She's Broken

Chapter 16

                Eli collapsed into the straw next to me, studying the wall in front of him. I looked to the side, leaning forward to see if I could see Harley. Surely enough, he was outside grazing.

                “Thank you,” I muttered, wiping my wet cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt. Eli let out a deep breath, gesturing around us.

                “Why are you out here?” he asked. My shoulders slumped and I rested my head on the wood behind me with a small slam.

                “Because my mum is up in Somerset,” I admitted. Eli answered with questioning eyebrows raised. “Whenever she was out, Finn would get me and I don’t like staying in there when I’m alone,” I finished, curling my shaking hands together in embarrassment. I didn’t glance over at Eli but I could feel his eyes on me.

                “Look at me,” he said softly. I swallowed my pride and raised my chin to look him in the eye.

                “I want you to keep your eyes on mine, okay? And don’t panic,” he said. As per instinct, I immediately stiffened when he said to ‘not panic’.

                “I won’t hurt you,” he assured again. I nodded when he moved around so that he was kneeling in front of me. The hay complained under his weight, crunching when he moved his shoes.

                I did as he said, keeping my eyes on his beautiful grey ones. He moved slowly, gently pressing his hand on my knee. Breaking eye contact with him, my eyes zeroed in on my knee and I froze. Eli took his hand away.

                “Kat, calm down, breathe,” he whispered. I took a deep breath, pushing back against the wall.

                “Please don’t,” I replied but Eli shook his head, settling on his ankles. The look in his eyes told me to trust him so I managed to control my breathing, ignoring my raging pulse.

                “Right, let’s try this,” he said. Moving to sit down next to me, he held his hand out, shooting me a smile. I looked at it like it was going to bite me, causing Eli to let out a breathy chuckle.

                “Just try and hold my hand, okay?” I gulped, nodding.

                After a moment of hesitation, I placed my palm on his, feeling his heartbeat pushing against the soft skin.

                His palm was warm, but not clammy like Finn’s used to be. Eli smiled, moving his hand so that his fingers were gently pressing against the top of my hand. At first, it startled me, but after, I got used to the sensation of having something enclosed on my hand, but not trapping it.

                “See?” Eli said after a few minutes of silence. His voice had a happy tone to it, smiling when he met my eyes.

                I grinned, slowly twining our fingers together. My heartbeat was still bashing against my skin, begging me to let go of him. Instead, I grabbed his hand tighter and then sighed.

                “Thank you,” I repeated and he smiled, settling on the straw next to me, our hands still attached. He let me fold them into my lap. We stayed that way for a while, just basking in the silence.

                “What were you dreaming about?” he asked. His voice was tentative and hesitant but also filled me with assurance about trusting him.

                “Finn and his friends.” Eli frowned, running his thumb back and forward over the skin on top of my hand.

                “His friends?” I nodded.

                “When he owed them, he would bring them down and... pay them back,” I tried to say calmly. My voice was trembling and Eli physically winced, scratching his chin. He said nothing in response, only listened when I told him the vague details of my dream and how Finn used to talk to me.

                “I wish I hit Dean harder,” he said at the end of it and I chuckled.

               

                “It’s fine, I’m pretty sure I heard his jaw crack, anyway,” I replied. Eli grinned, shaking his head.

                “If I hit him hard enough, he’d of fallen over,” he said. Quirking a smile, I let go of his hand and pushed myself to my feet, brushing the hay from my jeans.

                “How did you know I was in here, anyway?” I asked. Eli gestured towards Harley.

                “He was going mad. I couldn’t wake you up at first, it got a bit scary,” he said and then smiled, showing a dimple. “I also discovered that I hate it when you cry.” A blush rose up and I turned away, looking at my horse.

                I felt something press gently against my arm. I jumped but when I looked down, it was just a bit of paper.

                “Here’s my number. If you’re ever here alone, scared of just want someone to talk to, give me a call,” he said, looking down at his feet. I smiled, taking it and shoving it in the pocket of my jeans.

                “Thanks.”

                “Fancy going for a ride?” he asked and I nodded eagerly.

                “Just let me change.” I looked once over my shoulder on the way back to the house and when I did, Eli was watching me, his eyes warm and his body language open. Something that I couldn’t wait to get used to.

A/N: Sorry about the delay, I was stressing about exam results. But for those that are interested, I passed!:D so they'll become more frequent :) Please vote and let me know what you think :)