Prudence

Cursed with perfect recall, the horrifying and brutal events that unfolded on my eleventh birthday left me fractured and in a constant state of hypervigilance.Seven years on, I'm still fighting to navigate the panic attacks triggered off by the slightest things;The nearness of a man.A heated look.Insidious whispers.The barest touch.Enter Axel, a mountain of a man running from the demons of his own damaged past.One step, one minute, one breath at a time, my unexpected ally stretches the boundaries of all my triggers. My skin doesn't crawl from his gentle touches. His seemingly endless patience helps me feel strong and resilient. Worth something.I start to think that maybe, just maybe, there is a light waiting for me in the darkness after all.That is until a chain of events lead me right back to where I started. Events set off by Axel, the one man who swore he'd protect me...