Yours, Forever

e i g h t e e n

"Maddie told me that you've been terrorizing your employees."

The room was dark with the only light source coming from the lamp besides the bed, overall creating a calming ambience. Xavier gently brushed a lock of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

After both having a glass of wine, they had moved to her bed where they were now laying face to face— their conversation and touches coming naturally. Despite only having a glass, her face was already flushed.

Xavier scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Xavier sank further into the comfortable bed with defeat under her scrutinizing stare.

"It's because all I could think about was you," he muttered.

Her eyes softened at his confession. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things to you on Saturday."

"I know."

She took a deep breath, her mind making the mental decision to tell him everything. She felt comfortable enough with him to finally reveal her vulnerabilities.

"I guess I should start from the beginning."

"You don't have to," he responded gently, knowing that this wasn't easy for her.

She felt grateful towards him—thankful that he was so caring and understanding. He had been so patient with her, never pushing her to share anything she didn't feel comfortable with. That was why she felt the urge to lower her defenses.

"I want to."

And thus, she began her story, with Xavier listening intently.

"Growing up, I was always so critical about myself— hell, I still am. I always felt like I was never good enough compared to others around me, especially in high school. And high school was just a complete nightmare. To this day, I still never understood why I was bullied back then.

"Maybe it was because I was the complete opposite of Connor. He was athletic and popular, while I was shy and liked to keep to myself. And it didn't help that I didn't even try to defend myself—I was never any good at confrontation."

Xavier chuckled softly at the last part causing Aurora to give him the stink eye. She reached over and pinched his arm, which did not even cause him any discomfort, much to her dismay. He took her hand in his and gently held it in his. "You're still not very good at it, love."

"I know," Aurora rolled her eyes playfully. "After Connor left for college, it got even worse because he wasn't there to protect me. They would call me horrible names and continue to mentally beat me down. And one day, they began to harass me physically. But by the time a teacher came heard my screams it was too late. They had already broken me."

She watched as Xavier's jaw clench and brought her hand up to cup his jaw. She traced over his jaw, urging him to loosen up. "It was a long time ago, so I'm okay now. But I guess at that time I wasn't. I felt like I was stuck in a never ending cycle of self hate. I was going through therapy for my anxiety and depression, but nothing was working.

"It wasn't until I met Maddie that I started to get better. She helped me realize that I'm not alone in this world and I was able to learn to trust again because of her. I don't think I would be here today if it wasn't for her. I guess in a way she saved me, which is why my parents adore her so much. She basically brought their little girl back to them."

She paused for a brief second to take a deep breath. Saying all this out loud wasn't easy for her. There were years of bad memories that she kept tucked away in the back of her brain, but she knew that saying it out loud, especially to someone she cared so deeply about, was helping her heal.