The Broken Girl

New Beginning- Three

The man, named Steve, examined you for a minute.
He looked at your face, arms, and legs.
At all your cuts and bruises.
At you.
It was strange, this was one of the first times anyone had cared enough to look at you and help you.

Finally, Steve let out a breath and began talking in this gentle voice he used around you. "Okay Y/N, I think I know what happened to you," he paused for a moment and rubbed his face, "and I'm so sorry." This caught you by surprise, nobody has ever said that to you before. Tears began to well in your eyes. "You didn't deserve to be treated like that, nobody does, and I want to help you." The tears in your eyes grew, slowly they fell down your face. Nobody has ever cared enough to help, let alone notice something was wrong in your life. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted when you ran into his arms. After all these years, you finally found someone who cared for you and would never hurt you again. You buried your face in his shoulder and cried. You cried out all your emotions. Joy, sadness, fear, relief, all of it. He wrapped you up in his arms and pulled you into a strong hug. "It's ok, it's ok you're safe now," he whispered as he gently stroked your back. He was right, you were safe now. Without moving from the hug, you tried your best to hold back your sobs as you spoke.
"Thank you," was all you could manage before feeling a lump in your throat. You felt a smile grow on Steve's face as he answered, "of course."

For the first time in your life you felt cared for. You felt that this man would keep you safe, that he would give you a better life. A small grin grew on your face, the first in a long time, as you walked with Steve through the forest and began your journey to a better life.