𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 ❨ michael gray ❩

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲

"Look them Pol..." Evelyn sighed in contentment as she looked at her daughter and Michael.

Her eyes filled with nothing but admiration.

Polly watched the young girl closely noticing the way her eyes flickered from Michael to her daughter then back to Michael.

"You're still in love with him." She said as a statement rather than a question.

"How you can see straight through me Pol, I'll never know." Evelyn replied as she gave a small smile while taking a sip of her tea.

"It's to late anyway. It's been to long to try and fix what we lost." She said, suddenly feeling subdued.

"You never lost it." Polly stated immediately

"Well we haven't said 'I love you' to each other in years I think it's too late Pol" Evelyn claimed slightly amused by the older woman's antics.

"When someone loves you they don't have to say it. You can just tell by the way they look at you."

Evelyn gently rolled her eyes, a smile gracing her features and turned her head towards Polly.

"And how does he look at me then?" She asked entertained.

"The way every girl dreams of being looked at. Even when you two weren't together. You just never catch him when he does."

The sarcastic smile slowly faded off Evelyns face as she turned to look at Michael. She looked at him noticing how he had changed over the years. He was no longer little sixteen year old Henry from the village. He was a man. His face had changed, more structured. His hair had grown darker and his muscles had increased considerably in size.

"God I love him Pol...I really love him." She sighed

"Polly's always right dear." The older woman replied squeezing her hand and walking out of the hallway.

Evelyn decided to see her daughter after leaving her alone with Michael for a while. So she slowly pushed the door of Michaels hospital room open, wincing at the sound of the creak that caused two heads to turn in her direction.

"Mummy!" Little Rosie said grinning like a cheshire cat.

"Michael showed me how to write difficult!"

"Really?" Evelyn asked, her attention solely on her daughter, pretending to ignore Michaels eyes that were gazing into hers.

"Look..." The young girl replied as she pointed to the word while leaning into Michaels embrace, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Darling I'm so proud of you." Evelyn told her daughter while sitting next to her. The three of them squashed into one small bed.

They continued to this throughout the day. Talking, reading, drawing. It almost made Evelyn wonder what it would be like if they were a proper family.

Almost.

Soon enough Rosie fell asleep lying between Michael and Evelyn.

"Shes perfect." Michael whispered brushing small pieces of hair out of her face.

"She really is" Evelyn released a small yawn, feeling her eyes begin to grow heavy against the warm light of the lamp beside Michaels bed.

He gazed at her, appreciating the way the light highlighted the soft glow of her skin.

"Sleep." He said quietly.

"Bu-"

"Evelyn...go to sleep." He repeated.

"Nothing will happen to either of you, alright? I'm right here." He began stroking the side of her face, from her jaw to her cheekbone while occasionally brushing back the hairs that managed to fall repeatedly onto her eyelids.

She mumbled something. Something he couldn't understand.

If only he heard what she had told him.

"I love you..." She mumbled as her dreams whisked her away.

The pitch-black curtain draped over the sky, and the twisted, warped shapes that the stars made against the blackness. The milky speckles twirled and danced along the sky in various patterns entertaining Michael as he gazed at them, while wondering about the ring that remained hidden in the depth of his wardrobe since 1920.