Monster (BWWM) complete

His Worth

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Bryce flinched when the basement's door was opened, his body still fidgety and on edge from his time in the woods. His insides swelled with happiness and relief as he watched Krissy enter into his little area. She came. Maria had kept her word.

Her coils were in a low ponytail and she wore a white T-shirt and a cloth, gray skirt. His gaze quickly zoomed over her, searching for any new wounds. He found one, along the corner of her mouth, was a curved, still healing scar. His jaw clenched. His hands twitched at his side wanting to touch her, check over the wound, make certain the girl didn't have anymore.

He moved as much as his collar would allow, the chain sliding along the floor.

She wouldn't come closer, she wouldn't even look at him. His heart sunk.

"What's... What's wrong, Krissy?" He asked quietly. "Come here... please..." He begged.

She came forward after a long pause and he held his breath the whole time. She came to stop within reach of him but continued to avoid his gaze. His fingers once again twitched.

"Are...you mad at me?" He asked after a long pause. Did she finally decide to hold him accountable for what he had done to her. Panic took a hold of him. What if she left him? What if she decided she didn't want to see him anymore. He couldn't take it. When the girl didn't answer he looked down at a part on the floor which had drops his dried blood on it. "Its alright...It's alright." He quickly said, his voice boarding on desperation. "Its really, really alright. I just..."

Krissy was all he had, he was alright with her being mad at him as long as he had her.

She frowned.

"Do you want to build a card house?" He grabbed up both boxes of cards, which were stacked neatly beside him. He had been waiting on her to come.

Her answer was to sit in front of him, her legs tucked underneath her. He fumbled to open the boxes and pull out the cards with shaky hands home to still dirt encrusted nails. She wasn't speaking to him but despite how much it hurt, it was alright.

They began to build the card house in silence, Bryce watched her more then what he was doing. He couldn't blame her for wanting to distance herself from him, after what he had done, after what he had gotten her into. He understood, but he needed her around. He needed her, even if she hated him.

He forced a smile onto his face and shifted a little, ignoring the pain in his leg. "How are you? When I didn't see you when I fist got back... I was worried."

She finally looked up at him, her expression a took him back. She glared at him angrily. "Am I alright? I'm fine, Bryce, are you alright?" She asked breathlessly. A tear streaked down her left cheek.

His hands twitched, wanting to wipe it away.

"I..." He blinked. "Now that I know that you're alright... I guess I'm fine."

Her face twisted into an unpleasant expression as her bottom lip trembled. "I was convinced you were dead! She wouldn't tell me anything!" She quietly sobbed and bent forward as her body shook, all of her stacked cards tumbling down.

His chain rattled as he shifted. "I wouldn't... I'm not going to leave you alone here, Krissy. You didn't have to worry about me."

She barked out a wet rough laugh. "I didn't have to be worried?" She questioned. "That's such a you something to say. After all of this you're still so... selfless. So stupid." Tears were spilling down her face now. "You should have tried to get away. You could have gotten away! Why did you come back here?"

He was quiet at first. His eyes roved over her face as he tried understand the emotions he saw there. "How could I leave you?" He finally asked quietly.

She closed her eyes briefly and gently shook her head. "I would have done it to you."

"That's fine." His response was in an instant. "That's fine as long as you got out of here safe then I could just..." He didn't finish his sentence. Her eyes popped open and she looked angry again.

"I'm so confused, Bryce." Her words were said with a sob. "You love someone else. You should be trying to get back to her!" His expression morphed into one of confusion as if he couldn't understand what she was saying at all. "I should hate you, Bryce. Maria she h-"

"What has she done?" He asked quickly. "I...I'm not in a position to do anything right now. I can't really stop anything bad from happening to you..." His face seemed to crumbled up briefly at the admission. "But maybe I can talk to her...make a deal with her. I...I..."

"I hate you Bryce."

He had said it would be alright if she hated him but those words had been like a bullet to the chest, after all he knew what it was like to be shot. After everything Maria had done to he didn't think her making Krissy hate him would hurt the most and by so much.

He shifted closer to her as much as he could ignoring the pain it caused his leg. She leaned away, he ignored it. "No, you don't mean that. Maria she... she made you say it."

She blinked rapidly and kept her eyes away from him. "You cheated on me, Bryce. You made me look like an idiot in front of everyone. You made me think you loved me."

His breathing had gotten so loud he became consciously aware that he needed to calm down especially with the way his pulse thudded so harshly inside of him. His head swam. "You...you didn't hate me before... I thought... Before you still spoke to me so I thought maybe you would eventually f-"

"Forgive you?" She asked as she wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hands. "It's your fault we're even in this mess, Bryce. I...I hate you. I don't want to see you anymore." She made the mistake of meeting his eyes briefly.

"You don't mean that!" Suddenly he knew, he just knew. "You don't mean it. Why are you saying that? Please don't say stuff like that!"

She was crying in earnest again. "I...do mean it!" A sob made her suck in so much air it sounded like she was choking. "I mean it."

He stared at her for a long time quietly with confused eyes, but he wasn't as hurt as before. He knew she didn't mean it. His cut up fingers reached for the cards littering the floor between them as he began to collect them he could feel her watching him. He worked on calming down as he did this.

"I should go." She went to stand making him look up abruptly.

"Please don't go." He could hear the desperation in his own voice. "It's fine if you hate me. Just don't go...okay?" He held out the cards he had collected with a shaky hand and smiled weakly. "We haven't finished the card house yet."

She stared down at him with wet eyes and a blank face. He tired to keep his breathing calm as he waited for her response but he could feel his chest quivering. Maybe he was wrong and she did hate him.

Finally, she sank back down to the floor, gently removing the cards from his hand. He didn't smile.