Breathe Me

"Aunt Sophie! Can I have a snowflake?"

I dipped my paintbrush in the colourful water to clean it off, unscrewing the lid to the light blue paint. Mario had asked me if I wanted to help at the Penguins charity event, which was a little winter carnival. Of course I agreed, especially when Vero suggested we have a face painting stand for all of the little kids. She had been excited with her idea, and Mario had been even more excited when he learned I was a professional artist. He had instantly started asking me about interior decorating, and if I do photography also. In the end Mario ended up asking if I could decorate his son's bedroom, and paint his walls.

How could anyone say no to Mario Lemiuex?

I smile at Maeva and Carol, who's holding $3 out to Vero, the 'banker' as she had put it.

"Of course Maeva, which cheek do you want it on?"

"Left!" She giggled pointing to her left cheek.

I nodded, and dunked my sponge in the water before smearing it in the turquoise paint, and pressing it to her cheek. She giggled when the cold paint touched her face, and I had to remind her not to move too much. Carol watched me closely as I dipped my paintbrush into the white paint, before going to work on the actual snowflake. For some reason it didn't bother me that someone was staring at me while I painted; which is weird because I would usually get really annoyed.

"What colour glitter do you want?" I asked, pushing the little containers of glitter up to the front of the table so she could see them better. Her eyes immediately went to the gold glitter, and she pointed at it.

"Do you need new water, Sophia?" Vero asked, noticing the now dark, murky water when I dipped the paintbrush into the bowl.

"Yeah, and the sponges need to be washed also."

She nods her head, "KRISTOPHER! MAX!" I cringe when she screams, and I'm instantaneously smiling when I see Kris and Max walking over to the table. Vero holds out the bowl of water and the paintbrushes to the two grown men.

"Can you go wash these for Sophia?" She asks politely.

Max scoffs, "Why don't you do it?"

"I'm in charge of the money you jerk."

"Yeah, well Max Talbot is signing autographs."

I bust out laughing, "You did not just talk about yourself in third person."

He grins, "Oh but I did mon cheri." He wiggles his eyebrows, grabbing the bowl of water, and handing the sponges to Kris, who gives me a charming smile, my heart immediately melts, and I grin back at him. Ever since the night we had kissed, we had been extremely close. He had continued to take me on several dates, and he definitely wasn't shy about kissing me in public. I had gotten used to everyone's playful comments about us, especially from Pascal and Jordan. It no longer bothered me, and most of the guys on the team had gotten used to Kris and I together.

A mother walked up to me, holding a little girl's hand. She was extremely pale and a black beanie covered her bald head. She looked to be about 3 or 4 and she timidly hid behind her mother's leg. Max and Kris both came back just a few seconds later, and set all of the supplies on the table. Max noticed the sick little girl, and immediately smiled at her.

"Do you know what your going to get painted on your face?" He asked, crouching down to her level. She blushed, and shook her head.

"Sorry, she's very shy." The mom spoke softly, giving Max a smile.

"Do you want a flower? You can choose any colour you want" I nudged all of the different paints up to the front, and she finally let go of her mom's leg, apprehensively stepping up to the table to look at all of the pretty colours.

"Can you do a sunflowa?" She inquires pointing at the orange-yellow paint.

"Of course I can. Do you want it on your right or left cheek?" She swished her mouth to the side, before looking up at Max who was watching the scene with a smile on his face.

"Girl, you should totally get it on your right cheek. Then we can match!" He grinned and pointed at his right cheek where there was a red kiss mark that he had begged me to paint on, and then proceeded to give me $20 for a $2 painting.

She nodded her head, and turned in the chair so her right side was facing me. I went to work on the painting, and tried not to blush when Kris sat next to me. I glanced at him when I dipped the paintbrush into the now clean water. He tries not to yawn, but I can tell he's tired. All of us had been up since 6 in the morning, preparing for the Carnival and setting up all of the tables. All of the guys had their own little groups, with their own little table set up, each one with a different activity. A lot of the WAGs had also gotten involved, even Oksana who was helping Geno sell homemade Pierogies that his mom had made.

"Awe you a weal awtist?" The little girl asked me quietly.

"Yup, I've been painting since I was your age." I giggle when she grins.

"You go to paint school?" She questions, turning her body around when I finish up.

I nod, "Yep, graduated last year."

"That's so cool!" She squeals, "Whats your name? My name is Naomi"

"That's a really pretty name, I'm Sophia. This goofball is Max, and this is Kris." I say gesturing to each of them. Her brown eyes sparkle when she glances at both of them, and she giggles when both Max and Kris giver her a gentle high five.

I smile at her, "Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be doctor so I can make sick people feel betta. Wike me!"

Max spoke up, "Hey Naomi, what's your favourite animal?"

She put her finger to her chin, thinking about the question. "I wike giwaffes"

Max's mouth dropped open, "Oh! I have a friend who looks like a giraffe, his name is Jordan. Do you want to meet him? You can feed him carrots and lettuce like a giraffe"

She mimicked him and slapped her little hands to her cheeks, her mouth dropping open. Max grabbed her little hand, and walked away with Naomi and her mother.

I look over at Kris with an amused look on my face, he simply shrugs and I see the corners of his mouth lifting up.

"Apparently Gronk is now a giraffe." He snickers.

"Now that I think about it, I can kind of see the resemblance" I smirk

He laughs, "Hey, do you want to come to my place after the Carnival is over? I can order a pizza for us if you want."

"That sounds so good right about now. I have to go to the store with Pascal first though. I promised I would help Kody make cupcakes for his class, and Pascal has no idea what the ingredients are."

He yawns, and nods his head, "Sounds good. I need to take a shower anyways. TK nearly spilled 4 cups of lemonade on me."

I laughed. That sounds like something Tyler Kennedy would do.
****
"Alright, how about we go separate ways so we can get everything faster?" Pascal asked as we entered the grocery store. I nodded and handed him the piece of paper that had all of the ingredients on it. I giggled when he saluted to me, and ran off in the opposite direction. I sigh and push the cart down pastry aisle. I shake my head and politely decline when one of the employees asks me if I need help with anything. My feet were aching and I was thankful I had traded my high heel boots in for a pair of moccasins.

"Well I'll be damned. If it isn't my lovely stepdaughter."

I freeze at the voice, laced with a cold french accent that sounded so familiar. I quickly turn around to see the man I despised more than anything in the world. What was he doing here in Pittsburgh?

My heart is pounding, and I take a few steps backwards when he walks to me. I whip around, forgetting about the groceries, and I make a dash for the exit, running as fast as my feet will allow me to, Ryan following close behind. It's almost like one of those chases you see on Animal Planet, where the lion is chasing after the poor gazelle. It's almost worthless, because the lion almost always wins. My lungs are burning, and he easily catches up to me when I nearly fall on the icy sidewalk. It was snowing pretty hard for January, and if I hadn't just ran as fast as I did for the last 15 minutes, I probably would have been shivering from the cold.

"You stupid little cunt!"

The familiar feeling of his cold and slimy arms wrapping around my body hits me like a wave of terror. I shriek when he slams me to the ground, my head making contact with the concrete. I kick and scream like a little kid who's just been told he can't go to Disneyland. He abruptly picks me up again, and shoves his dirty hands in my hair, yanking it as hard as he can so I'm face to face with him. He knees me in the stomach, and I'm even more breathless. His fist clashes with my eye, and if he hadn't been gripping onto my hair I would have fallen to the ground. He gathers me up once again, and drops me onto the ground ignoring my loud cries when I collide face first onto the ice covered cement, I try to get up, but his body is suddenly on top of mine. He grabs my arm, and harshly twists it around. I let out a breathless sob, the only noise I can make.

Or so I think.

The sickening crack I hear makes me sick to my stomach, and I let out a blood curdling scream. My arm feels like it has just been torn from shoulder and set on fire. I thrash around, and I manage to turn around, so I'm lying face up.

"What, are you going to cry little girl? Just like you always do." He laughs bitterly.

"Fuck you!" I grunt and manage to hit him in the groin. He rolls over onto the ground, moaning in pain and holding the sensitive spot.

"Now look who's crying!"

I sneer when he finally stands up, he doesn't even look at me as he hobbles in the opposite direction. I collapse to the ground when he's finally out of my sight. I don't cry, instead I pull out my iphone and call the one person who I absolutely want to be with right now.

"Hello?"

I'm relieved when I hear his voice and I instantly break down, "Kris, can you come get me?" I sob out, suddenly feeling scared and alone.

"Sophia, where are you?" His voice is alert and he sounds worried.

"I don't know, I think I'm near the park, but I- I don't know. I'm scared." It starts to snow heavily, and my head slumps to the ground.

"Just stay there Sophia. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

I nod my head, and hang up. I lay there feeling completely numb from the inside out. I attempt to get up, but my body screams in protest, so I give up and stay pressed to the cement pathetically. A blanket of snow starts to cover my body, and I doze off.

"Oh my god, Sophia what happened? Who did this?"

There's suddenly a pair of hands touching my face, I cringe and try to move away from the touch.

"It's okay Sophia, it's me. It's Kris, everything is going to be okay." He sounded terrified, which made me feel guilty. My left eye was swollen shut, but I still managed to open my right eye.
****
I drive around the block and to the park we had been to numerous times. I look at the sidewalks searching desperately for the scared woman. She had sounded so hurt over the phone, a tone of voice that I had never heard from her before, and I instantly panicked. I caught a glimpse of something covered in the snow, my heart started racing when I noticed the ruby red snow surrounding the person.

It was blood.

I'm instantly out of the car, and I literally run to her side. I brush the snow from her face, and my heart sinks when I realize that it is Sophie. She's almost unrecognizable, her left eye is swollen and there's blood coming from her forehead. She cringes when I hold her face in my hands, trying to see her other wounds in the dark.

"It's okay Sophia, it's me. It's Kris, everything is going to be okay." I try to reassure her, but my own voice is shaking. She tries to open her eyes, but manages to only get one open. I quickly take off my coat when I touch her cold hand, and wrap it gingerly around her small frame, I lightly pull her into my arms.

"My body hurts too much to walk" She wheezes in pain.

"It's okay, I'll carry you to the car. Do you want me to take you back to Pascal's? Should I take you to urgent care?" She shakes her head at both of my suggestions.

"Can I stay with you?" She mutters, "I'm not injured that bad, I just want to stay with you, please."

"Of course you can stay with me Sophie. Anything for you." I run my hand through her hair, smoothing it down and kissing the top of her head. I effortlessly pick her up, noticing how little she weighs.

She's so fragile, yet she's the strongest person I know.

I delicately buckle her into the passenger side, not sure if she had any other wounds on her body. She slumps over lightly, her hand gripping at her stomach. I close the door and walk around the car, opening the door and sitting in the driver's seat. I instantly turn the heat on, and glance at her again. Her skin is more pale than usual, and her lips are nearly a dark shade of blue. She leaned to the side, resting her head against the window.

I drive cautiously back to my place, not wanting to disturb her or cause her even more pain. The car is completely silent next to the sound of the heater and the sound of her ragged breathing. We finally get to my house, and I see her sit up straight in her seat, she furrows her eyebrows as she unbuckles her seat belt. I open the door for her and gently pick her up, lightly setting her on her feet and wrapping my arm around her waist. She supports all of her weight on me, but I don't mind. I hear her sigh softly when we get into the house, probably from the warmth. I carry her up the stairs, and sit her down on the bathroom counter so I can clean her up.

"Where else are you hurt Sophie?" I murmur, wiping a stray tear from underneath her eye. She delicately lifts up her shirt, revealing a yellow bruise, that was already a deep purple colour in the center. The bruise was the size of a softball and it looked extremely unpleasant.

"I think I hurt my back too" She whispered, cautiously getting down from the counter and turning around so her back was to me. She peels her shirt from her body, and I help her get it over her head, making sure not to hurt her arm. Sure enough there was a bruise in between her shoulder blades traveling over her shoulder and to her collarbone, it's nearly twice the size of the one on her stomach. I notice a gash running from the tip of the bruise, up to the nape of her neck. I grab the rubbing alcohol from the first aid kit, and proceed to clean all of the cuts on her body and her face. I'm not surprised when she doesn't flinch from the rubbing alcohol, her step dad had been abusing her for over 10 years, she was probably used to having to clean all of her wounds.

"All done" I sigh, throwing the last cotton ball away.

"Do you have something more comfortable I can wear?" She questions softly, and trails slowly behind me when I grab her hand and lead her into my bedroom.

"Are these okay?" I ask pulling out a pair of sweatpants and the smallest shirt I had which was a short sleeved Wilkes-Barre shirt from 2006. She nods her head and gratefully takes the clothes from my hands. I turn around, so she can change in privacy.

"Thank you for everything Kris." I hear her call to me softly

I shake my head, "Like I said Sophia, I would do anything for you. Who did this to you? Do you know?"

I hear her sniffle, and I resist the urge to turn around and hug her, "My step dad, he found me."

I clench my fists, "Hey, I'll be back in a minute, I'm going to call Pascal and tell him what's going on, ok?"

"Alright."
****
The last thing I wanted him to do was to leave, but I knew he was only going to be a few minutes. I pull on the sweatpants that are too big for me, but I don't care. They're extremely cozy, and his shirt still smells like him. It's all so overwhelming, and the scent brings tears to my eyes. Not sad tears, but it's an emotion that I can't explain. I crawl under the covers on his bed, and it has to be the comfiest bed I had ever rested on, even with all of the bruises and my cuts. I hear Kristopher's footsteps pad softly down the hall and into the bedroom.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asks glancing over at me, smiling sadly when I nod my head. I close my eyes, and it's not long before I feel the warmth of his body right next to mine. I snuggle into his side. My breath starts to come out in ragged little gasps, and my heart thumps in my chest loudly.

"Are you okay?"

His voice is so soft and full of love it makes it even harder for me to breath, I shake my head before speaking, "I feel so protected when I'm with you- when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe... a-and you make me feel beautiful and happy. I know it sounds kind of stupid, but I've never felt like this in my whole life. I've never felt like I mattered to anyone."

His warm hand suddenly engulfs my cheek, he kisses my forehead, and lightly bumps his nose against mine, before kissing me smoothly. His hand runs through my hair until it's at the base of my skull, he pulls away, our foreheads still touching.

"You are so beautiful, and I promise I won't let that man- I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. You mean so much to me Sophia. I've never felt like this with anyone in my life, I hope you understand how much you mean to me."

The sincerity of his voice brings tears to my eyes again. I snuggle into his body, cherishing the feeling of his strong arms wrapped tightly around from me. I move my head so it's under his stubbly chin, and I'm flustered when I feel his other hand easily rub my back.

"It's okay Sophie, you can sleep now. You're safe" He murmurs, kissing the top of my head.

Daylight's coming, the sun is blazing
New beginnings seep into you
But in the end it's distant shadows
That finally overwhelm your senses
And this time around
Is it love that you crown?