Fallen

Chapter 20

I moved to open my eyes and was blinded by the sunlight that was peeking through my curtains. I went to close them fully but could not move from my comfortable spot. Martin still had his arm tightly wrapped around me, while fast asleep. I instead rolled over to face him. He looked like a child when he slept. I moved my hand to gently stroke the slight stumble that was growing on his chin. He stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes.

"What are you doing?" His raspy morning voice spoke as he closed his eyes again.

"Just touching your face. Want me to stop?" A lazy smile graced his face.

"Absolutely not." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I continued to trace a line along his sharp jaw structure, up around his cheek bone, over his eye and in between his eyebrows until ending by tapping his nose. He scrunched his nose in response and earned a giggle from me.

"What are you doing today?" I asked.

"This," he nuzzled into my neck and playfully growled.

"That tickles!" I giggled. He leaned back and looked directly into my eyes.

"Or this." Martin placed a soft kiss on my nose.

"Hmm." I hummed.

"Or maybe this," he gently placed his lips on mine in a lingering kiss.

"I'm okay with that." I whispered as our lips detached. He pecked my lips once more before speaking. 

"I do have a race this afternoon though." He looked at me warily.

"Okay," I gave him a soft smile. "Can I watch?" He looked shocked at my request.

"Of course you can. I would love it if you came." He grinned widely at me before kissing both my cheeks, my nose, and ending with a kiss on my lips.

"Maybe after the race, we could go on a real official date?" Martin and I had progressed at such a fast rate, I had forgotten we hadn't actually gone on a real date.

"I would love that," he pulled me closer and connected our lips once more. Only this time, he didn't pull away. His lips moved in sync with mine. Only last night I came to terms with my feelings with Martin. I'm in love with him. Kissing and be held by him felt so different now. Martin meant more to me than just a date. His heart was something to cherish. I knew in some way that he was broken, but maybe I could fix him. I just needed to know what broke. His hand went up to caress my cheek as he kissed me. His thumb skimmed my bottom lip and sent shivers down my spine. I felt like I couldn't be close enough. I reached around his back to pull him to me. I was brought out of my daze when I felt a thick line on his back. I moved my hand upward and felt more just like it. They protruded from the skin, but still felt like skin. The straight lines were not something natural. He immediately flinched away when I moved to one that felt particularly moist, like it was fresh. Martin sat up in the bed and reached for his shirt.

"Martin, what happened to your back?" I asked. His back was towards me, so I got a clear picture of what I had touched. They were scars. They lined his back from just under his scapula down to the lining of his pants. I saw the open wound I had touched. It wasn't as fresh as I imagined, but it was noticeably newer than most of the lines.

"Nothing. It's nothing." He pulled the shirt over his head and stood from the bed.

"Martin." I got up from the bed and walked toward him. "What happened to you?"

"It's from dirt biking. It happens. I used to crash a lot." He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Dirt bike accidents don't make straight lines. And one of those wounds is fresh." I reached for his face. "Martin, who did that to you?" He immediately pulled away from my touch when the words left my mouth.