The Broken Ones

Broken people are easy to find and love, but not easy to fix. The day he met her, his life was changed forever. They were five years old and he was moving into the house next door to hers. He knew that this girl was different and he was determined to find out what made her different. Every year for Valentine's Day he would leave one rose for every year they've known each other. He never left a card saying who they were from but, she knew. She loved him more than she ever could tell him. As the years went on, the two became inseparable. They did everything that best friends did. They would watch movies, talk, go for walks, take silly pictures, and sometimes just lay in the grass and talk. But what neither of them knew is that they had both fallen for each other. Neither one wanted to tell the other how they felt, in fear that it would ruin the friendship they both loved so much. But they both had their untold secrets.

She never told him that her mom was an alcoholic and drug addict. Or that every night her mom beat her brutally. She also never told him that every night she adds to the collection of pretty little lines on her upper thighs. Or how she cries herself to sleep every night, praying someone would save her from the monster she called mom. She loved her mom no matter what her mom did to her, but she wanted nothing more than to be rescued from the wrath of her mother. What he never dared to tell her, in fear that she wouldn't be there for him anymore, was that he had been sexually assaulted when he was three until he was ten and because of that he cuts himself. He tried to find a way to tell her he loved her, but never could find the perfect time, place, or words to tell her.

One day he decided he was going to tell her one of his deepest secrets and see what happened. He texted her and asked her to meet him at the park in ten minutes. When she got there he said,

"I have to tell you something really important and sad." He told her to sit down. When she did, he asked her to promise that she wouldn't leave. She said,

"I never would leave, no matter what you told me."

He said "I draw" and she thought that he meant the pictures she had seen on his bedroom walls.

She said, "Yeah, I know. I've seen the pictures on your walls."

He said, "No, this is a different kind of drawing."

She asked, "What kind of drawing?"

He rolled up his sleeves and for the first time she saw a few scabbed lines, a few pink ones, and many white scars. She gasped and gently touched his wrists. When he saw the look on her face, he pulled his wrists away.

He put his sleeves back down and whispered to himself "I should have never showed her..."

She said, "No, it's ok." She looked at her shoes, an ashamed expression on her face. He asked her what was wrong. She pushed her shorts up and whispered, "I draw too...." and showed him the pretty little lines on her upper thighs.

The next day he decided he was going to tell her. He planned this huge "date" to tell her. First he took her to the park and they went roller skating. Then, he took her to the movies and let her pick out what movie they saw. After that, they went out to eat at her favorite restaurant. When they were almost done eating, her phone rang. When she answered it, she instantly went from happy to sad. It was her mom calling. She could tell just by her mother's voice that she had been drinking. Her mom was yelling at her to get home. She slowly lowered her phone from her ear, tears in her eyes, and said,

"I'm sorry, I have to go. It's um, a family emergency." She thanked him for the wonderful day and left the restaurant.

As she was driving home she got a text from him. When she was stopped at a red light, she read it. It said, "The window at 7 p.m." She smiled, not noticing the light turned green or the car coming up behind her. The car hit her. She woke up in the emergency room, him by her side. He asked if she was ok.

She said "I think so." A few seconds later her mom came bursting, yelling and swearing and trying to find her. When she saw her she acted like she was the world's best mother. She acted like she never hit her, but the nurses could tell that someone abused her. They release her with only a few stitches in her forehead. He drove her home.

When the girl was about to get out of the car, he said "Look at what time it is."

When she looked at the clock she saw that it was 6:58 p.m. He said, "See you at the window." She smiled and got out of the car. When she got in the house she first went into the kitchen and got a glass of water. She took a sip of the water and took two of the small white pills the doctor gave her for the pain. Then she slowly walked up the stairs and went into her room. She drew the curtains on her window and saw him sitting on his windowsill smiling. She opened her window and sat down on her windowsill.

He said, "There is something I wanted to tell you earlier but you had to leave." She said after everything that happened today, she had something she wanted to tell him too. He told her that she could say what she had to say first. Right as she was about to, her mom burst in. She whipped around so fast and had a terrified look on her face. Her mother started to yell and raised her hand. She started to come towards her. As she screamed her mother started to beat her, not realizing that he was watching everything.

He called the police. Two minutes later there was the sound of sirens were getting closer. Then there was a knock on the door. The mother went downstairs, put on her happy face, and answered the door. Immediately after her mother opened the door, the police took her into custody. The EMT's ran upstairs into the girl's bedroom. They made it there just in time. She was unconscious but still breathing. For the second time that day she went to the hospital. The doctors told her that she was very lucky to still be alive. Right before the doctors left she worked up the courage to ask who called the police. Right at that moment he walked in and said, "I did."

He went and sat at her bed side and held her hand.

She looked at him and said, "I still have something important to tell you."

He looked at her with his crooked smile that she loved so much and asked, "What would that be?"

She smiled shyly and said, "I've been trying to find a way to tell you this. I was so scared you would never talk to me again but after everything that happened today I have to tell you. I've been in love with you for years. I didn't know how to tell you. I also kind of didn't want to tell you because I'm so scared you won't feel the same..." In the middle of her sentence he leaned down and gently kissed her.

He said, "I have something to tell you too."

She smiled and asked, "What?"

He leaned down and whispered, "I love you too."

A few days after being admitted into the hospital she was released. When she was walking out of the hospital, she got a huge surprise. She saw him standing outside, surrounded by four dozen rose petals. He also had a bunch of balloons and was holding a sign that said "Will You Go Out With Me?"

She smiled a huge smile and said, "Yes."

Her happiness was short lived though. Also standing outside waiting for her was a police officer. She had to give a statement that would be used when her mother goes on trial for drug abuse and child abuse. She agreed to give a statement and to also testify in court against her mother. Three months after she was released from the hospital her mother was sentenced to 35 years in prison for child and drug abuse. Even after everything her mother did to her, she still went and visited her once a week. No matter what, she will always love her mother. There was nothing that could change that.

Seven years after he saved her life, he got down on one knee and asked her to spend eternity with him. Tears rushing down her face, she smiled and said "Of course!" They had a big, white wedding a short eighteen months later. Soon after, they were happily surprised by twins, a little boy and a little girl. The day the twins were born, though, she swore that they would never know their grandmother and what she did to their mom. Broken people are easy to find and love but not easy to fix.