Silence

{10} Rest

{Aspen's POV}

(TW Mentions of abuse and r*pe)

Caspian stops in his tracks and turns to look at me. We make eye contact and he moves to sit back down. Instead of sitting beside me, he sits across from me, where Opal previously sat. We make eye contact again and I realize I should probably start to talk.

I cant seem to find the words. We've been sitting here in silence for a few minutes now. I realize I picked the most intimidating brother to have this conversation with. Maybe it's not too late to go find Ambrose. 

"Actually, nevermind." I get up from the couch but before I can get far, Caspian grabs hold of my wrist. 

"Sit." He demands.

I reluctantly move back to the couch and sit down. I deeply regret my decision to talk to him at this point. I cant believe I put myself in this position.

"Tell me what's going on. First this morning you tried to tell me something and now again. What's wrong Aspen?" Caspian asks.

"I- I..." His intense stare causes me to stutter. Can he not relax just for a minute? I haven't even thought this through. Should I tell the truth about stepfather? What other excuse could I make?

"I cant help you if you don't tell me what the problem is." Caspian says in a softer tone than usual.

"I'm injured." I hesitantly say while looking at him in the eye. His jaw clenches and his eyes seem to darken. Is he showing... emotion? This is scary.

"Where?" He asks calmly.

I reluctantly pull up my pant leg and gently remove the bandage. The cut is swollen and red. Blood drips down my leg and other substances are around it, I assume caused by infection. I stare down at the nasty cut, too afraid to see Caspian's reaction. 

I hear movement which causes me to look up. Caspian moves from his seat and sits beside me. He gently grabs my leg and pulls it onto his lap. He seems to be inspecting the cut. After a few seconds, he looks up and we make eye contact. I cant read him or see what he might be feeling. Not going to lie, it scares the crap out of me.

"What happened Aspen?" He asks softly.

"I umm..-" Before I can tell him, I'm cut off.

"What the F*ck!" 

Caspian and I snap our heads to the sudden noise. We see a fuming Sorin and shocked Kohen standing in the entryway of the living room. 

"Out. Now." Caspian demands.

"No! What the f*ck is that?!" Sorin shouts coming further into the living room. Kohen follows, staying beside him.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Caspian says in a deadly tone. It would make anyone wet their pants if directed towards them, thankfully it's not to me.

Sorin mumbles something under his breath before storming out. Kohen takes one last look at my leg and reluctantly leaves. Caspian takes a deep breath and turns back to me with a soft expression. How can he compose himself so fast?

"What happened?" He asks scarily calm.

"Erm.. I cut it on glass." I answer him semi-truthfully.

"And how exactly did that happen?" 

I open my mouth to answer, but he quickly cuts me off.

"Do not lie to me." He says sternly. Man this guy just knows everything doesn't he? I take a deep breath, carefully thinking about my answer.