Tough Girl // Theo James

Chapter 2

Violet's POV -

I wake up panting, again. I despise my nightmares. Sometimes, I'm giving extra snippets of the dream, so after my body is taken over by darkness I see that I am swimming in black oil. It frightens me that my mind can create such horrible images and feelings. I shudder as I re think the nightmare.

I sit up and suddenly I remember the man. I check the time. 8:00 am. I get up but my head is swimming so I sit back down. "You looked pretty bad" I hear a raspy voice say. I look around and once I see a figure I tense up. "In your nightmare, you looked pretty bad" he explains. "Yeah, well..." I say, not telling him what it's about. I don't know this man and he seems dodgy to me.

"You're a good fighter" he says looking at my eyes as if he's trying to read me. But I show no emotion. It's a weakness. I look at him properly and see a bruise on his face and dry blood around his mouth and nose. I walk to my cupboard and take out some disinfectant, cotton and I get a cup of water. "Sit" I demand, motioning to my bed. He does as he's told and I stand over him. I dip the cotton into the water and dab it on the mans face. He winces but immediately goes back to a neutral face. While I clean him up I see that he is digging his nail into his thumb to stop feeling the pain on his face.

Once I'm done, I inspect the cuts. They're small but visible. It must have been when he fell or when I slapped him. I get another bit of cotton and put a little disinfectant. "This is going to sting" I tell him. I dab the cotton once again on the cuts. Some of them are fairly deep and I don't want them to get infected.

Wait what? I don't want the cuts to be infected. I don't want him hurt. That's weird. I usually couldn't care less about others. I'm becoming too soft. I tell myself. I dab harder and he winces. I'm about to say 'sorry' but I decide against it.

Next, I look at his bruise. It's pretty big. I touch it and he winces. I leave the room to find some pain killers. I come back and he's sitting on the bed looking at his hands. I lift his chin up with a finger so that I can see his bruise. I hand him the pain killer and a glass of water. "Take these" I say and walk to the living room. After about 2 minutes, I hear the man walk in. "You're a good fighter" he repeats. I sigh. "I know" I tell him, almost sad. I'm not being arrogant, it's just that I've been told it so many times and I'm sick of it. "Really good" he continues, ignoring the way I answered his earlier statement. I continue to sit there reading a magazine. "How did you learn?" He asks whispering in my ear. I can't help but shiver. "I didn't" I replied. It was true. I remember when I was 12 and I was in a park with my mother when a group of thugs came up to us and started intimidating us. I felt like I had to protect my mother and I swung my fist at a man, causing him to pass out. There were about 5 men in total and I managed to make them all unconscious. I smile at the day. I was only 12.

I then remember what my mother said afterwards : "what are you?" She had whispered. At the time I didn't understand. But now I know that she was afraid... Of me. Sometimes I think that I have nightmares because of that day. Because of that day, I felt unsafe and unwanted. The next 5 years weren't any better. My mother always avoided me, she thought I would hurt her. My father was always away anyway. And I am an only child.

I realised that me and the man have stayed silent for too long. He looks genuinely worried. I keep a stern face to show that I'm not afraid. "Theo" he says. "What?" I ask. "I'm Theo" he says with a slight smirk. "Violet" I reply looking down. I don't have a TV, it's too expensive so we kind of just sit there. I don't even think about sending him away.

We sit there for a while until it's 9:30 am. We haven't spoken at all and it's slightly awkward, but in a way, reassuring. I stand up and walk to my bedroom. I take off my floral top and jeans and I'm left in my bra and underwear. I'm proud of my body so I don't bother hiding from Theo. But, when he walks in, his eyes widen and he doesn't turn away. I face him and put my hands on my hips. "Turn around" I tell him forcefully. He does as I say a little too slowly for my liking. I put yoga leggings on and a tight sports top. I get my trainers on and grab my keys. "Where are you going?" Theo asks, a little, disappointed... "A run" I tell him in a monotone voice. He nods. "I better go then" he says firmly as if he was telling himself. I open the door and he walks out as well as closing the door behind him.

I start to pick up my pace to a jog and eventually a sprint. I find myself in the park where I beat up the men. They're gone now. I slow to a stop to find Theo right next to me. "You can go home now" I say, a little rudely. "I am home" he says bluntly. I'm getting annoyed. He then points to a large tree and walks to it. I follow.

I look at the tree more carefully. From the bottom of the tree to about 6 foot there is a large gap which is covered by a make do door made out of vines. Theo pushes the vines away and shows me the inside. I see 3 pillows, a sleeping bag and a bag pack full to the brim with food. I also see a pile of clothes. It's quite spacious... For a tree. It could fit 4 people with space left. "Wow" is all I could say. Theo chuckles and steps in. "Home sweet home..." He says looking down. I look at his eyes. I see... Sadness and...fear. He's so easy to read. He pats next to him. I sit next to him and he hands me an apple which I eat gratefully. I'm not going to let him know anything about me. I don't like to show my emotions. We talk for a while until it's lunch time. "Come to mine for lunch" I offer. He nods and take a jog to my house. We arrive.

He sits in the living room and I look at him questionably. Why do I feel so relaxed around him? I don't know if I like this feeling, I feel so... Vulnerable...