Lend Me Your
Heart
Thirty-six
I was embarrassed, crying in front of him after he just hit
me.
He just stood there, saying nothing.
He was frozen.
I knelt to the ground; my chest heaving while my shoulders shook
up and down.
I gasped for air, my diaphragm spazing uncontrollably.
I was humiliated and terrified, praying he wouldn’t touch
me like that again.
He took a step towards me, making me flinch because I thought he
was going to hit me again.
“I’m sorry!” I gasped in-between sobs,
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m
sorry!”
The only reason I was apologizing was so he wouldn’t hurt
me again.
I stumbled up into a standing-position and staggered towards the
door without saying another word to him and ran out of the
building.
“Layne!” I could hear him call down the stairs, his
voice cracking, “Layne!”
My stomach churned with confused feelings: anger, fear, and
pain.
But, his voice was so harsh it just made me want to run
faster.
So I did.
I ran as fast as I could across campus, trying to get to the
Dance Barn before Zach could catch up with me, but it
didn’t take long before he did.
At least I could say I tried.
His hand caught my shoulder, making me flinch.
I squinted, praying he wasn’t going to touch me again.
“Layne, please. I’m not going to hurt you,” he
said breathed, his voice cracking in pain ever so slightly,
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head and looked at the ground, gasping for air.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said, a tear falling
from his eye. “I didn’t mean it—I didn’t
mean to do that.”
“Then what did you mean to do?” I said, failing at
the attempt to cover up my tears.
“It was just careless. I’m sorry,” he cried,
endless tears falling from his cheeks.
I knew if I just forgave him, things would go back to
normal…or at least slightly more normal than things are
now.
But, did I really want to stay with someone who kept hurting
me?
“I’m so sick of it!” I yelled at him,
“I thought you wanted to start over!”
“I do, Layne! I do!” he sobbed, embracing me in an
iron hug, “I can’t loose you. Not you, too.
You’re all I have left.”
“If I’m all you have left, why did you hit
me?”
“I’m so sorry, honey. I’m so sorry,” he
whispered, his hand combing through the hair that fell down my
back.
Of course, my heart skipped a beat when he called me
“honey”, but I still had conflicting feelings.
“You do realize all I did was invite you over for
Christmas, right? And then you got so angry with me and I
just…I just-” I stuttered before bursting into tears
again.
“I know. I know. You just wanted to make sure I was okay
and happy. You did what every good girlfriend would do and I did
something no guy should ever do, especially to a girl
like you, Layne. It was a stupid, careless mistake. I realize
that. I’m so sorry.”
He was so good at talking things out whenever he was apologizing
to me.
He had a way with words; I’ll give him that.
I looked up into his bright, blue eyes that were electrified by
the orange, setting sun behind him.
If beauty could kill, I would’ve been dead on the spot.
“I trusted you,” I said. “You get so angry when
other people hurt me, so why would you hurt me?
God…of all people. I just don’t get it,
Zach.”
“I did it out of negligence and I’m sorry, Layne.
Please.”
“Please what?”
“Forgive me! Please forgive me, Layne. Please.”
I looked down for a moment, but his hand held my jaw, so I had no
choice but to look him in the eye.
“Don’t you ever hit me again, Zachary
O’Connor.”
“You’re my girl, Layne. I’ll never lay another
finger on you. I’ll do anything for you. You know that. I
didn’t mean it, Layne. I’m sorry. I’m
so sorry.”
By then, more and more tears were running down his face and it
broke my heart in half.
I had no choice.
“Prove it,” I said, even though I was still upset.
“Prove you’ll do anything for me. Starting
tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” he said. “Wha-what should I
do?”
“Prove that you’d do anything for me.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. You’re supposed to come up with
that part on your own.”
“Okay.”
“Okay. Well, I’m going to the Dance Barn to practice
my dance.”
I wanted to tell him I loved him, but I couldn’t.
Not now.
Not if he didn’t say it first because he owed me.
With that, I turned around and took a step forward before
Zach’s hands looped around my waist in a steal grip.
He buried his head in between my neck and collarbone before
turning me around and touching my bad cheek with his cool
fingers.
Then, his hand moved down to my waist again so he could gently
place his lips on the red skin that covered my right cheek.
“I’ll never hurt you again. I promise,” he
said.
That promise seemed awfully familiar to me, but I didn’t
question it.
I just kissed his lips instead.
They say kisses make everything better.
No, silly girl. Forgiveness makes
everything better. THANKS FOR 7 COMMENTS! MADE MY
LIFE!
STOP. I want to like Zach but I can't