Roofers.

37. Home.

Ronan POV.

There's a kind of peace that can't be replicated. A sense of safety you can't help but shroud yourself in. A warmth that reaches past your skin and into your bones, settles and becomes all that you know.

I had all of those things again. I could say I was happy again, but I didn't really think I deserved that. I didn't deserve the feeling of home.

When my eyes fluttered open, I knew where I was in an instant. How could I forget? This room had been the setting for all my recent dreams. And now I was here, in her bed, the sun seeping in from the window; the wind drowning everything around me with the smell of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers.

I didn't remember how I got here. I didn't remember much after leaving Orlando's party. After the feeling of Hennessy burning my insides. After too many boats rocking till the music had us capsized. The world kept spinning around the centre of the universe until it was rendered blind. But now my mind had become like a still ocean, my thoughts gracefully swimming by like fish from other planets.

A headache thumped at the inside of my skull. Making my thoughts become dreary and sluggish. I had a brief memory of begging for her forgiveness and her saying she already had. Shrouded in the light of a moonless sky and tears that sounded like the collision of stars. My chest swelled at the thought. And I wondered if it was the Hennessy that made her say all those things. More than anything, I wanted them to be real.

I sat up, my eyes wandering around the room in search of Scar. I calmed at the sight of her sitting beside the bed. She looked gorgeous. With her short golden braids that flared out a little at the bottoms. They framed her face, her skin almost glowing as the morning light filled the room. An orange bandana was tied around her head. She wore a sports bra and sweats, sitting on a chair beside her bed with one of her legs held to her chest.

"You're awake" she stated quietly, a smile made its way to her lips, filling me up with a sweet and familiar warmth. "Finally... you sleep well?"

"Yeah" I felt blood rushing to my face under the scrutiny of her hard gaze. "W-what about you?"

She gave me a soft but sad smile. Something was wrong. Her eyes fell to my chest, I looked down and suddenly I knew why. The bruises. She'd seen the bruises. I looked back at her, opening my mouth as if I could give an excuse for them, but in truth I couldn't.

"You have a headache?" She asked, ignoring my question. I slowly nodded my head in response.

"Here" she handed me two pills and a small glass of water. "Drink those, it'll help with that"

I downed the medicine and thanked her as I handed the glass over to her.

"Are you gonna tell me who did that to you, Ronan?" She asked, barely removing her eyes from them. She only ever called me that when she was serious. She grimaced at the marks on my chest. The deep-coloured bruises my dad had left on my skin. I hadn't realised they were there, I was used to the throbbing pains they left behind.

"No one" I lied. Her eyes flickered up to me. The prominent scowl on her face grew deeper, but still she barely moved.

"Really?" she chuckled darkly. "You're gonna tell me no one did all that? How long will this go on for, Jules. You lying to me, the way you are now."

"I can't - I can't tell you. Please don't hate me... I just — I can't"

"I'll never hate you" she told me honestly. Her eyes burrowing into my soul. "I just think you deserve better than that"

"But you're mad."

"Of course I'm fucken mad there are bruises all over your — You lied to me" She seethed, her eyes squinting at me as she spoke. Her voice lowering enough to break me.