Bleed, Patch, And Keep Moving - An Apex Legends Story

Chapter 111 - Tracing Away the Pain

"Che? What happened? I tried calling you. Did you ditch me? I thought that we were supposed to hang out." Ajay was too deep in thought and despair to notice that Octavio had crawled in through her window and had been talking a million miles a minute as he always tended to do. She always left her window unlocked for him; he was her best friend after all... the only friend that she had.

Ajay was silent as he spoke circles around her. She really couldn't make sense of what he was saying, it was as if her brain had shut off or maybe he was talking too fast or maybe it was a little of both. In any case, she just laid in her bed, on her side in a ball, with her back to the same window that he had crawled in through.

Somewhere in the back of her brain she thought that maybe if she laid still enough that he would leave or that he might even think that she was asleep. Somehow, in her curled up position she felt some sense of safety and protection but she knew these feelings were false. It was a temporary false sense of security because she knew that in this house she wasn't safe; she could never be safe as long as she stayed here.

Octavio rubbed the back of his neck when she didn't respond. He was getting worried that he might have done something to set her off, "Che?" When she didn't respond he then thought that maybe she was sleeping so he walked around to the other side of her bed so that he wasn't talking to her back, "Why are you giving me the cold shoulder?" He could clearly see that she was awake but remained silent. She looked like she was staring at something and nothing at the same time.

Her brown eyes were depleted of life and swollen around edges. Her face looked ghostly pale and she just didn't look like her usual self. He brushed it off and hopped up onto the bed with her, "Did I do something wrong?" She noticed that he had slowed down on the talking and there was concern in his voice. She knew that would have to explain something to him soon or he wouldn't leave her alone.

He sat next to her and waited for her to answer but he became too impatient as usual, "Okay Che look, whatever it is I did I'm sorry." He leaned over her and touched her arm. She quickly pulled away as he made contact; as if she had been stung by a bee. "Che?" He tried to look at her face but her hair was covering it. He shrugged and reached for her as if he was going to push her hair from her face but instead his hand found the side of her body face the ceiling. He moved his fingertips along her side and began tickling her in the spot that he knew she was ticklish.

Ajay jerked around onto her back and giggled as he tickled her. Octavio hurried and got on top of her and pinned her hips between his legs so that she couldn't turn back over. As he straddled her he looked down into her eyes. His hands found her wrists and pinned them down over her head, "I win Che!" He laughed but she was no longer laughing. He inspected he face only to find a look of dejection and abrasions everywhere.

"What happened Che?" She sighed because she really didn't want to talk about it but she knew that now that he saw the mess of that lay underneath him, he wouldn't leave her alone about it until she told him. She never told Octavio anything that ever happened between herself and her mother. She never told him the dark truth that she had to endure every single day. She had a story for every bump, bruise, cut, stitch, and so on that didn't involve the abuse of her mother.

She was so exhausted from everything that had transpired earlier in the day so she had to quickly think of something to tell him but her brain was all over the place. She quickly glanced around her room and then back up at him, "I took a spill when I was skateboardin'." She bit her lower lip and looked away. He raised an eyebrow trying to play it out in his head on what trick she did to get such an awesome wound, "Sorry Che. I should have been there."

"You don need ta be sorry." She bit her lower lip but quickly stopped. She felt bad when Octavio blamed himself for anything that had to do with her, especially when she had to make up fake stories. She hated isolating herself. She hated being away from him. She wanted to tell him everything but she didn't want him to look at her any differently. She didn't want to be the victim that she already was. This was her battle, not his.