I n d o м ι т a в l e

(14)

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"The marks humans leave are too often scars."

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

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{Chapter: 14}

Unedited ✖

{ A S P E N M O N T G O M E R Y }

I critically pull at the ends of my hair, grimacing at the greasy feeling. My chipped nails run through the thick strands and I wince when they get caught in a knot.

I sigh and release my hair deciding it's not worth the struggle right now. I peel the layers of clothes off that seem like they've been on my body way too long and pile them messily on the wooden bathroom floor beside me.

Gazing back at me in the octagon shaped mirror on the wall is a small girl with wild dirty blond hair, dark eyes and a slightly flushed face. I run the pads of my fingers over the dirt smudge on my face as my mirror self copies the action, wondering how it even got there.

The mirror reflects the emotions swimming my eyes; tiredness, stress, but most of all a lot of turmoil. My mind swims with every confusing emotion ever discovered. The attack from my house causes me to shiver in slight fear, remembering the razor sharp points of the wolves teeth bared in my direction.

The image of Nicholai's wolf comforting me, wrapping around my like a protective blanket makes my body shiver in a totally different way and I shake my head before my mind begins running off too far.

I twist the knob on the shower trying to find the right temperature. Once satisfied I slip into the lukewarm water. I relish in the feeling of the slightly chilly water spraying against my back. I've always loved cold showers. Not that warm showers aren't nice, but cold showers are just perfection.

I let my mind wander as I mindlessly reach for the unfamiliar brand of shampoo and begin squirting into my palm and lathering it into my hair. It's male shampoo and I strangely prefer the smell of this shampoo over my own. Men always get better smelling products. 

I wonder what time it is...

I know I slept for a while but I wonder exactly how long. It has to at least been a few hours since it's light outside. A can feel a headache start up and not even the cool feeling of water on my body helps to ease the pain.

I scrub my body from tip to toe until I'm squeaky clean, trying to distract myself from the tornado of thoughts creating a storm inside my head and worsening the already prominent ache there.

I only get out of the shower once I start to feel my forgotten bandages start to slip from my shoulders. I groan when I realize the bandages are going to have to be replaced.

I reach for the handle I turn it, switching the water off. Stepping out of the small cubical I pause when I notice a folded purple towel sitting on he bathroom sink with a second pile of folded clothing on top. I curse when I realize I must have forgotten to lock the door and Nicholai slipped inside.

I glance over my shoulder at the slightly see-through shower screen I clench my eyes tight together as my face flushes. Even though everything may have been blurry you can still see things. Inwardly hoping he kept his eyes to himself I quickly wrap the soft towel around my dripping body and begin gently drying myself off, softly running the plush fabric over my wounds after I throw the soggy bandages into the small trash bin beside the toilet.

I catch the faint scent of Nicholai on the towel and without thinking bring it closer to my nose. The scent isn't cologne but a natural masculine odder, the enticing musky scent that comes with being a much-too-addicting male.