A Beauty in Disguise

I ran up the stairs and into my room, falling down on my bed and I tried to muffle my sobs with my duvet cover so that no one would hear. Kicking the heels off of my feet and dragging the covers over myself, crying until I could cry no more.
My weight and appearance were both things that made me feel insecure each day; one of the things that my ex had drummed into me, I remembered him yelling at me and saying that I was a 'fat, ugly bitch!' and that 'No one else would ever love me'. I'd always considered myself fat at size 10 but now I am a size 12 I am even more self-conscious. I never wear revealing clothes, not even skirts or shorts. That is not totally down to my weight insecurities though, one day my ex got so angry with me that he left me a reminder of how fat and ugly I am. Etched into the flesh of my stomach were the malicious words 'Fat, ugly whore'. Words that no matter how much I wanted to forget, to move on from my ex and my insecurities were a constant reminder.

Through my sobbing I heard the soft click of the door opening and closing quietly followed by a dip in the mattress near me.
I looked up through my tear sodden eyelashes and saw that it was Chris. My sobs stopped almost instantaneously. "If it makes you feel any better I don't think fat or ugly; you're beautiful..." he said pulling me into his lap and hugging me close, stroking my hair and rocking me back and forth in an attempts to calm me down.
"But...even you chose Rose over me!" I whimpered into his shoulder staining his beautiful baby blue shirt, my favorite colour, with my makeup and tears.

Chris stopped, looking at me. "Lily, I love you both however, I probably love you a little more than I could ever love Rose. I don’t have a choice though, you see, my sister's boyfriend, my sister is the girl that just acted like a total bitch towards you, threatened me. I was going to ask you out but he said that if I did that he would ruin my life and most importantly yours. He told me that I had to ask out Rose instead, otherwise he would hurt you."
I stopped sobbing and looked up at him, catching his eyes with mine, "w...what... what is ...what is h...his name?" I asked with a whisper dread filling my heart and soul.

Chris looked away from me and confirmed my suspicion. "His name is Kaden."
Hearing the name that held the key to so many terrible memories made me shake, my lungs constricting as I struggled to breathe, panicking. Chris grabbed hold of me, pulling me into his side and began to sing a lullaby to me to calm me down, something used to do to Rose when we were little.

When my breathing had returned to normal, he looked me in the eyes and asked my gently "Would you care to explain why you reacted so badly at the mention of the name?!"

I shuffled closer into Chris’ side, explaining to him how Kaden had ruined my childhood, abusing me in any way he could. Physically, emotionally and sexually. How he was the cause of all my insecurities and how, because of him, I could never forget his opinion of how I look. It's carved into my stomach like a tattoo, permanently reminding me that I am fat, ugly, and that no one will ever love me. When I told Chris this his eyes grew, but when I lifted my shirt and showed him, the first person ever, my scars he began to cry, cry for me, for my pain.