Chapter 7

Third-person p.o.v

The sweet aroma of vanilla mixed with the more faint scent of fresh pine swirled through her nose as the door creaked open. The scent soothed something inside her, it smelled like Ezra.. sweet but with a twinge of earthy. Most would find it a strange combination but she appreciated it.. it was a smell she figured would become home. She instinctively let the smell flow stronger through her as she took a silent breath, letting the scent engulf her. She let him lead her -wherever he was going-. His large, steady hand, that was oddly soft, encasing her smaller one, that only then did she realize were trembling. Whether that was out of happiness, or fear, she wasn’t sure. That line had blurred in her mind years ago. Saffron's eyes wandered around the house taking in all the details she could as he led her through what she assumed, was the living room.

It was darkly furnished. It had a rustic modern feel. A black couch filled with an assortment of throw pillows sat in the middle, backed up towards the wall. There was a light gray throw blanket laying over the spine of the couch, hanging slightly down the back and drooping onto the cushions. Behind the couch sat a black bookshelf littered with knick-knacks and pictures.

She studied the pictures carefully, her gaze locked on one in particular, a picture of Ezra and 3 other people. Right next to Ezra stood a man about the same height as him, just shorter by what was probably a few inches. He had shaggy looking brown hair, his face adorned by a pair of glasses. He was lanky, but you could tell he wasn't scrawny. He wore a pair of jeans and a black shirt, a jean jacket in hand, draped over his shoulder.

Next to him stood a tall ginger. He was pretty broad from what she could tell through the picture. What caught her eye though, was his hair, it was pretty long, to his shoulders almost. He wore a white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She followed his arm down to a small woman, it was wrapped protectively around her waist.

The brunette girl had a grin painted on her happy face. She wore a black shirt filled with flowers and a pair of bright yellow pants. One of her hands rested on the ginger guy's chest and the other wrapped around his back. Then there was Ezra; he stood happily in the middle, a beautiful smile filling his features. He looked slightly younger in the picture.

His arms were around the two guys necks. His raven locks slicked back slightly, a few pieces falling on his face. His shoulders were covered in a leather jacket, with a gray shirt underneath. On his legs a pair of dark jeans.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Ezra's voice.

“I'm sorry, what was that?” she turned her attention back to him.

“Oh, I just was telling you who the people in that picture were. You were looking at it so closely, just thought you might want to know.” He smiled down at her as he watched the tips of her ears that were peeking through her hair turn pink. “O-oh, I'm sorry… you can tell me now.” He smiled at her again before turning his attention to the picture. He pointed at the bond first. “That's Myles. He's the one I told you about earlier. The one who makes the coffee at the shop,..usually.” She bobbed her head as he continued, “He's pretty reserved most of the time, but I swear he can rip you a new one if you mess with his loved ones... And he could just about slice butter with his wit and sarcasm.” he laughed, shaking his head slightly.

“The redhead is Elliot. He runs the counter and waits tables. Me and him have been together since birth basically. He and Amelia are the troublemakers, always stirring up some trouble.” Ezra smiled fondly at the thought.

“And the girl..?” Saffron asked softly.

“Oh! That's Amelia. She and Myles are cousins actually. It was pretty hard to believe they were related when we first met. She's.. well.. she's definitely something.” he chuckled. “She's very blunt. Has no filter, but she's real sweet in her own way if you're someone she cares for.”

“This was actually taken when we were.. let's see, I think we were 18 or so.” Centering his attention on her once again he observed the warm smile resting on her features. He was starting to really love that smile.. It's something that he just couldn't seem to get enough of, even if they are small and not often. He was determined to make her smile for the rest of his life, a mission you could call it. He couldn't even imagine how breathtaking her smile would be when it was full of happiness, no regrets, no fear or other emotions trying to simmer over. He was ready to make that happen no matter what he had to do.

“They sound like good people.” her voice carried gently.

He smiled at her. “Yeah, their great friends.”

He was mesmerised by her eyes as they locked with his. They were this beautiful icy blue, with a gold ring around the border of the iris. They seemed like they could peirce into the depth of his soul, like she could see what he was thinking. They also conveyed so much to him, emotion swirled in her eyes like windows to her soul. He really hoped she couldn't read his mind cause that would be.. well...embarrassing.. Seeing as, the longer he stared at her, the stronger the urge to kiss her. His ears pricked with heat just thinking about it. He was snapped out of his Saffron induced trance when she turned away. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Did he make her uncomfortable…?

He gently grasped her shoulder, feeling her muscles tense under his grip, he took his hand off. He'd have to keep trying to remind himself to stop grabbing her. He hated making her uncomfortable.. His chest felt hot and tight, he didn't know what to do with himself.. She faced him again, but her eyes were securely stuck on the ground. He sighed silently. “Ok, I have a room to show you.” he smiled trying to lighten the mood. She bobbed her head as he took her hand again leading her to the surprise destination.

She focused on the sound of their steps and the floor beneath her feet as they walked down a hallway and up a beautiful staircase. She studied them carefully, slowly walking up, cautious not to fall. They were steady and sound, unlike the stairs she’d grown accustomed to growing up. The bittersweet feeling began rising in her chest, like it always did when her mind wandered to home. The way she knew there was a creaky step two up from the bottom and that one of the stairs in the middle had a nail loose that you had to remember, unless you wanted a trip to the ER that is. She remembered being too scared to walk down the scary steps when she was young, so she’d slide down on her butt. The memories of watching her mom walk down that staircase so elegantly that she could almost swear she was floating, or how on her first day to school she'd always be sat down on the stairs by her mother. Telling her that if she sat still for just two seconds, so she could get a clear picture, she’d get candy -if it stayed their little secret of course-. It's like she could taste the butterscotch on her tongue even now. But there was also the bitter.. Those times weren't so sweet to think about.

The times she was just trying to get to her room before she was caught in the drunken furry that was the man she called father, but those creaky steps betraying her, oh so many times.

She pushed the thoughts away as they came to a halt. Her eyes were met with a small white door. Turning her gaze to her right she saw three doors. They were big and dark, contrasting the one in front of them. The door creaked as Ezra pushed it open.

Her eyes widened, marveling at the room before her. The room wasn’t huge but it definitely wasn't tiny. It was just the perfect size, cozy and welcoming. The walls were all lined with bookshelves. They were almost all filled with books top to bottom. It was a beautiful library. On one of the walls there was a space between the shelfs, a window sat there, below it a black bean bag chair on the floor. She smiled softly looking at it. Even with the whirlwind that was her life, she had always found reading to be her pleasant escape from the world. She remembered the times when she was younger and she’d run away and hide at the small local library. She would hide in the back corner, behind one of the shelfs and read for hours, until she knew she had to go home to whatever was waiting.

She flinched as Ezra nudged her shoulder. Her face burned as she whispered out an apology, realizing she had probably just been standing there like a fish out of water. “Sorry.” He looked at her in bewilderment. “Why are you apologizing?” he questioned gently. “Uh.. sorry, I don't really know.” he sighed as she once again apologized. He was starting to realize that sorry was probably the most used word in her vocabulary and he hated it. He didn't like how she was always apologizing for everything, like she wasn't allowed to be a human and make mistakes, but he supposed that it made sense with what she's been through in her life.. It was probably engraved into her head to not disrespect a man in any way, or talk back, or out of turn, but it still bothered him. He pushed the thought away for the moment.

He silently observed as she walked towards the literature lined shelves.

His eyes flicked over her every move as she ran her fingers over the spines of the books, a satisfying sound rattling off the books at the motion. His eyes fluttered around her as she observed each book closely, before her fingers moved to the next. He watched attentively as she came to a halt. Her fingers hovered over a book, before gently slipping it from its resting place. She felt the weight of it in her hands as she held it ever so carefully, like it would fall to pieces if not handled with the utmost care. The book was old and worn, tattered and torn from years of fingers flipping the pages, for hours on end. The cover wasn’t much better off, but it still was lined with gold lettering. He wondered why that one had caught her attention out of all of them. He watched the way her eyes glazed over with a sort of distance. Her face was calm, expression warm, as her fingers ran delicately over the aged gold letters.

He stepped forward in his curiosity, taking soft strides towards her. Standing silently behind her, he observed her hands as they delicately and elegantly held the book, flipping gently through the dateless pages. “I take it you read?” he grimaced as she jumped in fright. “Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya.. Uh.. I was just watching you- uh.. that came out wrong, I didn't mean I was watching you..”

He puffed out a huff of air through his nose. “I just meant that you seemed really into that book.”

Still not looking at him she replied stiffly. “Yeah. My mom reading me this book when I was little is one of the few clear memories of her I have.” His face fell with remorse for asking a question that brought sadness to her eyes.

Tipping her head to the side she offered him a small smile, that didn't by any means, reach her eyes.

On impulse, he gently cupped her face, pulling her to face him. He swept a lock of hair behind her ear. Tenderly he caressed her cheek, the pad of his thumb gliding across her velvet-like skin, trying to wipe the sadness away. His eyes clouded as he watched small puffs of breath fall through her parted lips. Sliding his thumb down her jaw, he ran it across her bottom lip. Lifting his eyes to meet hers he became unsettled. Her brows were raised in fear, her eyes glistening with the tears that pricked at her eyes. Her jaw trembling ever so slightly. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage painfully hard and her chest felt tight as old memories fogged her brain, trapping her in a prison. Desperate for escape, her throat constricted. She could feel his hands brutally squeezing, cutting off her air, while greedily taking what wasn’t his to take. It made her feel dirty.. She wanted to scream, but it's like her mouth was sewn shut, her voice trapped, leaving her helpless. She clawed at the hands that held her neck. The feel of the blood and skin sliding under her nails as she clawed and scratched sent shiver of disgust up her spine. She cried out the words she desperately wanted anyone to hear.. To save her from this torture. “Please! Stop! Let me go Silas! Please STOP!.”

Ezra watched with widened eyes as she clawed mercilessly at her throat. He grabbed her hands quickly in an attempt to stop her from harming herself more. His eyes stung as the pain settled in from the sight of her tearing the soft flesh of her throat. And his neck burned as the raw scratches burned at his skin also. She thrashed in his arms roughly, screaming and hollering. But it struck him.. Why did she keep calling him Silas??

He shook the thought for now, he just needed to focus on a way to get her to calm down.

He sank to the floor with her tightly in his arms. He spoke into her ear softly, trying to get some sliver of her reasonability to break through, just a little. .

“Honey, you have to calm down please. It's me Ezra, I'm not gonna hurt you, baby. You're safe.” he murmured to her.

Very slowly the pounding assault on his chest died down and the yelling broke into uncontrollable sobbing that shook her whole body. Her body shook against his chest as he rocked her gently, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. She buried her face in his neck, hot tears rolling down her face, soaking the collar of his shirt. He rubbed slow circles on her back as the sobs became sniffles. Her head stayed securely in the crook of his neck. “Hun, I'm going to take you up stairs so you can lay down and rest..Ok?” she nodded her head weakly. Getting up he secured her legs around his waist, hands holding her tightly as he walked carefully through the house. After very.. very carefully climbing the stairs, he slipped into his bedroom. Standing toe to toe with the bed, he gently lowered her to the mattress after pulling the covers back. His lips rested in a sad line seeing she'd fallen asleep.. She must be exhausted, he thought to himself as he silently walked across the room grabbing an extra blanket from the closet. He laid it over her, a small smile one his face as she snuggled closer to the warmth of the blanket. He leaned down laying a soft kiss on her crown. “Rest well, love.” he murmured against her hair.