"Skoochy how did you get this scar?" He should expected the question would come up sooner or later, he was hoping for later, a lot later.
They hadn't been dating very long, she still blushed at the new experiences, and he did anything he could to invoke these bursts of heated skin.
Which was why he had removed his shirt after getting drips of ice cream on the fabric. He had wanted to see the look on her face when she saw him shirtless for the first time. But that was the thing about being with Jinora, she made him forget about everything else, including his painful past.
True to form, her face lit up with a bright shade of red upon seeing the bare skin. He had laughed and moved to embrace her, which she had returned, her fingers brushing against the base of the puckered flesh.
He felt her stiffen, and draw away with a questioning gaze. He suddenly remembered where her fingers had been, and wanted to curse his stupidity. What if she found the scar unattractive? What if she was disgusted by having to touch the raised skin. What if she was as disturbed about the origins of the scar as he was?
He watched her tilt her head, trying to get a look at his back. He shifted away blocking it from sight. He knelt and grabbed his shirt, hoping to cover the atrocity before the situation got any worse, but her hand on his stopped him. She gave him a hesitant smile, and gestured to his back. Asking permission without speaking. He could never deny her anything.
Hanging his head, he shuffled around til his back was facing her. He heard her gasp of, what he assumed, was horror. He hadn't been this mortified in her presence, since his mother had ended up in the hospital the first time. He wanted to run away, so far and so fast, that the scar disappeared, and all the memories with it
The hesitant touch of her fingers brought him back to the present. He could feel her trace against the scar, so gently, as if afraid she would hurt him. Her pointer started at the base of the scar, near his lower ribcage, and leading up across his back, to the shoulder on the opposite side. He closed his eyes and pretended her touch could smooth away the damaged skin.
"Skoochy, how did you get this scar?" He didn't turn to face her, although some would consider it rude. He did not want to see the horror on her face.
"I got it when I was little."
"How old?" Her voice seemed to shrink away in the memories.
"Five or six I think, I'm not actually sure how old I am now but it was about 12 years ago. Right before I went to my first orphanage."
"That young?"
"Yeah, I didn't have an ideal childhood." They stood silently, her fingers had stilled their exploration but remained pressed against the scar tissue.
"What happened?"
"It was my fathers fault. I had disrupted him and my mother, by knocking over something made of glass. I can't remember what it was, but it was obviously more important than me. He yelled, and threw me to the ground. One of the larger chunks cut my back open."
"And your mother?"
He shrugged in response. He had never been sure how his mother had felt about the her accidental child. She had kept him around longer than most mothers in her situation would have. But she had always allowed others to hurt him, sometimes joining in herself. This particular night he had been in too much pain, to really pay attention to what she did.
"Can't really say about my ol' lady. But I know she didn't try to stop him, and that hurt too."
He finished his story, telling her of the old drunkard lady that lived next door, who crudely helped patched him up, then spoke some sense into his mother. Leading to her decision to drop him off at the nearest orphanage.
"And the rest is pretty much history, I ended up on the streets, and Lin found me. My life is infinitely better." He still hadn't turned to face her, he was terrified the scar would lead to her rejection of him.
He really should have known better than to have such depressing thoughts about Jinora.
He felt arms come around his torso, bringing herself closer, she began placing kisses on the scar. He could have sworn he felt some tears, but he couldn't be sure, not when her lips were worshiping the only part of his body he had ever hated.
Finishing her ministrations, her head came to a rest between his shoulder blades. A quiet and strong comfort. With her presence encompassing him like this, his past didn't seem so oppressing. After all it had led him to her.
"I'm so sorry, no one should have to experience such pain. Especially one so young."
He sighed before tangling his fingers with the ones wrapped around his waist.
"Its okay Jinora. It doesn't hurt anymore."