Dark Side - A Reed Deming Fan Fiction

Chapter 8

Reed sighs heavily and runs his fingers through his hair. "What do you want to know?"

I'm not entirely sure what I want to hear. I take the time to really think about how much I want to hear, and how much I can actually bear.

"Just.. Tell me everything." I say, my voice laced with uncertainty.

Reed proceeds to tell me everything that happened last night, from the moment he came back to the house to when I fell asleep in his arms. Tear tracks stain my cheeks and my eyes are certainly tinted red. I want nothing more than to let myself sink into Reed's embrace, let his arms wrap around me and protect me, but I know that would be wrong. I can't let myself do that. I can't break in front of him.

My shoulders shudder as more sobs wrack through my hunched body. I furiously wipe at my eyes with the backs of my hands as more salty tears fall down my cheeks.

Don't break

Don't break

Don't fucking break.

One part of me is screaming to keep it together, but the other is asking, "How can you will yourself not to break if you're already so broken?"

I jump as I feel a warm hand place itself on my bracelet-clad wrist. Memories of previous nights of both self-inflicted pain and abuse from various adults flash through my exhausted mind. I rip my scarred arm from Reed's grasp and clutch it to my aching chest. 

"Don't touch me!" I practically scream as I curl impossibly tighter into myself. I heard the grass ruffle as Reed steps back in shock. I rip all of the bracelets from my arm and watch as they fall onto the grass below me. I gaze down at the fading lines on my wrist through my blurry eyes and wish only to have a blade in my hand. I start to scratch madly at the faded red stripes in an attempt to feel something. 

Anything.

I hear an audible gasp as Reed realizes what I'm trying to do. He rushes to my side and grabs both of my wrists in one of his large hands. His other hand comes up to wipe the tears from under my burning eyes. His grip on my arms is tight but his hand on my cheeks is gentle. He stares into my eyes for a long time before training his gaze up to my wrists. A look of hurt flashes in his cool blue eyes before they dart back to my face.

"Kat, I know this must be hard for you to take in, but it's not like anything happened, right? I mean the guy didn't actually ra-" He stops briefly to correct himself. "He didn't actually get to assault you." 

I stare into his eyes for a moment before scoffing and laughing a dry, humorless laugh. Reed doesn't know about my real life. No one does. 

Reed gives me a questioning look before restating his question. "Right?"

I shake my head and debate on telling him the truth. Despite my fears and doubts, I decide to finally tell the secret I've been holding inside of me for the past 11 years.

A/N ***UNEDITED*** Shit chapter I know I'm sorry I just really don't feel like writing right now but I felt like you guys deserved a chapter at the very least. It's just a filler but big things are coming in the next chapter. All the love. x