Taking a deep breath, I walk inside.
Heads snap in my direction when I walk in.
Deep breath, Val.
They've seen the scars already. They're your family, they won't judge you, they love you.
I walk to my seat while I see some eyes fall on a deep scar on my stomach.
I sit down quickly while swallowing deeply.
There is an awkward silence for a while until Roman speaks up breaking it, "Val, I'm going to take you to school if that's okay" he says while giving me a smile that makes my body instantly relax.
I give him a grateful smile back while excepting his offer, "I'd like that, thank you"
He just smiles before I grab some grapes and start to eat them.
The others now all snap back out of their shocked state and start talking with each other and us.
Suddenly Ellie runs into the dining room while smiling and giggling, I'm happy that she's finally comfortable with my family too.
She runs up to me and gives me a big hug.
I smile and pick her up so she's sitting on my lap.
"Good morning El" I say giving her a smile.
"Good morwing" she smiles back.
"Do you want some grapes?" I ask while pointing to them.
She nods her head enthusiastically.
I grab her a small bowl which is made of some sort of plastic so when it falls it wouldn't break.
I switch her on my lap so that she's facing the table while she's eating.
Soon we all need to leave for school so I say goodbye to Ellie and my family members that aren't going to school.
I walk outside with Roman while we make our way to his motorcycle.
"Where is your schoolbag?" I ask Roman when I notice that he doesn't have his within reach.
"Well since you're driving on my bike with me, I can't wear a backpack, so I already dropped it off at school yesterday." He says.
"Ro, you know I could've just carried yours" I tell him
"But you're already carrying your own. And it wasn't that big of a deal" he says while handing me my helmet.
I don't put the helmet on yet, I reach out to him and bring him into a hug.
He hugs me back while rubbing my back before we give each other a small kiss on the lips.
We pull away and lean our foreheads against each other.
I give him a big smile before we put our helmets on and hop on his bike.
I grip onto his waist, making me feel his abs underneath his shirt.
My cheeks flush a little under the helmet while Roman starts the bike.
My grip tightens around him when we shoot out of the driveway and go to school.
I snuggle into him while I feel the cold wind blow its air on my body.
A comfortable smile rests on my face as I feel relaxation sink into my skin.
Way sooner then I'd hoped, we arrive at school.
I sigh, then swing my leg back over the bike and jump of it.
Roman does the same thing while I take my helmet off.
Roman too now takes his helmet off his head.
I cover my stomach when I notice some people stare at it.
I put a smile on my face and look up at Roman.
"Thank you for the ride, Ro"
"You're welcome, my love" he says giving me a kiss on the head.
He puts an arm around me as we walk to the school doors.
Still covering me stomach with one hands, I hold my helmet on the other while gently leaning against Roman.
With my family I was more at ease with displaying a few scars. But showing them to people I don't know as personally...maybe I shouldn't do this. I'll probably only end up hurt.
As if Roman could sense what I am thinking and doing he pulls my arm away from my stomach, "don't be scared, my love. They are beautiful and show the others how strong you are" he says softly while caressing my arm a little.
I look up at him since even after all these years my family and Roman all still tower over me.
My eyes show fear and insecurity but those intense feelings subside a little by his comfort.
With my heart still beating at a fast pace, I release my stomach completely and try to ignore to people who immediately look down at the scars.
The fist time in my whole life that I've showed scars in public.
"Ignore them Valentina" Roman says with some sort of commanding tone in his voice which gives me shivers.
I do as he says and focus my attention on the feel of his arm around my body and how his words capture my soul.
Roman and I put away our helmets in our lockers while we grab the two first books I need for this day.
We meet with our friends who look just as surprised as my family did this morning but didn't comment on it other then giving some comforting smiles when they see my nerves running around.
When the bell rings Alessia, Thea and I make our way to our history classroom and start to follow the lesson.
My friends have a rougher picture then most people about my past.
The media and world knows that I had been kidnapped before returning 13 years later, they all sort of made their own version about things that could off had happened and more but they never got any clarity about those assumptions.
Now my friends know that I've been kidnapped and have gotten severe trauma from it. They know that I had been abused but they haven't seen those pictures or heard any details about it.
While my family do have those things, they've seen those cruel pictures, they've seen me get tortured, they know those tragic details. They know how fucking bad things actually got while my friends don't...except Roman.
For some reason I told Roman everything, he's seen those pictures too and has heard me telling him graphic details of play room sessions. He sort of knows everything. He knows that I've thought about taking my life more often then my family knows. He knows things that even my family doesn't know. While I know everything about him. How he saw his parents and family members get killed, how he saw those guards turn on his family. How he lived on the streets, getting beaten daily and more. I can't really explain it but I know that everything I would tell him he wouldn't judge me about just like I would never do that with him. That even if the world would be falling apart we would still be there for each other.