TW; SELF HARM

Person B has been trying hard to hide the scars from Person A, after years of automatically wanting to cut. One day, Person B is in front of the bathroom mirror with a pair of scissors in their hands but doesn't notice Person A entering the house. Just as Person B presses the blade to his/her skin, Person A walks in and takes the scissors from Person B's hand as Person B starts sobbing softly. Person A takes Person B in their arms whilst whispers softly in Person B's ear: "It's okay,".

"I have to go now, baby." Ryder tugged on his jacket sleeves even harder than before as Marley ran into the room dressed in her work gear. "You look gorgeous." Ryder whispered, standing up and crossing his arms. He walked over to Marley and stood over the top of her. "I'll see you later, okay, Ryd?" Marley whispered, smiling up at her boyfriend. "Of course… and we can hang and stuff." Ryder muttered, awkwardly moving his arms to relieve the itching and burning sensation.

"Awesome." Marley whispered, wrapping her arms around Ryder's waist. Ryder smiled and put his arms around Marley, staring at his jacket sleeves, being careful not to let them roll up. Marley couldn't see the scars—she just couldn't.

"I love you." Marley muttered against Ryder's orange jacket. "I love you, too, Marls." Ryder whispered, kissing her hair lightly. "Okay, I have to go." Marley giggled, pushing Ryder away lightly and playing with her bag again. "Oh, alright," Ryder smiled, walking behind Marley to the door. "Bye." Marley whispered, unlocking the door to the house and stepping outside. Ryder watched Marley carefully as she walked to her small blue car in the driveway, waving to her one last time.

He closed the door frantically and spun around to lean on it, making sure Marley couldn't open it again if she needed to come back inside. Ryder slid down to the ground and rolled up his sleeves slowly, biting his lip.

It had been such a long time since he'd cut—it was so long he barely even remembered how long it actually had been. Every night, though, had been huge struggle to fight the urge to cut himself—and especially with Marley around, he had to be even more careful… Ryder had no idea what she would do.

He traced his finger along the scars of his wrist, sighing when he came across a dark red cut from a couple of nights ago when he just couldn't control himself anymore and he had to cut. All he knew was that he was lucky that Marley hadn't heard him that night.

Ryder stood up from his spot against the door, pulling down his sleeve again, looking around the house. His arm was itching and burning for him to cut. It was the only thing he could focus on at that second—nothing more.

He paced around downstairs for a moment before gazing at the stairs, his temptation taking over him.

It had grown into a crazy addiction that he couldn't stop, even though he wanted to so badly. Every time he tried, his mind would convince him he had to in order to feel well again. Ryder knew that it was dangerous and maybe one day it'd go too far, but when the urges came, he couldn't care less whether he lived or died.

Ryder ran towards the steps, holding his sleeves tightly. He rushed around his and Marley's room, throwing items of clothing everywhere as he breathed erratically, looking for something he could cut with.

He eventually gave up on looking in his bedroom and darted for the bathroom, furiously opening the cupboards. Inside the cupboard was a shining pair of scissors, glinting in the light from the bright bulb on the ceiling.

Ryder sighed and picked the scissors out of the cupboard, eyeing them carefully. They'd have to do. He tore off his jacket and his t-shirt and threw them to the ground, kicking them away from him. He stared at his arms one more time, taking in every single scar and every single line across there. What had he done to himself? He was destroying himself… and he chose to do it. He was destroying himself and he couldn't stop.

He sighed again and shakily picked up the silver scissors, tears already gathering in his eyes. He slowly and carefully brought the scissors to his right arm, digging the scissors in and hissing in pain. He dug the scissor a little deeper into his arm, letting out a small strangled scream as pain flooded through his arm, almost making him stop.

Taking the scissors out of his arm, he sighed as he glanced down at the bleeding cut on his forearm. The blood was already leaking out of the cut and down his arm, dripping onto the perfectly white tiled ground beneath. Ryder admired the blood and the deep cut for a moment before digging the scissors into his arm again, just above the other cut.

It stung more than the first, but it was a huge weight off of his shoulders. He was getting rid of all of the pain built up inside of him—even if it was on himself. After keeping the blade in his arm for a moment, he slid it across his screen, dragging the cut to the side of his arm and sighed. He stared down at the cut with tears in his eyes, wishing he could erase what he just did—but he would always have those ugly scars… and when Marley found out, she was sure to break up with him. After all, who wants to date a cutter?

The very thought of the love of his life breaking up with him made him feel even more depressed than he had been before, causing him to dig the scissors into his skin again, a little bit further towards his wrist.

He let out a quiet sob and pressed the scissors into his arm harder. His arm began to shake as the scissors went deeper into his skin. Ryder tried to stop himself from going too deep, but he couldn't. It was like his mind had been taken over by a demon who just wanted to harm him.

Suddenly, he dropped the bloody scissors on the ground and ran a hand through his hair. Ryder stared down at the deep cut on his arm, immediately feeling queasy and dizzy at the site of the blood. It was flowing out of his arm like a waterfall and he knew he would have a hard time trying to stop that one. This is spiraling out of control, he told himself, looking at the door and mentally persuading himself to walk out of the room and stop doing this.

But instead, he bent over and picked up the bloody scissors, his hands shaking furiously. Ryder's vision began going blurry, objects dividing into two and black spots occasionally covering his sight. He shook his head and gazed down at his arm, moving the scissors slowly again. Ryder was about to dig the blade in when the door to the bathroom was slammed open. He jumped backwards slightly and dropped the scissors on the ground again, staring at the doorway.

Marley.

"Ryd?" She whispered, raising her eyebrows as she looked at the ground, the scissors and then his arm, gasping loudly and placing her hand over her mouth. "Ryder." She sighed.

A million questions were running through his head and he couldn't decide which one to say aloud. What are you doing here? Aren't you meant to be at work? Are you going to break up with me? Do you hate me?

"Wh-wh… what are you doing? What's going on? Ryder, tell me." Marley's voice cracked as she stared directly at Ryder and his messed up hair and bloody arm. This couldn't be happening. Not to him.

Ryder stared at Marley's worried face, knowing he had let her down. He looked down at his own arm pressed against his chest, noticing the blood all over his stomach and smudged along his arm and the scars. He let out a loud sob and put both of his hands over his face, a sudden stinging going through his arm, causing his to pull it closer to his chest. "Oh, Ryder, babe." Marley sighed and ran forward, pulling Ryder into a tight hug and stroking his hair. "Don't cry, please don't cry." She whispered, her voice choked up with tears. "I love you… and I'm sorry." She whispered, digging her face into his shoulder. Ryder continued to sob into Marley, wrapping his good arm around her waist and pulling him closer to her.

"It's okay." Marley muttered, rubbing her hands up and down his back. "It'll all be okay in time, Ryd. I promise."

She pulled back and pulled Ryder's bloody arm from his chest, staring at the deep cuts and sighing. How could she have let this happen? She never noticed his pain… I'm such a horrible girlfriend. She looked away from the gruesome cuts and back up at Ryder, who was still crying heavily. "Babe, babe," Marley whispered, pulling him into another tight hug.

Ryder tried to get words out, trying to apologies, but his words were stuck on his tongue and refusing to come out. As Marley hugged him, he could feel himself beginning to calm down, but not enough to speak about the touchy subject just yet. Marley pulled her arms tighter around Ryder's neck and Ryder pulled his hands around Marley's waist, getting blood on her perfect work clothes, but Marley didn't care.

"Ryd, it's okay," she whispered, kissing his cheek. "It's okay, it's okay."