𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐘, angelina jolie

𝐗𝐈𝐕

"it's okay baby, i'm here. everything is okay," she whispered soothingly in her ears as she pulled her closer to herself, eleanor comfortably rested her head on elizabeth's chest, listening to her regular heartbeats conveyed a certain calmness, which had been completely foreign to her since the episode.

during the day she vigorously trembled in presence of any man who would not respect the minimum safety distance she had imposed. she feared she could meet him again, she feared the mere touch of any human being — besides elizabeth's, of course — she feared people would ask questions about her visible bruises on her neck. she tried to hide it as best as she could, using pullovers or any sort of scarf as well as a load of concealer, and yet people could always read the fear, the panic, the shock, the unparalleled pain.

never before in her life, not even when her parents had died, had she felt so heartbroken, so defeated.
not only because she had lost one of the most essential people in her life — angelina — but, most importantly, because she couldn't move on. her mind would always travel to that certain moment, destroying her sanity and increasing her paranoia; she couldn't bring herself to stand up, not only for herself but for the millions of people who suffered from violence every day of their life.

whilst in the night she dreaded the moment tiredness would reach her, she challenged herself to stay awake at the most absurd hours, even if she so badly yearned some rest; because that meant closing her eyes and giving her subconscious full control.

"ssh . . . it's okay. baby, it's just me. you don't need to worry."
elizabeth kept stroking her flowing brown hair gently, while eleanor clung with all her might to her girlfriend's nightrobe, the only reminder that she was awake and that monster was nowhere near her. she felt her convulsively whimper, cry and sob against her shirt which was now all drenched, but she didn't mind.

it broke her heart to see her in so much pain and having to cope with it alone. she tried to make her open up with what the hell had happened that destroyed her that badly, but eleanor wouldn't budge. she wanted to help her with every fibre of her being, but it is impossible to help one who refuses to be helped.

elizabeth tried to comfort her, knowing that her mere touch was somehow calming to her, but she wouldn't push too far. she knew eleanor would open up to her when she would feel ready.

"do you want to talk about it?"
the blonde softly asked as she pressed a sweet kiss on her forehead, as a response eleanor only tightened the grip around her body and ducked her head down in elizabeth's chest, the only source of solace for her.

"it's alright, whenever you're ready.
how about we go back to sleep? you need some rest, you've been barely getting any, these past few weeks."
elizabeth reasoned but it seemed that eleanor was nowhere near falling asleep in the depths of the night.

"no, i don't want to sleep."

"and why is that?"
she curiously asked, elizabeth had a certain feeling that her lack of sleep was somehow related to the trauma someone had inflicted her lately.
how she wanted to haunt down that certain person who had destroyed her fragile baby this badly. her knuckles whitened at the thought, while her eyes darkened with fury.

"what if i keep dreaming that?"
she faintly wondered as she lifted her head to look directly at her beautiful lover.

"then i'll wake you up. you don't need to worry, i'll be with you throughout the night. i'll go make you a hot cup of milk, yeah?"
elizabeth was glancing at her with such a loving look it was impossible not to notice despite the darkness of the night. she kept on caressing softly her cheek and eleanor melted into her caring touch. she closed her eyes briefly and leaned closer to elizabeth's hand, before placing a kiss on its inside.