The Soul Mate. (Kellic.)

Chapter 10.

***TRIGGER WARNING***

Neither of us dared to utter a word. I winced in pain a few times when Vic poured rubbing alcohol in my wounds, but other than that I was still. Tears wouldn’t stop flowing down Vic’s face, and I just wanted to kiss his tears away. It made me hate myself more than I already did- if that was possible- knowing I caused him to cry. I couldn’t deal with myself. I watched as he finished bandaging my wound, then moved back, taking in the rest of my body, bruises and scars and all. He threw his hands over his face and took a shaky breath before returning to me.

"Kells, I…I…who left these bruises?" They looked new, so they were obviously his first concern. Judging by the look on his face, he would get to the scars eventually. I lowered my head, but his hand caught my chin, forcing me to look into his sad, confused eyes. Now it was my turn to take a shaky breath before responding to him.

"My dad. He m-moved back here when he left my mom, and he ran into when I was walking back to the venue and b-beat me u-up." I knew I was crying as much as Vic was at this point, and he pulled me into his arms, making me as close to him as I possibly could be.

"I’m s-s-so s-sorry, babe. I w-wasn’t there for y-you." Vic sobbed. I just tightened my arms around him for an answer. He picked me up and carried me to our bed, neither of us really caring that my towel got lost somewhere along the way. We ended up laying beside each other, and although I was against him, I wasn’t excited. It wasn’t sexual, just comforting. Vic had a hand on the side of my face, and we just stared at each other for a moment. "Okay, don’t freak out, Kellin. I just really need to do this right now." Vic said, leaning his face closer to mine so our noses were touching. I have no idea who ended up closing the gap between our lips, and I didn’t care. Of everything we’ve done, we’ve never actually kissed on the lips. I think this was something we couldn’t mess up; it had to be perfect.

Vic’s lips were chapped slightly from the chilly fall air and singing, but soft nonetheless. I couldn’t describe his taste in words; it was simply put, Vic. It was meeting in the park and taco nights and sneaking into my room at three a.m. and pulling pranks on Jaime and pouring his heart and soul into his music and just everything wonderful about him. And just like Vic himself, I couldn’t get enough of his taste. When he pulled away, I went right for him again without catching my breath. Five minutes later I pulled away gasping for breath, as did Vic.

"Damn, are you trying to suffocate me, Kell? I mean, not that I would be opposed to going that way, but really?" I blushed bright red and hid my face in his chest. He sighed and pulled back a little.

Light fingers started dancing on my body, and it took me a second to realize Vic was tracing my scars.”Why’d you do it?” He whispered, no emotion in his voice.

"After my dad left and my mom did everything in her power to make me know she hated my existence, I decided I didn’t want to live anymore. Every time I tried, however, Jesse or Sarah would find out before I died and saved me." I saw him swallow a huge lump in his throat.

"How many times did you try?" He asked almost inaudibly. I hesitated before mumbling my answer. "What was that?"

"Um, seven." Vic’s eyes widened, tears once again flowing over.

”Please, you can’t ever leave me like that.” He begged. I didn’t answer. I wouldn’t lie to him. Instead, I hugged him tight against me, and fell asleep counting his heartbeats.

~~~~~

In the morning, I woke up to a cold spot next to me. Looking at my arm, I remembered last night in detail. I groaned into my pillow. The curtain to my bunk opened.