Deviant

Jake's POV
We walked silently for some time, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I couldn't get Phoenix's expression out of my head. It was like someone had crushed her dreams. But the thing that bugged me the most was that she had reacted that way about Ashley Purdy, the guy who sleeps around. She couldn't possibly have feelings for him, could she? If she did, she was going to have her heart broken whether she told him her feelings or not. I didn't know what to do.
"Jake." Nix said quietly as we finally stepped into the soft moonlight. She pulled me aside, motioning for the others to go on ahead.
"What is it?" I asked, my brotherly instincts kicking in. I had never seen Nix as anything other than the little sister I never had. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Come here." I said, holding my arms out for a hug.
"I have to tell you..."
"No." I argued. "Hugs first, talk later."
She smiled slightly, wrapping her arms gingerly around my waist. It was odd, but that's the ways she had been ever since I met her. It was like she was trying not to damage me. "Okay." I drew back and studied her. Her eyes were bravely fighting against letting the tears overflow and she was shaking slightly. "What is it?" Something was obviously wrong, but I had a feeling that not all of the tears were because of Ashley.
"I... I..." She took a deep breath and stopped talking, instead turning her pale arms to the light. I inhaled sharply, trying not to cry. I hardly ever showed negative emotions, but her arms.... it was horrible. The scars filled every inch of skin, crisscrossing and zigzagging all over. They threw stark shadows across her arm, discoloring it.
"Where else?" I choked out. She silently slipped the leather vest down off her shoulders, exposing her scarred collarbone and shoulders. The crop top she was wearing revealed deep, jagged scars all over her sides and abdomen. She tugged down her belt slightly to show me the scars on her hips.
"They are on my legs, too. On my thighs and calves." Her voice was shaking with sorrow and fear.
I heard a gasp, and looked over my shoulder to see CC and Sammi staring at Phoenix in horror. "Nix..." Sammi whispered. "You never said it was this bad!" CC's head snapped toward her.
"You knew?" His voice was full of accusation.
Nix sighed. "I... I made her p-promise not to t-tell." Her voice wavered sadly. "She tried to g-get me to s-stop, but I just c-couldn't..." Her voice trailed off as she started sobbing silently. I wrapped her in my arms once again, returning her various items of clothing to their original positions.
"Ashley found out, and he gave her two days to tell Andy." Sammi spoke up.
My head shot up in anger. "HE WHAT?"
Nix hugged me tighter, refusing me her permission to go hunt down Ashley and beat some sense into him. I sighed, returning my attention to her. "He would have f-found out e-eventually." She murmured softly, now that her tears had subsided.
I nodded, burying my face in her fiery hair. "When did it start?" I asked, my voice muffled by the unruly tangles.
"Five years ago." Nix jerked at the sound of Andy's voice. She looked up, her tears making her vivid green eyes even more electrifying. "That's when it started, isn't it?" She nodded, sadly hanging her head. Andy strode over to us, pulling his sister into his protective embrace. The anger and sadness in his eyes were almost tangible. It was understandable, since she was the only thing he had.
"Why?" This time it was Jinxx's voice that joined the conversation.
"My parents were d-dead, Andy n-never wanted to s-see me, I was bullied at s-school, and..." She whispered something so that only Andy could hear.

Phoenix's POV
"My parents were d-dead, Andy n-never wanted to s-see me, I was bullied at s-school, and Ashley never l-loved me." I could not believe I had just said that out loud. It was true, but I had intended to keep it a secret. I hadn't realized it up until I hit him, but I had had feelings for Ashley ever since I met him. And he had always been with other girls. He had never even noticed how I felt about him. It had been so hard and painful when he had turned his attention to me. I had known that he could never feel that way about me. I was just his best friend's little sister, the one with the weird mark. I wasn't beautiful, or gorgeous, or even remotely pretty. I wasn't blonde and slutty like those girls he had always had draped all over him. I was just another challenge.
Not only that, but I had a lot of very harmful addictions. I cut myself, I puked up everything that I ate, if I even ate at all. I snuck my brother's cigarettes, and once I had drunk so much liquor that I had passed out. I was not the type of girl that Ashley was into.
Andy held me out at arms length. "You love him?" His face was an unreadable mask, but I could see anger and sadness warring in his shocking blue eyes. Our family had the weirdest eyes.
I looked over Andy's shoulder (which was not easy, because he is a giant) and saw Ashley staring at me. His chocolate gold eyes stared into my soul, making me catch my breath involuntarily. He started walking toward me, pushing Andy out of his way gently as he did so. He stopped in front of me, his hands resting lightly on my waist. He leaned forward, so close his face was almost touching mine, but not quite. His hand slid up my back to my neck, making me shiver a little bit. Finally, I just couldn't take it any more. I slid my arms around his neck and pulled his lips to mine. Sparks exploded around us as our lips moved in tandem, the kiss everything I had expected it to be and more. Soft, smooth, warm, cold, salty, sweet, an overload of feelings and emotions hit me in a wild rush, better than anything I had ever experienced. I was in heaven.

Notes

Yay, they kissed! Don't worry, I'll have more up soon. Good night!