untouchable {wlw, teacher x student}

Chapter Thirteen

As Cat opened her door, she felt her heart clench.
The girl in front of her was utterly broken. Tears were running down her eyes, her face was puffy, her eyes red.

"What happened?", Cat asked gently, letting her in.

Lena was shaken by sobs, hiccups and unsteady breaths leaving her mouth as she tried to get the words out.
"Lena, breathe!", Cat took her hands, squeezing them tightly as she locked her eyes with Lena's teary ones.
Slowly, Lena tried to regulate her breathing. She breathed in and out and after repeating this action multiple times, her breaths became steadier.

"My mother is here.", she managed to get out.

Cat wondered what was so bad about that, but she could imagine, so she didn't ask.
"Did she do anything to you?"

Lena sniffled, then she shook her head.

"She's not here right now, okay? You're safe here.", Cat gently said.

Lena nodded, not letting go of Cat. The tears didn't stop. She knew that she would scare Cat away, that she was being too much. But having someone who just held her was so nice.
It almost felt like Cat cared about her.
Maybe she really did.

"I'm holding you through this.", Cat whispered, holding her as tight as possible, not letting go.
She mumbled sweet nothing, waiting patiently until Lena had calmed down a little bit.
Lena finally let go of her, rubbing her eyes.

Only then Cat noticed the blood stains on the sleeves of her blue cardigan.
"Did you...?", she carefully asked, not wanting to upset her.

"I'm sorry."
The tears were back in Lena's eyes.
She had just calmed down a little. Cat didn't want her to start crying again. It broke her heart to see her sad.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Mistakes happen."
Cat placed a gentle kiss on her forehead to reassure her that she was fine.
"But we have to make sure that it doesn't get infected."

Cat led her to the bathroom and signaled her to sit down on the edge of the bathtub.

While Cat was cleaning her cuts, Lena looked away. Cat was gentle, she wrapped them up in cloth and even had a colorful bandage she could put on. She didn't make one nasty comment about how pathetic Lena was. She didn't even mention that she was weak. She just made sure that Lena was safe.

Lena had never experienced something like this before. Someone taking care of her like that. Someone actually wanting her to feel better.

"Thank you.", Lena then timidly whispered. She gave Cat a small smile to reassure her that she was okay.

"Of course. Do you feel better?", Cat asked.

Lena nodded.
"I shouldn't be here."
Guilt was overcoming her. She was annoying Cat with her stupid problems.
Her mother had been right.
She always made everything about herself. She always didn't care about others.

"You're exactly where you're supposed to be. I'm glad you're safe now."

"I don't want to be a burden.", Lena admitted.
Because that's what she felt like. A burden.
Her mother had given her that feeling for so many years that she now started to believe it.

"You're never a burden. Why would you think that?", Cat frowned.

Lena didn't answer.
She stared down on the tiles, hoping that she would disappear. Cat wasn't supposed to worry. Not about her. Lena didn't want her to waste her time.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?", Cat then asked, her voice soft.

Lena hesitated, then she nodded.
Cat sounded so genuine, so caring. She just needed to tell her.
"It's just my mother. I mean, she had always been like this. Today was just rough. She was... picking on every flaw that I have."

"A good mother wouldn't do that.", the woman stated.

Lena was aware of that. But it was still her mother. She still loved her. Because she was her mom. The person she wanted to come to when she was sad. The person she wanted to talk to whenever something exciting was happening. But she would never have that.
"I know. It's probably naive, but I always hope that she will change one day."

Cat nodded.
"I get that. I haven't talked to my parents since I was sixteen."

Lena frowned.
"Why?"

"They kicked me out when they found out that I was gay. Never tried to get in contact again either."

Lena thought of something to say. She couldn't put in words how bad she felt for her.
"That's horrible. I'm sorry, Cat."

"It's alright. It was for the best.", the woman shrugged it off.

"I can't imagine what that feels like.", Lena admitted.
Her mother had never been emotionally available. That didn't mean that she wouldn't miss her if she was gone.

"Quite nice. No one tells you what to do."

Lena nodded.
Cat must feel alone. Maybe she didn't, maybe she had friends she could talk to. But everyone needed someone to talk to. And Lena really wanted Cat to have that person.
"You can always tell me stuff, you know."

"I know, Lena. I trust you."

Cat trusted her.
Lena's heart skipped a beat. Did she really say that? Did she mean it? She realized that her cheeks were turning red and quickly tried to hide it by looking away.
Her thoughts were racing, she needed to react quickly. Then she did the first thing that came to her mind.
She carefully rested her head on Cat's shoulder.
Cat didn't pull away.

It felt nice. Peaceful. Right. Like it was supposed to be this way. Like they were meant to be this close.

They could've stayed like that forever, but Cat eventually started to talk.
"Bonding over family issues was not on my agenda today.", Cat chuckled.

"Same. I'm starving, can we eat something?", Lena asked, glad that she could change the topic.

~~

A/N: currently in London so I probably won't be able to update this week :(