Broken Secrets (gxg)

11 : You Have Me

Sterling's POV

Elliott meeting my family went surprisingly well. They all seemed to like her. After the gathering I got a lot of approval for her. The only one that I truly cared about the most however was my parents and siblings.

My siblings all liked her and thought that we were cute together. My parents talked to me about how happy they are to see me happy with Elliott. The last relationship I had was the opposite. It caused a lot of problems and worries. But with Eliott they said that they can see the care that we have for each other. And from what they learned in their talk with her they like her a lot.

My parents have invited Elliott over for dinner tonight. I was just going to text her but I thought that it would be nice to tell her in person. After running some errands in town I am going to go over to her apartment.

As I made my way to Elliott's apartment door I heard some banging noises. Then I heard the yells. Out of concern I rushed in, luckily for me the door was unlocked. I thought that she was in danger, but to my surprise she was the one inflicting the pain on herself. She didn't hear that I came in. She was too far into the punching and screaming to hear anything else.

I shouted at her to catch her attention. I didn't know what else to do or say. The pain in her eyes was evident. I could also see the shame she had for me to see her like that. For me I didn't care if she was embarrassed or ashamed. I was not going to leave her alone like this. Even if she asked me to leave, I am not going to abandon her.

As I pulled her into my arms once I got close to her she hesitated but soon wrapped her arms around me. She began to cry and let go of her emotions. I did not let her go until I knew she was calmed. Once I could feel that she had let out what she needed to, I pulled back.

When my arms fall down her arms I see her bruised and bloody hand. "Come here" I tell her as I softly pull her to the couch. She sits as I go into the bathroom looking for some first aid supplies. I find some bandages and wipes.

"This might sting a bit but I need to clean your hand" I slowly begin to wipe the blood off, being as gentle as possible to not hurt her. Once the blood is cleaned, I add some bandages and wrap her hand.

The entire time that I was cleaning and bandaging Elliott's hand she did not look at me. She focused solely on the floor or on her hand.

"Hey" I tell her and pull her chin up to look at me. "Look at me Elliott" her eyes finally look at mine.

"What do you need?" I ask as I rub my thumb softly against her cheek.

"You" she replies. "Please don't leave"

I lean my forehead on hers, "You have me. I am staying right here"

I lay us back on the couch. Elliott pulls me to her. Wrapping her arm around my waist and laying her head on my chest. I rub her back to comfort her. I want to know what happened, what she is going through, but right now is not the time. I don't want to pressure her into talking when she is clearly not ready.

We stay in silence just cuddling. It isn't until about twenty minutes later that I realize she has fallen asleep. I slowly move her off of me and fully onto the couch. I am able to get up without waking her up. I grab a blanket from her bedroom and cover her. She looks too peaceful to wake up.

As I scan the room I am just realizing everything that has been broken or damaged. There is a lot of broken glass on the floor, the wall has a big hole in it, the lamp is broken, and the table is chipped. I look for some cleaning supplies and start to clean up. I am trying to stay as quiet as possible so that Elliott does not wake.

It takes me some time but most of the glass is cleaned up, the lamp has been put in the trash, and the furniture is placed back in its spot. I have never seen this side of Elliott before. I did not know that she was capable of this. I do not fault her for this however. There is something that she is going through that is causing this reaction. I want to help her however I can.

"Shit" I whisper to myself as a piece of glass cuts my finger.

"Let me see" I turn quickly to the voice. Elliott is sitting up staring at me. She walks over once I am turned to her.

"It's nothing, just a little cut" I reply. She still examines the cut before putting a bandaid on it.

"I'm sorry" she says with shame.

"For what?" I ask.

"This is my fault. You don't have to-shouldn't have to be cleaning up my mess"

"I know that I don't. I wanted to" I smile but shame is still on her face.

"You deserve better than this. I'm sorry. I understand if you don't want to be together anymore"

"What?" I say with confusion. "Do you think I want to break up with you because of this?"

"Y-you don't?"

"No" I reassure. "Elliott, everyone has their own battles that they have to deal with. I am not going to break up with you because you punched a wall and broke some glass. Do I want you to have better coping methods so you don't hurt yourself? Yes. But we can work on that, if you want. I'm not going anywhere"

"You would help me?"

"Yes, I am your girlfriend, aren't I?" I laugh trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yes"

"Then why wouldn't I?"

"I-i've just never had anyone who was willing to stay. Who didn't leave after they saw my flaws...besides my mom"

"Well one, those people didn't deserve you and it is better that they are not part of your life if they were willing to just leave. And two, I'm sorry but you are stuck with me. Going to take more than this to make me leave"

Elliott places her hands on my waist before leaning in to connect our lips. Her lips gently lay on mine. When she pulls away she pulls me closer to her as her arms wrap around me. Mine move around her shoulders.

"Thank you" she whispers as we hug. I don't reply verbally but instead hug her tightier.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask as we pull away from each other.

"I do, but I-I can't"

"That's okay. We can talk when you are ready"

"No I mean that-" Elliott gets cut off by my phone ringing. She turns to the couch where my phone is and grabs it for me. It is my mom calling me. Shit I forgot that I came over here to invite Elliott to dinner.

"Hey mom" I answer the phone.

"KJ everything okay? Are you guys coming over?"

"Sorry mom, I forgot to call you to tell you that something came up. We won't be able to make it"

"Okay sweetie no worries. Be safe. Love you"

"Love you too. Bye"

"Make it to what?" Elliott asks once I hang up the call.

"Um, well the reason why I came over was because my parents invited you to dinner and I was going to tell you in person"

"I can't believe I messed this up. Are they going to be mad?"

"Don't worry we will just reschedule. I am hungry though. Do you want to get some food?"

"How about I cook you something instead?"

"You can cook?"

"Yes" she smiles.

"That is good one of us can cook because I can not make anything without slightly burning it" I joke making Elliott laugh.

"I can teach you"

"Or you can cook and I can watch?"

"That works too" she laughs as we walk to the kitchen.

I put on a brave face, pretending that everything is okay, but I am really worried about her. I don't want to see her hurt herself. I want to be able to help. To know what is happening. I don't want to see someone I care about get hurt. Not again.