As Christian sees me put the pieces together, he slowly nods. “Yeah, Iris,” he murmurs. “It’s bad.” “Christian,” I whisper, leaning forward and reaching for him. But he tightens his jaw and my hand falls limply between us as I shake my head. “Why did you do this? I’m – I’m not worth it, Chris –“
Even though it is a big deal – the kind of trauma that will probably follow me for a lifetime? Christian knows that this is what I need. And he knows because…he’s my best friend. Because he’s known me all my life. Because he’s read every stupid email I’ve sent him for thirteen years, and probabl
Christian nods, smirking a little. “Frankie and Nico are fine, except…well, they’re going to want to kill me too,” he murmurs. “But they’re fine.” “Do they know…what you did?” “They’ll have figured it out by now, probably,” he says, a bit dry, looking over at me with a sad little smile. “Everyon
When I wake up hours later, I blink in surprise to see the sun setting, the sky all around us a pretty pink and purple instead of the stunning blue it was when I last opened my eyes. “You like the beach, right?” Christian asks, his voice surprisingly cheerful. I blink in surprise, looking at him a
Christian waits for me at the front of the car as I gather myself together and open the door, stepping out. I wince a little as I stand up straight, unsure if the stiffness I feel is the result of sleeping in a car for hours or of the very literal beating I took. Either way, as I shut my door and
Christian comes close and places his hands on my shoulders as I turn my head to look again out the window. And that’s it, I suddenly realize – the beauty of this place is just so shocking, jarring, in comparison to where I was less than a day ago. Being beaten by men who didn’t care if I lived or di
“Just some bruises,” I whisper, gesturing towards my ribs and stomach. “Nothing worse.” Christian’s jaw clenches, hard, at the thought of what they could have done to me – the terrors to which men put women when they want to hurt them deeply. But Christian steels himself, reigning his emotions bac
Perhaps sensing my humor, the smirk on my lips, Christian flicks his eyes up at me. “What?” he murmurs, a smile starting on his lips as well. I just shake my head at him. “Christian, what are you going to do?” The smile falls away from his face and he drops his head again, not looking at me. “