Shining My World

Chapter 9

"I-I..."

"Sky, you need rest. You can't stay up all night and expect your body to heal. I'm right here, I won't let anything happen to you." He said softly.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I closed my eyes, soon I drifted off to sleep. With the feeling of Brody's hand in mine, I actually slept well. I woke the next morning to Brody gently rubbing his thumb along my hand. I slowly looked at him as he laid on his back with one arm behind his head, staring at the ceiling. "W-What time is it?"

Brody looked at me. "Well, you're finally awake. It's ten past nine."

"What?" I shot up quickly then winced in pain.

"Easy..." Brody said as he sat up. "I let you sleep because you needed it."

"What about school?" I asked as I met his blue eyes.

"Do you really want to go to school with all the pain you're in?" Brody asked.

"No... I don't." I said softly.

"I didn't think you did, so I let you sleep." Brody said as he got up. He stretched out for a moment.

"Thank you..." I said softly. Brody looked at me. "For letting me sleep in here." I said as I eased my legs to my chest.

"You're welcome." Brody said as he stood up. I didn't realize it before, but Brody was shirtless the whole time. I stared at the scar on his back as he dug in his dresser for a shirt.

Brody's phone started to vibrate. He picked it up. "Hey Bail." He said. "I let her sleep in. Her body needs to rest in order to heal, ya know. It's hard for her to move around without it causing her pain." Brody explained. "N-No, she's here with me... She was in too much pain to move so I let her stay with me." Brody ran his hand through his hair. "No, Bail I haven't..." He sighed.

"I-Is everything ok?" I asked.

Brody glanced back at me. "Let me go man." He hung up. "Yeah, he was just nagging me about practice and the big game coming up."

I looked down slightly. "Oh, right. I almost forgot about Homecoming."

Brody sat his phone on the dresser before sitting next to me. "Are you ok?"

"For the most part..." I said softly.

"You know you can talk to me, Sky..." Brody frowned.

"I've never been hurt this badly by Ayden before..." I pressed my forehead to my knees, hiding my face. "I just feel numb..."

"What do you mean?" Brody asked.

"Like he took everything out of me when he hurt me."

"Oh.. I see." Brody said softly. "I know how you feel, Sky."

It was quiet for a long moment. "Brody!" A woman called.

"I will be right back." I heard him say then walked out of his room. I slowly eased myself off the bed and onto my feet. I walked out of Brody's room and into the guest room. I walked to the dresser mirror and slowly lifted the shirt slightly. I looked away when I saw the dark black and blue bruises that had formed all over my sides.

I heard a deep breath from behind me causing me to look in the mirror. Brody looked down with his hands balled into a fist. I let the shirt down and slowly turned to him. "I will be ok, Brody." I said softly.

"He hurt you that bad..." Brody slowly looked at me.

I huffed as I made my way to him slowly. I placed my hand on his shoulder even though it hurt to raise my arm. "It will heal in time." I said through the pain.

Brody's eyes met mine as he stared at me in silence for a long moment. His eyes were filled with hurt as he looked down. "Are you hungry?" He asked quietly.

"A little." I said softly.

"What would you like?"

"A fried egg is good." I said softly.

"Just a fried egg?"

"Yeah, for now."

Brody nodded and helped me down the hall to his little kitchen. He helped me sit on the stool then walked to the stove. He reached up and pulled down one of his skillet pans to use for the egg. He walked to the fridge then back to the stove.

I watched him for a moment. Was this really happening? Was I really in Brody's place watching him cook me breakfast? I looked down at the counter as I frowned. "Brody..."

Brody glanced back at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Did anyone tell Riley and the girls?"

"That's what you're worried about? Geez, I thought you were in pain." Brody sighed. "I'm sure Bailey and Owen filled everyone in."

"Owen?" I pushed my brows together.

"Yeah, Owen and I found you. Don't you remember?"

I looked down slightly as I thought back to that night. "Oh, right. He drove the Mustang home." I nodded.

Brody nodded and checked on my egg. "Do you need any medicine?"

"I will take some after I eat." I said softly.

"Ok." Brody nodded and grabbed a plate from the cabinet. "What's your poison?"

"Water is fine." I chuckled a little then winced.

Brody frowned a little. "Sorry..."

"Don't be. I need to laugh every now then." I said. Once Brody sat the plate and cup in front of me I ate slowly. Brody made sure once I was finished eating that I took some medicine. Once I did that, I slowly made my way to the couch to sit down.

Brody helped me get comfortable by placing a pillow behind me and then grabbing the throw blanket to lay over me. "Comfy?" Brody asked.

"Yes, thank you." I nodded. Brody gave a nod and sat down on the coffee table across from me. He ran his hand through his hair as he sighed. "What's wrong?" I asked softly.

Brody's eyes met mine. "It's nothing..." He said softly as he rubbed the back of his neck. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped before looking down again.

"You can tell me when you're ready." I assured him. Brody smiled a little as he nodded. "Are you going to go to practice later?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Did you want me to drop you off at home?"

I looked down slightly. "I-I don't know..." I pulled my legs to my chest carefully.