The Ghost of Him

13. Apologies and Promises

*Gerard's POV*

The next morning I woke up with an undesired amount of hair in my face and mouth. I grimaced and removed the pastel pink hair from my face and sat up.

Sunlight filtered in through the small shades that covered the tiny windows around the RV, bathing the room in tiny golden rays. I moved my hand down to scratch the inside of my leg and then realized that I was completely naked. Startled, I glanced around the room to find my clothes because I was freezing.

My eyes landed on Melanie, who was curled up and facing away from me as she slept. I smiled, remembering what we had done yesterday. Honestly, I was so wrapped around her finger right now that I would call her my queen if she asked. She was so fucking perfect in every way, and last night had only proven that to me more.

It seemed that I was going to have to teach her to not be so scared around me and not hide any of her vocalization, because it was the most beautiful thing ever. I could listen to her make those noises every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of them. I didn't want her to be scared to open up to me.

Noticing that she was still only in her bra, which we had failed to remove last night in our haste, I realized how cold she must be. I quietly got up and retrieved the giant comforter from the corner of the room and brought it back over to her. I gently laid the blanket over her body and looked at her again, trying to take in the view of her sleeping. She was so cute, and I had never really noticed the way she slept before.

However, instead of being infatuated with her sleeping habits, my eyes wandered down to her neck and collarbones, which were dotted with several little purple, pink, and blue spots. I frowned. I faintly remembered giving her the bruises in a loving way, but I never realized how many of them there were and how severe they seemed to look. I was like a fucking leech.

I softly ran my fingers over the marks. Did they hurt? Were they uncomfortable?? I would be angry with myself if I had hurt her at all.

I was about to search for my clothes when she stretched out her arms and opened her eyes a bit.

I stayed crouched beside the bed and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Are you okay?"

She smiled and nodded sleepily.

"Does your neck hurt at all?"

She shook her head and I let out a sigh of relief. Thank God. I don't know what I would have done if I had actually hurt her.

I spotted my shirt on the floor beside me and pulled it on so that I was at least partially covered. "I was thinking about going into town today... Would you want to go?"

She sat up and pulled the blanket around herself. "Isn't that a little risky? Going in broad daylight?"

"No. There's a little gas station right on the outskirts of the town that I always go to. It's only open at night, so it should be closed right now." This little town was a strange place - I had never been anywhere else where they only had certain gas stations open at night. I guess it was for travelers or something.

"Okay. . . well, I don't really want you to be caught by yourself so I'll go with you I guess."

I just nodded and reached into the corner to pick up her pile of clothes. I handed them to her and then continued searching for the rest of mine.

Once we were both dressed, I found my knife in one of the drawers and put it in my pocket. I noticed the uneasy look she got when she saw it so I tried to convince her that I probably wouldn't need it. It was just for protection.

She didn't buy it, but never said anything else, so we left. Walking along the path was the quickest way, but also the most dangerous, so we had to cut through the woods. About halfway through our walk, I felt her grab my hand and stop me.