Breaking the Rules - COMPLETED

7: breaking and caring

•You weren't put on this earth to simply break even. You're here to break the rules, break records and break through.•

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Rule no. 7: Never break in front of other people.

Keytlin~

I feel like I am sitting on the ground for hours when suddenly Nate's face appears in front of my sight. He raises his hand and I flinch away, afraid that he might slap me, too. In that moment I realize that Chris did much more damage than I thought he did. Tears sting the back of my eyes but I refuse to let them escape. I refuse to be weak in front of other people, let alone in front of Nate.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you Keytlin, okay?", his voice is soft, barely a whisper.

Just because of the softness of his voice I nod. I don't know Nate and I don't know whether the rumors about him are true but what I know is that he would never hurt a girl. Or at least I believe so.

"Good. I'm going to touch your cheek now, okay? Just to make sure that it's okay."

I nod again, too shocked, too exhausted to say anything else. His fingertips brush against my cheekbone and I wince from the sudden pain that shoots through my body. Nate quickly pulls his hand away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay. Is it", I pause, "is it going to bruise?"

If it's going to bruise and my mom finds out she will never let me leave the house again. She would never leave me alone until I tell her what happened.

"Can ... can I?", Nate asks hesitant. I nod again and his fingers brush my face so lightly that I thought I've imagined it. But then his touch increases. It's uncomfortable but not as painful as before. I close my eyes and concentrate on his touch which is surprisingly calming.

After a while he cups my cheek and caresses my cheekbone with his thumb and I only realize that I'm crying when a sob escapes my lips. I bite down on my lower lip to stop me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't cry."

"It's okay", he whispers sadly, like my pain would hurt him too. I open my eyes, wanting to see his expression, wanting to know if I've just imagined the sadness in his tone but before I can look at him he pulls me into an embrace.

Too shocked to process what is happening I tense but after a while my arms find a way around him like they have a life by their own and I start to cry. I don't know what got into me. Normally I hate crying in front of other people. Not only is it one of my rules but I feel awkward and other people think that I only want attention. But I don't care that my rule is broken. I don't care that Nate sees me crying. I simply don't care anymore. I just want to let everything out. I held it in for to long, letting it destroy me, break me from the inside.

Nate tightens his grip around me and although I would've never let him do this in every other situation I let him consume me this time.

"Why did he do that? I've never did anything wrong. I've always supported him and I got nothing back. I always get shit", I sob into his shirt. I'm pretty sure I soaked his shirt with my tears by now but instead of letting go of me tightens his arms around me even more to the point where I can barely breathe. But I don't care.

His embrace is so tight that it feels like every broken piece inside of me gets put together again.

"It's okay. He will never bother you again, I'll make sure of it."

What he says frightens me. What is he going to do to him? As much as I hate Chris, I don't want him to get hurt. I shouldn't care. It shouldn't bother me. And I hate myself for caring. I hate that it bothers me, but I can't help it. It's my stupid personality.