Bleed Until You Heal

23- Broken Doll

"Are you feeling better?" Scott mumbles into my neck.

My head sinks into the pillows and my chest is heaving to fill my lungs with air. "So much," I breathe.

Hovering over me, Scott grins and then ducks down again, pressing his lips to mine again.

When he said that we would make out like crazy before the expo to get rid of my nerves, he really wasn't lying. So now, we're four hours from show time and here we are, alone in the apartment, and he's leaving my lips swollen and hickeys on my chest. Low enough so that my dress covers them, I make sure, and it's the best nerve reducer that I've ever experienced.

Our lips collide again for another heated kiss and I let out an almost-silent moan as his tongue circles mine and then his hand wraps in my hair, tugging a little bit to will another moan out of me. I won't budge though and I stifle any vocal noises that threaten to leave my throat, although it's incredibly challenging.

Just as he's about to win against my weak defenses, there's a knock at the door that interrupts our kissing war.

I jump a little bit as I turn to check the alarm clock on the bedside table and see that it's time for Sienna to be showing up with her family. I hadn't realized that we were making out for so long.

"That's Sienna," I mumble, sliding out from under Scott and running my fingers through my hair so that I don't look like I just spent an ungodly amount of time making out with my boyfriend. "Put your shirt on."

I toss the shirt to him as I stop by the mirror on my dresser and make sure my hair looks okay and then run some lip gloss over my lips in hopes of making them seem not so red before I hurry down the spiral stairs and then into the living room. Swinging the door open, Sienna and Penn are standing in the doorway with little Annabelle standing at Sienna's feet and even littler Bennett sleeping in his car seat, hanging from Penn's arm.

"Hey!" I greet my sister, pulling her into my arms as we share a tight hug- it's been a while since I've seen her at my graduation three months ago and I've missed her. For living hours away from each other back home, we are still incredibly close considering she's the only other person on earth who understands how unbearable our mother can be. "I'm so glad that you guys could make it."

"Of course, we wouldn't miss it," She assures me as I step back and let them file into the apartment.

"Joey!" Annabelle squeals my name.

"Annie!" I say back, bending down to catch her in my arms and then I toss her into the air before pulling her close to me for a hug. "I can't believe how big you've gotten."

"Don't remind me," Sienna sighs, running her fingers through Annabelle's thin black hair. "She's growing too fast. Anyway, this is a nice place. You and Jasper share a room?"

"Oh, no my room is up there," I say, pointing to the ceiling. "It's a loft kind of thing. Neat, huh?"

"Very cool," She confirms. "You're growing up too fast too, you know."

"I think I'm growing up at the appropriate speed, thank you," I joke, walking over to coffee table where Penn is unbuckling Bennett from his car seat. "And how's my handsome little man?"

"I'm doing alright, thanks," Penn responds jokingly and I smile, rolling my eyes at him.

"Do you like Bennett, Annie?" I ask the three year old in my arms.

She nods and then smiles a little bit. "He's nice."

"He's so precious," I coo as Penn holds Bennett, still sleeping, now in his father's arms and then I turn to Annie and pinch her cheek like the old, weird aunt that I am. "And you're so precious too. You guys make the most beautiful babies ever."