As we moved to catch our breaths I reached over and flicked on the light by the bed. I looked back at her to see her eyes filled with absolute horror as she scrambled to find something to cover herself. We had been laying on the blankets, so those were still securely tucked around her mattress.
As she moved to get up, my eyes moved to her body. Scars covered her. From her thighs up. A long one, from her hip to just below her chest drew my attention.
She's said I didn't understand her, she talked about pain, and I mocked her, I'd called her names. I looked back up to her face, her horrified expression still there.
She jumped up from the bed and ran to the bathroom, her back just as scarred as the front of her body. "Tabitha," I yelled, trying to get her to stop and she flinched, shutting the door.
Those flinches. Any time I would get close, any time I would say something harsh. Someone did this to her. Someone hurt her. And I did too. I should have said something, anything, the moment I saw them but I froze. I didn't know how to react.
"Tabitha please," I yelled springing to the door. I could almost feel her cringe behind it.
"Go away, please, just go away," she wept. "I'll take my things and I'll go. You'll never have to see me again."

My heart ached. "Go?" I asked.
"I see the way you look at me with such hatred. I represent everything you're losing, the chance to find love, the chance to settle down with someone and make a family, the chance for your mother to experience your happiness. I'm broken and damaged in more ways than one, you won't get that with me. I'll find a way to pay back the money my step monster owes you, I just need time. I'll take Clarissa and go," she wept.
"Don't you dare," I called out to her.
"You deserve to be with someone who isn't broken. I can't believe I lost control like that. You were just so, perfect. Even if you hated me. I just wanted to know how it felt to be in charge of what you do. I shouldn't have done that without giving you the chance to see who I really am," she sobbed.
"Tabitha, you are not this, someone did this to you. I called you names. I was horrible to you because I thought you met your secret lover on the day you came to meet me, your fiance. You tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. Don't go, stay with me," I called out to her, reaching above the door and finding a key for the bathroom.
"When I opened the door, I found her on the floor of the walk in shower, curled up in the fetal position, cold water pouring down on her, tears still spilling from her eyes.
"You don't want me, I'm damaged and defective. You pity me, and feel sorry for me," she mumbled as she closed her eyes. Scars lined her body.
When I'd kissed her at the church and touched her back, she'd shied away. In that spot was a large scar that resembled a burn mark. "Tabitha, I don't pity you, I care about you," I spoke softly stroking her hair.
I lifted her in my arms and carried her to the bigger bathtub in the guest bath. I filled it with water and bubbles and sat in the tub, lowering her onto my lap.