Healing Sophie

7

Sophie awoke the next day, feeling like she was laying on a big, fluffy cloud. Her eyes slowly peeled open and the piercing sunlight blinded them through the window. It was too happy of a morning for what had transpired the night before. Her body was newly clad in a pink pajama-short set with teddy bears all over them. She could feel phantom hands on her body where Marcus had touched her. Where he had stripped away part of her being.

Her thoughts were halted as she heard whispering outside the bedroom door. She opened it up to find Finn, Chase, Theo, and Victor on the staircase. The latter of the bunch was covered in fresh bruises and scrapes. Their eyes immediately shot to Sophie, and Finn was by her side in seconds.

"Soph," he said, embracing her in a hug. She flinched, causing him to immediately pull back. "What happened last night?"

Sophie took a deep breath and went into detail about all that transpired the night before, her eyes welling with tears again. Everyone was seething by the end of the story.

"I want to kill that bastard," Chase muttered as she finished. They all looked at him in surprise. He was always so kind and even-tempered. It was odd to see him acting like Finn or Victor.

Sophie's heart twitched. She looked down and back up with a blush. "Who changed me?"

Finn held a hand to his neck and bashfully said, "That'd be me. Don't worry, I didn't look."

She nodded softly in reply. "I-I'm going to go shower." She went back to her room and grabbed all of her items before heading to the shared bathroom. She stripped down and hopped into the warm shower, letting the water wash away her pain. She grabbed a loofah, and scrubbed and scrubbed until her body was red and raw.

It wouldn't stop. All she could feel was his hands all over her. She could smell his cologne. She needed to get clean.

If it weren't for Victor, who knows what Marcus would have done to her. She shuddered at the thought. Her breathing sped up as it got harder and harder to block out the thoughts. Moving there was supposed to be her new beginning and she was proving that she was still just the small, anxious girl she had always been that couldn't protect herself.

A knock sounded from the door. "Soph? Are you okay?", Finn's voice rang softly.

She wanted to respond. She wanted to lie and say yes, but all she could muster were sobs. "Sophie, I'm coming in."

She didn't stop him as he opened the door and found her curled up in a ball on the shower floor. He looked at her like she was made of glass and without saying a word, he turned off the water, bundled her up into a fluffy towel, and carried her into her room. He laid her down on the bed, and settled in right next to her, pulling her in close.

She sobbed into his chest, the anxiety too much to bear. After she felt like she had no tears left to give, Finn played with her hair and soothed her to sleep.

"Sleep a little, princess. I'll be here when you wake up."

Sophie woke up a few hours later, head feeling a lot clearer. Finn had ordered her food and left. He looked exhausted, and she wondered if he had slept at all.

She was currently in the living room, munching on chicken nuggets and watching a movie with Chase while he did homework for an online class that had started early.

None of her roommates had left her side since Finn went home, worried that she would have a panic attack.

"Sophie?", he asked.

She looked at him and tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"Are you and Finn dating?" Her eyebrows furrowed. Why did everyone keep asking her that?