Beyond Denver

Chapter 61

Laying in Denver's bed with him, my head rests between a soft pillow and his bare chest. His skin is so warm against over my dress.

A sense of safety is all I need.

I turn around to face him. "Are you hurt?" He asks me, his dark eyes boring into mine. The only light, it is the one coming from a small purple lamp plugged on the outlet. It helps me calm me down. 

"I'm sore, but not hurt."

The wind coming through the half-open window blows my hair over to my face. Denver moves it away gently, kissing the side of my neck.

I want to tell him everything he needs to know, and yet I can't.

"I love you," he whispers.

My heart races with his.

I remember when Amaya and Luna warned me about walking alone in the middle of the night. I remember my mother telling she'd read the news about a pervert man strangulating and raping girls in Madison.

Whatever happened to me tonight, it did because of my stupid choices.

How can someone hurt others without feeling sorry for?

"I know you won't be able to forget what happened today."

"It isn't for what happened today. It is for whatever happened before." I finally tell him.

Denver moves closer, holding me tight around his arms. I can sense his warm skin. Warm like a fire. "You tell me when you're ready," his voice is low and soft.

"You asked me about the boy."

"The boy from your past? What about him? Did he hurt you?" his expression is concerned.

"No." My eyes burn. "I think he loved me."

"I'm sure he did." a smile escapes from Denver's lips, "How come not to love you? I wouldn't be surprised if Maroney calls you tomorrow or next week to say  the same thing."

I smile back. Maroney. What happened to him by the way? I haven't heard from anything since he left the frat party.

"Everything started the day my mother left one summer I was almost sixteen. I'd spent weeks wondering whether she had left because of me. When I was a kid, she used to tell me that one day she would turn into a bird. I wondered back then if she would get wings and fly into the sky. Later, I found out it was a metaphor. She wanted to disappear into the world. "

Denver listens as I continue," A part of me believed my mother wasn't born to have kids, but to be free. My mother was like that. She'd go anywhere. Any time. She was unstoppable. Now she wants to make up for the lost time. "

"You're not alone. My mother did similar things to me. She's always been closer to Kayla. I can still remember the nights alone in my bedroom, gazing at the fake stars stamped on the ceiling. In the darkness of my bedroom, they looked as real as the ones in the sky. "

I look up at him," Sometimes I feared seeing a ghost in the corner of my bedroom. I covered myself with my blanket, hiding my face for hours, unable to sleep. My heart still pound when I think about that. So, it turned out it wasn't a ghost. It took me a while to realize that," I say, moving my legs on the top of his.

It feels good to be wrapped with Denver.

"So, I was practically raised by another family. My dad was an workaholic and my mother absent most of the days. When she was gone that day in the summer, maybe, I had a little bit of my father, but it didn't last long, you know? After all, dad needed to work, right? His work didn't stop, and neither his many nights away from home. "