Actions Speak Louder

Bruises

AN: TW for mentions of sexual assault (nothing actually happens though)

Paul had been home working on his statistical analysis for a couple hours, waiting for Emma to get home. He had had a long day at work and wanted nothing more than to cuddle up with Emma on the couch, order a pizza, and fall asleep watching TV. Days where Emma had to work the closing shift at Beanies after class were hard on both of them, but they both knew they got to end the day with each other. That's why Paul's heart soared when he heard someone knocking on the door.

He opened it up, fully prepared for Emma to jump into his arms, but what he saw instead was Emma, looking even smaller than usual, covered in bruises which were covered in dirt, with a small trail of blood trickling down her leg, and walking with the biggest limp he had ever seen from her. She had a black eye and looked defeated, but not weak.

"Oh my god, Em, what happened?"

"Got in a fight with a pervert." As she talked, Paul slowly helped her inside. She grimaced with every step, but didn't let that stop her. "He got mad when I wouldn't go on a date with him. Guess he followed me home and grabbed me in that alley. So I beat him up and then he tried to beat me up. I won." She smiled a little, clearly somewhat proud of herself, which Paul reciprocated to appease her, but he displayed a face much more full of concern.

He moved his hand from her shoulder to her back to help guide her into the bedroom, and was greeted with a wet mixture of dirty water and blood.

"Why are you bleeding?" Paul frantically asked, again noticing the blood on her thigh.

"Fell on the pavement. I fell on my butt and it got my thigh but then the dude kicked me and it rubbed my back."

"Okay, let's clean that up first, yeah?" Paul and Emma made the trek to the bedroom, Emma beginning to grunt slightly with every step. Paul let go for a split second to make sure the blanket covered the entire bed so he could clean it and immediately returned to Emma. 

"Okay, Em, let's get you out of these bloody clothes." 

"You're a little eager there Matthews, huh?"

"Emma, you're bleeding."

"Right."

Paul began to peel Emma's shirt off her back, but when it came time for her to lift her arms, he was stopped by a sharp intake of breath followed by several slightly unintelligible sounds of pain.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'll be as gentle as I can." Eventually, they managed to get Emma in her underwear onto her stomach on the bed. While she was settling in the blanket, Paul took the time to really examine the damage, and he was completely baffled by what he saw.

"Emmy, your back is covered in bruises. How badly did he hurt you?"

"We're not talking about it."

"I'm gonna get a washcloth and some band-aids, okay?"

Paul pretty much worshiped Emma. She was his favorite person in the entire world. If she was happy, he was happy. Not to mention she was the prettiest, smartest, wittiest person he had ever met. She truly deserved all the good in the world. "Who would do this to you?" He didn't understand how anyone could hurt her. He would hate himself forever if he so much as upset her.

When Paul returned, Emma was trying to steady her breathing, and he wanted more than anything to make her feel better. He wanted to take away her pain. He had been infected for her and he would gladly transfer her bruises onto himself had there been a way.

"Hey. You doing okay?"

"I guess."

Paul didn't want to push her, but suspected there was more to her feelings than what she was letting on. Emma argued with customers all the time, but she had never gotten in a physical fight with them before. Paul had never seen Emma fight anyone before, despite how angry she tended to be. She may have throw a few punches, but those never affected her the way this was.