Rain poured down around me. I felt as if I was going to slip and fall at any second but I couldn't care less. Tears were streaming down my cheeks.
When I got to Jaime's house, I collapsed in the front yard. Jaime, who was working on some bass chords in his living room, looked out the window and saw me and came rushing out of the house. He sat me up and put his hands on my face, lifting it to make me look at him.
"Astrid, what happened? What's wrong?" He talks fast and franticaly, his breath hot on my face. His eyes shift back and forth between my eyes, obvious concern flooding them.
"Baby? What happened?"
I don't respond. He pulls me up into his lap and I wrap my arms around his neck, letting the tears run free. This is where I felt most comfortable, most safe, most happy. He rubs my back and I flinch, pulling away. I look down but he lifts my head up again, this time pressing his rain soaked lips against my own. He pulls away and speaks again.
"Come on let's get you inside." He stands up and picks me up wedding style. I bury my face in his neck, taking in his sent, his presence, everything.
When we get into the house he carries me up to his bedroom and sits me down on his bed. He doesn't say anything anymore, he just goes into his bathroom and starts up the bath. He comes back into the room and helps me get my clothes off, which I react to by innocently covering myself. He smiles and kisses my shoulder. I relax a bit. He chucks the clothes into his hamper and takes me to the bathroom.
When we get in he helps me down into the perfectly temperatured bath. I pull my knees up to my chest and rest my chin on them. Jaime shuts the door and takes his clothes off as well. When he gets into the bath he turns the water off and pulls me toward him. I let my knees fall from my chest and I wrap them around his waist instead. He wraps his arms around my body and pulls me even closer, resting his forehead on mine.
"What happened?" He almost inaudibly whispers, his eyes closed.
I swallow hard. "M-my dad..."
Jaime opens his eyes and takes his forehead off mine. He looks at me with a questioning look.
"H- he... he hit me." Jaime's eyebrows furrowed. He grabbed my hands and pulled them up to his mouth, kissing them softly over and over.
"Jaime, he got s- so mad he took his keys and slashed my back." I turned around slightly and he ran his fingers gently over the long gash. It made me shake.
Jaime didn't say anything. He just pulled me back into him and held me, kissing my shoulder, my ear, my cheek.
"You can't keep living there, Astrid." I turned my resting head toward him. "Do you want to live here? I can take care of you."
I pulled away and brought my hands up to my face. I covered my face as I cried and shook my head yes. Jaime uncovered my face and wiped my tears. He smiled and hugged me tighter than ever. This is where I wanted to be, this is where I felt safe, where I was happy.