Tellings

Scars and Promises

Hanna lay in Joseph's arms, her fingers trailing over each scar she could reach. She traced the word sloth that had been cut into his shoulder just below his collar bone, and she struggled not to pull back as he flinched away from her touch.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, balling her hand into a fist, but leaving it on his chest. Joseph reached up and wrapped his fingers around her fist and let out a sigh.

"It's not your fault," he assured, turning his head and placing a kiss in her hair. "I'm just not used to anyone touching them." Hanna sat up and straddled his waist, her lips pressed into a thin line as she looked down at him. She took in all of the scars and tattoos that covered his torso and arms, her finger gliding over the tattoos, careful now to avoid the scars.

"I wish I could take them away," she said, tracing her finger around the word "LUST" which had been carved into the space below his belly button. "Or that I could go back and stop your parents from doing this." She closed her tearful eyes and Joseph sat up, cupping her face in his eyes and making her look at him.

"Please don't focus on things you can't change," he said, wiping tears from her eyes. "These scars don't speak of who I am, but they scream volumes of who carved them into me." He kissed Hanna where her tears had left wet trails. "They aren't who I am, but they are part of me."

Hanna brushed his hands away from her face and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his shoulder. Joseph held her close, his fingers tracing small shapes into her back. Hanna ran her fingers over the word gluttony and fought off a sob. She was so angry that anyone could do that to a person, let alone one as soft and kind as Joseph.

"I don't think you're any of these things," Hanna said softly, her fingers trailing down his back, stopping at the word "Pride" cut into his lower back. She pulled back as he chuckled, his chest shaking with the warm sound.

"I used to be so full of pride," he said, leaning back to look her in the eyes. He brushed some of her blonde hair from her face, holding her face in the palm of his hand. "And the greed, the sloth, the lust. I used to be so full of those things, but I'm a changed man." He placed a kiss on her lips, smiling as he pulled away again.

"What would your father think my sin is," she asked, combing her fingers through his hair. He smiled and leaned back against the headboard, taking her all in, his eyes lingering on her curves as he thought about it.

"Lust, perhaps," he said, moving his hand to her waist, coaxing her closer to him. "Maybe," he paused to think, "no, he definitely would have carved wrath here," he said, drawing his finger across Hanna's chest.

"Wrath," she asked, and Joseph nodded.

"He'd have seen your fury with his action, with my mother's actions, and he would not have hesitated to take the knife to your," he paused, his eyes taking in her breasts "oh so perfect chest." Hanna blushed and shook her head.

"How can you make something so disgusting sound like such a beautiful compliment?" Hanna leaned in close to him, her lips brushing against his cheek. He moved his hands up, pulling her back into his arms.

"I love you," he breathed, kissing her cheek. "I would never have let that happen. I would never let anyone hurt you like they hurt me."