Memories 2

William, who was only fourteen at the moment, was lying on the cold, concrete floor. His wrists and ankles were tied together by thick and abrasive rope. It dug deeper into his skin every time he moved, but that was the least of his problems. The young lad had difficulty breathing for several of his ribs were broken. His left eye was swollen shut and the dried blood in his nose forced him to breathe through his mouth. Everything hurt. Everything ached. He didn't think it could get any worse, but he was proven wrong. His kidnapper was back. He could hear his heavy footsteps grow louder as the man got closer. William's joints locked and his muscles froze when the man crouch down in front of William. "How long have you been here? Three days? I've beaten you. I tortured you, but you didn't cry. You didn't cry; you didn't beg me to stop; you didn't do anything a normal person would except for scream in pain." The man let out a soft chuckle. He pulled his hand away from his back, revealing the item he was hiding behind him. To William's horror, it was a knife. "You're a piece of work, aren't 'cha?"

Phoebe slowly retracted her hands away from Willy as his hazel eyes spoke to her saying " get away from me." She was worried that somehow she pierced a wall William had build metaphorically. She didn't know all the details to Willy's past, but she knew they were similar.

"Willy what's wrong? Why are you showing me such an irresistible face?" She asked using a poor choice of words again. She would peek down at the floor below before taking a step off of the couch. Doing so put Her at a staggering inches below Willy's eye level.

" Yah Willy~ You know I would never hurt you right? We're partners and your my best friend I couldn't do any harm to you unless we're sparring." She looked up at him and slowly approached him. Her blue eyes glimmered in the light as she looked up to try to meet his gaze.

"William you're gonna force me to hug you in a moment. So either you talk to me about it or I'll tackle you...your choice." Seeing William with such an expression made Phoebe feel bad.

Almost like when she felt guilty she couldn't help want to fix the problem or ease the pain.

She would walk towards him with her arms held out gesturing she was about to hug him.

Gradually, William's hands stopped trembling and the distant look in William's eyes began to fade as clarity return to his hazel orbs. Although his eyes was clear of the film of haze that seemed to cover it moments before, fear was still written across his features, especially in his eyes. He let out a weary sigh and brushed his hair back with his hand. Frightened, terrified, exhausted, grateful. "There's no need for you to hug me. I'm fine, Phoebe. Some unwanted memories just decided to resurface." William slid his glasses off from over his eyes and proceeded to message his temples without interference from the frames.

With his glasses off, his clothes casual, and his hair damp and slightly messy, William was almost unrecognizable. His authoritative and strong presence was broken down by the visitation of his past, leaving him both externally and internally vulnerable. However, despite how broken he is now, Phoebe can be sure that William will go back to the way he was tomorrow, acting as if the collapse of William's calm and level-headed demeanor never happened. With both hands holding the frame of his glasses, he slipped them back on, his vision returning to him once again.

Phoebe let her arms plop down to her side after William declined her hug. "Unwanted memories? Do you want to talk about it?"

"William you're gonna force me to hug you in a moment. So either you talk to me about it or I'll tackle you...your choice." Seeing William with such an expression made Phoebe feel bad.

Almost like when she felt guilty she couldn't help want to fix the problem or ease the pain.

She would walk towards him with her arms held out gesturing she was about to hug him.

Gradually, William's hands stopped trembling and the distant look in William's eyes began to fade as clarity return to his hazel orbs. Although his eyes was clear of the film of haze that seemed to cover it moments before, fear was still written across his features, especially in his eyes. He let out a weary sigh and brushed his hair back with his hand. Frightened, terrified, exhausted, grateful. "There's no need for you to hug me. I'm fine, Phoebe. Some unwanted memories just decided to resurface." William slid his glasses off from over his eyes and proceeded to message his temples without interference from the frames.

With his glasses off, his clothes casual, and his hair damp and slightly messy, William was almost unrecognizable. His authoritative and strong presence was broken down by the visitation of his past, leaving him both externally and internally vulnerable. However, despite how broken he is now, Phoebe can be sure that William will go back to the way he was tomorrow, acting as if the collapse of William's calm and level-headed demeanor never happened. With both hands holding the frame of his glasses, he slipped them back on, his vision returning to him once again.

Phoebe let her arms plop down to her side after William declined her hug. "Unwanted memories? Do you want to talk about it?"

Phoebe had been through a series of events as well so she knew what it felt like to be tortured by her past.

"Sometimes talking with someone similar eases the pain than talking to a normal therapist. So remember I'm here for you. We both were born to highly respected families, had the best schooling, and no relationship with at least one of our parents. That's enough right there to send people back a few paces." She started to watch him rub his temples with his glasses off and she couldn't help but to chuckle.

"You look so different, when your dressed like this I'll call you Liam" she teased almost never missing her opportunity to do so.

Even with the joke Phoebe still was on his case.

"You know what we're doing this! We have to put matter over mind when it comes to our past because if I die tomorrow by a nerd's hand I'm gonna haunt you forever."

Phoebe knew this situation would've buried itself naturally but she didn't want the same thing to happen the next day. She took a deep breath and exhaled after 5 seconds, preparing to bring up her past with a straight face hoping her partner will do the same.

"Liam, you know I'm one of the middle children in my family and the most problematic one as well. You also know how much I loved Caius. Even if I can't remember his death or my mother's...I do know it was caused by my cell phone and webcam. I remember my stepmother Grace was a rotten bitch that had my belongings hacked. I involuntarily leaked information crucial to that man's company, and apparently I'm a key witness to both murders .Yet I can't remember what happened and I'm forbidden to look into it. My mom...Cai...both murdered over company shares. I was used as a pawn." Phoebe kept a straight face until the end. She didn't cry or anything like that but instead she laughed." This is part of why guilt kills me so much inside. Today is the second time in 8 years I've talked about it as much" She let out a sigh of relief

"Aaaah that felt so much better! Come on Liam your turn. " Phoebe knew that the way she handled her past could sound a bit crazy but it worked for her and if it could help her partner she would gladly share her methods.