Troubles | TROY OTTO |

Chapter Seven

/ hey guys,  this update isn't set in the timeline of the story at present.  rather, this is a look into their bond - one that will be further expanded in the plot to come.  since i havent updated in a while - and i wanna refamiliarize myself with the material before going further into this story - i thought it'd be nice to at least give y'all this. /

The callouses on his fingers scraped against the smooth skin of her forearm,  blue gaze fascinated by the feeling of him touching her.  The action began hesitantly, his body shuddering when she guided his hand closer.  As always, she appeared painted with gentle understanding.  Chocolate irises held nervous reluctance as she encouraged his movements, lips twisted in an uncertain lopsided smile she hoped would convey as reassuring.  Ella had never been touched so intimately - it hadn't been a concern of hers. She had no interest in the familiar brushes of someone else's skin against her own - at least she hadn't been.  The night beneath the stars where she had enveloped Troy's sweet lips with her own had unlocked some level she didn't know existed within her.  Now she favored the hovering fingertips that tickled her cheeks when he wanted to find comfort in her mouth,  the subtle bump of his side against hers when they conveniently found themselves walking together,  even the rough grip on her wrist that had made appearance only once when he prevented her from leaving with tears threatening to pour down her face.

This touch, however, made her feel starved as if she had never tasted physical affection before.  His fingers trembled as they trailed up her arm, leaving her lips parted in a quivering breath as she held her gaze against his.  There was a deep ache within her that made her feel weak and dizzy -  unable to focus on the waves of nervousness that pooled in his own eyes.  Ella was captured by the desperate beauty of the moment;  the way her body closer to his on his own accord, the way her eyelids drooped the longer she stared,  and the way Troy's lips trembled with unspoken words.

Troy himself was intoxicated by her behavior, equally pleased that it had been him who had caused the girl who hid from her emotions to become this mess of quaking desires by such a simple touch.  They had been sneaking around for nearly a month -  quit kisses here, late meetings there.  It hadn't seemed important at the beginning, only a way to ignore their troubled lives, but Troy should have known better than that. Even before their secret moments had begun - before the firm promise to never leave her had escaped his thoughts - he had always found himself sparing glances her way whenever he had the chance.

Outsiders were rare.  Broke Jaw's population was consistent since the start - minus the growth as the ranchers reproduced.  The exception was the Phillips Family - an older woman whose dirty blonde locks peppered with grays and eyes crinkled at the corner by the painful smile on her lips, a dark-haired man with a belly rounded from too many beers and spirit of defensive determination, and her.  She was shorter than Charlene and stayed hidden behind her parents as often as she could, uncomfortable smile painted on her lips anytime she was approached.  She put on a show of manners and interest, but Troy had heard both Ella and her mother weep when the Philips man wasn't home,  grieving a life they had known for this new one on the ranch.  He remembered being curious by that smile she wore in front of everyone;  the way it didn't make those dark-brown irises sparkle and the way it was harder to produce on certain days.

He watched as Charlene took Ella under her wing,  dragging her along for the ridiculous missions she created.  He watched countless times as Coop and Mike passed drink after drink to her in the bunker, her cheeks tinted pink as loud laughter that was so unlike her spilled from grinning lips.  He watched sheepish smiles and  just as sheepish apologies when she had been caught up and Charlene schemes.  He watched her soak in the ways of their life, unfurling from her shell, and flourish.

And he watched it all fall.

It started after her mother left; only a note that spoke of her presents there. Ella got quieter than she had been,  spending long hours in the infirmary every day.  He saw her absorbed in the stock,  in the cleanup, in the process  -  always fluttering about doing something; always with a smile tucked on her lips that reminded him of when she first arrived.

Troy didn't like the small frowns he witnessed when she thought no one was looking.  It made him want to go find the older Phillips woman and drag her back to the ranch - screaming, if he had to - if it would lessen the burden on Ella's mind that only grew when her father had passed away less than a year later.

Still, Ella hadn't crumbled from the weight of the world.  Her parents were gone,  but she had made her place; had burrowed into the hearts of all the ranchers who looked after her even when she wasn't aware.  Like him.

He kept his distance, squinted when her actions were sluggish or her shoulders hunched as her chest heaved as though she couldn't breathe.  And when she was plagued by whatever demons screamed in her head,  Troy's feet would scuffle the gravel path as he conveniently followed her actions.  He would wait until she was tired of mindlessly staring at the stars and decided to return to her cabin and he would find himself along her path then, too.

But the night that had started it all - the kissing, the talking, the touching - he could not ignore the sleekness in her eyes or the way her face seemed burdened.  It was like she was drowning and Troy was desperate to dive in and breathe her back to life.

So he sat near her - within arms reach - his palms planted on the ground, legs stretched out in front,  and eyes glued to the starry sky she seemed to love.

He made her a promise that night;  one foolish for 15 year olds, but one he was determined to keep nonetheless.  Because - while she gazed at the twinkling lights in the night sky - he couldn't help but look at her and think Ella Phillips was the brightest star of them all.

/ questions, reviews, criticisms, etc are greatly appreciated!  xoxo, hope to update soon! /