Scarred Love

Chapter 1

Alex laid in bed as usual. Caden's absence since morning left the room cold and silent. The undistracting silence caused thoughts to run through her head. She remembered how she came to hate this University. Those bitchy girls and guys who'd always make fun of her of her dead blank look. How she loved to wear dark shades of colours and her lack of beauty compared to all the make-up burying the other girls' true faces. Caden would also get ignored because of his scar but some girls still fall head over heels for him. Alex had never seen him actually exchange feelings with them however. He just never seemed interested but rejected them as nicely as he could before sending them off on a crying fit, or just stopping at the rejection since his kind words never seemed to help.

She turned to lie on her side, now facing the picture frame on the study table in the corner of the room. It held a picture of her younger self and her parents. Caden had left it there despite her demanding him to throw it away. He said it was 'something too precious to just throw away', claiming that it may help bring back her memories, so he placed it there in case Alex ever changed her mind. It had been through a lot. From its glass frame being shattered to the decorations being chipped off, Caden had always gotten new ones to replace them whenever Alex wreaked havoc upon it, and recently Alex had given up on spending so much of her energy breaking something Caden had probably used his salary to replace.

She dreaded that image. The pale arm of the woman's resting on her shoulder and the tan male's on her other shoulder as she posed with a smile on her face in a pink top and yellow shorts. The other two people were also smiling. The woman in a blue dress and the man in a button-up checkered shirt and khaki bottoms. The background showed huge rails of rollercoasters and the shot managed to get the train cars running past. The image itself had been kept safe from her claws - Caden laminated it and stopped her before she could do any more damage to the memorial piece.
Somehow, Caden had always managed to pull her back and restrain her even when he claimed he'd be out for hours. Now, he spent most of his time in the room with her and so, Alex gave up on disposing of that horrid image.

She turned over and now faced the open drawers. Caden's boxer was left hanging out of one of the open wooden drawers. He wasn't the best at tidiness but compared to Alex's unorganised clothing, he did earn her respect and permission to clean up after her. She hated having someone else do her dirty work but she really didn't want to do it herself. Afterall, Caden did insist and she knew better than to reject his offer.

Alex sighed, giving in to her desires. She got up to grab the gray hoodie stuffed inside the same drawer and pulled it close to her, sniffing the strong scent of cologne on it. It was the same scent that lingered in the bathroom since Caden was the only one using these kinds of things. Alex wasn't concerned about her smell or anything that added to her beauty factor. She lived with a normal body wash and shampoo with added conditioner which smells all relied on the refill pack which Caden would get. Sometimes cherry blossoms and others, some other floral choices. He was quite picky about the way she smelled. The guy's crazy about it, he even smells her hair at night to make sure he isn't wasting his money on unused bathroom necessities.

Caden wouldn't come back until he finished his lessons and his part-time job. He worked at a cafe in the University. It was those pretty-looking kinds that only had good-looking waiters and waitresses. Caden would put make-up to conceal the scar on his face during working hours and come home, eager to wash it all off. He's only glad that he didn't have a picky roommate; picky about looks, that is.

Alex sunk back into the bed with the hoodie in her arms. This way, she felt safe. She didn't feel alone in the room. It was close enough to having Caden comfort her in a warm hug, only that she was usually the one feeling her entire face and chest in his. The hoodie only kept her chest warm, her nose right above the good-smelling piece of clothing. She didn't feel like getting up again until her roommate returned and forced her out for dinner. Thinking about it made her tummy rumble.