freckles

* chapter forty six *

"Ettie's on Face Time!" Jimin shouted, Hoseok dropping the binder he was holding, and then froze.

'Why did I react so excitedly?' He frowned to himself as Taehyung ran past him, Hoseok picking up the binder. 'Just friends. We're good friends.'

It was true, they were good friends. Claudette texted Hoseok fairly often, asking him about his day to distract herself from the memories. She thinks he hasn't caught on, but he's known since day two. It's been five days since she woke up in the hospital, and everything was extremely sensitive.

The boys were constantly checking up on her, but no one really brought up the specifics of the incident. They were too scared. Knowing how sensitive she was and how she could potentially pass out if something spiked up, it wasn't worth the risk.

But Jimin instantly saw something strange with Claudette. She was wearing a huge sweater and her hair was pushed to the front of her face, covering the majority of her neck. Through the screen he could tell she was wearing sweatpants at least three sizes too big for her.

The first possible explanation was that these were just her comfortable clothes. But then he reminded himself that she wore tight sweatpants that bunched at the bottom. The ones she wore did not show her figure.

That, that is what it is.

She's not showing off her body.

Oh.

Oh no, Claudette...

"Hello my beautiful child friend." Hoseok made his greeting louder than the other's conversation, purposefully sitting on top of Yoongi so he was hidden from view.

"I don't know if I should be flattered you called me beautiful or insulted because you called me a child." Claudette laughed softly, pulling out her sweatshirt, making sure you couldn't see any sign of what she looked like beneath the clothing.

Claudette slowly walked to the mirror, the mirror at least six feet tall as it leaned against the wall. She took a shaky breath, running her hands down her thighs, smoothing out the ripped skinny jeans she wore.

Claudette turned to the side, staring at her ass, following the curve of it. She swallowed hard and faced forward again. She wore a fairly tight fitting shirt as well, showing off her boobs and small waist. Her hands ran from beneath her armpit to the top of her waist, feeling the curve.

Feeling her curves.

'That's why they did it.' She realized, eyes on her small form, a pretty form. 'They wanted my body. The, the man said I was his, he said 'mine.' But, but this is my body, right? This is my body it has to be. It's,'

Claudette coughed, doubling over slightly as she felt his fingers down her throat, the man behind her pulling her leg up, grabbing things she did not want touched.

'It's not my body.' The sight of her body in the mirror blurred while the tears rose. Claudette backed away from the mirror, covering her face in horror. 'It's not mine.'

With a cry, she ran to her drawers, throwing her clothes out until she found the pair of sweatpants, the sweater.

And she kept those clothes out,

most of them.

She threw out her skirts, the four that she owned. She hasn't even touched the suitcases in the corner of her room, knowing the clothes she and Hoseok were too confident for what she feels now.

Claudette had fallen to the ground after changing so quickly. Sobs shook her body so aggressively, Eliot thought she was dying.

The poor tiny dog was a crying mess, begging his new friend to help his mom. Do anything to make her feel better.

Layla, the German Shepherd, watched as Claudette rocked herself while she sobbed, rambling incoherent words. Something sparked inside of Layla and she recognized what was happening. Her past owner would have panic attacks and ptsd flashbacks as well.

And she knew what to do.

Layla padded over to her new owner, pushing her head under Claudette's tense arm.

"No." Claudette whimpered, pushing Layla's head away gently. "Go away."

But Layla was stubborn. She knew what needed to be done. Layla didn't know what it was, but after seeing this girl on the ground in that alley, the life beat out of her, a strong protectiveness burned inside of her.

So she wasn't going to let her new owner suffer when she knew how to help.

After two more times of trying, Claudette finally hugged Layla, the dog laying her head on Claudette's shoulder as she let her cry into her.

Eliot let out a sob and ran over, jumping into Claudette's lap, whining until she picked him up, Layla sitting in hugging range of Claudette.

"Everyone," Claudette motioned for someone off camera, "This is Layla."

All of the boys immediately awhed once the German Shepherd entered the frame, licking Claudette's face lovingly.

"She's beautiful." Taehyung breathed, eyes wide. "Is she a pure breed?"

"She is." Claudette kissed Layla's head, Layla closing her eyes once she did so. "She was also in the military. So somehow, I have a military friend." Claudette held up the dog tags that hung around Layla's neck. "Her owner died and his family was gone, so she was in the streets. She , she saved my life that night." Claudette's pets slowly slowed down, thinking back to the previous night. "I owe her a healthy and happy home."

"Two dogs, huh?" Namjoon changed the topic, knowing she didn't want to talk about what happened, and they certainly weren't going to force her. "How is it going?"

"Their food?" Yoongi piped up, knowing she was fairly short on money.

"Yeah, I don't have a lot of money so I only eat lunch now so I can buy stuff for them." Claudette nodded, rubbing Layla's back.

"Jungkook."

"I know."

The maknae instantly pulled up his phone, creating a list of things they needed to send to Claudette. So to distract her, the members tried to tell her she needed to eat, she responded with the 'I'm not hungry' or, 'they need it more.'

Jungkook then searched for food deliveries in Paris, knowing her address already because the two had promised to send each other letters, loving the idea of pen pals. He typed in his credit card, selected the meals that looked good and also pressed the one week option.

Little by little.

This would be a healing process.

it is currently midnight and i still need to shower, but i knew this was a higher priority so here you go!

please don't tell me to focus on myself, i know what im doing

besides, you guys bring me so much happiness, this is my form of thank you and a please don't leave me

smile up at the stars for me

(ps. for .. ideas, would you say claud is a bottom or a switch?)