Perfect Imperfections ✧ Syndisparklez

Chapter 35

Tom's POV

"TOM PLEASE!" Jordan screamed.

I snapped my eyes open. Jordan's eyes were shut tight.

"Jordan?" I asked. We had fallen asleep during the movie.

"MAKE IT STOP!" he yelled. His face was buried in my arm. He ripped the blanket off our laps.

I shook him awake. His eyes were bloodshot, they darted around the room.

"Jordan, it's okay. You're safe," I said, holding him tight.

He cried into my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay," I whispered back, kissing the top of his head.

"I had a nightmare," he explained, his voice shaky.

"You're safe now," I told him. "Wanna talk about it?" I tilted his head up, so he'd look in my eyes.

"N-no, not really," he said.

"Okay," I said. My phone buzzed. I looked over at it.

1 New Message From:
James

James: Hey Tom, heard you were back in London!

Jordan looked at my phone.

"Don't answer him," he said, desperately.

"Why not?" I asked. What did James do to Jordan that made him so afraid?

"H-he was... Just don't please," he said.

"I won't, you just gotta tell me why," I said. Jordan looked up at me.

"He was in my dream. He was hurting you," Jordan finally said.

I held tight onto Jordan's sweatshirt.

"He won't hurt me, I promise. That dream is over now," I told him, trying to calm him down. Jordan's breathing eventually slowed, and his tears finally stopped. I gently stroked his back.

I looked down at his exposed thighs. I saw the small scars lining them. I carefully reached my hand down, and ran my fingers over them. The scars felt like braille under my fingertips.

Jordan lifted his head off of my shoulder, and watched my fingers dance over his thighs.

I looked over at him.

"It was a way to escape.." he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"You know how the doctor said I have anxiety?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said. This was the first time he was actually voluntarily talking about his scars.

"Well, I would worry about something, and I would worry about it for days, weeks, months. It just got exhausting, but I couldn't get the worried thoughts out of my head, they'd just be there. All the time, you know?" he said.

"Yeah," I quietly said.

"So, to ignore those worried thoughts, I had to focus on something else. Which was this," he said, referring to his scars.

"Oh," I quietly said. I understood now. I stopped moving my fingers along his thigh. I grabbed his hand instead.

"I'm sorry," Jordan whispered to me.

"It's okay," I told him. "Just don't do it again. I love you," I whispered back. I lifted up my pinky finger. He linked his with mine.

"I promise," he said. I wrapped my arms around him, and kissed his forehead.