Keep Me Together

Seth slowed to a walk when he reached the beach. He didn’t think. He cursed loudly and kicked the sand with all his force; making it twirl up in a small sandstorm. He was shaking, and angry tears threatened to run down his cheeks.

He wanted to go back there, he needed to go back there, and rip his head off. He needed to make sure the bastard couldn’t see the start of another day, but most off all not be able to lay a hand on any girl. Maybe he could just rip his arms off.

“Seth!” Elenia said just as she crashed against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.
Seth froze for a second before he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Elenia started sobbing as she dug her fingers into his back, terrified that he would disappear if she let go.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said between sobs.
Seth smiled as he buried his face in her hair and let a tears escape his eyes; tears of happiness.
Elenia breathed him in. “I really can’t believe you are here,” she repeated and took a dizzy step backwards and gazed up at his face. “I must be dreaming.”

He didn’t hesitate as he put his hands on each side of her face and pulled her lips to his in a rough, passion filled kiss. Elenia was filled with a peace. The pain was all forgotten as Seth moved his right hand to her lower back and pulled her body closer to his.

He rested his forehead against hers when they needed air. He stared into her gleaming eyes.
“I’m right here, Leni,” he said and grinned before he kissed her again, quicker this time.

Elenia was overwhelmed with feelings; she couldn’t utter a word as she stood and let him kiss her. It was enough to feel his warm lips against her frozen ones. Her heart was beating away, her breath ragged and her cheeks were covered with her tear smeared makeup.

Her lips were quivering as she spoke. “I missed you so much,” she said in a whisper. “I am so sorry for everything I did, for having sex with someone else, for telling you and for acting like a brat. It should have been you, showing me what real love and sex is.”

“Shh,” he said and wiped away her tears. “It was wrong of me to get angry at you before you could explain. I was so scared that you would stop loving me; that Austin could love you better than me. I’m sorry for leaving; especially for so long, I’ve just been scared.”
“Do you hate Austin?” she asked him.

“How could I after he has looked after your for over five months?” he wondered. “No, I don’t hate anyone but myself.”
“Don’t,” she said to him and rested her head against his chest. “We both made mistakes.”

“Dance with me,” he said and took a hold of her hands.
“What?” she stuttered, “I can’t dance, Seth.”
“It’s your prom and you haven’t even dances yet,” he smiled down at her.
Elenia blushed under his stare. “We don’t have music.”
“Who cares, I want to dance with you,” he kissed her forehead.

They danced slowly back and forth. But Seth hadn’t put the fact that both of them were lousy dancers into his calculations. Before two minutes had passed they were stumbling in each other’s feet. Elenia fell backwards; Seth fell after her but managed to land on his palms, and didn’t crush Elenia with all his weight.

“Did you get hurt?” Seth asked her, but didn’t make any movements to get up.
Elenia shook her head, captivated by the closeness of his body and face; she could feel his hot breath on her face and closed her eyes. She lifted her head and pressed her lips against his. It was a longing kiss.

She smiled up at him after she let her head fell down in the wet sand again. “I missed you,” her words held another meaning; she hoped he knew it.
“I missed you too, Leni,” he said sincerely and pulled her up from the sand. “Your dress is ruined, your hair is filled with sand,” he told her and gazed at the back of the dress.

Elenia shrugged. “I don’t care about the dress.”
“You are getting cold,” he said.
“The only thing I can feel is my hammering heart,” she confessed.
Seth put his around his shoulder. “Let’s go to my place.”

Elenia couldn’t help but feel nervous at what would happen. But she was sure on many things; she loved Seth with all her heart, she would never let him leave again and she would do something she hadn’t been able to go through with before, but she could now with his support.

She felt a tug at her heart when they entered the familiar apartment. After Seth decided to come home Leah had cleaned the whole apartment; it had been pretty dusty.

“Go take a shower,” he said kindly. “I’ll find something you can change into.”
Elenia disappeared into the bathroom and Seth went to his dresser and found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Elenia opened the bathroom door again. “I need help with the zipper,” her voice was slightly embarrassed.
Seth chuckled but walked over till her and pulled the zipper down. Goosebumps formed on Elenia’s back and arms when his warm skin touched her colder back.

Seth moved her soft hair over her left shoulder before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her neck. A shudder went through Elenia body and she leaned herself limply against his chest.
“You’re making me weak at my knees,” she mumbled before she turned around to face him. She pulled his face down to hers and kissed the corner of his mouth before she kissed down his jaw line and neck.

She stopped when she reached the t-shirt he was wearing. She tentatively lifted it up his chest, frightened that he’d stop her. A silent sigh of relief escaped her lips when he helped pulling it all the way off. It was Seth’s turn to shudder under her touch as she roamed his chest, feeling his well defined muscles and arms.

Seth found it hard to find the strength he needed to stop her. “You have to stop now,” he said in a weak voice before he quickly continued. “Not because I don’t want you – god you wouldn’t believe how good it feels – but because you need a shower; you’re freezing.”

His words flew straight off her.
“I’m only freezing because you’re so hot,” she said with closed eyes.
Seth lifted his hands and pushed her away.
“Shower first,” he said sternly.
Elenia pouted at him.
He laughed and kissed her pout quickly. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”
“Promise?” she asked him.
“I promise,” he said and handed her the clothes before he practically had to push her back into the bathroom.

Elenia got time to think, when she stood in the shower. She knew they needed to talk before they did anything else – it was a hard decision to make. Seth had prepared a meal for them and grinned at Elenia when she came back into the kitchen/living room.

“Seth, we need to talk,” she said seriously with furrowed brows.
Seth’s face fell. “Yeah, I guess we do.”
He sat down at the couch and patted the space beside him. Elenia sat down and snuggled into his side.

“Are you back? I mean like for good, or are you just visiting?” she asked him.
“I’m here for as long as you want me,” He informed her.
“I’ll always want you,” she whispered.
Seth smiled. “Then I’ll never leave your side.”

“Do you love me?” Elenia asked him.
Seth nodded. “Always have, always will. Even when I was far away, I loved you. When I was at my worst, I loved you.”
“Do you believe me when I tell you I love you too?”
“Yeah, forever and always, right?” he kissed the side of her head.

She nodded before her face turned even more serious. “I have to- I need to talk to a psychologist or something,” she said clearly. “I need help to get over what he did to me and I need help to learn how I can bear the sorrow I’ve been carrying since Olivia died. But I can only do it if you’ll stay and keep me together.”
“I’ll support you through it all, Leni,” He told her with sad but promising eyes.

“Marry me,” she blurted out.