Stay Strong

[12]

I immediately run out and follow Laura. She doesn't get far and I find her sitting on the curb with her face in her knees.

I feel an intrusive pain of guilt. What did I do to upset her that bad?

I run to her in concern and crouch down in front of her. I place both hands on her shoulders and rub them soothingly. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you"

She lifts her head and still cuddling her knees, she sniffs. "It's okay, it wasn't your fault". She wipes her tears with the sleeves of her jacket and smooths out her hair.

Still crouching with my hands on her shoulders, I gaze into her glossy eyes. I wipe a single tear stained on her cheek with my thumb and push up her glasses. She tries to hold in a smile but the urge is too powerful.

"I'm really sorry if I upset you" I repeat and take both her hands. Standing up I gently pull her up with me. As soon as I release her hands she breaks down into sobs once again and hides her face in her hands.

I pull her into my chest and wrap both arms around her tightly. Your safe with me. She keeps her face buried in her hands but soon stops sobbing.

"I'm really sorry" she squeaks, her tears choking her words. I stroke her hair as if to say don't be silly and it's okay. I take off her glasses and wipe the lenses on my shirt. I slip them on her face and tilt her chin upwards to look me directly in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" I calmly ask. Our eyes are locked with each other's and it feels like we're the only ones in the world. Like everything else is paused and it's only us in the moment.

"I haven't told you about my eating disorder" she says when recovering from her tears.

My lips form a frown as my heart breaks from her words. A girl with a perfect figure like her couldn't possibly have an eating disorder. As well as cutting and major insecurities, she has an eating disorder?

"I'm sorry I mentioned it" I sigh. She smiles slightly and dries her eyes.

"You didn't know, it's, it's fine" she says. "When I was younger I would be constantly called fat and even today I still am. I watch my weight closely but still nothing works"

"Don't listen to whatever people say. You're not fat at all, you're one of the slimmest girls I've seen. You're perfect" I say while lowering my hand to her cheek and stroking it with my thumb softly.

She pauses and bites her lip to hide the smile she doesn't think I see. I smile instantly at hers and take my hand away.

"No one has ever said something so nice to me before" she mumbles. I smirk and lean down to plant a soft kiss on her cheek.

A loud boom of thunder startles us both, so much that Laura jumps up and falls against my chest. She looks up briefly but steps backwards in embarrassment as her cheeks turn pink.

It starts to rain after the cloud of thunder so I take off my hoodie and wrap it around her shoulders. Slithering my arm over her shoulder, without thinking, I kiss her forehead and pull her closer. "Let's go"

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