Noelle seemed to push back against the dresser trying to get away from her mother. Shrinking to make herself smaller and that didn’t sit well with me. My girl should never have to cower to anyone. Least of all her retched mother.
I chose then to make myself known. Clearing my throat, I pushed through the bedroom door, pretending as if I had no idea that Viviana was in here.
“Noelle, I was just wondering…” I pretended to be asking a question. Viviana turned around shooting daggers at me, a fire burning deep in her eyes. I smiled.
Score one for Royal. Zero for Viviana.
“Oh hey!” Noelle forced a fake smile. I took notice of the ugly red mark against her beautiful pale white cheek. Unshed tears were brimming in her eyes as she tried to blink them away.
“We’re done here for now. Remember what I said, young lady.” Viviana’s voice was dark as she said the words, turning away from Noelle and glaring at me at me once again. The woman had a hard on for hating me.
“Hi Viviana, how’s your day going?” I smirked at her, which only made the flames in her eyes flicker more.
“Oh shut up, Royal,” she spat at me. It was like I was blowing on the flames, taunting the fire, trying to see if I could get her to blow. I hoped she hated me, because I didn’t like her very much myself.
She walked out of Noelle’s room without another comment, or a glare at either of us. Shame formed on Noelle’s precious face, and I wanted to take that shame and crumble it up and throw it away because there was no reason she should feel ashamed for wanting to be a teenager. I couldn’t protect her from her mother’s slap, but I could hopefully help ease her pain.
“Don’t be ashamed.” I gulped down the anxiety that filled my belly. I wasn’t used to soothing people. I wasn’t usually the one reassuring or calming someone, as if one couldn’t see that from my already long track record. I was the one causing the pain, but this was Noelle. I would do anything and everything for her. All I ever wanted was for everything to be okay in her life.
“I….” She paused, a tear trailing down her cheek and right over that big red splotch her mother placed against her skin. I couldn’t stop myself as I walked across the room stopping directly in front of her.
I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her small frame. I rubbed my hand up and down the length of her back, making sure she knew I was here for her, and that I wasn’t going anywhere. I pulled away but only slightly so I could look into her sad yet beautiful eyes, then I gently leaned forward and kissed that one single tear away.
“Please don’t cry,” I pleaded with her, not knowing what else to do.
“I… I’m okay.” She tried to sound convincing, but the crack in her voice and the sadness in her eyes told me otherwise. This girl couldn’t lie to me, not when the truth was right there in front of me.
“You’re not okay, and guess what?” I cupped her cheek softly in my hand bringing her body closer into my chest. Her scent washed over me, and a small moan escaped my lips.
“What?” Her voice wobbled.
“It’s okay to not be okay. I would know, I’m the king of not being okay, remember? It’s fine to be hurt and unstable. Life is unstable; a never-ending revolving door that brings change to your life daily,” I explained, meaning every word that left my lips. Having her so close was giving me the strength to open up.
“If you’re not okay, that just means you’re doing something right. It means you’re alive. Don’t worry about your mom because in less than a year you will be out of this house, out from underneath her thumb, and you won’t have to put up with her shit anymore. None of it will matter.” What I said must have been working to calm her because her body slowly started to relax into mine.
I breathed her in and allowed her body to mend with mine. We were like two broken pieces of a puzzle, the perfect match to one another’s problems.
Although the problem with Noelle was she had the power to heal all the wrong in my life, and that scared me. It fucking terrified me. No one ever had that kind of power, simply because I never gave it to them, and because she did it made her more important than anyone else.
That power meant that she had the chance to destroy me, and everything in my life that ever mattered ended up destroying me.
I held her there in my arms for what felt like hours—an eternity even— nothing but our breaths and the sound of our heartbeats echoing in our ears. I just had to give myself that one small slice of peace— just for today, just for us. Something for us both to hold onto.
“I couldn’t let her hit you again,” I whispered into her ear as I softly glided my hand through her soft hair. “I couldn’t watch while she tore you down like that. You’re so much more than what she wants you to be. So much more than how she treats you or what anyone else wants.” I wasn’t one to give advice, but I had to tell her that. She had to know how special she was, how I saw her from the outside looking in.