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felt as if Death's touch was just an inch away from her. Each time she'd try to welcome it, Death would push her away.

Not even Death wanted the burden that was Evelyn Moreau.

As her father kicked her in the stomach once more before walking off, Evelyn felt all the fight drain from her body.

She was done trying to hold on. She was tired, ashamed, for being such a mess of a person.

Using the curved rail of the staircase for support, Evelyn hoisted herself up. Hissing as the skin on her back rolled, fresh whip marks leaving their trail, she muffled a whimper. Taking a deep breath, she limped over to put her shoes on before trudging out of the house.

The stars were dull, but Evelyn had a feeling it was due to the haziness of her vision. She knew she wasn't walking straight. With a limp and a throbbing in her head, it was obvious someone would mistake her for a drunk.

Taking another step forward, she wobbled. Her legs felt like jello and she knew she would faint eventually. Stopping to take a few breaths, Evelyn leaned against a nearby tree for support. Once she felt a little more stable than before, she pushed herself off the tree before continuing her walk. She didn't know where she was going.

Wherever the path led to.

She was struggling to keep her body steady and she had no energy to take care of herself in that minute. Taking another step forward, Evelyn felt her body give way. Collapsing, she let out a strangled scream.

She needed help.

Too weak to get up, Evelyn stayed where she was. Managing to move her sore arms, she attempted to massage the pain flitting across her ribs.

She knew she wouldn't stay conscious for too long. She could feel the blackness hovering right next to her. She kept trying to push it away, but it wouldn't budge, waiting to strike.

A drop of water slid down her cheek. Then another. And another.

Was it raining?

She didn't feel the water anywhere else though.

Tears.

They started to blind her already poor vision making everything ten times blurrier. She furiously rubbed at her eyes to stop them, but they kept building up and edging off.

Giving up, Evelyn let them come.

There she lay, on the sidewalk with an unbearable pain in her abdomen, uneven breaths and tears staining her cheeks.

She felt herself start to slip away. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she almost tuned out the voice that broke through the silence.

Understanding that she couldn't just stop her life in the middle of the sidewalk, Evelyn pushed all her energy into getting up. However, she staggered and she would've fallen face first if it wasn't for Maddox's large frame supporting her smaller one.

"What the hell are you doing here Evelyn?" he murmured.

If it weren't for her already woozy state, she would've been weak in the knees with the way her name fell out of his mouth.

She mumbled though he couldn't hear a thing. Repeatedly letting her head fall against his chest, she was ready to pass out.

Maddox had other plans however and eventually circled his arms under her back and legs, picking her up bridal style. To stay steady, she linked her arms together around his neck before cuddling closer to his body.

She was shivering and his body was the perfect heat source.

"Stay awake," he whispered. "Just until we get to my house okay? We should check your temperature and get you some medicine before you drift off."

No reply.

Looking down, she was already half asleep. To keep her awake, Maddox jerked his arms up to shake her tiny body.

"Evelyn. Stay with me okay? We need to get medicine into your body to fight the cold you most likely have."

She mumbled. "Does that really matter?"

"Of course it does," he snorted. "You might nod off and never wake up."

"Oh let's do that," she whispered with a spark of enthusiasm.

Sighing, his eyes were trained on her body. "No. Stay awake." This time, his voice was more demanding making his words seem like instructions rather than a suggestion.

Upon reaching the entrance to his house, the gates opened to let him in. He made his way to the couch in the living room, setting Evelyn down. He ran to get her medicine and cranked the heating up to help stop her shivers. With a glass of water, he walked back over to her before forcing her to take the medicine.

Offering for her to clean herself up, Maddox went upstairs to prepare her a bath.

"Come on," he said as his arms guided her over to the steam emitting from the bathtub.

He was very cautious when asking her his next question.

"Do you need help taking your clothes off?"

Might be the first time his voice was as small and fragile as hers. The question embarrassed him.

She nodded her head while biting her lip. "It hurts my abdomen when I move my arms," she hoarsely whispered. The blush on her cheeks was more noticeable than usual due to her once light brown skin being a sickly pale.

"Okay."

He brought his hands to the edge of her shirt before lifting it up, almost afraid. He quickly realized she'd have to move her arms either way so instead he worked on removing her pants first. Once that was taken care of, he struggled to find a solution to the task at hand.

"What's wrong?"

Snapping his head to hers, he sighed. "To take your shirt off, I need you to move your arms."

She gently huffed before nodding her head and slowly lifting her arms, but when Maddox saw the pained look on her face, he stopped her.

"Don't do that to yourself," he grimly stated.

He was frustrated. She could tell by the way he grumbled under his breath and combed his hands through his tousled hair.

How did taking off her shirt become such a difficult thing to do?

"It's fine Maddox. It'll only be like ten seconds or so."

"Ten seconds of pain for you though."

She couldn't help the giggle that left her mouth. And it was genuine. He was adorable when he actually cared.

"What," he snapped.

Her eyes flitted to his before looking away and shaking her head.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

"What's so funny about this situation," he grumbled.

She bit her lip before blurting out, "You're cute when you're frustrated."

Her eyes widened as she realized her choice of words.

He made a face.

"I'm not cute," he huffed, "I'm hot. Don't call me cute."

"Find some scissors to cut through the shirt," she said as the idea entered her mind.

He walked off to find a pair of scissors whilst mumbling under his breath about how manly he was.

He came back with scissors in his hand before working to take her shirt off.

Upon discarding the thin material, he saw what caused the pain.

"What the hell is all of this?"

His tone was hard and he was in no mood to argue.

She didn't exactly feel the most comfortable under his heated gaze while half naked.

"Nothing," she rushed out before grabbing a towel beside them to cover herself. Forgetting about her pain for a second, she groaned as the movement of her arms caused a sharp jab in her abdomen. She almost fell from the sudden pain surging through her, but once again, Maddox grabbed her to hold her upright.

He held the towel out of her reach, dangling it just high enough that she wouldn't be able to reach. His eyes found hers.

"What is that?"

He was referring to the bruise that resulted from the kick and beatings her father sent her way. Around it, were scars and other patches of discolored skin littering her torso.

She felt uncomfortable, the way he scrutinized her body.

Her scars. The flaws.

"Please just give me the towel," she whimpered. "I don't like having my body so openly displayed."

She could tell he wasn't a fan of what he saw. She knew she was ugly. A sight for sore eyes.

Scoffing, he rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Don't worry. There's nothing to admire," he sneered.

The tears were on the verge of falling as a blanket of quietness fell on top of them.

With a shaky breath, she responded.

"You know what it is."

Her voice was faint and barely loud enough for him to hear, but the silence around them provided an advantage to him.

Tensing his jaw, he thrust the towel towards her waiting hands before exiting the bathroom.

Upon his leave, she blinked and let the unshed tears finally break away.

Words hurt.

Too much.

And when the right words were put in the right sentences, they could shatter someone.

He quickly brought one of his shirts for Evelyn to change into.

Sitting by the edge of the bed, he groaned before letting himself fall against the covers.

Staring at the ceiling, he ran his hands across his face.

He fucked up.

But what could he do now? Just forget about it. No need to bring it up.

Hearing Evelyn shuffle across the bathroom to most probably exit, Maddox got up to change as well.

In his closet, he grabbed a pair of sweats before chucking his shirt in the hamper.

Walking out, he saw a very out of place looking Evelyn sitting on the edge of his bed, her butt just barely touching the comfy surface. She was fidgeting. It wasn't hard to see she felt self conscious in the shirt she wore, it just barely covering her thighs.

To him though, she looked lovely and he felt guiltier knowing he's the reason to make her feel more insecure than usual.

He cleared his throat to bring her attention to him. Raising her head, her eyes widened at the sight of him.

He was shirtless.

"Hi," she squeaked out.

"Hi."

She nervously looked away.

His gaze was unnerving. "You can sleep on the bed in here if you would like. I'll sleep in one of the guest rooms."

"Um...yeah that would be nice. Thank you."

He nodded his head before leaving the room.

He lingered around the doorway though. He wanted to keep quiet, but his conscience nagged at him to do the right thing.

"Evelyn?"

"Yeah," she hummed.

He was stuck. His pride was too sacred for him to push aside and apologize.

"Hope the painkillers took their affect."

Looking up at him, she bobbed her head. "Definitely. The pain is faint, a lot less intense than before."

"Good..."

They lapsed into awkward tranquility.

Just staring at each other. Occasionally one would break the eye contact, but eventually their eyes found their way back to one another.

Breaking the eye contact once more, Evelyn started fidgeting with the stray string pilling off the shirt she was given.

"Evelyn."

Snapping her head back up, she cocked her head to one side.

"About what I said in the bathroom..."

She was curious and her expression was encouraging him to continue.

He scratched the back of his head anxiously.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it so insensitively."

Once the words were out of his mouth, he let out a big breath he didn't even know he was holding.

That felt good.

His eyes wouldn't look at hers. He felt like shit and although his apology was 100% genuine, he felt bad for saying what he had said in the bathroom in the first place.

Evelyn was still.

Her hands stopped their fidgeting as she inhaled sharply.

Before Maddox could look up to see her reaction, he was propelled backwards as Evelyn's tiny body collided with his.

She wrapped her arms around his neck forcing him to lean down for her to reach him. Her head was squished against his chest as she squeezed him tighter.

A hug.

Coming out of his shock, Maddox wrapped his arms around her in a hurry.

"Thank you," she quietly breathed out.

"For what?" he whispered back.

She raised her head to look up at him before lowering it back to snuggle closer to him.

"For apologizing."

He bit his tongue from questioning her sincerity and instead, gently clutched Evelyn tighter.

"No need to thank me."

After a few seconds, they untangled from each other.

"Goodnight Maddox."

Her voice was comforting and benevolent.

Swallowing, Maddox said the same before walking off without any knowledge of the effects of his apology.

What he didn't know was that Evelyn fell asleep with a faint smile gracing her features.

What he didn't know was that he was the first person to ever apologize for hurting her.

He didn't know that he made her feel appreciated.

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