—✩✩✩✧✩✩✩—
Seven hours later
I softly trace the defined lines on his
chest, while laying my head against him.
"Aleksander" I whisper
He hums while running his warm
hand up and down my lower back.
"I want to go, I know you don't
believe it will be safe but I know
I won't feel safe unless I'm there
when he dies, like with Marco."
Honestly, once I take care of everyone
who has tried to hurt or kill me,
I won't have a reason to
run from anything, I will be at peace.
I hear his heartbeat against the side
of my head, it's strangely comforting,
I wish I could explain
the reasoning but I don't know it.
These past few weeks have been a roller coaster for our relationship,
it seems like we move one step toward
and then get moved three steps back.
We are both the problem,
I could be more at fault
but we both make mistakes.
I feel like every time we work things
out, he tells me I can't do something important or I try to leave without
telling him to avoid that argument.
But now I'm not going to try to avoid
that, I'm going to do my best
to work things out when they happen
and communicate clearly,
Hopefully, he'll do the same for me.
"Malysh," he says in a tired voice,
running his hand up to the back of
my neck, gently rubbing it. "we can
talk in the morning, but not now."
Fair enough, he's barely awake.
•~~~~~~~~~~❀❀❀~~~~~~~~~~~•
A few hours later...again
We haven't talked yet
Although he's still asleep, I've been watching him for the past
twenty minutes, I never realized how
cuddly he is, maybe I'm the same way.
Whenever I move away, he pulls
me back against him, or moves
closer to me, adjusting to
whatever position I'm sleeping in.
I look at the digital clock on his
side table, seeing that it's almost
ten in the morning. He sleeps later
than me, but not usually this late.
By now he'd typically be working,
he told me a while ago that
he doesn't really have "days off"
He works like a machine.
Maybe I should wake him up?
I've tried but he's just too pretty,
he's in such a calm state, it makes me
feel mellow and at peace with things.
His eyes slowly open, looking up at
the ceiling. His grip on me loosens
and he uses his hand
to wipe the sleep away from his eyes.
Once his eyes are open and I assume
his vision is clear, he runs
his hand over my hair and I shut my eyes, trying not to look creepy.
He kisses the top of my head before carefully taking me off his chest and lowering me onto one of the pillows.
I slowly open my eyes, seeing him
walk into the closet. I quietly get up,
not wanting him to know I'm awake yet.
My mouth feels so dry, I knew
I should've got water before
I fell asleep, but his hold was
just too comfortable to move from.
I walk out of the room, leaving
the door open behind me.
When I walk into the kitchen I see
a note on the fridge;
the chef supposedly left something
for us to heat up, which is fine by me.
I turn on the stove and let the skillet
heat up while pulling out a small black Tupperware container from the fridge, which holds some type of breakfast food.
"Marceline!" I hear his anxious and somewhat angry voice move through
the house, the words bouncing off of
the walls, moving down the staircase,
and making me shiver.
He swiftly walks into the kitchen,
looking toward the backyard,
and then he realizes I'm by the stove.
A breath of relief moves past
his lips and he walks toward me.
I'm not upset by this because I've
given him good reason to think
I would leave the second he's gone,
but I want this to be different.
I mean, I thought I had bad trust issues.
"Hey," I say in a calm voice,
flipping what I think is an omelet
He stands behind me, wrapping his
arms around my waist and leaning
down, kissing the back of my shoulder.
I feel his warm breath hit my neck
before he places a feather-light
kiss against my collarbone
"Are you okay?" I question, being
confused that he isn't talking
He nods and suddenly starts tickling
me, I drop the spatula and
turn around, attempting to breathe but
also hold back my laughter.
"Stop!" I laugh, pushing his hands
away from my waist "Aleksander!"
he laughs, pulling me against him.
Finally, he moves his hands and lets
me breathe normally "You're a bitch"
I state with an annoyed breath.
He laughs, raking his fingers
through his dirty blonde hair.
"You do realize how late it is?" I ask,
I assume he has no meetings,
we all know Xavier would've shown up
and pulled him out of the bed.
He nods and looks at the stove
"Xavier and I are going to
plan for Germany after lunch but
you wanted to talk first."
I nod and turn off the stove "I'm going
to Germany." I state, speaking
like he's not allowed to argue with me.
Aleksander smiles and opens one
of the cabinets, grabbing
two plates "Oh really?" he asks with
humor lacing his words;
I ignore it and nod
"Yes, I'm an adult, if I want to
go somewhere I'm going there."
He makes a humming noise
and attempts to hide his grin.
His not saying anything and obviously finding my words funny kind
of annoys me; especially
the condescending look in his eyes.
"Aleksander?" I say, trying to get his attention, he smiles and look directly
at me, giving all of his attention to me.
"Marceline?" I grab the plates from him
"I'm going, I'm not joking with you."
He slowly nods "Maybe."
It's like he missed what I said.
I am going, I really don't care
what I have to do to get there,
once Max is done I'll feel better,
and I will finally be able to heal
without so much anxiety.
I roll my eyes and put food on
one plate, then hand it to him
"No, not maybe, I'm going."
He shrugs "Fine,"
Wait a minute.
He actually agreed with me.
This feels so strange. I turn to
face him, seeing that he's
cutting the omelet with his fork.
He doesn't look like he cares about
anything I said. He looks up at me
with a strange expression on his face
"I'm not joking," I say again, clarifying
how serious I am and that
I don't plan on making jokes with him.
He nods again and swallows the food
in his mouth "I'm aware, you have
made it clear that you are not joking
and you will be going to Germany."
I nod and narrow my eyes.
This is too weird.
"Listen to me-" he starts to speak,
I knew there had to be something additional that he would add on.
"If you are going-" I cut him off "I am."
he leans his back against the counter
"You are doing this my way, you are
going to play by my rules, and when
I say not to do anything you will listen."
Eh, I'm not sure about that "Well-"
I laugh "What if I don't agree to those conditions?" he laughs "Then you
aren't going." I scoff and shake my head
Conversing with him is harder
than I thought it would be,
then again I didn't leave any room
for argument either. I feel like mine
is more justifiable but still.
"Aleksander, we are supposed to talk
about things, not you making the final decision and me having no say in it."
He tilts his head and looks away
I'm not surprised, however,
I'm slightly annoyed.
"You wouldn't go to the doctor
yesterday, if you go today I will-"
he looks for the right word
"Negotiate with you on the conditions
of you going to Germany."
I laugh "You realize this is still
you trying to have the last word."
he runs a hand through his hair
"Do you agree or not?" I question my options, and realize this is my best one
I nod my head and sit beside him.
•~~~~~~~~~~❀❀❀~~~~~~~~~~~•
I'm with Izabella at the hospital.
The doctor is really creepy but
he's doing his job so I don't
say anything, Izabella already
noticed but didn't do anything.
She's busy complaining about people
not letting her go to Germany;
I somewhat agree with her argument considering I was in the same
situation this morning, but I don't
understand why she wants to go.
The doctor runs his hand up my
arm and grabs some type of shot
off of the silver table.
I'm too scared to ask what it is.
"And it's not even fair because I was
told that every other Petrov family
member is going to this stupid shit, although I doubt my mom will let any
of my siblings go."
She rants while chewing on a plastic
straw from some type of fast food place.
I shrug and then clench my jaw when
I feel the needle pierce my skin.
The doctor runs his hand up to my
inner thigh and gently rubs it "легкий
ребенок, это только выстрел."
He might've meant to be reassuring
but I only feel repulsed. [ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ:
ᴇᴀsʏ ʙᴀʙʏ, ɪᴛ's ᴏɴʟʏ ᴀ sʜᴏᴛ]
Izabella doesn't notice, I don't do
anything because if I shove his hands
away then it would become a big deal.
"I mean, at least you get to go, I
guess- but like, there is no reason for
me not to go!" I laugh and shake
my head "I can try to talk to Alek-"
I start to speak, but she cuts me
off with a hug, practically shoving
the doctor away "You're amazing!"
I pat her back and show the doctor apologetic eyes, he glares at Izabella.
Suddenly my phone starts to go off,
I pull it out to see
Aleksander's contact on the screen.
I hand it to Izabella because I assume
the doctor was in the process of
putting the birth control in my arm.
She smiles and says "Эй, сука, что случилось?" I glare at her,
knowing he'll already be annoyed.
[ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ʜᴇʏ, ʙɪᴛᴄʜ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴜᴘ?]
Her face gets red and her eyes narrow
"ваша жена очень занята своим доктором, она не хочет с вами разговаривать." She hisses, almost breaking my phone in her hand.
[ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡɪғᴇ ɪs ʙᴜsʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇʀ ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ, sʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴇsɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴋ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ]
Izabella marches out of the room,
taking my phone with her, both of
the comforting things are now
gone so I'm left alone with this guy.
The doctor pushes me back on the
table and starts explaining
how birth control works, in full detail,
as if I don't already know,
I just listen because I don't know if
this is a normal procedure in Russia.
Although I doubt smirking while
explaining sexual things is required.
I mean he's practically asking me if
I do certain sexual things,
I awkwardly laugh and try to ignore
him, most of his questions are asking
me how I would do things.
"Это больно?" He asks, touching
the small scratch on my cheek.
[ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ᴅᴏᴇs ᴛʜɪs ʜᴜʀᴛ?]
I attempt to stay still, trying not
to let the pressure of his finger
have any effect on the sore spot.
He applies more pressure and I close
my eyes "Да, это больно." I tell him.
[ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ʏᴇs, ɪᴛ ʜᴜʀᴛs.] he smiles
I cringe and push his hand away
from my face, earning me angry eyes
but a dark laugh "глупая маленькая американка, ты не знаешь, где ты, позволь мне помочь тебе узнать."
[ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: sᴛᴜᴘɪᴅ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴀᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀɴ
ɢɪʀʟ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ
ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ, ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʏᴏᴜ ғɪɴᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ.]
His eyes darken in a way that sends a
shiver down my spine. This is his
workplace so he knows where everything dangerous is, he's blocking the
door and it's not like he's lacking muscle.
If Izabella doesn't come back in the
next minute I'm severely fucked.
This is what I get for not bringing
weapons to one fucking place, there
will always be a man who thinks he is entitled to free use of someone's body.
People like him are what make me
terrified of having children in the
future, and this might sound stupid
but I think that's why Aleksander
is so protective over his family.
He doesn't worry about
himself because the guy
is built like a fucking tank.
However, the way he goes about
protecting people (locking them
in a room) isn't the best thing
but at least he has good intentions.
Aleksander. I try to think of him
while the man moves one of his
hands to the lining of my jeans.
He's so pretty, his hair is long enough
to be fluffy, and it doesn't fall
over his eyes, that would be awful if it
did, his eyes are my favorite part of his appearance.
The way his black shirts sculpt the
muscles on his arms, making them
more prominent, and
when he's wearing button-up shirts,
how he leaves two buttons undone.
The man taps my cheek, three
times, I only wince once, and
then he's grabbing my throat.
"обращать внимание!"
He shouts only inches away from me,
his spit literally flying onto my face. [ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ᴘᴀʏ ᴀᴛᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ!] I quickly
lift my hand, ball up my fist,
and punch him in the face.
He reacts quickly but being smaller
than him has its advantages,
I typically have quick reflexes and my fighting skills have slowly improved.
I punch him in the gut, which is surprisingly very soft, he looks
muscular. He grabs my hair and
pulls me back, making me face him.
He moves his face closer to me,
closing his eyes,
I turn away the best I can because
I assume he's trying to kiss me.
Trying to knee him won't work
because his body is pressing mine
against the hospital bed.
The metal poles and pushing into my
back, well, more specifically my spine.
My body is still because of shock,
but my mind wants me to respond
to the pain, I can't, he won't let me.
His cold hands move under my shirt.
I keep my mouth and eyes shut.
Thinking of someone else, even
Aleksander, is impossible right now.
The man's weight on my body is
the worst part, it feels like
I'm stuck in place, I'm suffocating in
him and I can't do anything.
I'm not a weak person in general,
I can fight, but this caught me off
guard; this is a hospital,
I came here to heal, not
to have more pain inflicted on me.
Are the therapist and him working together? because I'm
definitely going to need therapy
if this goes any further.
My ears ring and his hands slowly
fall away from my body, I keep my
eyes shut. The ringing doesn't stop
and I feel hands on my shoulders.
Shouting is what makes me open
my eyes, he's here.
He's speaking, but I have no idea
what he's saying, his words are fast
but time is moving so slowly.
"You're here," I whisper, and then
I look around, seeing the man on
the white tile floor, blood
spilling from the side of his head.
I'm being lifted onto the table, and
I start to feel insecure, not because Aleksander is trying to see if there are
any new injuries, besides mental ones
The reason I'm insecure is that
this situation looks bad,
seeing I can't defend myself from
one person makes me look too weak
to defend myself in any situation.
Now Aleksander has more of a
reason to keep me from Germany,
and I finally got him to agree!
Well I'm getting him to "Negotiate"
"I tried to fight him!" I blurt out,
hoping it's not already too late to
keep his mind in the right place.
He cups my face in his hands and
weakly smiles "I know you did
sweetheart, I know you did good,
you're okay now, breathe for me"
Izabella walks in with a gun and
shoots the man again, even though
he's already dead "Had to be sure"
she says with a shrug, Aleksander nods
and pulls his hands away from me
"Xavier needs you, he's at the Albany warehouse." Izabella nods, she doesn't
look at me when she asks "Are you okay?"
I laugh and get off of the table "Yeah"
I look at the dead guy "I'm great."
Aleksander gives her a look,
she glares in response
and then swiftly walks away.
The room falls silent, I'm watching
the blood pool on the floor,
a thick dark red mess, that makes me
want to throw up; he's looking at me, thinking of a million different things.
He's the first to break the silence,
I notice how he looks directly at
me but it doesn't feel like he's in
the room, I also notice that he keeps
his hands near me, not on me.
"Are you okay?" Oddly, yes I am.
I'm not exactly numb, or anything
void of emotion. Aleksander is
making me more comfortable,
he might not realize that but it's true.
That man is dead, no one will have
to worry about him; wait, I didn't
even think about his life in general.
Some type of guilt overtakes me,
I know he deserved
to be hurt in some type of way,
he probably has done this to multiple people and gotten away with it.
He's older than me, probably
early fifties, he might have a family,
kids, or a significant other, they might depend on him and see him as a saint.
I'm glad this would have saved other
people from being assaulted
but either way, someone gets hurt,
I don't take it back, I wouldn't wish he
was alive, I just wish no one got hurt
in these situations. Besides the man.
"He could've had a family that was
waiting on him," I tell him, breaking
the silence. I don't know why I said
that, I could've just told him I was fine
He glances down and then looks up
at me "The way he treated you, he
didn't deserve a family, to begin with."
I'm not sure we're the best at
deciding things like
that but he's probably right.
Aleksander lifts me off the table,
treating me like I'm so fragile.
It's sweet but completely unnecessary.
"Have you and Xavier figured out
more details about Max and our plan?"
He nods and explains "Yes, we're
leaving tonight, if you still want to go,"
I walk out of the room with
him following close behind
me "Yeah, of course, I do."
___________________________
𝟦 - 𝟤𝟥 - 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥