Be My Saving Grace

Twenty-five

Twenty-five

{ you won't leave without me }

"Grace," I pouted, as she refused to get in bed with me. "Baby, come on!"

"But I don't wanna go to bed yet!" She said back, crossing her arms over her chest.

I chuckled and shook my head, "we don't have to go to bed, I just wanna cuddle and talk for a little bit..." I whined, sticking out my bottom lip and making my eyes big.

"Awh!" Grace cooed, "I can't say no to a face that cute," she giggled and brushed her hand over my cheek.

I quickly grabbed her wrist and nuzzled my face into her palm, making her blush and slowly crawl onto the bed. I released her hand and patted the bed beside me. She giggled and crawled over to me, sitting as close to me as she could without actually sitting on top of me.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side as she tangled her legs with mine. I gently held her hip, tracing circles into her thigh. She tucked her head under my chin and rested her hand on my chest. "Um, I wanna ask you something..." I mumbled quietly, my thoughts drowning in questions about her wounds.

"What is it, Turtle?" She asked, looking into my eyes, making me get lost in hers.

"I uh... Um... Where did the cuts on your back come from?" I finally managed to ask.

"Oh..." Grace looked away and started scratching at her left wrist, right over some apparently recent cuts.

I gently took her hand in mine and laced our fingers together, "don't," I whispered, causing her to snap her gaze up to mine.

Tears filled her eyes and slowly fell down her cheeks. But she didn't make a sound. She didn't move an inch. She cried silently for a while, not breaking our eye contact, until I softly cupped her face in my hands and brushed away her tears with my thumbs. "What's wrong, princess?" I whispered.

"He... He f-fou-nd-d m-me..." She choked out, burying her face into the base of my neck.

"Who found you?" I asked, suddenly thinking that her mom's boyfriend was up to his old tricks.

"D-dr-op i-it, T-Tony," she whimpered, wiping her eyes and quickly making her way to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

I knocked on the door, and jiggled the handle, she locked it. Of course she locked it. She was in there doing who knew what. Wait. I knew exactly what she was doing in there. She was taking a blade to her wrists. "Grace, please open the door," I asked calmly.

"No!" She snapped, "I'll be out in a minute!"

I sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed and laid back with my arms behind my head. I stared at the ceiling and thought about my date with Grace earlier. She had seemed so upset when I frowned. But I definitely was not frowning because she was ugly. She was far from ugly. I was frowning at the hand print shaped bruises on her torso and upper arms.

It looked like she had been grabbed. Forcefully, at that. The hand prints on her sides looked to be about the size of my hands, or a little bigger, suggesting the guy that grabbed her was decent sized. God. If he hurt her, he's going to pay for the shit he caused.

Grace sat down next to me, a baggy sweatshirt covering her body, her hands tucked inside her sleeves and rested on her lap. I sat up and pulled her onto my lap so she was straddling my hips. "Let me see," I whispered, my voice barely loud enough to hear.

She looked at me through sad eyes, and gently lifted the sleeves of the hoodie. I took a sharp intake of breath when I saw her arms. From the back of her hands to her elbows was lined with fresh cuts. They'd just barely stopped bleeding and they looked so much worse that I could have imagined. Most of them were a good quarter inch deep.

I took her hand and softly kissed her arm, "why'd you do it?" I asked.

"He hurt me again... And it was my fault so I'm punishing myself..." She whispered.

"Who's hurting you, Grace?" I asked, squeezing my eyes shut.

"A-"

"Yo, Tone, we gotta go... We're needed tonight man," Vic interrupted, throwing the door open.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I grumbled, waving him off before turning back to Grace. I wrapped her tightly on my arms and softly kissed her forehead, "I'm gonna miss you," I whispered into her hair.

"Ya know, she can come with us," Ellie said from the doorway. "We do have an extra bunk..."

I looked down at Grace, "do you wanna come?" I asked, a smile forming on my lips.

"Sure," she nodded, "let me pack my stuff..."

Fuck yeah, Grace was touring with us! I'd get to spend every day with her. I wouldn't miss her. I wouldn't have to worry about her forgetting me.