Page 9 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

But I'm frozen.

Paralyzed.

Her arms come around me, holding me as much as she can, and she nuzzles into my scarred throat.

"Let me help," she whispers against my ear.

I shake my head, fast.

But she doesn't pull away. Her weight stays settled in my lap, warm and grounding, her arms still wrapped around my shoulders, anchoring me to this world.

"I don't care what you look like," she says softly, pulling back. Feels like she's looking at where my eyes would be if I wasn't hiding behind my hands and hood. I fucking feel her watching me. "I promise."

Bullshit.

It matters to everyone.

I scared the shit out of her.

I—

She leans in and presses her lips to the bleeding scar over my eye.

The kiss is so gentle and soft, I might have imagined it.

"This doesn't change anything," she murmurs. "You're still mine. I'm still yours."

I risk a glance up at her, my hands still clamped over my face, looking through my fingers, and search her gaze for fear. For disgust. For the lie.

I find… nothing.

The wind carries a flurry of cherry blossoms past us like nature's trying to make this moment beautiful when everything about me is ugly and broken. A petal lands on Ivy's shoulder, pale pink against her moss green sweater.

She's this perfect angel in a monster's lap like we're in some fucked up fairy tale, and none of this makes sense.

Her hands come up slowly.

Can't help but flinch again when her hands find my hair, carding through it, her nails gently scraping against my scalp, eliciting the beginnings of an automatic broken purr from me despite the fact I can barely cope with even being alive right now.

"Let me see you, Wraith. All of you."

I keep my hands pressed to my face. Blood drips down my forearms, staining her clothes, but she doesn't seem to care. Just stays there, patient and steady, waiting for me to make a choice.

Can't do this.

Can't risk it.

Can't—

"Please?" she asks softly.

I can't say no when she says please.

She knows it, too.

And she deserves to know what she said yes to, beneath the cherry trees. Deserves the chance to take it all back.

My hands drop.