[complete] #2
"This isn't amusing. You're smiling, and your face is all bruised and bleeding. Is that not putting you in more pain?" Ren shifted on her feet and placed a hand on her hip. I smiled wider when her cheeks began to flush.
"Maybe just a t...
tw - mention of rape in first half of the chapter. you can read after the asterisk (*)
"I need your love to seep into my bones,"
- e.k.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
S E R E N I T Y
The relieved sigh he let out made my heart twist. Then he dropped his head down to press a soft kiss on my cheek. His lips were so warm against my cold skin that they rippled goosebumps all over my arms.
"Happy birthday, Ren. You look ethereal, as you always do," His eyes wander my face and flicker to my outfit before holding my own again. "It's really fitting because you're my pretty angel, even now, when you're dressed like one."
My face flushed as he held my gaze while taking something out of his pocket. I wanted to tell him I loved him again. It was sitting on the tip of my tongue, but I held back because he looked like he wanted to say something important, and I wasn't going to make him uncomfortable when he seemed to have built up the courage to even mention it to me.
"I want you to open this later," His hand reached for mine as he spoke and placed the gift into the palm of my hand before holding the other. "Can we sit over there - in the garden?"
I nodded when he looked at me and led us to where he was staring a few moments ago.
A garden bench was centred between the flowers and small gnomes my mother thought added character to her safe space. It was mine, too, another thing we had in common. The silence here was underrated. I never saw anyone else sit out here in their quiet time, but now I was here with Gabe, and it wasn't going to be a quiet time. He had something on his mind to tell me, and the flowers that hadn't fallen to sleep would be the only ones listening beside me.
As my heels stepped onto the clean-cut grass, Gabriel's hand let go of mine to lift the bottom of my dress. He was always attentive, and I loved him for that, too.
"Maybe we should sit somewhere else," He suggested, eyeing the material in his hand. "Your dress is white. I don't want it to get dirty."
"It'll be fine," I paid no mind to that matter when he clearly had to say something else. "Sit with me."
Removing his hand from my dress and holding it, I sat down on the bench, making him follow me as I tugged on his arm.
The mingling of my unwanted guests was faintly heard from here, as were the quiet chirps of the crickets in the grass. From the other side of the garden, a little fountain gave way to water sprinkles, and we heard the calm trickles of that, too.
"Do you remember the bonfire at the beach last year?" Gabe asked me, staring at the marble fountain.
