Ctrl + Alt + Dalt (BxB)

Ctrl + Alt + Dalt + 10

"Aw, look! The fag likes it! 'Harder! Harder!' the fag screams for more!" someone's voice taunts.

With my eyes still shut tightly from the excruciating pain, I hope to blackout soon, knowing that they'll leave me alone, eventually—just like last time, after I'm unconscious, because Jacob's too smart to go down for murder. Overwhelmed with the crushing pain shooting into my guts and beyond, I try to will away the pain, singing happy birthday to myself within my head as I wait and wish to lose consciousness. All the while, between the alien sounds of my own screaming, the group cackles like a bunch of hyenas gutting their victim.

***

"Dalt... Dalt... Dalton," Edmund's voice pleads, urging me to snap out of my catatonic state. My whole body shaking with fear and terror, I find myself unable to speak. My trembling knees cave and I drop towards the ground, curling into myself. Edmund breaks my fall, engulfing me from behind into the warmth of his embrace, holding me tightly into his arms as he lies back to sit down with me between his legs as I continue to tremble and shake uncontrollably. The softness of his lips presses into my ear as he whispers, "I don't care who sees. I won't leave you. I'll hold you for however long it takes for this to be over."

The pounding of the waves crashing below our cliff mask the terrible, haunting cackling only a stones throw away. It would be different if it were just Brogan and Base, because those two I can handle being around if I had to, but the fact that they're with such a large group of similarly-aged people that I don't even recognize terrifies me. I'd never thought that something like this could force me into reliving my past trauma. My groin aches as the painful scene plays over and over and over within my mind, my body shaking violently all the while. The only thing keeping me sane is Edmund's warmth, his cooing, his comforting closeness, and his citrus cologne, attempting to remind me that the terror of Jacob is in the past.

The shaking drags on and the sky turns orange, then red as the sun falls into the sea. Edmund clenches me tighter as the temperature drops and the cold, Pacific winds kick up the yellow sands around us as the waves crash below us, roaring like thunder. Edmund's presence is soothing, taking the edge off the pain and the fear still paralyzing me—even if my ears can no longer hear it, the cackling still haunts the space between them.

As darkness begins to creep across the sky and the cold intensifies, my shaking decreases only to be replaced by the shivers from each passing gust. Then, I feel shaking that isn't coming from me, but from the body embracing me from behind. Edmund's shivering. I feel terrible that he's suffering on my account and that seems to finally snap me out of my unresponsive state.

"You're freezing because of me," I mumble, finally able to break free of my pain- and fear-induced silence. I start to weep, sobbing and sniffling. "I'm sorry."

"Shh... Don't be. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault." He runs his soft, gentle hands into my hair, stroking it back as he comforts me from my crying. "We got our long walk on the beach together and we even managed to watch the sun set all while you've been in my arms. What more could I have asked for, really?"

"Me not having a break down," I say through sobs as he continues to stroke my hair.

"Well, there's that." He laughs softly into my ears and I can feel his whole body moving against mine. "Honestly, aside from that—which, again, isn't your fault—it was quite ideal. I get to tick this place off of my old bucket list."

"Well, that's cheating," I say as the sobs subside. I turn my head to see him staring at me, his puzzled halos of ice so pale that they are nearly colorless in the dim and dying light.

"And how so?" he asks, lowering one brow while raising the other.

"It didn't just say to merely visit." A devilish smirk runs across my lips, practically erasing my former anguish and agony away from my mind. "Did it not specifically mention something about you getting naked?"