" the hurt man " - erik menendez

chapter 6. ✧

"unbreakable"

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          i look at erik in shock, sympathy, and sadness. a rush of emotions came to my heart, but the first that reached me was sadness.

erik looked guilty as he looked away from me. my eyes swelled with tears as i looked up at him, moving his face to face mine. "erik... look at me." i said softly, almost completely forgetting lyle was there. all that mattered right now to me, was making sure he was okay.

he hesitantly looked back down into my eyes. his normally blue eyes had a green tint to them when he would cry. "i'm so... so sorry." i spoke, my voice barley above a whisper.

"you don't deserve this." i said as anger rose inside of my soul. how could someone treat a person like this? more importantly, their child? the thought disgusted me.

that night, erik stayed over at my house. erik's older brother, lyle, went to one of his collage buddies dorms for the night.

i was laying on my bed. erik in a pallet on the floor next to my bed that i made him. i tried my best to make that air mattress comfortable for him.

i sighed and looked up at the celling, not being able to sleep. i kept looking out my window that i could see erik playing tennis from. the idea that i had no clue such a malicious thing was going on beside me, made me hate myself.

how did i not know? the signs were all there. he would come to school with bruises on his arms sometimes, he would always ask for lemon from me at lunch, which i found out he told me made his taste buds weaker. i don't even want to think about why. and he was constantly pushing himself in school and sports to be the best.

there was this one time he got an 80 on a math quiz and started freaking out. he crumbled up the paper and threw it in the trash before he left math that day. i assumed he was ashamed of himself or something, but he was really afraid of how his mother and father would react.

i turned over my side and looked down at him on the mattress. he was also just staring at the celling.

we ended up talking the whole night. he sat crisscrossed in front of me on my bed with the lamp on and we just talked.

at one point i started blabbing not realizing what i was saying, "and i was worried about you because i love— i mean i care about you and..." erik then cut me off. "wait what?" he asked with furrowed brows in complete disbelief as if he had never heard the word "love" before.

"i..." i sighed. i decided just to get it out. i've had the biggest crush on him for weeks now. and yes only weeks but my love for him was unbreakable.

"i... love you..." i said as i looked down at my hands, fidgeting with them. erik gently grabbed my face like i had done earlier and lifted my face up to meet his. "you do?" he asked.

i smiled slightly and nodded. he took a breath and smiled before speaking up a little quieter than before, "i love you too."

and with that, he hesitantly moved forward before placing his lips onto mine.

one of his hands were on my jaw and the other was resting on my leg. i closed my eyes and melted into the kiss.

the kiss was gentle and sweet. it was more comforting i think for him than just romantic. he kissed me like he had been craving for someone to love him for so long.

he was different from the other boys in my school. he was in a way, more immature. but not in a bad way. he had more of a kinder and playful soul as opposed to the boys in our grade that were cocky jocks that had girls lining up for them.

erik wasn't that way at all. he was very humble of himself and shy. he wouldn't talk much unless you'd force him to or ask about how he liked theatre.

the rest of the night me and him stayed up talking about what his father and mother had done to him. him and i cried a few times, but he also told me about how he loved his mother.

he talked about her like she was some goddess he worshiped and adored. he talked of his father like he was some powerful influence in his life. almost like erik was a puppet on strings and his father was controlling him.

he also told me about his relationship with his brother. he told me about something that his brother had done to him when they were kids, but that he felt it made them closer.

he said he didn't like what happened, but he's glad lyle learned it wasn't normal.

he also spoke about his brother would stick up for him against his parents. he said his brother was his protector, the only one that was truly there for him or that truly cared about him.

the next morning

          i woke up the next morning, rolling over to see erik peacefully asleep on the air mattress. i smiled, but my smile faded when i remembered why i had invited him over in the first place.

what was going on in his house wasn't something to be ignored, it had to be stopped.

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hiii! as of now i think they're may be one more chapter left or maybe two. i'm not sure yet. but i absolutely loved writing this story so thank you for reading this far. 🤍

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