In the arms of evil

Bruises

I headed out early this morning, knowing Colton was going to come by later today. Heading down the street, I saw a familiar face.
"Hey sammy" I shout, waving my hand across the street. Sammy looks up from his phone and walks over to me smiling. "Hey Brooke, how's it going?"
"Not bad. I'm heading down to the bookshop real quick before Colton comes over." I say, gesturing down the road. Sammy nods, before saying "well, tell him I said hi. And that he forgot his jacket at the club last night" then he walks off. I'm left confused, wondering what Colton was doing at the club so late. And why he'd leave his jacket. But I brush off any uneasy feelings and head into the bookstore.

"Brooklyn, can you get me that book please?" Lucy asks, gesturing to the top shelf. "Here you go sweetie" once I hand her the book, she runs to her uncle Garret, who props her up on the counter. He's so strong for her. She's only six and has leukaemia. It breaks my heart to see her this way. But she's so wilful and strong, it's like she doesn't even notice it. I smile at the image of them together, spending what little time they have making the most of it.

"Just these two today?" Garret asks, putting my books in a bag for me. "Yep. Just today. They'll probably be done in a week so I'll be back to get some more. See you round Lucy" I give her a little kiss on the cheek and head out.

When I get home, Colton's already by my door. He looks tired. Like he hasn't slept in weeks. "Are you okay?" I ask concerned. He gets up off my porch steps and pats himself down. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired is all. If this is a bad time, I can leave-"
"No no, it's fine. Come in" I unlock the doors quickly and rush to get him a glass of water and some vitamins. "Here take these. I don't know what good they'll do, but it's all I have right now" he swallows the tablets harshly and leans back on my couch. We don't say anything for a while. I don't really know what to say.

"So I saw Sammy today" his face is blank but his eyes grow wide for a few seconds. "Oh yeah, how is he?" He asks, completely oblivious. He's either still drunk from last night or he's lying straight to my face. Suddenly, a memory from last month pops into my mind when he had taken me on another date.

Last month:
Colton has taken me to the beach, but as I had no idea, wearing heels wasn't helping me right now. "You could've told me to dress casual. "He   chuckles as he eyes my red stilettos. I roll my eyes and chuckle "haha very funny" before he opens my door and begins talking my shoes off. "Hey, what are you doing?" I exclaim in burst of giggles. "Well I can't have you ruining these. So I'll hold them for you seeing as I should have told you to bring flip flops" he chuckles again before offering me a hand to step out of the car.

"I think this is the first time I've seen your car" I say, looking back at the black mustang behind us. "Yeah, I don't usually bring it out. I prefer the bike. But it's in the shop for a few days so the car will have to do" he walks me off the beach and towards a harbour. Walking down, we stop at a boat, to which he helps me onto. "Is this yours?" I ask, stunned at the boat. "Yep. It was my dads a while ago. When he died, he left it to me." My heart melts for him. He doesn't talk about his family much. And he doesn't push me on mine. "I'm sorry" I say, taking his hand in mine. He lifts it up and gives it a kiss before turning to start the boat.

We sail out, just in time to watch the sunrise. He notices me shiver and without hesitation, removes his buttoned shirt and places it over me. It was only then I noticed his scars. They looked like knife wounds tracing his torso and abs. He notices me staring and brushes a tear from my eye. "It's okay Brook. It happened a long time ago." His gaze is stuck on mine as my eyes become like watery glass, stuck on his green orbs, wondering how much he has endured in his life and if he has anyone to tell.
Eventually, I lean my head on his shoulders as he wraps his arms around me to watch the sun come out and greet us.

Present:
"What? What's wrong?" He asks, slightly annoyed that I haven't said anything in a few minutes and have sat here staring at the floor. "I told you my secret. Because I trust you and love you. And I don't want to pressure you but"
"But what?" He cuts me off. "But you're not being honest with me Colton! Sammy told me you were at the club last night and that you forgot your jacket there. You left at three in the morning. Why did you go to the club?" I asked, furiously that he could be annoyed at me when I should be the one angry at him.

He got up off the couch and began shouting "that's none of your damn business Brooklyn so leave it alone!" He came close to me, eyes black. When I turned away and said "screw you" he grabbed my arm and spun me around with a tight grip and red face. "It's none of your concern! You hear me?" His voice is full of frustration.
"Colton let go!" I yelled, tugging at his arm, unable to get free. "No, listen to me Brooklyn, it has nothing to do with you, so for your own safety, leave it!" His grip grew tighter as I tried to writher free. "You're hurting me" all but fell on deaf ears.

I began to shiver and shake and the words just escaped me, "please don't hit me Colton... you're scaring me" I begged. With that, he let my arm go and stepped back. His eyes were pleading with me, terrified of how I was looking at him in utter fear.

Colton realised my fear of him and stepped back with a stunned expression. "My god...Brooklyn, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry" he tried to step closer towards me, but I shivered and stepped back a few paces, hitting my back on the wall behind me. I broke out in sobs as flashes of Troy entered my mind. "Brook please. I'm sorry i-"
"please just stay away from me. I'm begging you Colton, please. Just leave" he looked shattered. "I really am sorry" he whispered, before walking out and shutting the door. I was left crying on the floor as the memories of Troy flooded my broken mind.

Coltons pov:
I can't believe I did that to her. I would never intentionally hurt her. I was just so angry that she asked about the club. I'd never cheat on her. But she can't know why I was there. If she found out what I was involved with, they'd hunt her down like a damn dog. But I should have hid my temper. I should never have scared her like that . God Brook, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry baby.