In The Shadow Of Her Smile

Chapter 9 - Until The End

She broke the stare and smiled to the stars. Then she closed her eyes.

"Thank you." - she didn't have to say anything more, I understood what it meant to have someone to listen, someone who can understand.

"I told you, I couldn't bare to lose a friend again." - she looked at me again now.

"A friend?" - I could hear fear behind her words as she spoke.

"Isn't that what we are?" - she gave me a weak smile and looked to the ground.

"I'm not sure you want to be my friend. Or at least you shouldn't want to be."

I took her arm in mine and she looked at me, surprised.

"You are the only one who got me to talk about what happened with Nicole, and you are the first person since then who got me to smile for real. There is no one else I would rather have as a friend."

She smiled weakly, visibly not too eager to believe me.

"And I even got you to open up to me, which I think is quite a big deal. " - at that she laughed, and I held her stare as strong as I could when I said - "Imagine how much more we could help each other if we don't split up now. If we don't give up."

When she didn't say anything else I continued - "We can help each other heal, if we only allow it."

She leaned on the bench now and looked at the sky, breaking the stare - "Hah...healing. Right now, that seems as possible as Gandalf coming to my house tonight, and asking me to fly to Mordor with him." - we both looked at each other and let out a small laugh at the end.

I didn't say anything, just held her stare.

A few minutes already passed in silence and we were still just looking at each other, not saying a word.

Suddenly she let out a large breath and spoke - "It might take time." - she was gazing at the stars again.

"I know. I don't expect anything else."

"We might never heal, you know." - She still didn't look my way, but I had to make sure she knew I would never leave her. No matter what happened.

"If we heal, we do it together, and if we don't, we'll be in this forever, but at least we'll both be in it." - now she looked at me.

"Together?" - she asked, fragile hope in both her voice and her eyes.

"Together." - she smiled to me, for the first time with the smile that was truly warm, before looking to the sky again, then closing her eyes.

"Then we will heal."

She opened her eyes, and they were alive, so alive.

"Together."

And I believed her.

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AN: Thanks to everyone who got to the end and I hope you liked what you read.

This story ends here, as I believe this is a "happy ending" as much as the happy ending in Cinderella.

But I feel this is more real, as Cinderella happy endings are so rarely seen in real life and, it might make me a weird human, but I prefer this over the fairy fale ending. It feels more right.

Sorry for my rambling...I couldn't stop my annoying inner self wanting to say stuff you probably don't care a single bit about.

So yeah...
...bye.