffy but after that—well...good luck Charlie 🍿