Be My Juliet [on hold]

Chapter 19

"You must've forgotten I'm left handed." She lets out, rolling up her right sleeve.  I look down, and it is so much worse that her other arm.  The scars almost look like barcode, because there is so little of her porcelain skin peaking through them.  There are thinner ones, as well as deep gashes in the center.  I leave another line of kisses across that arm when I suddenly notice that they don't just stop at her elbow.

"There are more, aren't there?" I ask gently, trying to pull up her sleeve a tiny bit more.  She simply nods, looking up in an attempt to stop crying.  I put my hand on the bottom hem of her sweatshirt as a way to ask if I can see the rest.  I lift it over her head, and she's wearing a tight tank top underneath.  I was right; they do keep going up.  They're like the ones on her forearm, but go all around, only stopping when it's a few centimeters from the start.  They too are in different stages of recovery, but these are much more dense on both arms. It's like she's only recently started with her wrists, when her upper arms ran out of room.  "Anywhere else?"  Reluctantly she nods again, and I rest my chin on her shoulder, pressing my lips to her neck slightly.  She pushes me off and breathes loudly, trying to calm herself down. "Where else are they?"

"My stomach." She finally lets out after a long pause. "I stopped cutting there, but there are a few,"

"Define a few..." I ask, horrified that there's more.  She pulls up her top slightly, revealing a bruised mess. "How did you get those?" I almost yell, staring at the blue and purple marks dotting her flat stomach.  A single tear rolls down her cheek, and I realize that she did them. "I'm so sorry..." I wrap my arms around her protectively, kissing her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She replies, resting her head on mine. I lay her down on the bed, and gently press my lips to a bruise.  She giggles, and I can't help but smile.  I kiss another, and she swats me away playfully.  "That tickles!"  I continue pecking her all over and Penelope keeps laughing as she repeats, "Stop!  Dan, that tickles, stop!"

"Fine," I smirk, sitting up and going down on the ground.  I kneel in front of her, putting my crossed arms on her knees.  She meets my gaze, and ruffles my hair.  I take her hand, and kiss it again. "I know you won't stop all at once.  That's unrealistic; it's an addiction and even though you want to, stopping altogether simply won't happen. There are going to be days where you want to do it, and it'll be a struggle to overcome this.  The one thing I ask is that if on those days when you have an urge, call me.  I'll be over in a minute, and always be there for you."

"Thanks Dan," she smiles lightly. "Let's watch the movie?"

"Alright." I kiss the top of her head as we stand up and walk to the lounge.  She had brought two pillows from my room, and I dragged the duvet along with us.  After setting up a little spot to lie, we rifle through the DVD collection and end up picking Spirited Away.  We take our places, my arm wrapped around her shoulder and the duvet covering both of our outstretched legs.  She nuzzles into my side, bringing another grin to my face.

"Hey guys!" we hear Phil exclaim as he walks into the lounge.

"Hey!" we reply, sitting up a bit. "How's the video going?"

"Pretty good, I should have it done soon." He comes a bit closer, and I can tell by the way he looks that he's worried.  He must've heard us yelling or crying.  Probably both.  However he doesn't say anything, simply walking towards us carefully. 

"Want to take a break?  We're watching Spirited Away." Penelope asks him.

"I'd love to.  But just for a bit, I really need to get this done."

"Of course."She smiles, and pats the spot next to her.  Phil takes it, placing his legs on the table in front of him.  She gives him some of the covers, and he just keeps staring at her.  However she doesn't notice, and turns back to the film.  He looks up at me and I see the shock in his eyes. "Penelope..."