secrets

seven

-ADELE-
______

I feel the air hit my bare shoulder and my heart drops. Simon's eyes go straight to the dark hand-shaped bruise, and my eyes fall to the ground.

"W-what is that from?" He says, shocked.

Tears form in my eyes. This is the one thing I had hoped would never happen. The one thing he can't know about.

"I already told you, I fell in the tub."

"Does the edge of your tub have fingers?" He asks, standing up in obvious frustration.

I don't look him in the eye, because if I do, he'll be able to see right through me.

"I know what it looks like. But I promise it's not what you think it is." I state, trying to sound confident.

"Who did that to you?" He asks, a tense expression on his face.

"I did it to myself!" I say, standing up and facing him, suddenly feeling insecure.

"Adele, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know the truth." His voice is calm and gentle. But it won't change my mind.

"Listen, I have an aunt who gives tight hugs and she hugged me a little too hard, ok?"

That's the least convincing lie in the world, and if I knew that, there is no doubt in my mind that he knows it too.

He shakes his head, not believing my story. "Adele." He says, taking a step closer to me. "I know you don't know me that well, but you have to trust me and believe that I love you."

"You don't know that you love me! We've only been together for a day! You have a girlfriend waiting for you at home!" I raise my voice, starting to feel frightened.

"I don't have to know you for a long time to know that you're the most beautiful person in the world, inside and out. I don't have to know your middle name to be in love with you. I don't have to know every little thing about you to know that I love you, even though I want nothing more than to know everything about you. Believe me when I say that I love you, because you've made me feel things that I didn't know I had in me. I promise."

My tears are getting harder and harder to hold back.

"Your girlfriend is beautiful, Simon. You told me you liked brunettes and dark eyes, but that I changed your mind. And I don't understand why. If I'm the exact opposite of everything you've ever wanted, why are you in love with me?"

He looks down at the floor, his own tears threatening to take over. He turns, looks at me, and lifts my chin so that we make eye contact. "Because you're everything I thought I could never have."

I don't even have time to think before I feel his glorious lips crashing onto mine, making my heart feel the same magical things it felt last night.

I forget about everything- my surroundings, my past, my pain, the movie. My mind is only aware of him and the way he makes me feel. The way he changes the word "love" for me, the way he makes me feel like a woman, the way he makes me feel valuable and safe.

That's the unfamiliar feeling I have.

Safe.

______

We must have fallen asleep for well over an hour.

I wake up to the Netflix menu still waiting for me to choose a movie, and Simon's arm around me protectively. My head is laying on his warm chest, and I can feel it gently rise and fall as he takes slow breaths.

My sweater is securely covering my shoulder again, and I hope that when he wakes up, he forgets all about it.

He starts to stir, and I watch his blue eyes slowly open. At first, when he sees me, he looks confused.

"It's just me, baby." I whisper.

He closes his eyes again and smiles, not saying a word. Then his smile disappears and his eyes open wide again. He sits up, taking my hand.

"Tell me the truth." He says.

Sadly, he didn't forget.

"I already did."

He shakes his head. "I know you're lying. I'm here to help you."

"Then just drop it, ok? Let me forget about it and move on! Nobody hurt me, it's just a coincidence that it looks like a hand, alright?" I blurt out, knowing every word is contradictory to what my heart is saying.

He looks into my eyes, knowing that I want nothing more than to cry. He holds me against him, running a hand up and down my back softly as I sob into him.

After I let it all out, I realize he's right. I have to trust him. After all, I'm just as in love with him as he is in love with me.

"Tell me everything, baby. You can trust me." He calmly says, tucking my hair behind my ear and stroking the side of my face with his thumb.

I look up to meet his eyes. I can't lie anymore.

"The truth is that you're not the only secret I'm keeping."