Weightless

Please listen while you read.

When Chloe was finally able to move again, she forced herself to stand. Marcus had really done a number on her this time. Her face was bruised, her ribs were throbbing and something about her right knee didn’t feel right. Her neck felt sore and her breathing was still laboured. She knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. The house was still completely silent as she opened her bedroom door. She glanced down the hallway and noticed her parent’s bedroom door was shut. So they had been home. She slowly made her way down the stairs and walked to the first place she could think of. It began to rain, but Chloe limped on. It was almost an hour before she was standing in front of the house. Her feet shuffled forward and her hand knocked on the door without Chloe telling it to do so. She slumped against the door frame and waited. Just a few moments later the door opened and Chloe met the chocolate eyes of the boy standing in front of her. His face screwed up in horror.

“Chloe?”

Chloe lost all of her strength then and slumped to the ground. Warm hands reached out and caught her, pulling her soaking wet frame inside of the house. The lights were off everywhere else in the house. Chloe let herself be dragged into the living room and placed on the couch. She started shivering violently.

“I’m going to go get you a blanket and some new clothes okay?” He asked slowly.

“No!” Chloe cried, suddenly leaping from the couch and clinging onto his arm.

Without warning she broke down into gut wrenching sobs. Her fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her gingerly, holding her close while avoiding hurting her.

“Please, don’t leave me, Alex.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

Alex stared down at the tiny girl shaking with tears in his arms. All traces of his drunkenness had completely vanished at the sight of her. Her fragility terrified him. The bruise on her neck had darkened and been joined with several bite marks. There were dozens of other purple spots littering her arms, two thick bands of black encircled her wrists. Her cheeks and lips were swollen, dried blood had gathered under her delicate little nose. Her legs were shaky and Alex noticed that her right knee seemed larger than her left. The back of her stained dress was ripped. Through the break in the fabric, Alex caught sight of even more bruises forming around her ribs. He felt a hot rush of anger immediately followed by a wave of sickness. It was obvious what had happened.

Chloe didn’t know why she was here, but it felt right. Being in Alex’s arms felt right. Her sobs began to quiet and she inhaled his scent. It was one of the best things she had ever smelled, comparable to Zack’s. Definitely better than Marcus’.

“Come upstairs with me? I can give you some dry clothes and we can clean you up?” His whisper was soft, caressing Chloe’s ears.

“Okay.”

She didn’t release his hold on him, which resulted in Alex having to lift her off of the ground and carry her slight frame upstairs. He placed her gently on the tile in the bathroom. The first-aid kit was under the sink from a few days ago and he dug it out. Alex turned to her. She was dripping wet, little hiccups escaping her throat. Her teeth were chattering and Alex decided he had to figure out a way to warm her up first.

“Chloe, I’m going to get some clothes okay?”

“No!” She cried, just like before, attaching herself to his arm. Tears threatened to spill over and he wrapped his arm around her again.

“Okay, okay. But you’re freezing, Chloe. You have to warm up. You can’t stay in these wet clothes.”

Without a word, Chloe moved into the shower, bringing Alex with her. She stared at him fearfully, as if he was going to snap and hit her at a moment’s notice. Alex rubbed his thumb over her forehead gently, brushing a wet strand of hair away. He kissed her forehead.

“You’re okay now, Chloe. You’re going to be okay.”

She wordlessly reached behind her and turned the shower on. Both of them jumped at the sudden cold water. It quickly warmed, and Chloe moved to stand beneath the spray. Alex stared at her. She began unzipping the back of her dress, peeling it off slowly.

“Chloe…what are you doing?” Alex asked softly, moving closer to stop her.

“I just have to be clean again.” She whispered, her voice cracking. “I’m dirty. You can’t be dirty. You have to be clean.”

Her eyes stared deep into his. Alex slowly moved away, but just enough for her to finish slipping the dress off. Something that couldn’t be communicated verbally had just passed between the two, and he suddenly understood that this needed to be done. Chloe needed to just stand here, in this warm water, with Alex.

He hissed when he saw the damage that had been done to her body. She had kept her bra and underwear on, but everything else was gone. His eyes raked over her body, tears suddenly springing to his eyes. There was even more caked on blood and bruises beneath the clothing. The bites on her neck had been hard enough to break skin, and there were streaks down her chest from the blood that had run out of them. Perfect half moon shaped indents decorated her lower back and hips. Fingernails and teeth. She had been cut open by fingernails and teeth. Who the fuck did that?

She reached out to grab his hands, forcing his gaze to meet hers. Slowly, Alex began to caress the exposed skin. He avoided all areas that would scare her, only running his fingers over the cuts. Slowly, under his light touch, the blood began to wash away, the water running clear again. He finally made it to her face, brushing away the last of the dried blood from under her nose. Chloe’s eyes squeezed shut, her hand moving to cover his. He stared at her. This poor, beautiful, broken girl.

Chloe suddenly pulled Alex to her in a hug. She lifted her legs, wrapping them around his thin waist, ankles locking behind his back, and buried her head into his neck. Alex’s arms instinctively wrapped around her. They stayed like that in the shower until the hot water ran out. And even then, after the water had been shut off, they stayed like that. Chloe finally let out an intense shudder and relaxed against Alex completely. He stepped out of the shower and set Chloe down, reaching to the hook behind her to grab a towel. He wrapped it around her and grabbed another one for himself. Chloe didn’t look away as he took of his wet jeans and t-shirt. He tied the towel around his waist and pulled Chloe close again.

She allowed him to lead her across the hallway into his bedroom. With another gentle kiss on the forehead, Alex walked to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He kept his eyes on Chloe the entire time. He grabbed another t-shirt, a pair of boxers and a pair of basketball shorts. He gently placed the pants and one of the shirts next to Chloe. He watched her stare at them for a moment before moving forward and tugging her towel of himself. She let him slip the shirt over her head, holding her arms up like a child. He guided her skinny legs into the pants, lifting her slightly to get them over her hips. Deftly, he rolled the bottoms of them twice until they rested at her ankles.

Alex pulled the blankets on his bed up, allowing Chloe to slip beneath them as she lied down. He let go of her and retrieved his own dry clothing. He began walking towards the door and Chloe shot up in bed.

“Don’t leave!” She cried. Alex turned to look at her only to find her close to tears again. “Please.” She whispered, holding his gaze. “I’ll close my eyes. Just, please, don’t leave me.”

Alex walked back to the small girl huddled under his covers and ran a finger down her battered face. Chloe obediently closed her eyes and Alex hurried to change. He slipped in next to her as soon as he was dressed and she snuggled herself into his lanky frame. Her eyes opened and they stared at each other. Alex moved his head ever so slightly so that their foreheads were resting against one another’s. Chloe leaned in, her breath tickling the outer edges of Alex’s mouth. Without breaking eye-contact they both shifted closer and closer until their lips brushed. And then Chloe’s eyes slipped shut and they were actually kissing.

And it was mind blowing. Alex’s lips were soft, softer than anything Chloe had ever felt before. They moved perfectly against her own. She sighed, deepening the kiss, but Alex didn’t push it. He continued moving his lips against her gently. His hand tangled in her wet hair, but he didn’t tug or push. He just rested it there, the way Chloe had rested her hands against his face. There was a slight prickle of stubble, but it didn’t change the way Chloe’s fingers danced along his jaw. Just a few short moments later, they both pulled away.

In that moment, everything seemed perfect. Alex smiled and Chloe did as well. It was the first real smiled she’d ever shown to anyone besides Zack in years. Alex felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of it. All of her bruises melted away and he saw the clear perfection of the girl next to him. She closed her eyes again, resting her head in the crook of his neck, and together, they drifted to sleep.