Be You're Own Hero (Ahren Stringer Fanfic)

*Ahren's P.O.V* (Chapter 8)

***AUTHORS NOTE!***
I am so sorry I haven't updated. I've been planning to but I'm so busy lately! Updates may come slow!

         Emily took a picture of me. I thought it was cute how she would constantly say, "Oh my god, Ahren look! Look at this one! And this one!"   She really loves animals.
          Then she really saw him. She fell in love with him... A beautiful little pit bull. She looked up at me, her eyes were sparkling with light tears.  "I love him." She stated. He was gray but on his head, legs, and tail, the color almost ombré'd to black. Then the most beautiful part, he had two huge white spots on either side that looked like angel wings. They were symmetrical too. It was such a handsome dog.
Emily kissed the top of his head. He didn't growl, bark, howl, or move. He just kept his eyes locked with hers. Almost as if they were speaking to each other. I took my phone out and took a picture. Beautiful.
Emily pet him one last time before walking away. She didn't turn her head back a single time. I think if she would have seen his eyes again she would've locked herself in the cage with him. I told her to go crank the car to get it warmed up a little while I went inside and put in a donation.
I got in the car and looked up at her. "Did you have fun Em?" I asked.
"Yes. Thank you so much." Emily smiled cheerfully.
"C'mon. Let's go grab some coffee and a bite to eat. I'm hungry. Are you?" I asked as I gently reversed the car out of the parking lot. She nodded at me.
We arrived at Starbucks and Emily ordered a green tea frappe while I got a smoothie. We sat down at a table together.
"So Ahren I was thinking... I kinda wanna shave half of my head." Emily admitted. I pulled some of her hair to the back of her ear to see what it would look like. I blushed and looked at the ground.
"You'd look hot and rebellious." I stated. "But you're one of the most beautiful people I've ever met. And I'm not just talking about your body Em. You could get tattoos all over your face, gain 600 pounds, have herpes! And I would still think you're beautiful. You're just so calm and quiet but you're also mysterious and you get embarrassed easily. Like right now your face is so red. And you're just... Damn Emily. You're perfect." I admitted to Emily absentmindedly.
She looked down at her cup, her face red with tears threatening to spill over, then looked up at me dead in the eyes.
"What if I'm not who you think I am?" She asked.
One tear.
"You are." I said.
"But I'm not. I'm not innocent, I'm not shy, I'm not mysterious, and I'm far from calm..." Emily said quite harshly.
Two tears.
"What do you mean, Em?" I asked with a hurt voice. She was kind of scaring me.
"Ahren, let's go home. I want to show you the real me..." Emily stated in a voice I have never recognized.
              Unstoppable tears.
I unlocked the car and opened her door for her then got inside and drove home. The whole way it was silent. I looked over and saw Emily with a few tears rolling down her cheek. I wiped them off and smiled at her. "It'll be okay baby..." I stated, although my voice came out shaky.
              She looked like the same girl. She blushed when I called her baby. She's beautiful but she's worried. She's scared. I'll admit, I'm a little scared too. We reached the house and when we got inside the door she pulled me to her and asked, "Will you spend the night with me? Like have a little sleepover in my room please?"  She looked at the ground and blushed really hard.
              "I'd love to," I replied.
        She took my hand and led me upstairs. "I'm gonna let myself out Ahren. I want you to know who I really am before you start liking someone who I'm not. I want you to know the real me." Emily stated.
            I nodded. She told me to sit down on her bed. I did as she told me to and she walked into her closet. I heard her going through some things. Then I heard a few sniffles. She opened the door...
            I was taken off guard to say the least. She wasn't really wearing clothes. Just a bra and underwear. I blushed and looked down.
"Ahren look at me!" Emily screamed. "Everything's so fucked up about me! I'm not calm! I'm just scared! I'm scared of everything!" Emily's tears were now flowing at a rapid rate.
I looked up at her and locked eyes, I wanted her to know that I didn't just want her body. I walked up to her and took off my shirt and put it over her.
              She looked up at me, "I'm so broken, Ahren..."
              I hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "What did you want me to see Em?" I asked. She lifted up the shirt I gave her. She was so, so skinny. She had a very small scar directly under one of her ribs. A straight line going from the tip to the spine. I ran my finger along it gently. I was going to ask her what happened when I saw her thighs. Two cigarette burns on her right thigh and one on her left. I looked up at her. "Em..."
            She didn't say anything. Tears just streaming down her cheek. I brushed a couple away. "Em, what happened?" I asked.
             "I made the mistake of wearing holes in my jeans right there -she pointed to a burn on her leg- and he said I was a whore and decided to put his cigarette out on my leg. The other times was if I was wearing a dress or shorts. He said it was too revealing and burned me to keep my from wearing them." Emily explained. I was burning with anger, I didn't know how to deal with it. I guess that anger and all the emotions that came with it turned to tears because she wiped one steady tear from my face. I pointed to the scar and looked up at her, waiting for an answer.
              "I was fat and stupid and cut myself. It's not that big of a deal. It's a thin line anyways." She said.
             "Em that is a big deal. Never do that again please. I worry about you. I care about you. You're still the same girl I saw before." I explained. I put her shirt back down and took her hands in mine. "You're beautiful" I whispered. She looked up into my eyes - and then at my lips.
               I leaned down and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. I pulled away and looked into her eyes. She was smiling. So. Beautiful. 
I leaned down and kissed her again, but harder. She started walking forward, pushing me back until I hit the bed.
              *The best part of this moment is, I know her, and she knows me, and together, we know that we're not going to have sex.*
              As I felt the bed hit the back of my legs, I sat down on it, pulling her on top of me. I placed my hands on her side and she put her legs on either side of me. She pulled away and looked at me. I ran one of my hands up and down her cheek and looked at her hair. It was still in a braid so I took the end of it and pulled the band out.
            Her hair fell so beautifully in a way you would see in a movie. It was long, brown, and wavy. I ran my fingers through it. It was so soft. She kissed me again very gently. I laid back on her bed, placing her beside me but still wrapped around me. I looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back at me and kissed my cheek.
           Beautiful.