Hush

6

After a few minutes of his crying I pulled him upstairs by some magic and laid him down in his bed. He didn't want me to leave and I didn't want to anger him any further so I stayed there. He'd laid his head in my lap and I was running my fingers through his hair slowly. His eyes were red and puffy and tears were still coming out of them, but he wasn't sobbing like before thankfully.

Poor fucked up guy.

He wasn't well mentally and I felt as if I needed to be on high alert around him so I didn't do something and get myself killed. But I also felt like I needed to help him.

I slowly ran my fingers through his soft black hair, feeling myself relaxing. After about ten minutes he'd wrapped his arms around my waist and there's nothing I could do about that so I was stuck here. The only thing I could think about was those letters.

In every one he was more and more detailed with how much he loved me.

I'll do anything to see you happy.

I can't remember the last time I felt this way for anyone.

You're the only thing I care about anymore.

Everything I do is for you.

He'd completely fallen head over heels in love with someone he'd never even talked to. Someone he could only watch from afar. And that someone was someone that hated themself, that often wanted to die. Someone that took a razor to the rib cage because if it were the arms people would see it. The modeling agency even said that they didn't care, they'd photo shop it out or use it to their advantage.

But this crazy man loves me? He wants me to be okay and to love him and to be happy.

He risked being thrown in prison for me...

I close my eyes and lean my head back with a sigh and feel myself nodding off, tired from the hours of reading.

Braden wakes up for a moment and shuffles around. I can feel him looking at me leaned against the headboard on the edge of sleep. He pulls me down and repositions me on my side and gets up to leave but I roll over to face him and grab his arm. He looks back at me in shock and confusion and I pull at him, trying to get him to come closer and lay back down with me.

"Please..." I say, needing to feel like I was wanted. Needing for him to show me that he meant what he said in those undelivered letters. He nods and lays down, a hopeful look in his eyes as I lay my head on his chest and drape my arm over his torso, tiredness pulling at me. I'm soon asleep, curled up against him, smiling happily.

-

Three months.

Its been three months since I've been here and I love it. I feel wanted and the house is huge and beautiful. Braden is getting less clingy and treating me more like a person and less like a prize. The more I hang out with him the happier I am.

He still wants me to love him the way he loves me but that probably won't happen.

But I can't help but still want to leave. I want to go home and see my sister. I want to see my parents and friends. I kept wondering if they missed me as much as I missed them. He said there wasn't anything about me on the news but he also won't tell me where we are in relation to where I used to live so for all I know we could be across the country. He still doesn't trust me though, I can feel it. He won't let me out into town by myself and he won't let me have or use the phone and he won't let me go back into that room I snuck into. Thankfully he still doesn't know about that.

He's still hopeful that I'll come around and decide that I'll magically want to be with him but I don't think that'll ever happen. We'd kissed a few times when I was a bit weak and felt like I needed it but I'd always ran off and hid. He was probably going to get tired of waiting and kill me or something soon though.

But would it really be that bad? He cares for me and he wants what's best.

"Valen..." I hear him mumble from behind me. I'd been sleeping in the same bed as him but I haven't really been near him. I make sure he's asleep first before I let myself fall asleep. I glance back at him to see that he's still asleep, his face contorted in what seems to be pain of some sorts. He must be having a nightmare.

"Braden, wake up," I say quietly, nudging him. He doesn't reply and I sigh with a deep frown. Poor thing. I go to nudge him again but he grabs my hand and pulls me down on top of him, cuddling me and burying his face in the crook of my neck. I blush and try to escape but his grip on me tightens. "Braden, wake up," I say louder and more demanding. He groans and starts kissing my neck, causing shivers to run through my body as I tried to pull out of his strong grasp.

"Braden, stop," I demand again. This time he does, waking up some and looks at me with a confused expression. My face reddens the more he stared. This was one hell of a predicament. I see his face redden too and he starts to fumble for words.

"Oh, my god-I-Val," he starts, removing his hands from me and letting me sit up. I don't move off his body, still a bit shocked and flustered from the situation.

"It's fine, Braden, you were asleep!" I say quickly, hoping he wouldn't freak out and do something we would both regret.

"I'm so sorry Valen please don't hate me," he begs. I could see tears forming in his eyes and I caress his cheek and smile reassuringly at him.

"You didn't know what you were doing, okay? It's perfectly fine." I tell him again, making sure to keep myself from losing balance while seated strangely on his waist.

"I had, Oh God." He groans, closing his eyes and rubbing his face. "You were being tortured." He whimpers as his tears streamed down his face. I frown and lean down over him, placing a kiss on his forehead. I knew it was a bad idea but I didn't like seeing him upset, most people I didnt. I would do anything for anyone to make sure they're happy, no matter what it meant for me.

"They were torturing you and I couldnt do anything! They were hitting you and whiping you and injecting things into you and I couldn't do anything to help you!" He sobbed, pulling me back down for a hug and burying his face in my collar. "Then when I felt your skin I just....lost control."

"It was only a dream, okay? It didn't really happen, I'm here and I'm fine." I reassure him, combing my fingers through his hair. He nods, still sobbing into my shoulder as I pet his hair, hoping to calm him down. Just the feel of my skin even when he was asleep made him want me?

Finally after a half an hour he finally managed to fall asleep. I wipe the tear stains off his face. I lay back beside him and look over at his face, frowning slightly. He really did care. And...I care about him, too.