Superman

Chapter 19 (part 2)

*Marshall's P.O.V.*

Three hours have gone by since the fight. No noise comes from the living room. The TV plays in front of me but I'm uninterested. I walk to the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror. It's disgusting, the thing looking back at me. I'm a monster. You could've hurt her. My subconscious screams. She could've gotten hurt because of you. My eyes water with the thought of hurting her.

My mind drifts back to the fight and how it was so easy for me to lose control. I got angry so fast. I can't believe I hit the wall so close to her face. I didn't want to hit her I just needed to get some anger out. And now she's frightened of me. She has nowhere to go. She's forced to stay here with me even though I know she doesn't want to. I'm more like a captor who forces her rather than a man who loves her. God I love her.

The mirror displays a clear image of me. My body has new bruises on them. I used the bedside table and the closet door. I deserve to feel pain. I can't be careless anymore. Never with her. If she decides to stay with me. You've lost her. The voice in my head yells. I cringe trying to tune it out.

After waiting another couple minutes and thinking about whether I should go out or not, I stare at my bedroom door. My heart thumps hard inside my chest as I mentally prepare myself to face her. After a deep breath, I walk slow towards the living room. She heard me coming down the hall. Those beautiful green eyes await my arrival as I come out from the darkness of the hallway. I stand a good distance away, careful not to get too close to her.

"Hey." I say quietly. Idiot. Hey? That's all you came up with?

"Hey." She says back.

We look at each other again before my eyes break away. I can't look at her. She looks so forgiving and warm and I just can't look at her. I'm a monster and she looks at me like I'm a saint.

"Rachel..." I start but my eyes drop to the floor as soon as they make contact with her.

She rises up off the couch and walks in slow steps towards me. I take a step back. Don't. I might hurt you. I mentally beg her to stop coming closer. She gets to where she's two feet away from me.

"Marshall look at me." She says softly.

I slowly bring my eyes up to meet hers. I look down at her, noticing how much bigger I am. She's so small and I got so up in her face and I probably scared the life out of her. I shake that thought away. She looks at me, giving me the chance to speak first. I swallow my words. Nothing is coming out. Finally, I muster enough strength to say it.

"Baby I'm sorry." I say, stumbling on my words. "I will never hurt you."

"I know." She nods. "I was just scared."

"Yeah of me." I shake my head. She doesn't realize how hard this is and how awful I feel for it. "I'm so sorry."

"Kiss me." She whispers softly. "Please."

There's a moment of hesitation. I'm caught off guard. She wants me to kiss her? I almost killed her. Ugh but those eyes look hurt now that I've taken so long to kiss her. Take her pain away. I lean in. Our noses touch long before our lips do. When our lips collide, it's soft and quick and not what I wanted but I won't do any more.