Your Name

Life Stories; They Leave Scars

I woke up in Jade's room with her sleeping next to me. At first I wondered how I had gotten there, but then I remembered what had happened the night before.

I slowly sat up and pressed the home button on Jade's iPhone to check the time. 10:58am.

I looked at the sleeping girl beside me.

I kissed her cheek. "Hey babygirl, Time to get up." I whispered.

Jade rolled over. She was already awake and had tear streaks on her face.

"Awww baby c'mere!" I picked her up and placed her onto my lap. She buried her face into my chest and sniffled. "Were you awake all night?" I asked.

I felt her nod a response.

I kissed her temple and rubbed her back. "I think that we should maybe skip the mall today and just talk, okay?"

She nodded once more.

I pulled her away from my chest and placed her on my lap so I could see her. I wiped the tears from her face and lifted her chin so that she was looking at me. I held her face in my hands.

"You okay now baby?"

She nodded and started to calm down. I picked her up and placed her back in my lap.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked.

"Yeah," She sniffled.

I pet her head and rubbed the side of her thigh.

She took a deep breath and placed her head on my heart. "I dreamt that I was back at my old house during the night when I got this," She lifted her shirt and revealed a large scar, located just under her rib cage. It was in the shape of a bullet hole. I immediately knew how she had gotten it. "...I kept calling for my parents but they never came. I went downstairs and saw them dead on the kitchen floor. I almost cried out but My brother grabbed me and pulled me into the pantry. He held me tight and softly sang that song to me." Okay, so that explains the song..."Then he heard footsteps and hid me in the corner behind a few boxes. The man came in and grabbed my brother by the shirt. He threw him to the ground and..."

She started to cry once again. I held her tight and held her head closer to my heart. I kissed her head. "Oh Jaden! My baby I'm so sorry. I promise you that NOTHING like that will ever happen again, okay? It's over, baby."

She nodded and snuggled into my chest.

I kissed her head. "I love you SO much Jade. And don't you ever forget it."

She wiped her face with her sleeve and smiled at me. "I won't mom... I promise." She sat up and kissed my forehead.

I smiled. I grabbed my baby tight and pulled her into me. I kissed her on her temple. "My cuddly little Jadey bear. So precious," I said, tucking a loose strand of hair in behind her ear.

She smiled and cuddled into my neck.

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4:00pm

Jade and I decided to just have a lazy day. We finally came downstairs at around two o'clock and made a a snack.

It was now four. We'd been watching TV for about two hours now. Jade was laying with her head in my lap. She was playing with my hands. She started to trace over my tattoos and noticed the white scars on my wrists. She looked up at me and I looked down at her. She sat up, hugged me and kissed my cheek.

I gave her a confused look. "What was that for?" I asked.

Jade just hugged me tighter.

I hugged her back. "Baby, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

Jade leaned back and looked at me. "Remember how you made me promise how we would tell each other everything?" She said.

I brushed stray hair out of her face and nodded.

"Well..." She un-did the draw string on her pajama bottoms and revealed white scars that lined her hip. I gently stroked her scarred hip. She pulled up her pants and hugged me tight. I squeezed her tight and rubbed her back.

She released me from our embrace and kissed my forehead. "I know how it feels..." She said. "I'll stay strong if you stay strong."

I nodded. "Deal. Now, lemme see you. Come." I picked Jade up and carried her up stairs to my closet. I set her down. I grabbed a pair of my Compression Shorts and a sports bra from my closet and handed them to her. "Can you change into these for me?"

Jade nodded.

She quickly changed into the outfit. It was way too big for her. I sat down on my chair near the fire place and motioned for her to come over so I could look at her. I first took a look at her wrists; nothing there. I looked at her tummy next; also nothing. I got her to pull down one side of her shorts so that I could check her other hip. That's where I had found what I was looking for. White scars lined her hip. I looked up and saw that Jaden was biting her lip, in attempt to hold back her tears. I pulled up the shorts and rubbed her back. She then placed her leg on my leg and pulled down her sock. Deep, fresh scars lined her ankles. She then revealed the other ankle. It was worse.

She sunk to the floor and began to ball her eyes out. I walked over to her and sat crossed legged next to her. As she continued to sob I picked her up and placed her on my lap. I kissed her head and put her head on my heart. "Babe, I'm SO proud that you had enough strength to tell me. We're gonna get through this together," I said grabbing her hand, "anytime you feel like doing this again, I need you to come and talk to me. Even if it's at One am, okay?"

Jade continued to sob. She nodded at me.

"Good, now c'mere babygirl. I need some love from ma baby Jade."

Jade wiped her tears, laid her head on my chest and wrapped her legs around my waist. I wrapped her arms around my neck and rocked her back and forth.

I began to sing her song to her as she slowly fell asleep in my lap.

When I knew that she was out, I carried her downsatirs and laid her on the couch. I left her there and went into the kitchen. I collapsed on the tiled floor and cried. I cried for my baby. She was so broken. I had to fix her. I just had to. I wiped my face and walked over to the sink. I leaned over it and took a deep breath. I slowly exhaled.

Her words played over and over in my mind:

"If you Stay Strong, I'll Stay Strong..."