Rule - Sweet Pea (1)

Mend a broken heart

It was a painful image, to those who had known what happened or that hadn't. A seventeen year old girl sat in the middle of her bed, the mascara she had been wearing earlier all down her cheeks. Her hair had once been in a neat braided bun, but was now sprawled in different directions with two small bald spots from where her attacker had yanked it out. The entire left side of her face was bruised from a packed punch and her lip was cracked with dried blood on it. Somehow she ended up in one of her father's t shirts and a pair of shorts, only remembering someone telling her to change. She was wringing her hands while trying to calm her breathing, internally happy that it didn't turn out as bad as it did last time. A redheaded girl sat in the corner with her blonde cousin, neither overly fond of the other but more than willing to deal with it for their mutual friend. The cousin of the victim, a beanie wearing boy, stood next to them with a pink haired girl who happened to be the best friend of the shattered girl. A loud slam was heard coming from the front door, making everyone jump and the girl on the bed cower in fear. The girl on the bed was broken for the second time in her life, and her name was Radlee Vanessa Jones.

Rule lifted her head to see who had appeared in her doorway, a brokenhearted Sweet Pea staring at her shattered figure. All he had to murmur was the first letter of her name before she was out of bed and across the room, launching herself into his steady arms. Sweet Pea caught her without hesitation, hugging her to his solid chest and gently stroking the back of her head as she sobbed into his black t shirt. The other four members stood back in shock, none of them being greeted at all when they entered her room. Frankly, she hadn't even looked up at any of them. But they didn't know was that the whole time they were there, or while Nick was torturing her, the only thing that had kept her from completely breaking was Sweet Pea. Rule didn't know why she cared so much, why she was drawn to him, or why he made everything better. She also didn't know why a single glance from him could piss her off, or why they bickered all the time. But she did know that the moment she saw him in the doorway, her heart began to mend a little.

The three girls and one boy remaining glanced at each other before squeezing past the embracing pair in the doorway, deciding they would come back tomorrow. "Can you stay?"          It was the first time in three hours that Rule had spoken, and her question was met with an intense look that was paired with a single nod of the head. Grabbing ahold of his hand, Rule silently tugged him towards the bed so she could sit down. If it were any other guy she would be pushing them out of a window, not letting them on the bed. But she trusted Sweet Pea and somehow knew he would never hurt her on purpose.  Sweet Pea pulled the covers back and lended a hand to help Rule climb into bed, tucking the blankets loosely over her body. He left the room for a few minutes, returning with his arms full of contents that he emptied onto the nightstand.

Sweet Pea grabbed a wet washcloth he had brought into the room and sat down on the bed, directly in front of her. Slowly he brought the cloth up to her face, as if he was afraid to scare her away, and gingerly brushed the blood from her lip. Rule watched his every move as he wiped the dried blood and smeared mascara from her face, miraculously managing not to flinch when he accidently brushes the growing bruise on the left side of her face. Pain reflected in Sweet Peas eyes, and Rule couldn't help but wonder why. So she asked him. "What's wrong?" her voice cracked halfway through the question, resulting in Sweet Pea handing her the glass of water he had brought in. A frown dancing on his lips, Sweet Pea stared intensely at Rule. "He hurt you." Sweet Pea mutters bluntly, Rule flinching for the first time in his company. "Yeah, yeah he did." Rule replies weakly, both of them staring down at their hands. Rule reached her tiny fingers out and slid them through Sweet Peas, the thick ring he wore on his middle finger pressing into the palm of her hand.

"Sweets, this isn't the first time i've had this happen to me." Rule explains in a small voice, wondering what he'll think of her. Sweet Pea looks at her in shock, scooting so he was next to her. He was silent for a moment, a look of thought on his face before realization hits him. "Malachi." he whispers lowly, Rule scrunching her eyes closed as a small tear leaked out. "What can I do for you? You need me to kill them? I'll do it." Sweet Pea tells her. Rule lets out a small sad laugh before realizing he was serious. Rules jaw drops as she looks at the boy in front of her. "Oh, you're serious." she says in shock before bursting into hysterical laughter. Sweets watches her laugh, unsure of what to do. "Uh... Are you okay?" he asks in a mildly concerned voice once her laughter dies down. Rule shakes her head at the boy with a small smile, reaching upwards and wrapping her arm around his neck in a hug he immediately returned.

The pair stayed like that for around ten minutes, unspoken words being shared between the two that was sure to become a discussion later. "I want him to pay, but I don't want you to kill him okay? Let's worry about that tomorrow." Rule whispers in his ear, pulling back to tug the blankets over them both. Sweets does his best to hide a smile when she burrows into him, instead just wrapping his arms around her in return. And so the pair fell asleep, exactly the way they should be.

Together.