𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒

~"He's in my head!"~

After a few minutes, Felicity came out of the bathroom. She was wearing the pyjamas I had given her... plus my hoodie? "Where'd you get my hoodie from?"

"You left it in the bathroom... a-and I was kind of cold... y-you can have it back i-if you w-want-"

"Felicity! Calm down princess! You can wear it... its looks better on you anyway..." I said with a small smile. Felicity gave me a smile as she made her way over, climbing onto the bed and sitting between my legs. She rested her back against my chest, her head leaning on my shoulder.

My arms wrapped around her waist, intwining her fingers with mine. My head lent into the crook of her neck, I placed small kisses over her skin as I rocked us back and forth. "What happened Felicity..." I asked quietly, not knowing whether she would tell me or not.

"I had a nightmare... more like a memory. Papa was there, he was hitting me again. I could feel the pain of it again, the feeling of his fist hitting my cheek, his foot kicking my stomach. I could feel it all and it hurt... I woke up but I thought I was still there. I didn't know what I was doing but I walked into the bathroom, I cried my eyes out and pulled at my hair, wishing that he would just leave me alone."

"Everything was getting to much, I found a blade and... well, cut myself. Five cuts, how many times he had made me unconscious that day. I was still living it when you came in a-and I t-thought you were h-him and I-I thought you we-re going t-to hit me!" She started to sob again, her body shaking as though her mind had drifted back to that night.

I turned her around slightly, pulling her closer to my chest as I rubbed my hand soothingly over her arm. I let her sob, knowing that sometimes a good cry can make you feel better. So I just sat, I sat there and comforted her like she's comforted me many times before.

"It's okay princess, I'm here for you and I promise you you'll be safe. I won't ever let him hurt you again, Felicity. I'll protect you with my life if I have to, you're okay Princess." I whispered into Felicity's ear, my lips brushing her skin.

"T-the l-last thing h-he told m-me before they took h-h-him was that n-no matter wh-where I went h-he would f-f-find me. I c-could run f-for months, o-or for y-years, maybe e-even my entire l-l-life but he wo-uld still f-find m-me!" She sobbed again, clutching onto my chest, literally clutching.

"I promise you Felicity, I will always be here to protect you as long as I live, I won't ever let him hurt you again." I told her, giving her hands a small squeeze. She lazily drew circles on my chest with her no-longer-clutching-hands, thank god because my skin was turning red.

"B-but he's everywhere! H-h-he's in my dreams! M-my night-mares a-and he's in my head! He's in my head!!" She cried, her body starting to shake again.

I pulled her tighter against me, placing her head in the crook of my neck as I sort of put her into a ball. With her knees to her chest and her arms by them, she took up less space, meaning I could hold her whole body steady.

"It's okay princess, I'm here, I'm here. Everything is going to be okay, you'll be okay." I said into her ear, placing a small kiss on her forehead. I rocked us back and forth, a song coming to mind as I did. "Put your hands in the air if you hear me out there, I've been looking for you day and night. Shine a light in the dark, let me see where you are, cause I'm not gonna leave you behind." I quietly sung the chorus, letting out a sigh of relief as Felicity stopped shaking, her breathing calming down to indicate she had fallen asleep.

I moved around, lying my head down on the pillow. Felicity laid by my side, curled in a ball as her head rested on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to me. I felt safer with her in my arms, even though I said I would protect her. While I knew she felt physically safe with me, I felt mentally safe with her.

I felt like I was always able to speak my mind around her, like I could talk about how I felt without feeling like I would be judged. Everything about Felicity was welcoming, the smile she had, the spring in her step and the sparkle in her eyes. Even when she is broken on the inside, she manages to put on a smile and make everyone's day brighter.

I let my mind slip away, a smile wide on my face as I held Felicity close to me, the warmth our bodies and the blanket lulling me to sleep.

~~

I woke up at about half eight, Felicity still sleeping peacefully by my side. I smiled down at her, brushing my hand over her arm as I admired her sleeping form. She looked so calm, so collected. It seemed almost unreal that earlier this morning, she was a crying mess. It was so hard to believe that such a calm girl could be so broken and reckless...

In a way, she reminds me of Jax. The only difference, Felicity is actually broken, like me.

I carefully got out of bed, making my way into the kitchen and making some bacon and eggs for breakfast. As I cooked, I started humming Upperdrugs by Highly Suspect, the song I had sung at the lake yesterday.

I finished making breakfast, dividing it to two plates. I turned everything off before carrying both plates into the bedroom, Felicity was clutching onto my pillow, burying her face into my hoodie.

I sat down, placing the plates on the bedside table before turning to Felicity. "Felicity, princess. I have breakfast for you, wake up please." I said, lightly shaking Felicity. She groaned and rolled over, facing her back towards me. I let out a small chuckle, climbing onto her so I was straddling her waist.

"Princess, it's time to wake up, you don't want your food to go cold right?" I said, I started to play with Felicity's hair, dragging my fingers through it in the hope to wake her up. She stayed put though, her eyes remained closed.

I tried everything, from tickling her to shaking her. Yet she would not wake up, each time? She just groaned and turned away from me. I only had one other thought... I let out a huff, flicking my head to move my hair out of my face. "You asked for this princess." I said as I lent down...

I opened my mouth, my tongue touching her skin as I licked her cheek. Felicity's eyes shot open, her hands darting to her cheeks, wiping where I had licked her. She looked up at me with wide eyes as I tried to suppress my smirk, but the corners of my mouth kept twitching up.

"What the heck Cooper?! Why'd you lick me?!"

"You wouldn't wake up! Besides, I made you breakfast, I'd find it quite rude if you didn't eat with me." I said with a childish pout, Felicity let out a giggle as she pushed me off of her, sitting up and grabbing her plate. I grabbed mine and we both started to eat.

After breakfast, we hung around the forest for a bit before collecting our things, minus the spare clothes we were leaving here, and left.