Forever is a Strong Word

Chapter 10

I need to know what happened to Sage's mom and dad. Where are they? How come Sage never really talks about them?

"See Alex," she says cutting me out of my thoughts "I have never really had good parents. Obviously." she takes a deep breath "I know how people are. They leave something when they get tired of it." she pauses and looks at the bed. "I guess that's what my mom did to me."

I swallow hard and look down at the bed. "How old were you?" I ask keeping my focus at the bed.

She thinks for a moment "Well, my dad told me I was 4 when she left. But then again I don't really believe shit that he says anymore." she says. I look back up at her to find her eyes piercing into mine. She's so damn georgous.

"I don't remember MUCH about her." she says. "All I do remember is that she was usually very stressed out. Most 20 year old moms were. My dad said she had me when she was 16." she breathlessly smiles and puts a finger up to her lip.

"When I was 5," she stops again. "I asked where is mommy?"

I feel my heart slowly start to sink down the sides of my lungs. Scraping them. It's as if I can't breathe. I don't know... what to do or say.

"All my dad said is... people make mistakes." this time I hear a small cracking in her voice.

"And sometimes the people you think care for you, coudn't care less...so don't make any close bonds with anyone!" I feel her grab my hand tight, but her focus turns to my bed.

"My dad lost his job soon after that. I would always wonder why he was always at home." she takes another deep breath and looks back at me. I feel my body start to burn up. "I guess the man started to realise that we needed this little thing called money when we lost our house. And we.... we lived on the side of the road for 2 and a half years." she says with a tear slipping down her cheek.

My nose is on fire, and my eyes sting like hell. I try not to cry, and be strong for her. I pull her closer so that her head rests on my shoulder.

"He would always leave me on weekends, and I would always ask where did you go? He would leave me behind a big trash bin. His answer would ALWAYS be something like "It's fine don't worry about it." or "I was at work."."

I think for a moment, then ask "Did you believe him?" she's silent for a moment, then nods her head.

"Yea I did." she replies nonchalantly with another tear coming down. "Then one time, he wasn't around for a whole week. It was getting cold outside again so I was freezing! I was about 8 when Creg found me."

Creg!! That name is like a contagious disease. "Who is he?" I ask.

She turns her head away "My father" she says in a sarcastic tone. "When he took me to his apartment for the first time it was like a fricken Hilton compared to where I lived. We sat at the table and he asked what's your name? I said Sage Annabelle Foster" she looks back at me and smiles slightly "You should've seen his face, he basically choked on his coffee. He went to grab a newspaper. He points to the man on the cover, and asks is this you dad? I was excited to see him on it and I said yes that's him."

She looks down again "He shook his head, and said do you know what happened to him? I just shook my head, and he said good. He was a good guy. He bought everything that I wanted, really nice things. He was really sweet to me. It felt like he was my father." she says smiling and looking at me.

"Then." she saying looking back down "when I was 9. One night he kissed my neck. And I was taken back a little and asked what are you doing. He just gave me a small smile, and took me to his room." she pauses again, letting a few tears spill over her cheeks.

I then know what he did to her. I look away for her and cover my mouth, my jaw clenching up. "Did he-"

"Yea." she said cutting me off "Yea, he did. Every. Single. Night. I didn't really know what he was doing, until 7th grade. He always told me it was fine, or people always did this. I wanted to leave SO bad, but where the hell was I supposed to go?"

She takes a deep breath "Yesterday evening all I said was not tonight." she pauses again biting her lip, she looks back at me.

"Alex, he pulled me by my hair into his kitchen, took a butcher knife, and sliced my leg 3 times."

I flinch at her words and rest my cheek on her head, and silently lets tears run down her face.

"He physically picked me up and THREW me out of his apartment!" she says in a cracky voice. We're silent for a moment and I let her calm down "But, I'm glad he did." she says I lift my head up.

"Why?" I ask.

She looks me in the eyes, and slightly smiles "Because you found me."

I smile at this and kiss her forehead. she puts her face in my chest. "I don't know how I got so lucky. I was a bitch to you for almost 2 years, and you still let me in."

She lifts her head up and stares at me with her hands snaking up and down my back "I'm so obsessed with you, it's not even funny." she whispers smiling.

I smile back at her, and kiss her on the nose. "Well, I have never felt this way for anyone in my entire life. Ya I have had a couple girlfriends, but everytime I saw you I would forget about them. You're so damn amazing baby. You're so strong for dealing with shit like that for 7 years. I... fell in love with you overnight."

She smiles even wider, and says "The only thing that really bothered me about the situation I was in was because my dad commited crimes for a living. And that I lost my virginity to a 43 year old pervert." I laugh with her at this.

"Well who were you hoping to lose your virginity to?" I ask smiling.

She throws her head back smiling, and I see redness start to form on her cheeks. She looks down still smiling. "You." she whispers. I lift her head up smiling.

"You're too damn cute." I say kissing her on the lips.

My hands on her face, and hers on my chest. we kiss for a while. When I pull away, our light happy moment turns a little more serious.

"Just so you know," I start "I will let no one. In hell. Ever hurt you." she smiles and kisses me softly again.

"I know."