Chapter Seventy Two – Scars

Olivia lay sprawled halfway across Ben's chest enjoying the warmth of his skin against hers. The soft sheets caressed the bare skin of her back. She was enjoying it, all of it, but she couldn't help the small pang of disappointment that was still lingering. They'd eagerly moved what had started on the floor of his living room into his bedroom. Olivia had relished every second of it. She'd barely managed to convince her body to slow down a little and enjoy Ben. Then it had all come crashing down. She'd had a seizure in the middle of it, which had ended everything. When her seizure had finally ended she'd been too scared (plus completely exhausted and unsettled) to try again. As disappointing as that was for both for them, Ben had agreed. The moment had been ruined anyway.

Ben trailed his fingers down Oliva's spine, and she hummed happily. Full lovemaking for the evening might have been cancelled, but that didn't mean everything was over for the night. It was an opportunity to do a little exploring. Olivia had to admit that letting her fingers dance across his body and feeling his skimming across hers was a nice consolation prize. The pads of his fingers ghosted across her ribs and stomach, pausing to caress her skin every now and then. It set her skin to tingling. Of course the tingling wasn't about to stop as he ran his hand down the curve of her hip and over the smooth skin of her hamstring. Olivia smiled and buried her head tighter against him. Ben used the increased closeness as an opportunity to lovingly trace her cheek and neck. A moment later he was trailing kisses over her shoulder while his fingers returned to her back. His hands had covered almost every part of her body. Except one. She'd noticed that he was purposefully keeping his hands away from the scar that crisscrossed the back of her head, and she really appreciated it. While she loved having his hands in her hair, she didn't want him touching her scar.

Of course that was basically what she was doing with him, finding his scars and running her fingers over them. He didn't seem bothered by that though. It still meant he got to have her hands all over him. Since he didn't have any scars that resulted from a mentally scarring incident he didn't want to talk about like Olivia did, there really wasn't much to worry about. Even if there was, he wasn't sure he would care.

She ran her hands through his hair and slid them down over his ears. Her thumbs pressed warm circles into the skin behind each ear before continuing the same treatment on his neck. She couldn't help planting a firm kiss on his lips. Ben returned it and wrapped his arms around her. He could feel the silk touch of her fingers gliding across the back of his neck. She seemed to find a spot she particularly liked.

"When did you get this?" she asked as she kept tracing the scar at the base of his skull just at his hairline.

"Get what?"

"This scar."

It wasn't very big. Probably only an inch or two across.

"Ah, that? When I was a kid. It's actually a pretty amusing story."

"Knowing you, that doesn't surprise me," Olivia teased.

She was looking straight down at him, her hair hanging loose so it hung forward like a curtain. Ben reached up and carefully tucked it back behind her ear so he could see her face better. Immediately a few strands fell back in front of her face. He tried to fix the problem again, but Olivia reached up to grab his hand and stop him. She kissed the tips of his fingers and settled back down next to him, one arm draped over his chest.

"So tell me a story."

"A long, long time ago in a far away place…" Ben began, only to have Olivia beat her fist into his chest. "Okay, okay. The real story. We were playing tag in the park. Me, Ryan, and Clarissa. Cole was pretty little, so he was with Mom on the smaller stuff. I wanted to show off to Ryan so I was running backwards. We were always doing something to try and one up each other, taunt each other, show off. You know?"

Olivia didn't know really. Being an only child she hadn't had reason to try and one up anyone, but she didn't comment on it and let him continue.

"He was it, so he chased after me. I just went faster and kept taunting him about how he couldn't catch me."

"And did he?"

"Didn't get the chance. I tripped and fell backward. Hit my head on the edge of a low piece of equipment. Apparently I hit it just right because it opened up a pretty big gash. I scrambled back to my feet so I wouldn't get tagged. My head hurt, but with Ryan there? I wasn't going to show it. Of course Ris had screamed and alerted Mom. There was blood everywhere, and Mom panicked."

"I would think seeing your child with blood pouring down his neck is a good reason to panic."

"Yeah, probably. The biggest thing I remember was being so mad."

Olivia tipped her head slightly and looked at him questioningly.

"You blamed Ryan?"

Ben laughed his chest rumbling under her arm. She could feel his laughter more than she could hear it.

"No. I was mad that my mom made us all stop playing and leave the park so she could take me to the hospital."

"Of course you were."

"Hey, at least it gave me something else to use against Ryan. I'd been to the hospital and gotten stitches, and he hadn't."

Olivia groaned and rubbed her head against him. Was that something all siblings did or was it only a guy thing? He was still laughing away at the memory of it, so maybe it was a guy thing. She really didn't know. Ben's fingers threaded through her hair, pulling her back out of her thoughts. Again her eyes flickered to his. They were filled with the light of his laughter. She always loved seeing that and couldn't help getting lost in them. Once more he had to draw her back, this time by rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone.

"Do I get a story now?"

"I don't really have many stories, and none of them are very good."

"You have to at least come up with one."

She frowned and thought about it. Most of her childhood scars had long since disappeared, and surprisingly enough she didn't have any small ones from the job. The few scars she did have still didn't have any good stories she attached to them. At least they weren't stories she wanted to share with him. She had to find one though. Finally she settled for a small one on the palm of her hand. She held her hand up, and Ben took it, trailing his fingers across her skin to try and find it.

"Where…?"

"My palm. It's not very noticeable anymore."

"Tell me about it. I can't feel anything," he said as his fingers continued panning across her palm.

Olivia directed his fingers to the right place with her other hand.

"Broken plate. Not very dramatic."

At least it wasn't when she said it that way. The full story was somewhat dramatic, but not in a very good way. Her mother had broken the plate in one of her drunken rages. At twelve Olivia had been used to her mother's anger, but being used to it hadn't made it much easier to deal with. The taunts and insults her mother had always thrown at her had always been painful. She'd never been able to get used to that, and it had never hurt any less. She'd set about cleaning up the broken pieces of the plate with her mothers' acidic comments still ringing in her ears. The clean-up had been totally automatic. Her mind hadn't really been in that kitchen. It had been on everything her mother had said. She hadn't realized she'd clenched her hand around the broken piece until the physical pain of the jagged edge digging into her palm reached the same level as her emotional pain.

"Doesn't sound like it," Ben said.

Thankfully he'd accepted the short explanation without question. Olivia's mother had stained enough of her life already. She didn't want this night to be stained too. With a lot of effort she pushed the old memories down and away. Ben unknowingly helped her do that. He twined his hand with hers and leaned in for a kiss, one that lingered and slowly made her mind go blank. She could have relished it forever.

When he released her lips he remained on his side so he could face her. Olivia smiled and stroked his arm. While she was busy with his arm, Ben rested his hand on her side and rubbed his thumb over her rubs. His hand slowly slid around to her back, and he tugged her closer to she was pressing up against him. Olivia didn't mind the closeness and allowed her arm to drape around his back as well.

"I like this," Ben told her as he drew random designs across her back. "We should do this more often."

Olivia chuckled softly. She was rather enjoying their cuddling time as well. Of course she suspected that he had an extra reason for why he was loving this moment.

"You just like the feeling of my breasts pressed up against you."

Ben's face split into the biggest, most amused smile Olivia had ever seen. He knew he could very well be in trouble, but he didn't care. Pissing her off in a light, not truly bothersome way was way too much fun.

"I would never turn it down if you were offering."

"Of course not. You're such a guy."

"There is no point in denying that."

Olivia snorted back a laugh and leaned in to kiss him again. She may not have been a guy, but she did have to admit she did not mind her breasts being pressed against him either. It was actually really nice. He was right. They should definitely do this more often. Maybe that seizure had been a gift in disguise.