Bruises

7

I woke up to arms wrapping around my waist. “Good Morning Mix.” Dylan whispered in my ear before kissing my cheek.
A week had passed since my beating and coming here. The bruises didn’t hurt unless you touched them too hard, and they had gone unnoticed by everyone. The ones on my arms were already gone, but he ones on my legs and abdomen were still clearly visible, maybe a dark purple color with small specks of blue. Aside from that everything was going practically perfect. Dylan was still sleeping on the floor no matter how much I tried to convince him to just sleep on the bed, but he did wake me up sweetly though. There was only one more day until Christmas Eve, and today everyone was doing some last minute shopping.
“Morning to you too.” I said turning around in his arms so that I could cuddle into his chest. “You ready to go shopping?” He asked me. “No.” I mumbled into his chest. “Come on.” He said squeezing me. It hurt a little bit, but since my face was hidden, he couldn’t see me flinch. “Fine, just a few more minutes.” I said leaning up to kiss his cheek. “A few more minutes of what? Sleeping? Cuddling? Or kissing? Because I’m good with any of them.” He said chucking. “I’m sure you are.” I said coming up to plant a kiss on his lips, but he beat me to it. The kisses started out soft and slow, but slowly escalated. He slid me underneath him so that he was hovering above me, but not doing anything but kissing me. It wasn’t long before we heard his mom telling us to come down the stairs to have breakfast. “To be continued.” He said before climbing off of me and the bed. That was the most heated we had ever gotten in this past week, and the fact that there was more to come made we wonder his plans were.
“I’m gonna go change in the bathroom and head down stairs.” Dylan said, clothes in hand. “Okay, see you down there.” I said as he shut the door. I went to my suitcase and grabbed a pair of white jeans, black and white striped tank top, and a purple hoodie with fleece on the inside. I stripped my off my pajamas and replaced them with the clothes I had picked. Brushing through my hair was pain because it was so thick, and the fact that it was still a little bit sore from the incident. I pulled my pale blonde hair up into a high pony tail. Before walking down the stairs, passing through the living room, and entering the kitchen just as Mrs. Hicks was setting a big bowl of eggs on the table.
Breakfast went by fast. Mr. Hicks’ friend had left early that morning, so it was just the five of us. “We will be leaving for Raleigh in about an hour, everybody.” Mrs. Hicks said as she began to wash the dishes. “Okay Mom.” Dylan said as he pulled me up the stairs. Once the door was closed Dylan’s lips crashed into mine. It wasn’t long before I had to practically push him off of me so that I could actually breathe. “Slow down Hicks.” I said holding him at a distance. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kiss him, but I also didn’t want to have to press pause on this…yet again. “Sorry.” Dylan said, also out of breath. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault, I just don’t want to have to stop again.” I said, pulling him back towards me and brushing my lips against his softly. “Understandable.” He said smiling. Almost immediately, he pulled me into a hug that made me think that he never wanted to let me go. And that’s exactly what I wanted. To never have to let go.
The ride to Raleigh lasted for a few hours, but we passed the time. With Mr. and Mrs. Hicks, Iris, Dylan, and I, we were bound to make the ride enjoyable. Music was our main source of entertainment, we took turns picking a song each and we streamed it from YouTube. The variety of music that everyone new, even Iris, was so amazing. We spent the time listening to anything from eighty’s rock to ninety’s pop to early two thousand’s punk, and it was so much fun. At one point, towards the end of our drive Iris said that she wanted to hear her song. I assumed that it was just an inside family joke, but as soon as I heard the beginning of the song I understood why it was her song. “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls started playing in the car, and everyone knew every word.
We had decided to only make one stop at the biggest mall they had and try to buy everything there. Once we made it to the mall everyone split up, Iris with her parents and me with Dylan, so that we could do our shopping it somewhat secret. Me and Dylan roamed the mall for about half an hour before we found something interesting. We were in Hot Topic when I said “I think that I just found the perfect present for Iris.” To Dylan. “Whatcha got?” He asked walking up to me. Without saying anything, I raised up a two-part set of a yin and yang chokers. It reminded me of a conversation that Iris and I had had a while ago when she told me that when she was old enough she was going to get a yin and yang tattoo because it resembled life, the light in the dark and the dark in the light. Iris was smart beyond her years, and I just hope that she never grows up to fast. “That is perfect for her! I’ll buy it but you can give it to her.” He said, taking it out of my hands. “Wait, no, I’ll buy it!” I said, trying to take it back from Dylan but he kept it just out of my reach. “Mixi. No.” He said staring into my eyes before kissing my forehead.
“Now you, out! I have to buy you a present and I don’t want you to know what it is.” I said to Dylan after looking around some more. “Fine, I’ll wait for you outside. I already got your present.” He said walking away, smiling. What did that weirdo get me? We’ll just have to wait and see. I was in the back of the story looking at t-shirts when I got a text:
Where are you?
What the hell? Why is he texting me? I haven’t talked to him in over five years.
“What do you want?” I sent.
I need to talk to you. It’s very important. Where are you?
“I’m out in Raleigh. Where are you?” I sent.
I’ll meet you in Spencer’s at three o’clock. Be there, and don’t bring anyone.
“Okay…” I sent the last text.
It was two forty-five now, so I had to hurry up. As I was turning around to leave I saw the prefect thing. It was a five-piece collector’s guitar pick set that had Metallica, Guns and Roses, ACDC, Kiss, and Led Zepplin. It cost twenty-five dollars, all that I had. It was too good to pass up. I took it to the front desk and paid for it, using my discount card I got five dollars off so that it only cost twenty bucks. Perfect.
“So, what’d you get me?” Dylan asked slyly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “I’m not going to give it a way that easily, you can wait until tomorrow.” I said, poking him in the side. We walked through the mall for a little bit, just roaming for a while. “I need to stop into JC Penny to get mom something, do you want to come with?” He asked. “Nah, I need to stop by Spencer’s. Meet me there after you’re done?” I asked. “Will do, might take a while though.” He said giving my hand a squeeze. “See you in a bit.” I said before letting go of his hand and heading toward the other side of the mall.
*****
I spotted him almost immediately, standing at the opening to the store. With my head down, I walked over. Before I got to him, he looked up and said “Maggie. You look great.”
“You look great. That’s the best you’ve got? After 5 years, that’s it? Nice job Mason.” I said raising my eyebrows and anger seeping into my voice. Who the hell does he think he is. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to say. I missed you little sister.”