Corinna raised her sky blue eyes from the floor and looked at Finn. He was shaking his hand, trying to get the pain to go away. That meant it was over. She was done drowning in his sea of anger, and now she was left to drown in her own sea of pain.

She could deal with the pain. Pain meant that she was still alive. Pain meant that she was still awake. Pain meant that she was still with him. Pain meant that he still loved her. He loved her enough to never let her go away.

"Bloody hell!" He growled.

She didn't dare move a muscle. He was still angry. She was ready to move her eyes back to the floor if he looked over at her again. She would pretend not to see him. She would pretend to not even be there. Luckily he left the room. She listened to him move to the bathroom to clean up. He always cleaned himself up first while she was left to drown on her own.

She curled up in a ball and let silent tear run down her cheeks. She didn't want to disturb him in his cleaning process so she had taught herself to cry silently. He didn't deserve anymore of her pain put on him when he was clearly hurting. She could handle it. She could drown for the both of them. He would save her eventually. And he would drown her all over again.

"Hey, Corinna," he said softly.

His voice was kind of weak. He sounded regretful. She felt his hand on her shoulder first. She knew he was scared. He was scared she would be passed out or maybe even dead. He was scared he had drowned her for good and would not be able to save her. He was scared to lose her.

"It hurts," she whimpered lowly.

He gently pulled her up in his arms. No matter how gentle he was after an attack, it still hurt. Both outside and inside. Sometimes she wasn't even sure what pain was the worst.

"I'm so sorry, babe," he said. "You're gonna be okay. I promise."

He cleaned her as good as he could with a wet cloth he had brought back with him from the bathroom. He left it on the floor. It would still be there tomorrow. She would always pick up the bloody cloth and remove the evidence even though there was plenty left on her face and body. The bruises, the cuts, the wounds, the scars. They always remained. The scars never truly healed. Not the ones on the inside.

He lifted her up and carried her to the bed. Even the soft bed felt painful to lie in. He laid down next to her and pushed some of her long, wavy, sunflower blonde hair out of the way. He started placing soft kisses on her face. He kissed her forehead, nose, lips and cheeks. He kissed the tears away. The sea running from her eyes dried out. She wasn't allowed to drown in her own sea anymore tonight. They were together again. They were on the same page. He still loved her. He loved her so hard that it hurt.

"It was an accident," he said. "You know that, right?"

Her words abandoned her like many times before so she nodded in agreement. Of course it was an accident. It was always an accident. He didn't really mean to hurt her the way he did. If it wasn't an accident, it was her fault. She did something wrong. It was his right to drown her the way he did.

"I love you, Corinna," he said. "Do you love me?"

Again she nodded. She was hoping that would be enough tonight. It wasn't. He needed to hear it.

"Tell me you love me," he said.

Tears started running again. She could only hope they wouldn't anger him. Sometimes they did. Other times they hurt him.

"I love you, Finn," she cried.
"No, no, no, babe," he said remorsefully. "Don't cry. It breaks my heart to see you cry."

Tonight her tears hurt him. He was drowning alongside with her. Drowning in pain. Drowning in fear. Drowning in love. He loved her. She loved him too. At least she thought she did. She said she did. She would never say otherwise. At least not out loud. If those words were ever spoken, they would come true. She would lose him. She would hurt even worse. She would drown for good.

"I need you," she whispered.
"I know, babe," he sighed and pulled her closer. "Don't worry. I'll never leave you."

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drown one last time that night. She drowned in his arms and the love he claimed to have for her. He did love her. He had to. No man would hurt her like this if he didn't love her. She had to believe that.

She needed this sea of him to set her free. He would never let her drown for real. He would always be there to rescue her. At least that's what she told herself. He would push her in the water and watch her struggle, but it would always be his hands pulling her back up again. Back and forward she went in his waves. Back and forward while slowly drifting further out to sea.