Borrowed Time Part 2

Chapter 266

Juliette had never cared for the sun, at least not the morning after a traumatic event - it was always too bright, too harsh, too real, shaking her from her sleep and reminding her that everything that she'd hoped she dreamt was real.  

Her dream had been pleasant, her and Esme somewhere other than here, living a life better than this one, but when the sun hit her face just wrong, she was jolted from it in an instant, all details slowly fading, and the dread of reality replacing it in a flash.  She groaned, covering her face with her arm as she felt Esme roll over to wrap an arm around her waist.

"Morning." They mumbled, and she sighed, resisting the urge to make a joke that it wasn't a good morning because, well... What sense would that make?

They had the common sense to not call it a good morning... They were too smart for that.

So instead, she rolled over in their arms and looked at their face, feeling her chest release... Because at least they were real too, right?  For all the horrors, all the hell, all the crimes that happened against her, there was still Esme.  They still laid beside her, they still smiled at her like she held up the world, and they still didn't blame her.

They made it all bearable, really.  Without them she probably would've checked out the bridge by now... Seen how far the fall was.

Granted, she could also just ask Esme, they'd experienced it almost....

She grimaced.  Bad joke, you freak.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked, deciding that was a much more socially acceptable thing to ask them at eight in the morning... She was pretty sure hey, how did almost plummeting to your death at fourteen feel?  Was not a good idea for a conversation starter... The only conversation that would probably start was a conversation of how to get her into inpatient and she did not have time for that right now.

Plus, with her luck, Ethan would find a way to get locked up right alongside her and then she'd just go even more batshit than she already felt.

Esme wrinkled their nose, letting out a tired sigh as they shook their head.

"Not well... Just kept thinking about how I should've gone and found him." They opened their eyes then, a tired sort of anger still simmering there, which made her heart ache.  They rubbed their thumb comfortingly on her hip, chewing on their lower lip.  "I feel so fucking guilty.  I feel like the right thing to do was to go and make him feel a thousand times more afraid than you do." Juliette grimaced, shaking her head as she cupped their face, making them look at her before she leaned in, kissing the gently, pushing down the thoughts of her disgusting morning breath.

When she pulled away, their eyes looked a little clearer... Well, more confused than anything, but at least the anger had dissipated a bit.

"I don't want you doing that, baby." She insisted, resting her forehead against theirs as she rubbed her thumb over their cheekbone, hearing them hum softly to themself as she spoke.  "I want you right here.  I need you by my side... And no amount of violence against him is going to stop him." She said, feeling Esme's fingers pause on her waist.

She wasn't sure why they would do that, and she wanted them to resume.  She liked their casual, and she wanted to relish in it until her body decided that it was gonna freak the fuck out about any sort of stimuli again.

"Well... I mean, there's a point for every single living being where violence against them does have a lasting, irreversible impact." Esme said, which made Juliette frown as she shook her head.