Broken

|| Prologue ||

Waking up is no longer the pleasure it used to be. Not like it was when I was with Brandon, not like it was before he came back.

There is a fleeting moment when I am whole again but it evaporates faster than summer rain off the burnt earth. Then my lids that were drooping and leaden with sleep snap open as violently as if I'd been woken by wailing sirens.

Everything is coming back together, slowly. And by the time my eyes are open my brain has become overwhelmed all over again as if it were all new, fresh, raw. I wish I could linger in that blissful ignorance of waking or else never sleep.

I glance around to find myself in a hospital bed, my leg is in a cast, there is a needle inserted into my left arm hooked up to a drip bag. My eyes wander and focus behind the drip bag, and my heart nearly stops working.

Brandon.

His head rests on the palm of his hand, he has fallen asleep on a chair. My eyes water and I try to sit up, only to wince at the excruciating wave of pain that crashes through my body. A whimper escapes my lips as I sink back onto the bed. His eyes pop open at my audible cry.

Brandon rushes to me, taking my hand into his. "Aurora..." his voice cracks, he looks like he's fighting back tears.

My heart breaks, his voice is all I need for the waterworks to begin.

"I'm so sorry," I sob incoherently, salty tears trickle down my face and into my mouth. "I never meant any of it! I'm so sorry. I love you. I love you so much," my voice is shaking, begging for him to forgive me. To take me back.

I have to explain, I have to finally tell him the truth. "I couldn't tell you, I wanted to so bad. You don't know how much, but I couldn't—"

"Aurora."

I bite my lower lip to keep from quivering, water is still streaming from my eyes and nose, my throat is throbbing and my body is trembling heavily. I inhale deeply and let out a shaky breath.

After a few moments of silence, he speaks. "I know... Benji told me, I know."

My arm lifts to his face on its own accord, caressing his cheek. His face is wet from his tears, but he nuzzles into the palm of my hand anyway. My index finger and thumb grab a hold of his chin, lifting his face to meet my gaze.

His eyes are glassy, reflecting the warmth of the sun streaming in behind me. They are such a unique color, a mix of light and dark. A ring of gold hangs inside his iris, adding another layer of depth to his eyes. They are glazed by a thin layer of water, enhancing their raw beauty. They look at my dark brown eyes now, so much emotion held inside. They love constantly, those doe eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you... And I'm so sorry that I did..." I breathe truthfully.

He clenches his jaw and takes my face in his warm hands, wiping the fallen tears off my face with his thumbs. He shakes his head at me and sighs, "I love you so much, you dumb shit."

His kiss is passionate, causing my knees to buckle even while laying down. I tug him close despite the abdominal pain, kissing him like it is my first and last time. I want him to know how much I love him, I want him to know how sorry I am, and I want him to know how much he means to me.

A pang of guilt nearly knocks the breath out of me. "How is Emoni? Benji? Their baby?" I pull away, breathless.

He smiles warmly. "Safe, everyone is safe."

___________________

I'm sitting on Brandon's lap, cast over the couch. I run my hands through his golden-brown locks and smile to myself. I lean in and plant a soft kiss on his jaw, then his lips. God, I love this man. He reluctantly pulls back and gazes into my eyes.

"Don't you fucking leave me again," he warns me.

I let out a soft laugh and kiss him deeply. "Never," I breathe into his mouth.

A smile tugs at his lips, he looks up at me, "I'm gonna make sure of that."

He lifts me off of him gently and kneels in front of the couch. My heart pounds painfully in my chest as he pulls out his grandmother's ring.

"Aurora... We've been best friends for years, and you mean the world to me. I've been wanting to ask you this for five years... And I've been waiting for the right moment to come. Then I realized there is no right time, there is just now. And I could die tomorrow, or the sun might swallow us whole in a month, or—" he rambles.

I shoot him an amused grin and he clears his throat. "Shit, you know I'm no good at this shit. Point is, I don't want to go another day without you knowing I fucking love you. So I'm gonna stop wasting both our times waiting, and ask you to spend the rest of your life with me... However long that may be..." he concludes.

"I—I can't..." I whisper.

His eyebrows knit together, he retracts the ring with a hurt expression on his face. "What? Why not?"

"I'm not ready, I don't know if I want to get married..."

He sighs and bows his head with a clenched jaw. I try my best to hold in my laughter, but I can't anymore. I burst. He flinches back in confusion.

"I'm totally kidding," I tease him as I pull him in by his collar and kiss him softly.

He pulls away after a second, "You nearly gave me a heart attack," he whines.

I snort and laugh hysterically as he stands up and sits back down on the couch, pulling me on top of him. "You're not funny," he tells me as his lips ironically melt into a grin.

I push his hair back and tilt my head to the side, "I love you, Aurora..." his hair is disheveled from my constant desire to play with it, his lips are swollen and pink.

His eyes shine brighter than I've seen them in months. A warm feeling gushes through my insides. I don't know why I'm suddenly feeling this immense admiration for Brandon. Perhaps it's true what they say.

You don't know how good you've got it until it's gone.

I rest my head on his shoulder and look down at our baby girl. She's sleeping and letting out soft sighs. She hasn't woken up screaming and crying in days, not since Brandon came back, not since he got locked up.

I'll admit the news that he hasn't been sentenced to death or shipped off into the Bermuda Triangle for everything he has done murdered my insides. When I passed out, I also set ablaze the entire place, not realizing that I had the lighter in my hand.

Thankfully, help was already there and were able to get Benji, Emoni, me and—to my distaste—him out on time. He got a lifetime in prison.

"Brandon... We have to move. We can't stay in this house, in this city... We just can't."

Brandon flicks his eyes from Clementine to me, taking only a moment before saying, "I know."

We exchange knowing expressions and gaze back down to our sleeping daughter.

"For Minty."