His Luna (HumanxWolf) | ✔

28. All black and a red rose

EDITED

Chapter twenty-eight:

Tiara tugged at the plain dress she was wearing and pulled her hair up in a tight knot on top of her head. Without caring to look at her reflection in the mirror, she walked out of her childhood room.

Downstairs, she saw her mother standing in the sitting room in a dress similar to hers; only she probably looked much presentable than her. She could only nod at her high school maths teacher. It was still awkward when she kept bumping into him at her home after all these days.

They both gave her a sad, encouraging smile which she couldn't bring herself to return. Ignoring their pitying looks, she quietly crossed the room to get to the door.

Oh, what she could've given to be wearing anything other than her black dress.

A faint smile was carved on her lips when she looked at the bushes of roses her mum had planted when she was a child. Luke had always loved the red roses and she hadn't missed a time to give him those roses whenever she could. Plucking a single, beautifully bloomed rose, she delicately carried it back to her mother's car like as if it was her newly born baby. She was thankful that her mother understood her need for privacy and was driving to the church with Bruce Landon.

Driving as slowly as she possibly could, she gazed out at the roads that were so painfully familiar. Every place in her childhood town had a painful reminder of her broken and unalterable relationship with Luke. Every breaks when she would certainly back home, he would make plans and they would just drive and enjoy each other's company. Now, they were nothing but memories—a broken record on repeat that she just couldn't figure out how to stop.

What made it all worse? She wouldn't be facing all this if it wasn't for her unfortunate luck that just seemed to bring down everyone around her. It should be her resting so peacefully and not Luke. How will she ever be able to forgive herself? How will she ever be able to look herself in the eye without the overwhelming urge to cry and somehow harm herself to compensate for everything she has done?

She almost wanted to run herself over by her car when she reached her destination. She had hoped that if she drove slow enough, she wouldn't have to be here and face this. But, it seems that her damned luck wouldn't leave her until she was truly doomed.

She, being the chicken she was, wanted to run away and make sure that nobody found her. From a distance, she could see Luke's mother standing at the entrance along with his father. Did they know? Would they scream at her and curse her for taking their only son away from them like she deserved? She knew that she wouldn't blame them if they did.

Taking a deep breath, she held the rose close to her chest and timidly made her way to them. It was admirable how well composed they both seemed. It almost hid the redness and puffiness of their eyes and the heavy bags under it.

"Leila, Aaron," she cracked a smile at them and mentally cringed at how forced it must have looked.

"Tiara!" The practised smile from Leila's face dropped at looking at the girl before her and her eyes welled with tears. Perhaps, she saw the reflection of her own grief in the young girl's face that she couldn't find in anybody else's. She flung her arms around Tiara and like she had expected it, she hugged Leila back, careful not to crush the rose in her hand.

Finally, it felt like Tiara could let go of her emotions and not fear anyone judging her or pitying her as the two women sobbed into each other's arms, each mourning the loss of the man they had both loved infinitely.

After what felt like ages, they pulled apart from each other, both looking as miserable as they felt. From the corner of her eyes, Tiara saw Aaron wiping the tears from his face as he struggled to not let his emotions show.