The Pain that Made Her Beautiful

PMHB ch 37

Thank you all!

soooooooo much for everything that you did! for reading, for voting, for commenting.

love you all dearly!

but, i would still really appreciate the votes, if you could......?

~JDB

Nayeli rose and scuffled over to him. When she got to him, however, Nayeli saw that Marcus bore a   slightly hurt look on his face, though his eyes were shut and he seemed not to notice her presence. She sat as quietly as she could next to him and then brought her knees to rest up by her chest.

Marcus raised an eyebrow and slightly cracked open the eye closest to Nayeli.

“So it worked?” He asked playfully.

Nayeli was dumbstruck. He was acting! That little twerp!

“Uh-huh…” Nayeli said pensively sarcastic.

“Uh-huh…? What?” Marcus asked sitting up, turning his arms inward, extending them, and letting them drape over his knees lazily.

“You… you were acting?”

“Of course I was. You never hurt me, though I must admit, the last question you posed was a befuddling issue for me,” as he spoke, Marcus playfully hip bumped Nayeli.

The action was purely good-humored, and Nayeli knew it, but a new sensation hit her as soon as he contacted her. There were tingles. It was not the same sensation that hit her when Warick touched her: craving, almost lust, coupled by the unnatural tingles. She unconsciously stiffened and her eyes widened.

“What did I do?” Marcus asked innocently, moving away, shyly.

“You—you didn’t do anything wrong… you just caught me off guard,” Nayeli added a wry smile as she finished.

“Can I ask you a question, Nayeli? I know I am overstepping my boundary completely, and, as such, I completely understand if you won’t answer: you don’t really know me very well,” Marcus’ voice, as he spoke, was soft and timid, but he still held her gaze as he spoke, trying to reassure her.

Nayeli thought about it, if I don’t like the question, I can always say no, so why not?

“Sure, but, if I don’t want to answer, I’m not going to.”

“Ok,” Marcus paused, cautiously, “Nayeli, what happened to you?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, there are times, like a week ago when you were looking out the window at the scenery and when you put Apollo to total shame and you’re vivacious and you visibly love life and all things about it. But there are times, like just now, when I looked at your eyes and they were… empty, sad, and almost hollow. I know that you are a normal—well that’s a bad word, but the best I got right now—person, fun loving, joyful, full, driven, and, well, happy. I know there are times when you are, but I have never seen such a moment and long to do so. The smile you let show the day in the valley rendered me speechless: it… you were beautiful, glowing, and—“

“Is there a question anywhere in this?” Nayeli interrupted. She tried to make her voice indifferent, but in truth, she heart was crying tears of memories past. Marcus had opened the door to her past terrors and pains—memories. She couldn’t lose her edge.

“Yes, there’s a question,” Marcus replied, “What, who, did this to you, Nayeli? And, why would they use their poison on such a beautiful,” Marcus ran the back of his right pointer finger up over Nayeli’s cheek bone and then down along her jawbone, “flower—like a rose in spring.”