Ave Maria

Eight

Chapter 8

"It started after mum died. She was the only thing that held us together after dad died, and when she went he just... snapped. He changed. I guess it was the only way he could cope. To make something feel as bad as he did..."

Thor's thumb gently pressed the damp cloth over the cut over Maria's eye, swiping gently but firmly, till the cut was clean. He carefully cleaned the blood that trailed down to her eye, open now, but the whites still blinking away a tinge of red. He clamped the cloth back over the cut and pressured it gently.

"No man should hit a woman." he growled deeply. "And no brother should abuse his sister."

A small smile flickered over Maria's lips, her gaze angled skywards as he treated her. "Is that something else your mother told you?"

"No," He pulled the cloth away, satisfied it would no longer bleed. "That is common decency."

The damage was minimal. Maria's arms had taken quite a beating, enflaming the existing injuries. Other than that it had been hits to her face that she'd endured, over and over again until he'd broken skin and drawn blood over her eye. Now Thor and Maria sat on the floor, Maria's back slumped heavily against the lower end of the couch as Thor leaned over her, tending to her injuries. It could have been worse. It could have been much worse. Thor thought back to what he'd overheard Jane say back at the hospital: people die from not doing anything about it. The thought hung gravely in his head.

Without warning, Thor suddenly pulled Maria into his arms and held her tightly. "I'm sorry." he breathed into her ear, feeling her hold her breath against his chest.

"You didn't know."

"It was my business to know. It was a danger to you."

"It's okay. I'm alright."

Thor's hand cupped the back of her head and held her closely again. His fingers stroked over her soft fair hair, tangled from the assault, and he pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I'm so sorry."

"Why does nobody believe me when I say I'm alright?" Maria pulled back and Thor wound his hand from her head to the side of her neck. Maria covered it with hers. "Listen to me. Jane's been on at me about it for years and I didn't listen to her once. She didn't listen to me either. She's not the only one. I think a lot of people know. They just know that I'd deny it if they ever asked or did anything. You've only been here a few days. It's fine." Her eyes held his firmly throughout, until she gulped and lowered them. "It's over now."

His thumb brushed over her cheek. Miraculously, the bruise seemed to be fading. He stroked over it softly. "I won't let him hurt you again. This I promise."

Maria placed a gentle, reassuring hand on Thor's shoulder. "Thank you." he eyes flickered up to his almost shyly. "For not hurting him."

"I meant what I said." Thor warned, gently easing her chin up so that she was inclined to meet his gaze fully. Once he caught it, he would not let it go. "If he hurts you again, I cannot be held accountable for my actions." He was still surprised he'd been able to hold back today.

Her hand tensed at his shoulder, her thumb pressing into the nook where his shoulder met his neck. She blinked away the quick onslaught of tears. "He's the only family I've got left."

"You'd have him stay even though he'd hurt you? He might kill you one day Maria."

Maria gulped. "He's the only family I've got left." she repeated.

Suddenly, Thor understood. It hit him like a bolt of inspiration, fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together at last; "You're afraid of being alone." he realised aloud.

It all made sense. It had to. Why else would she cling to a brother that beat her till she was black and blue if she had another choice? Because her only other choice would be to live alone. Thor could understand, remembering his grief after he'd thought Loki was dead. He'd lost a brother, and had clung defensively to what he'd had left. Maria had lost her father, then her mother, and they weren't coming back. He could understand why she wouldn't want to lose anything else.

"You won't be alone." His hand resting at the small of her back pressed her closer to him. "I promise. You're safe here. With me. You won't be alone."

Thor watched as her eyes slowly filled with tears and she bit her lip. "But you'll leave!"

Her hands left him to cover her face as her tears spilled free and she cried again, confirming what he'd thought. That was what she was afraid of most - she didn't want to be alone.

"I won't." he said without hesitation, not caring if it was right of true, although he would've given his life for it to be. "I won't go. I'll stay."

He closed his hands around Maria's and pulled them from her crying face. Protection gone, she bit her lip to try and hold herself together, but the tears still flowed thick and fast from her glistening eyes. Thor held both of her tiny hands in one of his, feeling how she held back. Like back at the cemetery, he remembered. Once again, she needed him. And once again, he'd never let go. He pressed his spare palm to her cheek, the pad of his thumb gently stroking away the tears.

Maria gulped in a shuddering breath.

"I am a man of my word." Thor breathed to her. "I mean what I say." They were so close that Thor only had to so much as twitch to have Maria's hands brush his chest. Instinctively, he flattened them there, firmly holding her palms over his heart.

That stopped the tears in an instant. It stopped everything. Thor would have been alarmed as Maria's gasping and crying abruptly stopped altogether and she was silent and still as if she were made of stone, but the calm look she held in her eye, her gaze meeting his across the narrow gap that separated them, told him not to be. Instead, he stared deep into her dark brown orbs, trying to work out what she was thinking as she felt his heartbeat. Her lips hovered apart as she felt the strong steady pulse of his heart in his chest, the intoxicating heat of his skin encasing her delicate hands from all sides.

"I know how it works though." she finally breathed, trying to recover the thoughts that Thor's hypnotic heartbeat had scattered. "I'm an expert." Her eyes darkened, sinking deeper into his embrace. "Everyone leaves in the end. In one was or another, they all leave."

"Maria..." she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. "When will you believe me? I'm not going anywhere. I swear it."

Her face screwed up in an instant. "You will! You will - everyone does. And you will too eventually." Her eyes glistened, the tears welling quickly in her anguished brown orbs. She bit back a sob, her eyes meeting his again at last. "I don't want to be on my own."

She couldn't fight the tears any longer and Thor didn't try to stop her as she crumpled forward, his hands releasing hers and finding their homely places on her back and head.

"Oh Maria..." He pulled her back just far enough for him to press his lips tenderly to her forehead, his finger creeping round to stroke away a stray strand of curled hair. His eyes screwed shut, praying the small weeping woman could feel how much he meant this, how much she meant to him. "I will not leave you alone. I will never abandon you."