Freckles

Freckles
Part One


Kathryn Pelletier was reflecting. She was staring up at the remarkably pristine state of her rental house roof as she lay, bundled up in the warm heaviness of her comforter. She could hear Francesca and Sebastien laughing as they cavorted around in the back yard. She devoted a brief fifteen minutes to pondering the relationship between her cousin and the cute bartender they lived with. When, after fifteen minutes, Kathryn could not reach a reasonable conclusion she discarded the topic completely after making a mental note to ask Francesca about it. With the topic of her cousin’s life out of the way and Kathryn finding no interest whatsoever in the loud barking of the three dogs their household had, she became bored and restless. And when Kathryn became bored and restless she automatically began to reflect on topics she would rather forget about entirely. Kathryn sighed as her mind began to wander and she rolled onto her stomach as she pulled the heavy, brightly colored comforter up more. She rested her chin on her pillow and blew a stray lock of her fringe out of the way. The dark hair fell back into her face and she focused on it, studying the brown strands. She pondered the idea of going blonde, she was pale enough to pull it off and it was only when she rolled onto her back as breathing became difficult that she abandoned it completely. She tried to tug the comforter up more and she paused as her fingers tugged on a red patch on the comforter. What was with her and red heads? She pondered. She frowned at her perfect ceiling. She sighed as she decided that the only conclusion was Elliot. Perfect little Elliot Jacobs with his pretty brown eyes and his perfect piano fingers. Perfect Elliot Jacobs with his messy red hair and his knee-weakening smile.

~*~*~*~

"Elliot?" Kathryn tugged at his hand as he led her through the dense bushes. She was not a nature person. Elliot ignored her and began to tug on her hand to get her to hurry up. She bit into her lower lip as she obediently followed. Kathryn looked up at the sky, it was getting darker and Francesca could only cover for her for so long. She cursed under her breath as a stray branch snagged at her white, school stockings and tore an ugly hole, a ladder already forming. She followed Elliot blindly, looking down at her leg to see the white nylon staining with blood from the scratch.
"Elliot? Where are we going?" She asked, as she nearly tripped over her feet as she tried to inspect the gash.
"It's a surprise. And we're nearly there." Kathryn nodded to herself as he helped her maneuver over a tricky batch of thorny plants. They arrived at the 'surprise' a few minutes later. Kathryn had been to Tuscany and Paris and she had even spent a week in Monaco for her cousins wedding, so the clearing she stepped into was nothing spectacular. But Kathryn was loyal, so she smiled and acted appropriately awed. Elliot grinned at her, the same grin that made her consider him in the first place. The same grin that got her through the constant ribbing she got from her large family.
"It's beautiful." She said as earnestly as she could manage. It took Kathryn three years to pinpoint that moment as the start of it all. Elliot kissed her. He was slow and inviting and it was getting cold out in the middle of a quiet clearing in the bush land on the fringes of civilization. Kathryn had never been kissed quite like it, and she hadn't been kissed that intensely since. It was only when she felt his hand underneath her skirt on her thigh that she pulled away.
"Elliot." She said bluntly, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I'll make it feel good Kitty, I promise."
"Don't call me Kitty. And I told you, I'm not ready." She said firmly.
"I know, but sometimes, it's just so hard. I look at you and you’re so beautiful I just can't keep my hands off of you." He said stepping a little closer. She could still smell the faintest traces of his musky, masculine after shave and she felt a little tremor run through her whole body as his fingers found the hem of her jumper. He pulled it up over her head and stepped into her personal space as he dipped his head to layer kisses along her neck, his arms wrapped possessively around her waist. Kathryn molded her self to him, manipulating herself so her curves pressed comfortably against him. She could still feel the uncomfortable press of his hipbone against her stomach but it was the best she could do when he had his tongue near her ear whispering things she had never even heard of and some things she had always wanted to try.
"I'll make it feel good." He murmured and Kathryn nodded her consent, murmuring a brief reply against the cool cotton of the white, school issue oxford he wore. She was trembling from fright and from the cold as he eventually helped her lie down on the makeshift blanket he had formed from their jumpers and his discarded shirt. Kathryn clenched at the fabric beneath her and she could feel her fingers gripping the cool silk of his school tie. Her tie had been shoved hastily into the front pocket of his school slacks, her school shirt unbuttoned and pushed open wide. Her stockings were awkwardly pushed down to her ankles and her skirt was shoved up as Elliot peeled her underwear down. She watched him unbutton his slacks and she looked away as he pulled his boxers down. All words of reassurance and comfort were gone and she clenched her eyes shut as he worked hips upwards so they rested at an angle. He pushed in roughly, not even giving her a warning. It stung a little at first and for a brief moment she thought that the pain was over. Elliot had freckles, Kathryn noticed as she clung to him, white hot pain shooting through her veins. The pain seared through her body and she had to clench her eyes shut against the tears. She dug her nails into his back and when she did open her eyes and look down at his back, her chin on his shoulders that she noticed what she had done. Elliot kept moving, his hips working against hers in rough, painful circles, his breath on her neck. Kathryn felt like she was being torn apart and had to focus on the blood rolling down his back from the crescent shape cuts she had caused when her nails had pierced his skin. His skin was red and his freckles nearly disappeared and she watched her tears mingle with his blood as he continued to move. He stopped suddenly and he groaned loudly, Kathryn wincing as she felt warm liquid spilling inside her and running down her thighs. She was in pain, she felt dirty and...

~*~*~*~

...and horrible. Kathryn felt horrible and her comforter wasn't moving up so she couldn't blind herself with garish, clashing colors. There was a knock at the door to her room.
"Come in." She yelled dejectedly and her other roommate walked in. She really did have a fascination for red heads.
"Hey Travis." She said, sighing.
"You okay, love?" He asked a dark, Irish edge to his voice.
"Yeah." She answered as she sat up, watching Travis stand in the middle of her room; awkwardly running his fingers through his thick hair.
"Liar." He said motioning to the end of the bed. He sat at Kathryn’s nod.
“I’m reflecting.” She explained and he looked at her blankly.
“Oh, Kidding right?” He said, smiling at her, straight white teeth glaring at her. She shook her head and Travis looked confused, tilting his head to one side and thinking for a moment. She tried not to notice the small smattering of freckles across his nose, her small kink for the strange little sunspots flaring again.
“ Well, did you want to talk about it?” He asked, kicking his shoes off and pulling his legs up underneath him and leaning against the headboard.
“Not really.” She answered as she pulled the comforter up to cover her, suddenly ashamed of her negligee.
“Painful?” he asked, his accent thickening as he wiggled his toes.
“Yeah. Real Painful.” She tugged the comforter up some more.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” He asked curiously.
“You just caught me at a bad time.”
“I did?” He asked curiously, his brown eyes bright, “Oh are you nakie?” He asked as his eyes flicked downwards.
“No!” She protested violently.
“Liar.” He teased. Kathryn blushed and shyly dropped the comforter.
“Happy?” She asked as his eyes settled on the black lace trim of her purple negligee. His eyebrows shot up and she blushed again.
“You know, purple really works for you."