The Greek God

25

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"You weren't returning my calls and I was worried about you," He replies as he tried to grab my hand, only for me to pull away.

"You shouldn't be here," I walked past him towards my bed. Taken aback, Daniel grabs my hand and faces me.

"Why are you avoiding me?" He seemed hurt.

"I'm not avoiding you-"

"Bullshit. You are."

I remained silent my gaze fixated onto the concrete floor. Daniel gently lifted my chin and stared me with his intense green eyes.

Those green eyes.

The ones that told me I was beautiful, the ones that teased me. The ones I've fallen for.

"If you don't want to see me, say it to my face." He whispered, hurt.

I backed away and began pacing from side to side as I placed my hands onto my temple. Seeing Daniel hurt was probably the last thing I wanted to see. But I knew that if I told him, everything, he wouldn't understand.

"It's just..." I struggled. "I can't deal with this! I can't eat nor sleep- I c-can't breathe!" I felt my throat closing, and not letting the air go through. Daniel tried to walk up to me but I stretched my hands outwards causing him to halt.

"Babe-"

"No!" I yelled. "Don't call me babe. Don't call me at all!" I began to sob.

"What is wrong?" He wouldn't give up. "What are you talking about?"

I remained silent as I continued to pace around my room. I heard him call my name, but I refused to answer only for him to grab me by my forearms and face me.

But he didn't.

He was looking at my wrists.

I watched how is eyes changed from, shock to panic in a matter of seconds.

"What the fuck?" He whispered. I began to sob again as I attempted to pull away, but his grasp got tighter. He looked up to me in a panicked way, "Astrid what is this?"

"I c-can't-" I choked as tears continued to roll down my cheeks.

"Have you been cutting yourself?" His voice came out thin. "All this time?"

"No!"

"Then what the fuck is this?"

I didn't answer, instead, I lead out loud, choked sobs. Daniel released me from his grip and pulled me towards him. I tried pushing him away, but his grip got tighter, causing me to give in. Feeling him move towards a certain direction, I followed him until we reached my bed. Lying me gently onto his chest, he began stroking my head and whispering to me that it was ok as I continued to sob into his chest.

I thought that as soon as he was going to my wrists, he would back off and leave me in my room. But no, he held me tight and reassuring me that it was going to be fine.

And for once, I believed him.

***

I felt a finger trace my cheek, causing my eyes to flutter open. As soon as I had a clear vision, I saw Daniel lying right in front of me, with his hand against my cheek.

"Hey," he spoke gently. "How you feeling?"

"Like crap," i croaked, causing him to chuckle.

We remained silent for a short period of time, until he spoke first.

"Why? Why did you do it?" referring to my wrists

"Because a year ago, I was a fucking mess."

"Does it have to do with Emilia?" I nodded confirming my answer.

"But that's not the only thing." He lifted his head, telling me to continue. I lifted my body as he did the same thing, sitting across each other on the bed. "Today is also, my mother's death anniversary...and my drug overdose."

I couldn't look at Daniel. I couldn't imagine how he would react.

"Who did this to you?" He spoke, anger building up inside of him.

"Mateo."

"That son of a bitch," he looked away.

"Daniel," I turned his head so that he could look at me, his green eyes filled with pain.

"What did he do to you?" I remained silent. "Astrid, tell me everything."

His fingers stroked my wrists and he gave me a pleading look. I couldn't say no to him. In fact, refuse to remain silent in this topic.

I nodded and cleared my throat, "Ok, I'll tell you everything."