Lalea x Endy
This was requested by a long time ago. I feel so bad for not getting to it. Heavily suggestive of physical/domestic abuse! If you're sensitive to this then it might not be the best to read!
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Lalea's point of view-
I was left alone at the house for the day, father was working at the guild for the day while mother was tending to my ill grandfather. It was okay for me to be left alone. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself after all. We had no school that day, all I had to do was wash the dishes, mop the floor, and tend to the laundry, which I despised, however it had to be done.
I was inside of the house scrubbing plates, my hands becoming wrinkled from being in the water for so long. The strong aroma of soap filled the air, causing my nose to twitch. I was halfway finished with washing the dishes when my attention was drawn to a series of loud knocking again the front door, perplexing me as to who it could have been on the other side. I set the dish and old sud covered sponge aside, drying my hands with an old cloth before making my way to the door.
As I reached out for the doorknob, I became anxious for whoever it was that was awaiting on the other side of the thin layer of wood between us.
"Who is it?" I called out as I retracted my hand, knowing to be alarmed of strangers.
"It's Endy. Lalea, please open the door." Immediately I could tell that something was off. Her muffled voice was cracking, her tone too grim for comfort.
I took in a deep breath before my arm extended outward once more, taking the cold metal of the doorknob and twisting, pulling the door open to see my friend standing in the street. My eyes scanned over her frail body, growing wide with shock and horror, my mouth falling open as a gasp slipped out from the back of my throat.
"Endy, what happened?!" I practically screamed, becoming choked up.
I noticed how much she was trembling. Her ghostly pale right cheek was now shaded with deep purple, swollen to an extent. Her eye was swollen shut, red and peeling rather than black on blue as if the skin was burned.
"Get inside now!"
She nodded, her arms over her chest as she took short steps inside, myself closing the door behind her. Already my eyes were filling with tears, my heart thumping in my throat until I could hardly breath.
I spun around and demanded in boiling rage and deep distress, "What happened?!"
Endy turned to face me, head hung low with water stained cheeks. Her lips were quivering, visible eye bloodshot from weeping. The anger was building up inside of me, the hate for whoever had done this filling me with a desire to claim vengeance.
"Who did this to you, Endy?" It became obvious that she was trying to get her words out of her mouth, struggling to do so.
It was painful for me to look, to watch her legs quake as if soon to give out. I insisted for her to sit on the couch while I went and got her a glass of water and a bag of ice to rest on her wounds. I set the glass down on the coffee table in front of us, sitting close beside my best friend, handing her the ice pack which she placed in her eye. I pleaded for her to tell me what had happened.
"I..." She trailed off, her shaking growing more violent, tears slipping past the eyelid of her good eye. "I-It was my fault! I got him angry a-and..." Her eye shut tight yo hold back the tears.
What could she have possibly done to deserve this?! I was beyond furious and concerned for her well being. I took her hand and brought myself closer in hopes of offering some sort of comfort.
"Endy, no! You couldn't have done anything to deserve this!"
She shook her head, forcing herself to continue. "I was being reckless. I got into my dad's potions and when my mom tried to take it away, it broke and... I didn't know that it was poisonous! I didn't know that it burned skin!"
Her weeping grew more intense. I asked if that was why her eye was burned, a pit dropping in my stomach when she said that it was not the reason. She curled up, pulling her legs to her chest and resting her chin in her knees.
I could not bare to have her relive it. I ordered her to stop, bringing myself even closer. "Endy, it's okay! No matter what happened, you did nothing to deserve this! Got that?!" I couldn't stand her blaming herself.
The tears were falling down our faces, burning our cheeks in clear stains. I finally pulled her into an embrace, letting her cry onto my shoulder and whimper into my ear. The least I could do was rub her back, whisper soothing words, and assure her that everything would be okay because I was there for her.
After awhile, I cleaned up and dressed her wounds, which I was thankful was minimal but the injuries she had revived were alarming.
"Lalea, can I... Can I stay here for tonight?"
I did not even have to think twice. "Of course! For as long as you need! You're like a daughter to my parents so I know that they'll let you stay!"
It warmed my heart to see her smile again through the pain. The swelling in her eye was going down so I asked if she could open it.
"I'll try." She flinched as if it hurt, as to be expected.
As her eye finally opened up, the tears immediately returned to my own orbs, my heart feeling as if it had abruptly stopped. Once more my mouth hung open with my tear filled eyes growing wide. I could not believe it. Her eye was clouded over in a thick glaze; blind.
"No, I can't." She didn't even realize that she had succeeded in opening it.
I could not tell her, I physically could not get the confession to leave my mouth. All I could do was force my body to move forward to once more embrace her with a tight grip. She did not fully understand why I had resumed sobbing. I took comfort in her arms as they wrapped around me, a soft whisper flowing into my ear.
"Thank you, Lalea. I..." Her grip grew tighter around me. "I'm grateful for you. Whatever happens...I'll always be grateful."
My eyes closed, letting out a long breath as I grew more calm.
"Me too...for you, that is."
She giggled, letting me go. For a while we sat there, often drifting into silence as my gaze drifted to her eye. She'd find out eventually...but she had been through much today already. I just wanted her to enjoy the time we had together for the time being, to be happy.
I just wanted her to be happy and to feel safe.
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