Page 20 of Sage

Chapter Fourteen

When Friends Become Lovers

Once back at Marco’s, bellies full of taco fries, crunchy tacos, and burritos, there was no denying the sexual tension as the three of them snuggled up on the couch. Sage was happily squished between Marcy and Hans with feelings drifting around inside her head and filling her heart. Feelings that she had never experienced in her life before tonight.

“I could get used to this.” Sage broke the silence.

“Driving forty-five minutes to hit up The Taco Stand?” Hans poked fun at her.

With a playful glare being shot in his direction, Sage snuggled deeper towards Marcy. “No. Okay well… Yes, but, no.” She stumbled over her words. “Like all three of us being together.” Sage glanced back and forth between Hans and Marcy to gauge their reactions, expecting someone to object.

Instead they both sat there in a euphoric state and just enjoyed the moment. Tensions may have been high, but the only thing anyone wanted to do was just remain like this, forever, as they drifted off to sleep holding one another.

“You’re so fucking worthless.” The voice behind Sage was sinister and unfamiliar. “No one could ever love you.” The degrading words kept spewing through his mouth as the old hag stood before her.

“I-” Sage tried to plead before the door slammed shut and the woman was gone, leaving Sage alone with the voices that surrounded her, knowing they were lying in wait for when she least expected it. She curled up in a ball in the middle of the floor, tears streaming down her face, praying that someone would just put her out of her misery.

The night that Sage had been captured after she and Hans had escaped. The woman threatened that one day Sage was going to regret ever trying to escape. Time went by and Sage found herself wondering when these threats were going to show themselves. It wasn’t long after she had turned eighteen that she started to endure many nights where she was verbally and physically assaulted over and over by various men. She couldn’t remember what a full night of rest was like, and she spent most of the time with at least one eye wide open.

“You’re so much prettier when you wear makeup. You’re no good to me like this. I’ll have to put a bag over your head in order to fuck you without getting sick.”

Their words repeated over and over in her mind. So much so that Sage found times when she couldn’t tell what was real and what was made up. Then one of the slimebags that had just got done talking so much shit, would slither up to her, touching her regardless of how many times she begged them not to.

“I paid good money for this,” the men would periodically remark when she was struggling against them. “And I will get what I paid for.”

The nightmares took over Sage’s sleep, causing her to whimper and beg the mysterious man to just leave her alone. Startled, Hans and Marcy woke up, afraid that someone was in the house, only to find Sage in a panic, trapped in her mind.

“Hey,” Marcy hushed Sage, trying to calmly wake her without causing any more trauma than she had already been through. Hans sat back and observed, unsure of how he could help. He knew that Sage had some experiences that had affected her deeply, but that was one thing that they had never sat down and hashed out. Sage always tried to blow things off and pretend that everything was okay when they were at her cottage. This made it quite clear that they weren’t.

“Did this happen often when you two were living together?” he inquired, hoping that it was okay to ask and that he wasn’t causing deeper stress.

“She suffers from PTSD,” Marcy explained. “She had been seeing a therapist weekly when we were together. Towards the end she decided that it wasn’t helping and that’s when she turned to immersing herself deep into her book collection and getting more involved in the kink community.”

“Is that safe?” Hans had growing concerns.

“She went through a lot. It was way worse before, but the longer she spends away from the situation she was in, the more she heals.”

“I’m not sure her going around and murdering people to get my attention really showed any signs of healing.” Hans chuckled. Marcy glanced at Hans, unamused as Sage finally started to come out of her nightmare, yet remained asleep.

“I believe that some of the things she has done are definitely unexplainable and concerning.” Marcy got up to grab Sage a glass of water for when she woke up. “But I don’t believe that sheis a bad person.” As Marcy sat back down on the couch, placing the water on the table, a sadness came over her.

“What’s wrong?” Hans questioned.

“At first, I was jealous. Sage had begun spending all of her time doing everything else. It was like she had forgotten that we were even in a relationship. When we broke up, I was already numb to the idea of losing her because in my mind she was already gone,” Marcy started to explain. “I worried that I was incapable of love because it didn’t hurt, but now, seeing her like this…” She paused and smiled as Sage started to wake up. “I think the past twenty-four hours has shown me that maybe I wasn’t ready back then, but I’m definitely ready now.”

“Aw, Marce,” Sage placed her hand on Marcy’s cheek, catching the tear that still lingered there. “I love you, too.” She leaned in and gently kissed Marcy.

Hans sat back, watching their interaction, taking note that the jealousy Marcy had towards Sage’s books was all too familiar. He wished he had more time with Sage to learn all of these intimate details of what she had endured.

Like a psychic, she read his mind. Sage reached over and took him by the hand. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time for us to reconnect, and for you to learn all of this about me as well.” She giggled. “But I need you to promise me that you won’t try to kill me again. Otherwise the potential this could have,” Sage gestured to all three of them, "will be over.”

“Alright, fine,” Hans agreed to her stipulations. “And you,” he pointed at Marcy, “are you fine with this?”

Marcy took a minute to think, placing her index finger against her lips and looking back and forth between the two. “Oh, what the hell, of course I am,” she went on playfully. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know what I was getting involved with.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The loud thudding on the front door startled them out of their comfort and conversation, but they remained quiet knowing that they couldn’t risk being found out.

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