Chapter Fifteen
The waves washed up high on the sand, licking at Bradin and Marie's toes as they walked barefoot down the darkened beach. Silence engulfed them, neither wanting to be the first to speak, to talk about the fight that they had had the day before. Marie stopped and stared out at the water and the reflection of the full moon upon its surface. She shivered, wrapping her arms tightly around herself to help keep warm. Bradin stood beside her, wanting to say something, but not knowing what. He looked at her, dressed only in a light pink tank top and pink and yellow plaid sleep pants, wishing that he had a jacket to offer her. But he himself was dressed only in cargo shorts and a t-shirt.
Bradin had already apologized to her, which, if he was thinking right, meant that the next move was hers.
"So," she said, her voice cutting through the silence, "you said you wanted to talk, so talk." She looked at him, but Bradin couldn't hold her stare and ducked his head.
"I already said I was sorry," he replied, gazing at the water that washed over his feet, "what more do you want me to say?" He glanced up at her. What else was there for him to say? What did Marie want from him?
"That's it?" She cried, "You think that by just saying your sorry you can make everything go back to normal? It doesn't work that way Bradin!"
"Then tell me what you want Marie!" he matched her volume with his own, "Tell me what you want from me."
"I want you to accept this," she yelled, the wind catching her words and taking them out to sea, "I want you to accept me," tears filled her eyes, glistening silver in the light of the moon, "I want you to accept that this is the way I live and stop trying to change that 'Cause you know what Bradin, you can't fix everything." Her voice became more and more choked with every word as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Marie." Bradin reached out to take her in his arms, his heart breaking with each tear that fell from her face onto the sand. She pulled away from him.
"You can't fix this with a hug, Bradin." She said, her voice breaking just slightly. "You can't expect to hold me and everything just go back to normal. It doesn't work that way."
"Then how does it work Marie, tell me, because I'm not sure I understand." He cried.
"Just stop pressuring me." she whispered, all the strength and fight within her seeming to disappear in that instance.
"I told you I was sorry about that."
"I know you did, but I still feel like you're pressuring me."
Bradin placed a hand on Marie's face, running his thumb over her cheek to wipe the tears away.
"I promise that I won't push you to tell anybody until you are ready." he said, "I love you Marie, and I'm sorry."
"What?" Marie's eyes widened as she looked up at Bradin and she drew in a deep, startled breath.
"I'm sorry." he repeated.
"No," she shook her head, "the…the part before that." Bradin closed his eyes, he hadn't meant to say those three words, they had just slipped out before he had time to think about them. He'd been meaning to say them to Marie, just in a different setting. He'd pictured a romantic dinner with candlelight, or some other type of mushy romantic thing that he knew Marie would like. He hadn't thought to say those words on a darkened beach while they were trying to make up from a fight.
"I love you." he whispered. A tear hit his thumb where it rested on her cheek. Marie bit her lip, her face scrunched up as tears slowly slid down her face.
"I love you too." she cried, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in the crook of his neck. Bradin's heart soared and he held onto Marie tightly, feeling her body tremble as she cried.
Tired of losing hand after hand at poker, he climbed the stairs to his stepdaughter's room, ready to have a little fun. Now that she was back in school, there hadn't been a whole lot of time for them to… "play."
He opened her door, the full moon casting pale white light over the room. A breeze floated in through the open window, rustling the pale blue curtains that hung on either side of the window. The moonlight swept across the unmade and empty bed. He looked around the room, anger bubbling up inside of him ready to erupt at any moment, like a volcano.
Where had she gone? She had no friends, no one to run off with, so where was she? He seethed, his nostrils flaring with suppressed anger. She would pay.
They sat on the sand, giggling like little children, their fingers entwined. Marie smiled. She had never been so happy as she was right then. Bradin loved her, he loved her, he loved her. Even if she wanted to, Marie could not rid herself of the smile that took over her face.
They'd sat outside, simply being with each other, talking a little, kissing a lot, for who knows how long. The moon was slowly sinking below the horizon, giving way to the sun which was now kissing the sand and painting the sky a beautiful purplish-pink.
Marie stifled a yawn, not wanting Bradin to see how tired she was and insist that she go home and sleep. She never wanted that night to end, she wanted the feelings and emotions that filled her to remain there forever.
Bradin's shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. His fingers ran through Marie's hair, tickling her scalp and making her smile grow wider. She looked up at him through lovesick, dreamy eyes and lifted her face up to kiss him passionately.
"We should go." Bradin whispered as they pulled apart.
"I don't want to." Marie whispered. "It's just too beautiful here."
Bradin pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
"Come on," he stood, wiping the sand off his pants, and offered a hand to Marie. She took it and he pulled her up effortlessly. "I'll walk you home."
Marie climbed through the window, careful not to make any noise. The house was silent, her mother locked away in her room and her stepfather most likely passed out drunk on the couch.
She shut the window behind her, rubbing her arms up and down her arms to rid herself of the early morning chill, and turned towards her bed, ready to sleep.
"Where the hell have you been?" An angry voice hissed from a shadowy corner of the bedroom. A fearful shiver ran down her spine. She looked up slowly, knowing who it was that she would see.
Her stepfather stood up from the chair that he had been sitting in, his eyes flashing dangerously and his hands balled into fists at his sides.
"I…I…" Marie felt like a cornered animal, one that was about to be caught for the slaughter. The way that he walked towards her, his eyes staring her down, his pupils dilated, nostrils flaring, and his mouth set in an angry leer, it all frightened Marie to no end.
She knew that the days without beatings were all going to be made up for in this one moment. She had to be careful and watch what she said and did lest she encure even more of his wrath. Her life flashed before her eyes, and Marie knew that he meant to hurt her even worse than usual, if not kill her.
Don't ya just love cliffhangers? It was very mean of me to leave you all hanging, I know, but I think that this would be the perfect place to stop this chapter. The next update should be out in a few days, so you guys won't have to wait too long to see what happens. This story is almost finished I think, and there are only a few more chapters for me to write before it all comes to an end. I know, it's sad, but I've done all that I wanted to with this story, so where else do I have to take it. I've already covered heartache, abuse, confessions of love, what else is there?
There are still about two or three chapters that I think I'm going to write, you know, just to wrap up this whole thing, but I don't feel a need to drag this out any longer.
Please review and tell me what you all thought of this chapter.
PS. Sorry for how short the chapter was, the next one will be a lot longer.
Jmarocks: I'm actually working on an original story right now that is quite angst filled and deals with a girl who lost her family. I'm hoping to get it published one day. If that happens, I'll make sure to tell you all the title of the book so that you can all read it.
darkdestiney2000: Everything will come to a head in the next chapter and you'll get all the answers that you are asking for. So just sit tight 'cause this story is just getting good.
closetwriter: It seems that in just about every teen romance, be it a book or a movie, there is a pebble being thrown at a window. I get such a kick out of it whenever that happens and thought that it would be funny to put in the story. I'm glad you liked that part.
Summerland Chick, Laura, tinydancers17, Caitlin, ChcolateBubbles, Ally B, Mel, Samantha, rachel, jessesfan0409, Dramagrl, and indieemo-gur121: Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and review this story. I love it when people tell me what they think and your comments and encouragment really help me whenever I get stuck. So thank you.
