Tony's POV
Shit. Victor is going to fucking kill me. I cant tell him, or he'll kill Alex for sure. What do I do, what do I do! I can't do anything about it now, she's seen me unmasked. It's done. What I need to do, is limit my contact with her. Alex is getting curious, she's asking too many questions. That can't happen.
*I walk back to my room, and I'm stopped by Victor in his office*
"Antonio!" he calls after me
"I need to speak to you for a moment. Come here and shut the door behind you." he says
*I walk in and close the door*
"Yes Uncle Victor?"
"I wanted you to be informed that I'm going to be gone for a week. I'm traveling to South Texas, they have certain weeds and seeds that may help improve Viper Ives. After that, I need to pick up some materials in New Jersey as well. I've given Cal instructions to take my place and inspect the injections in 2 days. The subject may stay in a guest bedroom until i'm back, I have some other guys who will be coming in and out to drop off any food or supplies that you may need while i'm gone. There will also be some guys keeping watch outside, as well as Cal staying in a room I have given him for the week. Cal also has a patient he will be watching over, so he shouldn't disturb your observations once I've left. Lastly, I want you to take notes and observe the subject very closely over the next few days, especially after the next round of injections. Do you have any questions about the arrangements?"
"No sir." I reply
"Good, I'll be leaving for Texas first thing tomorrow morning. I advise you check up on your subject before you sleep. You may leave."
"Yes sir" I say turning around to leave and shutting the door behind me
Great. There goes my plan to limit my contact with Alex. I need to lie down for a minute.
*I walk to bedroom, and drop onto my bed*
Ow. My lower back still hurts, thanks Victor. What an ass. I wasn't planning on spending extra time with Alex, I was planning on distancing myself from her. To protect her, to protect Camila. I need to back away now more than ever, I can't believe she's seen me without my mask. No patient has ever seen me without it on. I can't believe she took off my mask. The nerve. I'm actually a bit relieved though, and I'm not sure why. I should go start my observations.
*I put my ski mask on, grab a clipboard, note papers, and a pen and head to the guest bedroom*
Why am I hesitating to knock? Why am I so scared to see her again? Maybe I'm scared for her to see me again. How will she feel, what will she say to me. What will I say to her? Just do it Tony, knock on the door.
*I knock on the door, unlock it and walk in*
She's lying in bed staring into space when I walk in. It must be boring sitting here alone with nothing to do. Only thinking. Then again that's what I've always done, when I'm not being Victor's bitch. No ones ever been here with me. Just Victor.
"Hi." I say
"You're back." Alex says sitting up from bed
"I've come to observe your behavior and appetite since the Viper injections"
"Oh." She says looking at me
She seems disappointed. Sad even?
*I sit criss cross on the ground to avoid any possible back pain from sitting on a chair*
Alex makes a weird face and comes to sit down directly in front of me.
"Have you been experiencing fatigue since the injections" I ask ready to take notes
"No. Not since I woke up earlier" Alex replies looking into my eyes
There she goes again, she does this thing where when she talks to someone she makes full eye contact. It's extremely hard not to look away, her blue eyes are so compelling. So beautifully compelling. She makes me nervous, what am I feeling?
"H-have you been feeling nauseous after eating?" I ask
"No" She says
She's strong, I knew it.
*I look down to write some notes*
"Tony." Alex says suddenly
*I look up in confusion*
She's reaching for my ski mask?
*I move my head back slightly*
"Please" she begs looking into my eyes
Those blue eyes. They're everything.
*I let her take my mask off*
Why did I let her take it off, i'm so stupid. This is the kind of thing Victor would call me being foolish. Wait. She's smiling at me. She's...happy my mask is off?
*I feel her hands on both sides of my cheeks cupping them and looking into my eyes*
She's shaking, but I want her to know she can trust me.
*I gently hold hands on top of hers*
"I'm not so attractive" I admit
"You are." she says
"Very."
*I smile*
I feel a bit embarrassed, but also quite happy.
"You're beautiful, in case you didn't already know" I say
"No ones ever called me beautiful before" Alex says
"You are." I say
"Very."
*She smiles*
Her smile is so beautiful, she is so beautiful.
"You know, I'm still not sure why you wear your ski mask all the time, but you don't have to wear it with me. I happen to think talking to what's underneath is far better than talking to a mask. " She says with a smile
"I won't, I trust you." I say and smile back
"I'm glad, I think I'm starting to trust you too"
Her hands stopped shaking. I believe her.
*I beam*
I wonder what she's thinking right now.
—————————————————————
Alex's POV
His cheeks are so warm, he's so soft. I can feel him smiling, his smile is amazing. I don't understand why he wears the mask. He's so beautiful without it. He truly is. I've felt so uneasy and unsafe around everyone recently, but as cliche as it sounds, I now feel different with Tony. I feel safe. I feel like I can trust him, and that's usually hard for me to do. I haven't even known him for long and I don't know what it is, I just do.
*I feel his hands drop from holding mine, and I drop mine too*
I forgot we were still holding each other, I forgot my hands were still cupping his cheeks. His hands on mine, mine on him. I don't know where these feelings came from, but i'm glad they did.
*He clears his throat and carries on with the questions*
"How did you feel after the injections?" Tony asked
"How did you feel after I took off your mask for the first time?"
*I say lying down and resting my head on my arms*
"I asked you first" He says
"I asked you second" I say looking up to the ceiling
*I hear Tony chuckle*
"Well, I was bit mad, because I would have to answer to Victor. But I was also relieved that you finally saw me without my ski mask"
He would have to answer to Victor? What does that mean?
"What do you mean you'd have to answer to Victor?" I ask
*he gasps*
I look over to him and his eyes are wide as if he let something slip. Did I get through to him?
"Nothing" he says
"So how did you feel after the injections?" He asks again
He changed the subject, but I didn't push it
"I felt....empty. My eyes got weaker, my whole body got weaker. I could hear you calling my name to wake up, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes or call back. I don't really know how I felt. I just felt weak"
*I look up to the ceiling, eyes watering up*
It reminded me of my last encounter with George. Saying how I felt after the injections out loud just now, was a similar description to my last moment with George. I felt powerless, weak. Just how that drug made me feel.
*I try to blink away my tears, but they come anyway. Tears falling down the sides of my face*
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" He says
"No" I say sitting up
"It's not you." I say
*I bring my knees up and hold them tight*
"You don't have to tell me, but...what happened to you Alex?" He asks
I want to tell someone. I want to tell him.
Should I? Will he understand? I've seen the scars on his back, clear child abuse patterns. I didn't think he'd judge me, I don't think he'd ever judge me.
"Uh-uhm, the night you guys took me" I hear myself tell him
"A couple minutes before that, my stepfather, he had been drinking with my mom. I came home and my mom was passed out, but he was angry at me for being late. I snapped at him and h-he....he didn't like it."
*I swallow hard*
"He uhm, he threw me on the couch and started to hit me over and over. Everywhere. He wouldn't stop." I say on the verge of breaking down.
"He didn't care that I was hurting, he didn't care that my mom was on the couch inches away from us. He just kept going and going. No matter how many times I yelled at him to stop"
"After a while he began to...touch me. Of course it's no different from what he's been doing to me for the past year and a half, but it was different this time. He was so drunk, and set on r-raping me." I say
At this point I was crying hard.
"He kept telling me that I know I wanted him, and that I've always wanted him. I told him to stop but he just kept on taking my clothes off."
I was bawling.
"It reaches a point to where I wouldn't allow this to happen to me, I was done. So I smashed his head with two beer bottles, and ran as far as I could. That's why I was covered in bruises when we first met, and why i've been so jumpy. I just didn't have anyone to tell" I cried into my legs with my arms covering my head.
*He nodded his head, and came to sit next to me. I felt his arms around me*
We just sat there, hugging. He didn't say anything, He didn't need to. He listened, and he offered a shoulder for me to cry on, that's all I needed. That's all I've ever needed. I'm glad I told him, I feel free.
An hour later
*We've been laughing and joking around for the past hour.*
Somehow Tony and I ended up lying down on the carpet talking about the most random things. Topics like dying our hair, religion, body piercings, self-driving cars, talking animals, politics, etc. Tony's actually a pretty great and easy person to talk to, but there's something that won't get off my chest. I've seen Tony's scars two more times in the last hour. I'm not sure he knows I've seen them, It's really worrying me. Some of them look so recent. I'm just gonna go out and ask, I hope he'll open up to me. Especially after I told him about George.
*We were still laughing about our last topic when my laugh dies down and it gets quiet*
"Tony?"
"Yes Alex?" He replies
"The scars, on your back I mean. Will you tell me about them?" I ask
I'm not sure I should've asked like that. Damn it Alex you always say the wrong thing.
*Its quiet for a while, I'm so sure he isn't going to tell me until he speaks up*
"What about them?" He asks
"How did you get them?"
"...I got them from my Uncle Victor" Tony says
UNCLE Victor!? Victor is his uncle? His uncle beats him? That's terrible.
"He beats you?" I ask
"Yeah, he lashes me with a whip every time I make a mistake. But it's okay I've gotten used to it by now" He says
"No one should ever have to get used to something like that." I say
"It's how it's always been."
"When was your most recent one?" I ask
"Yesterday." He answers
I thought about what possible mistake he could've made the day before. Anything.
I remember Raspy ass saying that Victor wouldn't be happy about Tony not checking my clothes throughly. Is that the 'mistake' he made? It can't be.
"W-was it because of me? The whole cellphone incident, or the pepper spray?" I ask
*He's silent*
"You can trust me" I say
*After a long pause he says*
"Yes. It was because of that, but I chose to leave the pepper spray and your cellphone in your pocket. I wanted you to escape, I didn't want to hurt another person. I didn't want him to force me to hurt you, like I have to do to everyone else." He admits
*I roll over onto my stomach, looking down to Tony while he's still laying on his back looking up to the sky. I begin to touch his hair*
"I wish you didn't do that, I'm so sorry he hurt you because of me. I'm sorry he makes you do these things."
*He gently moves my hand from his hair, to his chest*
"You don't have to be sorry, it's nothing to worry about. Plus, I'd let him strike me again, if it meant he wouldn't hurt you instead." He said
"C-can I see them?" I ask quietly
*He pauses and then gets up, and I watch him remove his shirt and turn around with his back to me*
There are scars up and down his back, some old and some new. Some are fading, from what I assume were from his childhood. But you can see the lashes gradually become harder, and more complex. It seems some of them are permanent.
"I can't imagine how much pain you went through." I say
*He looks down in shame, embarrassment?*
*I kiss his fading scar, and I kiss another and another*
I don't want him to be ashamed of them, I want him to know that he's still beautiful, inside and out.
*He turns around looking into my eyes. I place my hand on his chest and feel more scars and look down surprised*
There's more?! All over his abs and stomach!! Oh my god.
"Tony, there's more?! How come you haven't told anyone!!" I think I was shouting?
"Please, this cant happen again you have to-"
Before I could finish my sentence, I feel his lips on mine.
They're so warm. Soft. He's cupping my cheeks with his hands, I'm holding his forearms. I didn't know he could kiss like this, so passionately. I imagined my first kiss being awkward as hell, but it isn't. My first kiss is amazing. His lips are locked with mine, and in that moment...Tony's kiss stole the words I didn't need to say. He kissed me and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways words would never be. I felt safe. I could trust him.
His thumb caressed my cheek and I felt them heat up. I ran my fingers down his spine, feeling his scars and pulling him closer. So close there was no space left between us, I could feel the beating of his heart against my chest.
It was epic.
*He pulled away and looked into my eyes, while cupping my cheeks*
His beautiful brown eyes.
"Why'd you do that?"
"You were talking too much" He chuckles
"Jerk." I say going in for another kiss
*Someone bursts through the door and the kiss breaks*
Raspy Ass.
"Tony. Outside, now."
*They both leave, the door shuts, and I hear it lock*
Oh fuck.