Aria's Pov:
Opening my eyes was unusually difficult.
It wasn't normally this difficult but for some reason it was like my eyelids were stuck together for a while.
But i did manage to open them, finally.
A sharp stinging sensation in my back stabbed at me.
But at least i wasn't on the floor of the forest and in a room. Judging by the sleek and smooth interior of the room, I was almost definitely in Leo's room.
speaking of Leo, I glanced down at my hand.
There he was, head resting right next to my hand, while his hand was placed underneath my own, as his body sprawled across the floor. He could have just climbed into the bed and slept next to me, he didn't have to sleep at such an uncomfortable angle.
I lifted my hand from on top of his and gently ran it through his hair. His handsome face unmoving and grey eyes shut.
He looked so peaceful.
Just then a dull ache in my stomach stopped me and I gasped. It wasn't just like a simple stomach ache though it was like a serious period cramp, the sort that paralysed you from moving.
I let a low groan out as that was all my body would let me react to it by. I seriously couldn't move.
My hand had been left frozen on Leo's head and it was that or the sound that i had made that had woken him up becuase in a minuet he was up and alert, looking around the room, until his eyes settled on me.
Those starry eyes widened as he saw me looking right back at him.
"Aria." He whispered, as if he almost couldn't believe his own eyes.
Finally the dull ache subsided and I could feel my arms and legs again. I took a deep breath as I did, briefly closing my eyes as I felt the pain leaving.
"Aria, no, no, no. Please don't close your eyes. Aria." Leo begged.
My eyes fluttered open immediately.
"Leo Santiago, stop speaking nonsense." I managed to get out.
Leo's whole face relaxed. The corners of his mouth turned up as his strangely perfect nose crinkled slightly. And those eyes of his, lightened.
"Do you know how many times you've woken up and then gone back to sleep?" He rhetorically asked me
"Ehm, no?" I answered back sheepishly.
But he didn't care, he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my shoulder.
"You have no idea how scared I was Aria." He murmured.
"Scared?" I echoed.
"Of losing you." he shuddered.
I slowly wrapped my arms around him too. He must have gone through hell seeing me half dead. I mean I can only imagine how it would have felt if I had seen him in the state that I was in.
"You can't get rid of me that easily, your majesty." I chuckled.
"Nor do I want to." He seriously spoke "Don't ever get hurt again, please."
I snorted. "It was only a scratch."
He pulled back from me and had a sort of angry look on his face.
"No, it wasn't, You've been out for 3 days Aria."
I raised my eyebrows. 3 days? Really?
"I really thought you had died." He whispered to me.
I didn't know how to react to that. Before I had met Leo, I went to sleep every night with the knowledge that it could be my possible last day, I mean I never knew when i would have been gotten rid off. It didn't scare me either. I just thought that this was how it was. If I died then I died. Simple.
But somewhere between then and now I had found a reason to keep on waking up, that i had found a reason to drift of to sleep and instead hope that i'd be given another day with this stupid angry man.
I found myself scared.
And it had never felt better.
"Well I haven't and it'd need a lot more then a single stab wound to kill me." I shrugged.
At that Leo looked away, guilt seeping through his face and I watched as he clenched his hands in a fist at his side.
"Leo? Ok, fine it wasn't funny. I get it." I surrendered.
But he still didn't look at me. I raised my hand and placed it under his jaw, gently moving it so that he faced me.
"Hey, You ok?" I asked him softly.
"I-" He hesitated.
He let out a sigh and finally looked at me.
"When you got stabbed, we had to treat the wound immediately. It was me who had to do it. I didn't let anyone else do it." He gritted his teeth.
I scrunched my eyebrows together, what did he want? A medal?
"Ok?" I slowly said.
"Who was it?" He voice broke as he asked me.
"Who was....?" I echoed, clearly not understanding what he was asking of me.
"Your back." He stopped, taking a breath in fighting trying to show any emotions of what seemed like anger. "I saw it all Aria. Your back."
And just like that my blood ran cold.
I immediately yanked my hand out of his and my breathing increased.
He had seen my scars.
He had everything.
"Who was it?" He asked me a little more firmly.
"Get out." I whispered.
He didn't hear me.
But he had seen it all all of the ugly, disgusting, and hideous marks that were engraved into me, he had seen it all.
No.
I didn't want him to see it.
"Aria, I want to help-" He started.
I glared at him now. "Get out." I repeated more forcefully.
He heard it this time and hurt flashed in his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"I never said you could look at it." I swallowed. "You shouldn't have seen that."
"I didn't mean to-" he started.
"But you did. Now you know everything." I hoarsely spoke, the words barely coming out of my throat.
"No, i know nothing." He desperately said, "That's why I want to ask you, I want to know because I know nothing."
"What more do you need to know?" I spat. "You've seen the disgusting marks. That's all there is to them. Ugly and disgusting."
"They aren't-"
"Get out Leo, now." I interrupted.
I didn't want to face him. Not after him finding out my dirty secret. He was probably pitying me now.
He probably wanted to break up with me after seeing those, but he couldn't bring himself to after the pity he was feeling for me.
He probably thought I was hideous and unbelievably ugly. He would no longer want me.
I loathed it. This feeling of desperation.
"Just get out Leo, I don't want to see you." I numbly spoke, looking away from him.
"Aria please don't send me away like this. Let's just speak about this-" He begged me again.
"Speak about it it? Fine. I want to break up with you." I snapped.
"What?" He breathed out shaky and weak.
I never once looked at him as I said it because my heart was breaking.
"It's what you would have done eventually." I said out loud more to myself then to him.
He shook his head.
"The very fact that you believe that I would have broken up with you over something like this means that I have failed to treasure you, but know this Aria, That even as I walk out through that door, I don't think that I can ever stop loving you. You're angry now, and i can understand that but the minuet you need me i'll be there, all you have to do is call me."
I swallowed harshly as i heard the door click behind him as he left.
The tears made their way first, then the pain.
Then the fear.