Heartstrings | Jade x Tori

Chapter 5: Memories

"I fell." She sobbed, pulling away from my touch. Her glossy eyes remained locked onto mine. 

"Are you okay?" I asked. It felt stupid to ask that, I mean, she clearly wasn't. But I had no clue what to do. She sniffled as her crying slowed down a little, talking to me seemed to be calming her down, weirdly. 

"No, Tori, it hurts." She whimpered back to me. I had no clue if she was talking about her face or the fact Beck left, but one thing I did know is that I had never ever seen her this vulnerable before. It was weird, but nice. No bitchiness, no petty comments. Just pure Jade. I just wished that she could've been happy and like this, instead of heartbroken. Out of pure instinct, I pulled her into a tight hug. She didn't fight it. 

"Why'd you come here?" I asked softly, holding the crying girl tightly against my body. One thing about me is that no matter how mean someone was, or how much they hated me, if they needed me, then I'd be there. "Why to me?" I added. I felt her arms wrap around me. Fuck, this was weird. It was like I was sat with a whole new person. She wasn't the girl who hated me in that moment, she was soft, she was touchy. She was vulnerable. 

"Because." She murmured, sniffling again. "I don't know. You helped earlier and I don't want anybody else to see me like this. It hurts, Tori. I didn't want this to happen I really fucking didn't, but I told you earlier I know it has to happen. It had to. We're not good for each other." She added, tears now streaming down her face full force again. 

I had no clue how I was going to do it, but I knew one thing in that moment. I had to protect her.

"Oh, Jade." I whispered, continuing to hold her tight against me. I couldn't help but catch sight of the wound on her head again. "Come on, let's go upstairs and get you cleaned up and you can tell me what happened, okay?" I added, loosening my grip on her. I pulled back from the hug to meet her eyes again. They were still glossed over with tears, but somehow, despite the state she was in, she still looked so beautiful. It hurt me to see her hurting, and I had no clue why. She'd spent her entire time knowing me taunting me, making me feel awful about myself. But right here, right now, I felt horrible for her. I was seeing the real Jade, not whoever I'd known before. I stared into her blue-green eyes for a while. Suddenly, it was like I could actually see some of the hurt behind them. The hurt she'd hidden from not only me, but everyone. For some reason, I felt my chest start to ache. Why is it hurting so bad to see her like this when she was so mean?  I shot her a small smile, but she didn't seem in much of a mood to return it, which I understood. 

After a few silent moments, I stood up out of my seat, motioning her to follow me upstairs. Her body seemed pretty weak, but she managed to lift herself up to follow me sheepishly up the stairs and to the bathroom. 

The bathroom light was piercingly bright, and we both flinched a little as our eyes adjusted. Ahead of us was a large mirror, reflecting the sight of us. She seemed anxious, I mean, it was probably her first time actually seeing herself since this all happened, and she was messed up pretty bad. Blood stains trickled down past her left eyebrow to her cheek, and mascara seemed to be coating pretty much her entire face. I felt awful, so decided to break the silence.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Come here, I'll clean this." I spoke, trying to stay as calm as possible. There was a chair in the corner of the bathroom that had clothes carelessly piled on top, so I quickly brushed the clothes onto the floor and moved the chair toward where she stood, allowing her to sit down. "Uhh, oh yeah! Right here!" I called, turning to the cabinet behind me and opening it, where I found a small first aid kit. I tried to sound as happy as possible, not wanting to upset her further. Truthfully, I had no clue how it actually felt to be in her situation, I just knew it had to be hard.