bruises and bruising words || accepting @emptygcrdens : “Where did you get those?” + [stay] – sender offers receiver a place to stay, so that – wherever they got these bruises – they don’t have to go back.
The side of Miah’s lip that isn’t split is pulled between his teeth, stormy blue eyes locked on the floor of Madeline’s room. He’d messed up, forgotten to tell his father that his brother Isaac’s basketball game was away and had paid the price. Of course he hadn’t taken the time to look at the damage in a mirror to see how bad it looked, but by the way his cheek is throbbing he wouldn’t be surprised if the skin across his cheekbone was split as well.
It feels a little odd, being in her room like this. But in his usual walk around town after anything happens between him and his father, he just sort of found himself at her place. And while he made the conscious decision to be cliché and toss pebbles at her window, he hadn’t really thought about her actually seeing him like this. So now it’s hard to tear his eyes away from the pillow and blankets she’s laid down on the floor.
Giving a half-hearted shrug, Miah shoves his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s nothin’ to worry about. Just wasn’t lookin’ where I was going.”
