LEO: 18 YEARS OLD
I smile as stare at myself in the mirror, taking in the black, slim-fit tuxedo, the bow tie hanging loosely around my nape, and the compass bracelet flashing on my wrist; a reminder of how much he's missing me. It makes my smile clearer, brighter, fuller.
God, I smile so much my cheeks hurt.
If this was three years ago, or even two. Fuck, one year ago, it would take all of the tea in China for me to believe the boy, the man— okay, almost man's reflection is actually mine.
I lift my hand to face, feeling the lines of my smile. My smile. Mine. I'm smiling freely, not for an audience or because some has cheered me up, but for myself. This smile is for me and only me.
Because I'm happy.
Shit, I'm so fucking happy.
My reflection continues to beam back at me. My eyes remain bright and vibrant with no dark circles, no tears, no red rimming the white and dulling the blue. My cheeks are rounder, rosier.
My skin's healthier, clear of the malnutrition and acne it once held. My figure, while still pretty slender, doesn't scream with the fragility it had not too long ago. I even have some subtle muscle now, not an overly noticeable amount, but enough for Emmy to gawk and swoon.
Who am I kidding, he'd swoon regardless.
Because I'm me, and I can be pretty great sometimes.
Sometimes.
I still have hard days, hard weeks, unkind thoughts, mentally draining moments and dark memories. The kind that creep up on me just when things are looking up, when I finally catch that breath of freedom.
It's just the way it is.
Life is and always will be cruel. I know that, and I'm not naive to think the next however many years I've got left will be filled with nothing but happiness. No one's life is perfect, not mine, not the stranger's on the subway, or the kid who always smiles in class. Everyone has hardships, everyone has something or someone tearing them down.
Even if that someone is themself.
Every day is a battle, the difference for me from then to now?
This is a battle I want to keep fighting.
"Oh, wow," my sisters reflection greets me in the mirror as she steps into the room, her high heels clicking softly against the wood covered floorboards.
I turn to face her as she flattens her hands against my shoulders, smoothing down my white shirt collar. She tilts her chin ever so slightly, enough to met my eyes because the heels make us closer to the same height.
"You look so beautiful," she whispers, her hands moving up so both palms rest against my warming cheeks.
Her smile matches mine as my lips part to a full toothed grin.
I feel beautiful.
"You don't look so bad yourself," I wrap my arms around her neck, pulling her closer to press a kiss on her temple. "Just as beautiful as me, if not more."
YOU ARE READING
If I Stay✔️
Teen FictionBOOK 2 L E O Two years have passed for Leo and his siblings and yet his heart breaking secrets remain hidden, lost in the same shadows in which they continuously neglect to realise they've left him in. Will any of them notice before it's too late...
