Battered

Chapter 51

"Really?" I match Cheryl's smile with one of my own.

She nods bashfully and chews at her bottom lip. Her eyes meet mine again and for a second, I think that she's going to lean in and kiss me. She doesn't though; just nervously clears her throat and looks off to the side, falling silent for a few minutes while she collects her thoughts.

Cheryl opens her mouth to speak but can't seem to find the words and shakes her head in frustration before trying again.

"It's ok" I reach out to place a hand on her knee, "Take your time."

"I've never been very good at opening up to people" she eventually says, "and I got so used to locking my thoughts and feelings away from everyone that the idea of actually letting someone in terrified me."

Exhaling a shaky breath, Cheryl opens the diary and starts turning the pages, "I've never let anyone read this before, but I'm ready now." she comes to a stop on a particular page and quickly skims through it before placing the open diary in my lap.

"Are you sure?" I ask, looking her in the eye.

Cheryl nods her head and when I'm sure that she really means it, I start reading.

Woke up in the hospital; no prizes for guessing who put me here. This time he left me with a broken arm and internal bleeding. My head's pretty banged up too. Everything's still a little fuzzy but they tell me I was out for quite a while so that's normal. God, I hate hospitals. Kimberley was here when I woke up though. She was fast asleep in the armchair by my bed and later on, one of the nurses told me that she hasn't left my side since it happened. That's probably the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me and I'm so grateful that she was here. I don't think she'll ever know how much it means to me that I wasn't alone.

A tightness forms in my chest as I remember watching over an unconscious Cheryl lying in that hospital bed and not knowing when she was going to wake up. I haven't thought about that day in a long time and don't even realise that I'm crying until Cheryl takes the diary from my hands and quickly closes it.

"I'm sorry" she says quietly, hesitating slightly before putting an arm around my shoulders, "I didn't mean to upset you."

Turning into the contact, I slide my arm around Cheryl's waist and bury my face in the crook of her neck. Her other arm wraps around my back and we stay like that for the next few minutes, just quietly holding each other.

"Are you ok babe?" Cheryl asks; voice full of concern as her fingers play with the ends of my hair.

I nod against her shoulder, trying to hide my embarrassment at getting so emotional over a diary. Cheryl moves back to look at me and gently takes my face in her hands, brushing her thumbs over my cheeks to wipe my tears away.

"Maybe that wasn't the best place for you to start reading." she says apologetically, "It's not all doom and gloom in there though, I promise. It actually gets a lot happier from that point on." she says with a knowing wink.

This makes me laugh and Cheryl smiles back at me, reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Her brown eyes search mine and sensing that I'm not going to put up any resistance, Cheryl leans in to place a tender kiss on my cheek.

When I don't pull away, she smiles and does it again; a little closer to my mouth this time, the contact lasting slightly longer.

"Can I kiss you?" she breathes, one of her hands finding its way into my hair as her lips slowly trail down my neck.

"You're already kissing me." I laugh quietly.

She shakes her head, "Nah, I mean properly."

Smiling, I quickly nod my consent and close my eyes when I feel Cheryl's lips brush lightly against my own. The hand in my hair pulls me closer to her and she bites down softly on my bottom lip before deepening the kiss.

"I love you so much" Cheryl says when we part for air, both slightly out of breath.

"I love you too" I tell her, unable to resist placing one last kiss on her lips, "Come home with me?"

Cheryl pauses and looks back at me, uncertain, "Are you sure?" she asks.

Another kiss, "Positive"

*********************************************

It doesn't take long for Cheryl to pack up her belongings and after saying goodbye to the other girls at the shelter we load her things into the car and drive home.

Pulling into the driveway, I park the car and we go into the house. Cheryl puts her suitcase down in the hallway and lets out a quiet sigh as she takes in her surroundings.

"You ok babe?" I ask, coming up behind her and placing a hand on her back.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she turns around to face me, a smile on her face, "Just glad to be home."

"I'm glad you're home too." I smile back at her before pulling her into my arms and pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her head, "Why don't you go and unpack while I make a start on dinner."

Cheryl's stomach growls loudly at the mention of food and she takes a step back to place a self-conscious hand over her tummy, cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment, "Sounds like a good idea" she chuckles nervously.

"Do you want me to give you a hand with that?" I ask, motioning towards her suitcase.

Cheryl shakes her head, "Nah, I'll manage." she says, taking hold of the handles and starting to drag it up the stairs.

Leaving her to it, I walk towards the kitchen but the sound of Cheryl's voice stops me after just a few paces.

"Kimba?"

"Yeah?" I turn to look at her.

"This is going to sound stupid..." she starts, not meeting my gaze, "but...where shall I put my things?"

"In the wardrobe" I laugh, not understanding what she's getting at.

"No" she sighs, "I mean in which room?"

"Oh" I wasn't expecting that, "Well...where do you want to put them?"

The shy smile I get in return answers my question and I climb the stairs to where Cheryl is stood, cupping her face in my hands and kissing her on the nose, "You silly cow" I say affectionately, taking hold of one of the suitcase handles, "Come on, let's take this upstairs."