Marta watched as Ezra tried to find his keys. The simplest of tasks was making the boy go crazy. What had Marta done? She should have never walked into that bakery today. Ezra, despite what has happened to him, was learning how to cope. He was doing his best to live as normal a life as possible. Then Marta shows up and pulls the rug out from under him. It was her fault that the boy was spiraling out of control now. The guilt suddenly made everything seem not worth it. But she couldn’t leave, not now.

She felt Ezra put the keys in her hand, holding onto them and her hand tightly. She felt the metal of the keys digging into her skin, but she didn’t let the pain show. Once Ezra released her hand enough so she could open the door, she turn and put the key into the lock. As she fiddled to find the right one, since there were a couple different sets on the ring, she felt Ezra’s body push against her and him wrapping his arms around her waist. At that moment, she knew she was the boy’s anchor. Without her, he would come crashing down. It terrified her, but she wanted to be that for him, even if he was this way because of her.

Finally finding the right key, Marta opened the door and pulled away from Ezra enough to grab his hand and lead him up the flight of stairs. The wood creaked beneath their feet as they entered into the small living corridors above the bakery. Marta didn’t have much a chance to look around before she was being pulled over to the couch. If this was just a normal day, and Marta was visiting Ezra’s house under different circumstances, she would feel rude sitting on the furniture soaking wet. But at this time, it didn’t matter.

She sat down and barely had time to put her purse on the ground next to her, when she felt Ezra crawl onto the couch and lay his head on her lap. Looking down, she felt the tears forming once again in her eyes. She reached down with her hand, and started to gently stroke the boy’s wet hair, hoping it would help to sooth him. Hearing him say to not leave her, Marta couldn’t help let a little sob escape her lips.

“I’ll never leave you.” She whispered, not even sure if it was loud enough for Ezra to hear.

She continued to caress the boy’s hair as she reached up and pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch and placed it over the boy’s body, hopefully to help him stop shaking. So many thoughts flying through her mind, but the overwhelming though was [i]You did this. This is all your fault.[/i]

Why didn’t she just let him take her home like he originally wanted? Why did she kiss him? Why was so stubborn about staying in this boy’s life, when she is so clearly ruining it even more. But she did do all these things, and she couldn’t take it back. And deep down she didn’t want to take it back. Maybe all of this was happening for a reason. Maybe Ezra needed to hit rock bottom, and Marta needed to be there to help pick him up again. It seemed as though up to this point, Ezra was living in a bit of denial. He is aware of what happened to him, but he wouldn’t allow his mind to process what it did to him emotionally. How the scars were not just physical. 

She continued to sit there, noticing the boy’s breathing began to even out and became more shallow. He appeared to be calming down a little, or so she hoped. Taking a chance, she leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on his forehead. Marta figured they would have to get up at some point. Ezra needed to put dry clothes on, and Marta needed to find a phone so she could ring her uncle’s estate to let everyone know she was alive and well.

But for now, all that mattered was continuing to sooth the boy who was laying on her lap. The boy who she was starting to fall in love with.