Hours passed as both Morgan and Justin sat down on the couch, both smiling and laughing at what the other said. They both felt at ease, staring at one another in a peaceful and loving manner--something both weren't used to.
"So," Justin cleared his throat, laying the glass he was drinking out of on the table adjacent from him before straightening up. "You want to tell me about this so called half I don't know about?" He arched a brow with a smirk on his lips.
Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Morgan repeated Justins movements, laying her own glass on the table after taking a sip from it before sitting back down, tucking her right foot under her butt. "What are you talking about?"
A smirk still playing on his lips, Justin turned to look at her. "You remember back when we got at each others throats, you said I didn't know 'the half of it', meaning you?"
Raking her brain for what he was talking about, realization soon hit her as she ah'ed. "Right, uhm," She shifted awkwardly on the couch. "What do you want to know about?"
Shrugging, Justin licked his lips. "I don't know, your life? Anything." He sat back, clearly interested in what she had to say.
"Oh," Tucking a strand of hair, Morgan licked her lips. "Well. . . I grew up with my mom in Denver. My dad left when I was just a baby."
Softening his gaze, Justin gulped. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay," She waved dismissively at him. "It's not a big deal. I mean, I don't even remember him."
Shooting her a small smile, Morgan sighed softly. "So, ugh, that's it!" She laughed awkwardly.
"Oh, come on! That's it? You're trying to tell me badass Cerus has nothing interesting to tell me?" He grinned at her teasingly.
"I guess so!" She forced a smile, looking at anything but him.
"Bullshit. Come on, Cerus, spill. There's got to be something behind that image of yours." He continued to tease her, "I ain't gonna tell anyone." He put his hands up as a sign of honor.
A slightly awkward aurora filled the tension in the room as Morgan hesitated to continue. "Uhm. .." She sighed. "My mom was a drunk who cared more about her booze then her own daughter."
Instantly Justin’s smile fell as he listened contently.
"She would take me to bars while getting filthy drunk because she had no where else to put me and she couldn't exactly leave me home alone though she wouldn't hesitate to but if the cops found me, shed be in for it. And it doesn't help that her parents--my grandparents cut all ties with her once she had me." Fumbling her thumbs together, Morgan felt the back of her eyes pinch.
"You don't have to continue. . ." Justin spoke up, his voice small though loud enough for her to hear.
"No, ugh, it's okay." She shook her head before clearing her throat, her eyes finally finding his. "You want to know why I am the way I am?" She hooked her brows up.
Hesitating, he finally nodded, his lips in a thin line.
"One night, when she took me out with her, a guy came over and sat next to me. My mom was either too drunk to notice or didn't give a shit because he leaned over and started. . ." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Touching me, and groping me in places I couldn't even understand at the time."
Justin felt his heart break as Morgan continued her story.
"I was sexually assaulted that night." She whispered, the tears finally falling as they cascaded down her cheeks. "And my mom didn't even care nor pay attention." Sighing bitterly to herself, Morgan clutched her hands in fury. "As I grew older, I wired my brain to think that that happened because I deserved it because I must have done something wrong to have that happen to me,"
Justin could feel himself growing angry. No guy, no matter what age, had the right to put their hands on a girl they had no right touching. It made him sick to the stomach just thinking about a grown man touching a kid especially when that kid happened to be Morgan.
If he could come face to face with the bastard today, he’d beat the living daylights out him so hard that he’d never go near a girl nor touch them ever again--not that he’d let the bastard live to see another day--but still.
She looked away, wiping at her eyes. "So I became the way I am. I became a bitch and I became a flirt. Might as well attract guys for a reason, huh?" She turned to him. "That way I knew it would be my own doing."
Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his hair. "It wasn't your fault you know.. you shouldn’t punish yourself like that."
"I should have stopped him." She muttered angrily. “I should have done something, scream, kick, punch him.. I don’t know.” She shrugged.
"You were a kid!" He shouted defensively. "You didn't know any better! And it's not like your mom helped, so how would have you known to stop him? Besides even if you tried, do you think he would have stopped?"
Pausing to think that through, Morgan shook her head. "I guess not."
"Exactly." He spat, shaking his head. "If I knew who that son of a bitch was. . ." He growled lowly. "I don't know what I'd do but he'd regret ever touching you, that's for sure."
Morgan's never seen this side of him. The protective, baring one. She could feel her heart warm up inside and her stomach fill with butterflies. Her whole life she's grown up with no one there for her. No one to turn to and no one to love her.
But now? She just might get what's she's always wished for:
Someone to love.
And someone to love her back.
Maybe.
____________________
Jileyoverboard's Author Notes:
:( Now you know why Morgan never mentions her parents and her life story. It's pretty sad, right? :/ Sorry about that but you know the saying "Behind every bitch, is a guy who broke her heart?" I had to link it to Morgan because that's her "quote". It desribes her.
