Innocence

L I S S O M E

"Her salty eyes told me stories, that made my heart weep. I wanted to wrap her in a blanket, and tell her she was safe forever."

~Atticus~

~🎀~

F R E Y A  H A D  never felt so sore in her entire life. Every muscle ached as if she had slept with her arms and legs bent at unnatural angles, and her head pounded with every breath.

She kept her eyes closed, memories of what seemed like only moments before filling her mind. She was frightened that if she opened her eyes, she wouldn't see the usual ceiling of her house but instead an unfamiliar place.

That was until she felt whatever it was that had been placed under her head, move.

With a sharp breath, Freya's eyes snapped open, her head halfway off of whatever she had been placed on. She braced herself on the ground before looking to where her head had been only seconds before.

Legs were the first thing that registered in her mind. Legs that led to a strangely familiar torso and then-

Green eyes bore into her own as her heart slammed against the cavity of her chest. A muffled noise that sounded somewhat like a sob and somewhat like Falcon's name erupted from her lips before Freya's arms wrapped around his neck and dragged their bodies closer.

Falcon's arms curled around her waist, burying his face into her hair as Freya began sobbing into his shirt.
"Shh," Falcon cooed. "It's okay. You're okay."

Falcon rested his chin on her head, his hand finding its way to her hair before he combed his fingers through her locks. The action had Freya's tears drying up in seconds as her little hands clutched the material of his shirt.

Freya sucked in a strangled breath before sniffling and moving her head to look up at Falcon with red, puffy eyes. Her lips were turned down in a heartbroken pout and Falcon would be lying if he said it didn't break his own heart. Freya looked down at his chest, her hand rubbing at her swollen eyes as she wiped away the residue of tears.

Falcon released one of his arms from around her waist, using his hand to playfully flick up her chin so she looked back at him. He gave her a small smile, genuine even though it wavered around the corners.

"Frowning's not a good look on you, princess," He said softly.

Freya's mouth turned up at the corners of their own accord. She sniffled again, shyly smiling up at the man in front of her. Falcon grinned despite the situation, pressing the most gentle kiss to the tip of her nose.

"I love you, sweetheart," He dragged her closer so she sat properly in his lap. "And I'm sorry. So sorry for everything."

Freya's brow creased, concern flashing through her doe eyes.
"Bu-but you didn't do anything," Childish confusion shone through her voice as Falcon swept away a stray piece of hair from her face.

He didn't know how to explain it to her. How to tell her that it was his foolishness and his messed up life that got them into the situation. To tell her that would be to tell her what he'd done, and that had to be the single most frightening thing he could think of.

She'd seen him punch people. Hell, she'd seen him beat them up, but those weren't the things that got you a fifteen-year prison sentence with a slim chance of parole. No, those kinds of sentences were saved for the bad cases. The cases that were strewn with drugs and battered bodies. The kind of case Falcon had found himself smack-bang in the middle of.