Strong

Faded bruises

Dec's POV
I wake up and yawn and stretch and smile and then roll over on top of Ant, "Anth" I whisper and he doesn't respond, "Ant!" I say a bit louder and his eyes open slowly, "hmm?" He says rubbing his eyes, "it's my birthday Ant!" I say proudly and he smiles and leans up and kisses me, "happy birthday baby" he strokes my cheek. Ant makes me a nice big breakfast, and then we have a shower together, "I don't think my mam will be very loving today" I say leaning my forehead on his back and he sighs, "she just doesn't understand it baby" he says squirting shampoo into his hands and I look up and notice faint purple and green marks on his neck and his ribs, I sigh, even if my parents don't understand why we did what we did at least I got Ant away from his father , he never deserves to be hit, Ant only deserves to be loved and cherished. "You okay back there?" I hear Ant say as I stare blankely at his bruises, "no...I'm so sorry he hurt you" I say tears filling my eyes and he turns around and wraps me in a hug, "shh Dec, this is not how we're spending your birthday" he kisses my head.

"Have you two come to your senses?" My mam asks as we're all sitting in our lounge in our flat, "no ma, we're not coming home...Ant gets hurt there" I say quietly and Christine starts to cry and Ant jumps up and hugs her, "it's not your fault ma..." She continues to cry, "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you" she sobs and he smiles, "I'm okay ma...I have Decky" he says looking over at me and I smile, "you shouldn't have to depend on a 16 year old to protect you" she says stern, "I'm 17 now..." I say frowning.

After a very awkward visit with our mams Ant surprises me with my present, "open it..." He urges and I rip the paper open, "woah...thank you so much Ant" I stare at the Newcastle United jersey with signatures all over it and he smiles and I pull him in for a kiss. We lie in bed and I touch my finger to a faded bruise softly and Ant flinches and I quickly pull back, "sorry" I move back a little and he follows, "It's okay babe, they're just a bit tender" he kisses me and we lay back down for bed.