Okay, so I was on a huge writing spree today. I hope that's okay with everyone lol.

After today, this writing will be mature on all platforms. I had this already as mature on Archive, but I didn't on FanFict until stuff actually started, well, detailing about the mature concepts.

But all in all, I hope you guys enjoy this! Stuff is just starting to pick up the pace here and I can't wait to get it in action.

Much love, my friends!

If one thing was for certain when it came to Claire, it was that she was a broken person.

There were many moments where we had what Claire had dubbed kitchen sink surgeries where Merlin and I had to stitch her back together after she fell apart. If her normally cold demanded didn't teach you how many times she had been wronged by life, then the scars that lined her body as scattered stars did.

"Claire." I kept my voice firm as I spoke to her even though my heart was breaking on the inside. "What are those?" I pointed to her stomach which was lined with faded scars as her hazel eyes filled to the brim with tears.

"I'm s-s-sorry." I pulled the crying girl into a hug as she clung to my shirt. Her tears instantly filled the collar of it as she buried her face away from the world. "I'm so s-s-sorry." I hushed her gently as I rubbed small circles into her nearly bare back.

"It's okay, little one. No one can hurt you now." She whimpered against me as I heard her voice that was barely above a whisper.

"I was w-weak."

"Claire Maria," I pulled back from her to look her in the eyes as I gave her a weak smile. "You are the strongest woman I have ever met. You've been through hell and that takes a toll on any person. Assaults like that scar even the strongest of people, but what makes you stronger is the fact that you're still here. You're still standing. You didn't let it ruin you."

"I feel ru-ruined."

"But you aren't." I pulled her back into a hug as I combed through her hair with my fingers. "You most definitely are not ruined. You're still the Claire I know. You're still my little sister." I felt her shakes come to a subtle end as she loosened her grip on my shirt.

That was the first of many times I saw Claire like that. Only a week after what happened to her and a few days after she abandoned her parents and that was the result. I wished within those moments that I could have done more for her, but there wasn't much more I could do besides be the big brother I wanted to be for her.

But it made a difference as we got older.

"They're starting to fade." Claire looked over her wrist with a smile. "Do you think it's good enough to cover them?" She turned her attention toward Merlin who was beside her.

"Soon, little Maria. Soon. We do not want them to get irritated." He took her wrist within his hands as he looked over her nearly complete sleeve. "What would you want to get to complete the look, my dear?"

"Marigolds. I want them wrapping around my wrist and going up my forearm to fill in the rest of the blank spaces. As well as cover my old scars."

"So it shall be." The old man gave her a gentle smile which just caused her to beam a bright white smile toward him in reply. She turned her head toward me with the same smile.

"What do you think, Doux?"

"I think it's a beautiful idea. Especially since Marigolds are held dear in your culture, correct?"

"They represent the fragility of life. They are used though to help guide the spirits of our loved ones home on Dias De Los Muertos with their vibrant color." She looked down at her wrist with a fond gleam in her eyes before she looked up toward me. "Kind of like how life brought me to you and Merlin. It brought me to my true home, in a way."

Don't cry, Casperan. Don't fucking cry.

I felt myself choke on a whimper as I watched my vision blur just the slightest.

Aw, fuck it.

I wrapped up Claire in a tight hug as Merlin just let out a small laugh at the two of us.

"Aw, look what you have done, little Maria. You went and broke the boy."

"I am happily a mess, I assure you." Claire giggled at us as she wrapped her arms around me just as tightly.

Over time, the two of us worked together to cover her scars with symbols that meant something much more to her. Not because she thought they were ugly or a showcase of weakness, but because she didn't want the marks on her skin to be something she felt like she had no control over. The scars on her stomach being replaced with simple purple roses. The scars on her wrist covered with marigolds. Then lastly the scars she hid away from the world on her right thigh was covered by a white and purple sugar candy skull.

What mattered in the end, of course, was that she was proud of them for once in her three years of having them. Finding more pride in them now instead of when she first had them grace her skin.

But if one thing was for certain was the fact that she found a lot more confidence in herself when she met Jim.

I looked over to the two of them as they were watching a documentary on one of Claire's favorite singers together.

"I remember hearing of Selena in high school, but I never knew she died so young." She smiled up toward the blue-eyed man. Her hazel eyes gracing him with a look of pure adoration that I never saw the young Latina had for a long time. A pure look of joy gracing her face as the dark-haired flower boy seemed to not notice how truthfully in love the tattoo artist was with him. Even if she would never admit it just yet.

"A tragedy, isn't it?" He hummed in reply as she brought her attention back toward the screen. It was now his turn to looked toward the woman beside him as if he was the luckiest man in the world to be sitting there. When Claire had told me that he looked at her like a viewer would the Mona Lisa, I was sure that she was just projecting her feelings onto him. But seeing it first hand, I can say that the motorcycle riding loved her just as much as she did him. It looked as if he wanted to say it, but didn't want to push her into saying it in return. That he knew that she was scarred and needed her time, but he didn't seem to mind. Returning his attention to the screen as he was content just having his arm draped over her shoulders instead.

It's odd. Seeing your sister fall in love. Especially one that you saw over the years be fearful of anyone getting too close to see what she really hid underneath.

But I knew that Jim didn't care for the bagged she carried. He enjoyed her for herself. He was never a physical attraction kind of guy in the first place, always wanting a connection instead but never gave himself the time to develop it. Always too worried that if he put his time anywhere else besides the family shops he worked at, then he wasn't doing the right thing.

Yet there they are. Sitting together on a couch being like nervous teenagers. Not too cautious to not touch each other, but too awkward to say how they truly felt.

I smiled at the scene as I made my way up toward my room. Making sure I didn't make a sound to disturb them on the way. Once I got there, I pulled out my phone and texted the first person that came to mind after seeing such a romantic scene within my own living room.

D: I know you're asleep right now, but that doesn't really matter now does it? Just wanted to say I love you Z. Oh, and good morning whenever you get yourself out of bed.

I smiled as I sat down on my bed. A black cat tilting his head at me as I seemingly invaded his space at the foot of it.

"I shouldn't worried, right Arch?" The black cat just meowed the slightest at me as I reached out to pet his head. "I know, I'm too overprotective for my own good. She's just been through so much, ya know?" He started purring a little as I scratched behind his left ear. "I just want the best for her." I felt my smile widened a little more as Archie gave a small meow in reply. "Yeah. Her relationship with Jim is probably making her the happiest as I ever saw her. Especially after Merlin's death. I just don't want her to hurt anymore. That's all." I pulled back my hand as I decided to lay down at the edge of my bed. Archie decided in return to pick himself up and waltz his way into the nook of my neck before laying himself there. The gesture made me feel in a way that the little furball was trying to say that everything would be okay.

Archie's right, Doux.

I closed my eyes gently as I felt the black cat's gently purring against my neck.

Claire's going to be okay.

They're both going to be okay.

If I learned one thing about dating Claire, it was that she carried a lot of weight on her shoulders. I knew that after the events of Douxie's concert months ago with how she spoke about the assault that happened to her three years ago, but I should have known that mental scars like that run deep.

When we first became friends, she was distant physically. It was obvious to me that she wanted things like hugs, but she was too afraid to do anything more than gentle grazes when speaking. The most I got from her, ironically, was after we talked about what had happened to her. But I kept my patience with her. I knew she would feel comfortable with me at some point. May it be day, weeks, months, it didn't matter to me. What mattered was that she wasn't feeling forced.

Honestly, when she hugged me for the first time, I wasn't even expecting it.

She wrapped her arms around my middle as she leaned her head onto my shoulder. It was a sudden movement and I was hesitant at first to wrap my arms around her, but after a few moments, I got out of my shock to place my hands on her back while a smile took over my lips.

God, she smells of strawberries and ink. How you even smell like that? How does ink have a fucking smell?

Wait, how do I even know what ink smells like? What the hell, Lake?

"Sorry." I pulled myself out of my thoughts as I heard Claire murmur into my shoulder. "You weren't expecting that, were you?"

"Not really." I gave a small laugh at her as rubbed my hands up and down her back. "But it's welcomed." I felt her tighten her arms around my abdomen as she let out an airy giggle.

"Good." I blushed as I felt her nuzzled her face into my neck. "Cause you're warm." I laughed gently at that as I squeezed her a little within my arms.

After that, and especially after we started dating, I realized that touch was her favorite form of contact. Touch was her love language despite the physical attack she dealt with.

But one place that she hated having touched was her wrists.

I gave Claire a confused look as hanked her wist out of my gentle grasp as I tried helping her up the cliffside.

"Are you okay?" She looked just as shocked at her reaction as I was. She brought her eyes up to me to give me a wide-eyed look before glancing down to her wrist once more.

"S-Sorry." I grew worried as I noticed the hitch in her voice. I took a few steps closer to her as I saw her bring her wrist close to her chest. "Sorry."

"Don't be." I looked over her features as she seemed to try her best to calm herself down. Her eyes were screwed shut as she seemed to shut in on herself. "Do you need something? Anything?" She suddenly shot open her eyes and looked up toward me only for me to see tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. Instantly, I reached out and pulled her into a hug as she started to weep gently into my shoulder. Her wrist still being cradled into her chest as I rubbed gentle circles into her back. "It's okay. You're okay."

"It's not. I should be over this. I-."

"Nope. Don't you dare say that, Claire." I tightened my arms around her as I felt her shake a little within them. "It's okay to be struggling. You don't need to be strong for me. You don't need to hide anything from me. I want to help you." She dropped her arms from between us as she then wrapped her arms around me in return.

"Doesn't mean I should rip myself away like that." I chuckled a little as she muttered her words into my shoulder like an embarrassed child.

"You're working on it, right?" She nodded her head against my head as I rubbed her back once more. "Then that's all that matters."

"Thanks, Jim."

"Anytime, Claire."

It wasn't the last time, but she got better over time. I never got to understand why she was so sensitive, specifically of her tattooed wrist, but I never expected an answer either. I just figured it had ties to when she was drugged.

But I never expected it to be due to physical scars instead of mental.

"I want to show you something." I gave Claire a confused look as she sat up straight from beside me. Clicking off the TV screen that was rolling the credits from the Selena documentary we were watching together as she did so. I watched her as she looked around the living room for a moment until her eyes landed on me once more. Something was swirling within her hazel eyes as she looked down at her marigold tattooed wrist.

"Not that I'm worried about you attacking me or anything, but you seemed to be worried about something."

"It's just," She took in a deep breath as she brought her eyes back up toward me. "I haven't really shown anyone outside of Douxie and Merlin." I gave her a confused look as she rolled up the leather sleeve of her jacket to show me her left wrist. The same one with her marigolds tattooed upon it. Before I could ask her anything, she reached out and grabbed my hand to press my fingertips onto her wrist. Instantly, I felt the familiar peaks and valleys that was scars. I looked up to her with what I could tell was a shocked look in my eyes, but she wasn't looking back at me. Her eyes were cast away from me as if she was expecting me to put her down for the crisscrossing scars that danced across her skin.

Well, that makes sense why she was so sensitive about her wrist being touched.

Before I even thought about it, I brought her wrist up to me. Glancing up to her to see a confused look on her face as a smile appeared on my face.

But that doesn't mean she has to feel as if they needed to be hidden.

I brought her wrist up to my lips where I placed a gentle kiss on the sensitive marks upon her skin before pressing my cheek against them. I brought my eyes back up toward her to see her looking at me with the softest look dancing in her hazel pools.

"You weren't expecting that, were you?" I gave her a smirk as I knew I was repeating what she told me all those months ago but she seemed to play along with it as she gave a small smile in reply.

"Not really. But it's welcomed." My smirk turned into a large smile before I turned my head to press another kiss to her scars. "I didn't think you would look at them like something hideous, but I never thought you would kiss them either."

"I'll kiss all of them if you let me." My smile softened as I saw her look away from me once more. Instantly, I knew why she acted in such a way. "There's more, isn't there." Instead of answering me, she pulled her hand back to wordlessly bring up her shirt slightly. I was confused at first until she grabbed one of my hands once more to touch what was revealed to be purple flowers on her stomach. I was welcomed once more to the familiar feeling of scars again. I looked up to her as I felt a blush taking over my cheeks. "Is it bad that I still feel the same? I'll still kiss them if you'd let me." I watched Claire give me a large smile before reaching out toward me so she could pull me close. Instantly placing a kiss of her own against my lips as she wrapped her arms around her neck. She pulled back slightly after the single kiss as she gave me a wide smirk.

"Ask me again later cause there's more."

"Where else?"

"My right thigh." I felt my blush deepened as I wrapped my arms around her waist in return.

"I think I can handle that." She giggled in reply before bumping my nose with her own.

"You sure are a special case, aren't you, Lake?"

"You think it take a special case to think you're beautiful, scars or not?" I watched as a slight tint of pink take over her lips as she pressed her forehead against mine.

"Originally, yeah." She gave me a soft smile as I felt her start toying with the back of my hair gently. "But you've got me thinking differently as of late." I smiled toward her in return before leaning in to capture her lips. I felt her smirk between small shared kisses as he used her weight to cause us to fall back onto the couch so she could straddle my waist. A blush took over almost every inch of my body as all I could do in reply was to place my hands onto her waist as our kisses deepened.

Seriously, Lake? Way to prove you're a virgin.

She cupped my face with both of her hands as she leaned into me more. I felt as if my eyes were going to roll into the back of my skull as I moved my hands under her jacket and gripped onto her shirt like some kind of desperate schoolboy.

Again, way to prove you're a virgin, Lake.

She didn't seem to mind though as she licked bottom lip, I gasped a little in reply but before she could do whatever she was planning, the ringing of her phone interrupted her actions. She sat up with an angry murmur that I couldn't help but laugh at.

"Here I thought I was the desperate one."

"Shush." I laughed once more as she brought her phone out of her jacket. Giving me a toothy grin as she did so. "Claire Maria, speaking. How may I help you?" Her face fell as she seemed to recognize the person on the other line. She got up to her feet while running a hand through her hair.

"Claire?" I sat up as I grew worried about the expression that appeared on her face. She turned toward me as I saw a sad gleam appearing in her hazel eyes.

"Yeah I'm here. Yeah. I'll be right there. He's okay though, right?" She waited for a response before letting out a breath she was holding. "Gracias a Dios. Alright, I'll see you there. Yeah. I'll talk to you later then." She pulled the phone from her face as I noted the still saddened look in her eyes. Instinctively, I stood up and reached out toward her so I could place my hands onto her shoulders.

"Is everything okay? What's wrong?" She looked up toward me as she slipped her phone into her jacket once more.

"I told you about Enrique, right? My little brother?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah. You were sixteen when he was born, right? He should be what? Four now? Almost five?" She gave a small smile toward me for a moment before it disappeared. "Hey, what's wrong? Does it involve him?"

"There was an accident. He got hit by a car. That was my dad. I don't know how the hell he got my number, but I'm kind of grateful." She placed her hands onto my chest as her eyes had tears battling to pour from her eyes. "Enrique was conscious for a little bit before his surgery and said he wanted to see me. Because they-." She stopped for a second as her voice almost started to give out. She cleared her throat once before speaking once more. "Because they don't know what might happen, they want me there. To be there for Enrique."

"Then let's go." She looked up toward me with wide shocked eyes before giving me a soft smile once more. She used her left hand to wipe away her tears as she gave me a soft laugh.

"You truly are something else, Lake."

"Well, like a good boyfriend, I'm not letting you go alone."

"Are you sure? You're going to have to deal with the tension between me and my parents I haven't spoken to in person since I was seventeen."

"I'm more than sure. I'll even drive."

"I don't think showing up on your motorcycle will help how they feel about me."

"We'll take the car instead." She gave me a confused look as I just gave her a grin instead. "What? Do you think I don't know how to drive a car? Riding a motorcycle in the rain is one hell of a death wish, you know."

"No, but I'm rather used to you and that horned helmet of yours." She wrapped her arms around my neck as she gave me a sweet half-smile. "But if you truly want to be there, I won't stop you."

"Then I'll grab the keys."

I let Jim slip out of my hands as he went out to the kitchen to grab his jacket while a full grin appeared on my face.

How did a girl like me end up with who was basically a modern-day Prince Charming? I'm a rather damaged person, but somehow I ended up finding someone that could see beauty within those broken pieces. Someone that is willing to look past the scars and break downs and see who I am beneath all of that.

Someone that is willing to go to the hospital with me to see my unconscious brother and deal with my bullshit of a blood family.

Dios Mio, how lucky could I be?

"Ready?" He came back to me with my keys swinging around his right index finger as he rolled his left shoulder so his jacket would adjust itself.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Want to tell Douxie where we're going before we leave?"

"I'll call him once we get there. I don't want him worrying over me or anything."

"Whatever you think is best." He wrapped his arm around me as we started making our way toward the front door together so we can make our way to the hospital.

How lucky can a girl be?

I smiled as I leaned my head against his shoulder.

Well, hopefully my luck doesn't dry out anytime soon. I don't need anything else going wrong anytime soon. Not when I'm the happiest I have ever been these last few months.

And I don't know what I would do if mi hermano pequeño doesn't make it. Especially if I didn't have Jim beside me.