Lesson 146- Scars are normal, everyone has a few. They show that you’re strong and have healed.

I find Torin in the kitchen, digging through the freezer for an ice pack. He turns around to see me the moment I enter and even though he is clearly in pain and stressed as hell, he still smiles when he sees me. Just a tiny bit. It erases any hint of hesitation I might have been feeling. I walk straight up to him and practically leap up to loop my arms around his neck. He immediately catches me around the waist, although he looks completely baffled by my actions which makes me giggle a little.
“I was going to wait until everything was sorted out, but I’m feeling a little impatient.” I murmur to him as an explanation. Then since he’s now supporting my weight. I release his neck with one hand, hook my hand into his hair, tug him towards me and kiss him. Torin is frozen for about half a second until his mind catches up. Then he begins to kiss me back. Enthusiastically. His hands around my waist tighten and he pulls me closer. I grin in satisfaction when he stumbles backwards a little. Apparently he’s a little off balance now. Without taking his lips from mine, he steps back until he can lean back on the edge of the bench to steady himself. I wrap my legs around his waist, still wanting to be closer. It isn’t until I start to feel lightheaded that I pull back. Torin looks completely flushed and dazed, with a cute little grin on his face. I unhook my legs from around him and he carefully lowers me down. I stare up at him, my hands resting on his chest. I know I thought that I would walk away from him if I had to, for his own sake as well as mine. But in this moment I know that it won’t happen. Partially because I’m fairly sure he will do whatever he has to do in order to make it safe for me to stay, and partially because I’m not sure I actually could walk away from him.
“I… What was that?” Torin asks. He sounds more than a little breathless too. I smile up at him.
“I realised that I forgot to say goodnight.” I tell him cheerfully. Torin stares.
“That was a goodnight?” He asks incredulously. I nod.
“Yep.” I answer. Torin blinks in confusion.
“Why?” He asks.
“Because I wanted to and I didn’t feel like waiting. I told you, I was feeling impatient.” I answer with a grin. Torin just stands there… Looking at me almost blankly.
“Tori?” He startles a little then his ears go red.
“Sorry. I… I have trouble focusing sometimes when you’re touching me.” He mumbles, clearly embarrassed. I just smile even brighter and go to step away. For a second, Torin catches my waist, stopping me. Then he immediately yanks his hands back like he’s worried he will get in trouble for touching me, which is kind of funny after what I just did. I catch his hands and squeeze them gently before letting him go and stepping back for real.
“Night Tori, for real this time.” I tell him sweetly. He nods, still a little dazed.
“Good night Rina. Sleep well.”

I go back to Torin’s room feeling more than a little hyped up, although now that I’m not actively making up with the gorgeous demon out in the kitchen, I’m aware of how sore my jaw and arm actually are. The cuts feel like a dull ache and my jaw is actually feeling kind of stiff. It might just be the awkwardly placed bandage. There’s a little ensuite bathroom coming off of his bedroom so I go to check it out in the mirror. I take one step into the bathroom and freeze. Ugh, I look awful. A complete mess. Now I kind of wish I had taken the time to clean myself up BEFORE I went and threw myself at Torin. I actually can’t believe he actually still wanted to kiss me when I look like this. The bandage on my jaw has bled through a little bit and there is dried out blood down my shirt and on my pants. Disgusting. I suddenly am desperate to get clean. I strip my clothes off in a hurry, shuddering when the dried blood sticks the shirt to my stomach a little and pulls as it comes away. I throw my clothes into the corner of the room and do my best to scrub the remaining flecks of blood off my stomach using the little hand towel. I don’t want to take a proper shower because I’ll get my bandages wet. I’m actually kind of dreading the moment the bandage on my face has to come off. Is it vain if I admit that I’m dreading the scar I’ll end up with? I mean, I doubt it will be THAT bad, not to mention plenty of people have scars and I’ve never disliked them on other people or anything like that. I suppose it is just a bit of vanity. Or maybe I’m just embarrassed that in a situation like that, I somehow managed to get taken out by a broken bottle. Although I guess I could blame the blast of magic that shattered the bottle? Then I can say I got the scar fighting a witch or something. That sounds cooler, right? Who am I kidding, I’m just annoyed that I got hurt. I’ll recover, there will probably be a bit of a scar and if I really hate it, I’m sure I can find a way to hide it with makeup. Hell, the bar is full of people coming through with magic. I bet if I asked around I could find someone who can magically erase or hide a scar. It’s not the end of the world. I can have a bit of a cry about it if I like, but then I need to just move on. At least it wasn’t worse. I could have lost an eye or something.

Once I feel sufficiently clean, I go hunting for something to wear. Obviously I don’t have any of my stuff here, so, trying not to feel like a creep, I search through Torin’s dresser. This time I’m not trying to be nosy. I just need something to wear. Luckily, in the very first drawer I open, I find a selection of t-shirts. Perfect. I pull out a dark blue one and slip it on over my head. Torin is so much bigger than me that it falls well below my knees. Great, it’s basically a dress. It’s soft and comfortable, and as a bonus, it kind of smells like Torin which I am just now realising is incredibly comforting. Feeling oddly reassured, I climb into Torin’s bed which must be a king sized or something because I am practically swimming in it. I crawl in under the blankets, pull them up to my chin, then grab my phone from where I left it on his bedside table. I send out a text to the work group chat.

Rina- Hey everyone. Just letting you know that I’m fine. I’m currently at Tori’s house safe and sound. I’m about to go to bed.

I send a similar text to my brother who responds with a thumbs up followed by a winky face emoji. I roll my eyes but I don’t bother to argue with his implication. Mostly because he’s not entirely wrong. I did just make out with Tori after all. The work group chat starts BLOWING up.

Kyle- What the hell?

Laura- Are you serious right now?

Mira- Oooh, this is interesting. Tell us EVERYTHING.

Rina- Everything like what?

Laura- Everything like anything. Where does he live? What is it like?

Mira- Maybe she can send us pictures?

Rina- Guys I am not going to send you pictures of Tori’s house. As for what it’s like, it’s nice and pretty normal aside from a few seriously intense wards.

Mira- Spoil sport.

Kyle- I can’t believe he let you in there. It’s kind of insane. You can’t blame us for being curious, even if the ladies are taking it a LITTLE far asking for photos.

Rina- If you have a question about Tori’s home you can ask him yourself. In the meantime, I’m going to get some sleep. I just wanted to let everyone know I’m fine, Night all.