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1 week
It has been one week exactly.
One week since she has spoken.
One week since he had heard her voice.
They set up their tent in the Albanian forest right after Tom cleaned up the place a little bit. He knew what he had to do.
She didn't eat much. She didn't sleep much. She would sit there on her bed in the far corner and watch the window.
Tom didn't feel bad. They deserved it after all. He couldn't understand why she was so upset. They treated her horrible, yet she's here crying?
"Do you want som tea?" Tom asked the girl. She shook her head no but didn't look at him. The tent wasn't big. Enough for a little kitchen, bathroom with a tub, two beds and small seating area. He watched her a lot of the time from his bed.
He made her tea anyway. Chamomile with honey. It was his personal favorite. He put the hot glass next to her bed and sat down on her bed. She looked from the window to him. He looked, curious but with fake sympathy. She knew he couldn't understand why she was upset.
"You look like your dying you need to eat something" he said. She rolled her eyes at him but didn't say anything. He huffed out. He knew he should be calm. He knew that when people are upset they look for a calm, reassuring person.
"I know you don't understand why I'm upset" she finally said. It caught him off guard. "You don't have to try Tom" she said.
"You could explain it to me" he said back.
"Don't act like you care." She said and he looked at her surprised. He actually felt a bit upset as she said that but hid it before he could understand what he was feeling.
"Sorry" she said and he nodded.
They were silent. Tom was about to get up and leave her but she grabbed his hand before he could go. "Don't leave" she said. He saw tears breaking from her eyes but she quickly hid them as he sat back down.
"It was all an illusion." She said. He scooted closer to her. She was whispering so lowly.
"I made it up. They never cared" she said and he watched as a tear escaped from her eyes. All he wanted to do was kiss that tear away from her beautiful face.
"I thought there was something wrong with me. That I'm the reason they would allow them to do that" she said and he grabbed her hands as she started to shake.
"They just didn't care. That's why I'm upset. I had parents that never loved me" she said and he could now understand. He felt the same way.
She started to sob. Her cries made Tom want to break everything around him. He didn't know what to do. He grabbed her frail shaking body and pulled her in an embrace. He felt her head hit his chest as she cried. He pulled his hand up to her head and stroked it ever so softly as she cried.
They stayed like this for a while. Tom didn't know exactly how long but it was long enough that the steam from the tea eventually went away and it went from a bright day to dark. He didn't move. He didn't say anything. He just let her cry.
At first he had assumed she had fell asleep. It was until she moved off from his head that he knew she was wrong. Her face was all red and puffy. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had bags under her eyes.
"Thank you Tom" she said.
He looked at her face. The cut healed well from the dittany he applied on it. It was still visible and it angered him. He found his hand on her cheek staring into her eyes.
"No one will ever hurt you again. I promise you Marcelline. I will protect you. Even if it kills me" he found himself saying and it was like a stab in the chest as he said it. She looked at him. She smiled a little bit and grabbed his head and gave him a big embrace.
In that moment they both understood why they were so drawn to each other. Why they just couldn't stay away.
They were two broken kids. Two broken souls. Two kids condemned on this horrid earth.
They needed each other.
Tom needed her.