Page 23 of Beyond Repair, Part One (Damaged Duet #1)

Henry

T wo steps forward, ten steps back. I knew our luck was going to run out at some point, but goddamn it Trevor.

Sometimes he has no tact and sometimes that works in his favor.

Like his obvious Dom shit that he was pulling to get her to eat.

It was helpful that she was distracted by her book which we can thank Kai for.

He didn't even have to say anything. Just plopped the e-reader in her lap and sat beside her. Our girl didn't hesitate to flip the cover open and escape the world for a few hours.

It was nice, just being in her presence. As much as we really fucking wanted to talk to her, it was amazing to be near her. Maybe this way is for the best. The more we're around, the faster it will be for her to get used to us.

I know we won't ever go back to how we used to be, and I would be lying if I said that didn't give me immense sadness, but this can be a beautiful new beginning. If and only if we learn her triggers fast.

Trevor, while I love him and can appreciate his take charge action, should not have touched her scar. Hell, he shouldn't have even asked about it. It was obvious her emotions were already running high with Ridge messing around.

"Hi, honey."

"Christ!" I hiss and smudge nail polish all down the side on Nina's middle toe.

Meg giggles and crouches in front of Nina. "Sorry, Henry. Didn't mean to scare you." I tell her it's alright, but her attention is already fixed on her daughter. "She's so tired."

Shortly after Nina curled up on the couch outside, she dozed off. I’m not sure what that says about me, but the fact that she felt secure enough gives me hope.

"She feels safe with you," Meg murmurs, flicking her gaze up to me and down to Nina's feet in my lap. I give her a small smile and go back to painting Nina's toenails. "Did she tell you?"

I shake my head, focusing on making her pinky toe perfect. "No. She dozed off and Kai found some nail polish in the bathroom and brought it out." We're both silent for a moment, before I add, "Her nails never used to be bare."

Meg sniffles and rises before curling up in her own chair.

She looks so small in the dark with the soft light of the gas fire showing her worn expression.

"No, they never used to be," she says softly.

"Many things aren't the same, Henry. That's why I didn't try to make contact again after the first attempt. "

At that, I give her a hard look. "You should have tried again."

Meg shakes her head. "No, honey. Had you known, all four of you would have moved back home."

"Exactly. She needed us. We should have been there." I'm not one to get angry, especially not with such a delicate situation, but this is Nina we're talking about.

"The only thing Nina needed was to heal."

Forget the fucking nail polish. "We should have been there to help her heal, Meg. I love you, but?—"

"Don't ever disrespect such wonderful vows with the word but young man." Shit. "You were so young. You still are. And that's why I have to explain this to you."

Explain what? Nothing will change my mind that I could have helped Nina when she needed me the most.

"You couldn't have helped her, Henry. Neither could the other three. Will and I couldn't either. Nina may have escaped, but she sure as heck didn't know if she wanted to survive. The girl we met in the hospital wasn't the same Nina we knew. Not even the Nina we know now."

Meg's openly crying, and it makes me feel like shit. Where the hell is Will? Just as I think his name, the patio door opens and Will walks out with the other three guys. "Henry," Nina's dad greets me.

Kissing the top of his daughter’s head, he releases a breath of air that almost seems like relief. "She won't be asleep much longer."

"How do you know?" Trevor asks.

Will takes a seat beside his wife. "She only sleeps a few hours at a time. When she sleeps, she sleeps hard, though."

Capping the nail polish draws attention to what I had been doing. Trev freezes, and Ridge curses.

The bottoms of Nina's feet have one white puckered scar after another. There are too many questions, too many worries to ask just one.

A subtle jolt and stiffening from Nina gives me pause.

Is she awake? Glancing at her so as not to alert anyone else, I catch her squint at the fire just as her foot twitches.

Rubbing my finger along her ankle to soothe her stops her from yanking away from me.

Nina looks at me and the most beautiful thing happens. She relaxes and closes her eyes.

I give her ankle a small squeeze. Thank you for trusting me. I won't tell them you're awake.

Thankfully, Meg continues our previous conversation. "Nina needed to want help before she could accept it. That's what I was getting at Henry. Even just Will and I there at the hospital with her was an immense bout of pressure."

Kai frowns at Nina's parents as he sits on the arm of the couch beside me. "What do you mean?"

"Nina's default is to push people away. It's taken a lot of therapy for her to overcome some of that, but she's finally been in a place where she asks us, mainly Meg, when she needs something. Our sweet girl is a closed book."

Will's explanation gives me pause. Stealing a glance at Nina, my heart breaks when I see a tear slip from her eyelashes. "But she seems close with you both still." My words come out sounding like a question, and I guess they are. I'm confused. Nina always loved her parents growing up.

Meg gives me another sad smile. "That took years, honey.

And while my relationship with her might look similar, her trust in Will is still a work in progress.

" Meg's words make Will flinch. "While she is wary of anyone, it was a man who h-hurt her.

If you're here to stay—" Nina twitches, and I grip her legs firmly.

"—then you need to be prepared for the long haul. "

We're all silent, watching the flames dance. Until Will breaks it, and my heart. "That's enough for tonight. Time you boys got some rest. We'll stay with Nina for a while."

Another foot twitch. Come on, pretty girl, tell me what you want. Tell me to stay.

"Come on, baby," Kai says, kissing the top of my head. Nina stiffens again, but maybe it's just because I'm moving her legs.

Ignoring Will's warning, I lean over my girl and whisper, "I'm prepared." I wipe away her tear and add, "See you tomorrow."

And the next day. And the next day. And the next until we're old and gray. Just like we always planned.