Dents

[+] She's My Collar

((This chapter contains mature and sexually explicit content. Reader discretion is heavily advised. This chapter is a lemon.)) 

The three of us made our way back to the townhouse, astray in our separate thoughts. Noodle and 2D wandered off to their respective rooms. I was hesitant on returning to mine.

I paced around the living area for a while, examining the torn pieces of wallpaper that hung over the baseboards. It would sometimes get caught on the leg of the couch when 2D and I fidgeted too much. Murdoc banned us from watching horror movies in the common room because of it.

I hauled myself upstairs slowly, each step making the muscles in my legs burn. I intended to head off to my room. I found myself outside of 2D's instead.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeh, Saoirse. Yew can come in."

His voice was abnormally flat. I entered quietly, locking the door behind me. It was a habit I developed on account of Murdoc's creepiness, and despite our changing circumstances, the ritual stuck.

"I... Um, 2D," I stuttered, tripping over my words. My pulse throbbed in my skull.

2D sat on the edge of the bed, engulfed in a cloud of nicotine. He watched me curiously from where I stood on the other side of the room.

"Can we... Can I talk about something?"

"Wha's wrong?"

"I, well, nothing's wrong, really. I just... "

I trailed off, faltering in my former resolve. 2D, keenly aware of my distress, waved me to come closer. I was about to sit beside him when he gently took hold of my sides and redirected me to his knee. I sat on his lap. I tried not to make eye contact, fearful of lying bare the shame that was written all over me. Unable to tolerate the tension any longer, I let loose the worries of my heart.

"Do you know where I came from?"

2D was baffled by the question. His brow knit together in confusion. My choice of words entirely missed the mark.

"Uh, yeh. Ireland."

"Well, yes, but after that. Before I washed up on Plastic Beach. Do you know about that?"

2D sighed. He looked resigned.

"Some," he said, "I know wha' yew told me... 'N, Murdoc told me some fings too, but I dunno how true eny of et is."

"I... I see."

I shifted in place. It seemed my suspicion that Murdoc knew about what I was involved in had been at least somewhat grounded in reality.

"What did Murdoc tell you, exactly?"

"'E said a lot ov stuff, Saoirse. I couldn't make sense ov et all. When we got 'ere, 'e told me 'e was keepin' a gun in the nightstand. 'E said et was 'cause ov yew. I asked 'im wha' 'e meant, bu' he wouldn't tell me anyfink. 'N then, when we were arguing a few days lata, he went off on some tangent 'bout how yew were mixed up in somefink bad. 'E said yew were a slave, or somefink. Is... Is 'at true?"

2D's eyes plead with me to lay bare the hurt I shouldered. He had been waiting a long time for me to unravel the tightly wound threads of my heart. He never asked for more information unprompted, content to let me come forward with it when I was prepared to do so myself.

I was so grateful for him.

"It's... Accurate, yeah. You remember when I told you that I was kidnapped?"

2D nodded.

"I was taken by some very bad people. The sort of people you buy a gun to protect yourself from."