in which she swims to forget all the pain, but he sees it all because dallas edlen is not ok and, having loved her for years, seeing that was no task.
ONE BREATH
MINIMINTER
SIDEMEN
DEATHLIES 2016
[COMPLETED]
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THIRTY FOUR s i m o n
After the fight, Dallas had cried for over an hour in his arms. He took her away from the scene of her deed, realising that seeing everyone comforting Allison was not doing her any favours in calming down, and walked her to the body of water she'd brought him to before.
They sat at the river side, her with her head on his shoulder. With his arm around her, he would feel her body jolt with a sob every so often before she breathed out, mumbling curses.
"I don't ever want to leave this place," She said softly, her eyes closed. "If I go back, everyone will hate me for what I did to her. It was wrong, but I just couldn't hold it back anymore."
"I know," He muttered, resting his head on top of hers and rubbing her back comfortingly. "But you have to."
"My mum's going to kill me," She said with more panic. The panic had been settling on her shoulders for a while as they sat in silence beside one another, but now the pressure was beginning to crush her.
"You'll be ok. It'll be hard, but you'll be ok. You're always ok, Dallas, because you're strong and you're brave. No one, not even your alcoholic mum, can take that away from you."
Not even his comforting words could supress the fresh rack of tears that slide down her face. She turns her face into his chest, him wrapping his arms around her. And in that moment she felt so undoubtedly fragile in his arms that he felt a compulsive urge to hold her close to him so that there was no space in between.
And although it felt as if there was no space between, there was oceans. Oceans thriving with issues and complications beneath its waves, hiding beneath the surface and lurking around within its depths.
"Just breathe," Simon tells her softly and she does. She draws in a large breath of air, her shoulders rising as she does so and then falling as she exhales, disturbed by a hiccup.
"I'm sorry," She whispers ever so gently as if she wasn't apologising to him, but to someone else who she knew could hear her. "I'm so sorry." She lifts her head from his chest, almost laughing at the pathetic tear stains on his shirt, and wiping the tears from her cheeks.
Simon smiles sadly at her as she slips onto his lap, not meeting his eyes but just soaking up the warmth that he beheld. There was more than physical heat, the love that radiated from him made her guilt even greater.
"They're going to expel me, Simon," She confides, admitting her new found fear. Never before had she worried about such a thing. It never even crossed her mind with her high attainment grades and involvement in the swimming team. She always thought she was safe and that she would never have to handle such a prospect. But now it was in the forefront of her mind, burning into her skull red hot.
"You can't think like that," He replies, slipping his arms around her waist. "They're not going to do that to you. They know she was provoking you, surely?"
"I don't think they do." Her head tilts to the side, her hair falling in her face. She brushes it behind her ear with quick fingers. "What they know is that I- uh-" She looks down at her hands. "I have a lot going on at home, have triggerable anger issues and- uh -I'm bipolar."
"What?" His brows furrow and a look of confusion folds over his expression. "Why didn't you tell me before?" He sounds disappointed.
"I didn't know how."
"You can tell me anything, Dallas, you know that."
"I know, but there's a difference between knowing it and doing it."
