Freckles & Curls | MILEVEN AU

epilogue

song - When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

~"You love me for who I am
Like the stars hold the moon
Right there where they belong
And I know I'm not alone"~

It was a life that she had dreamed of for many years. A life that she could never have pictured for herself back in that cell, a life that simply seemed out of reach from her bitter reality. Her neck would be straining as she looked out the small window at the top of her cramped room, the brass bars letting through small fractions of the night sky - slivers of diamonds. It was hard for her to believe in such a thing as hope, the walls around her creating no scope for the imagination, nothing but the horror that she would never see more than the specks of light. A rainbow broken up into little pieces, its beauty dulled by the darkness around her. It was often believed that the darkness was kept outside, the glowing light and warmth from houses inviting people in. But the darkness was all around her, her lungs only managing to find gasps of air when she peeked out of the small window at her broken kaleidoscope of colors. 

She could never have dreamed that she would be living such a fairy tale, a story polished off with her own safe home and kind-hearted prince. Her prince was no brave knight - no meat on his bones or trusty horse to lead her back to safety. All he had was a rusty bike with a stubborn flat tire, his backpack knocking against his shoulders as he rushed over to the cabin, cheeks flushed and breath raspy. But the sweetness in his eyes was enough to overpower the bitterness from her past, and although he was weak, he somehow had all of the strength to hold her up when it felt like the entire world was crumbling down. 

"You know..." he sighed deeply, fiddling with the volume controls on his walkie talkie with jittery fingers, "...sometimes love just sucks."

"Mike!"

He turned around to grumble into his pillow. "I don't mean it like that! It's just...I saw you yesterday and I already miss you. I could spend all day with you, never let you out of my sight a-and...I would still go home and want you here with me. That part sucks."

Her voice was cracked over the channels. "We still always say goodnight on these."

"I hate saying goodnight" he whined. 

Jane's giggle came through, "I miss you too."

He sighed contently through the walkie and she could imagine him - eyelashes fluttering closed and brushing against his freckles, teeth biting down on his plump lower lip as he replayed the words in his mind. Although she had been enjoying pretending that she was a normal girl (although Mike would always flick her cheek and tell her that she wasn't just normal, she was special and always would be), in that moment she wanted nothing more than to watch him in the void like she used to. She wanted to watch him with the absolute certainty that although she was on the other side of town, they would always have another day. She wouldn't wake up with tears in her eyes from how real his kisses felt in her dreams, because he would come rushing round and press his lips to hers - proving that it was so, so much better in real life. It didn't stop her from dreaming of him, his words and smile replaying through her brain in a loop - everything about him simply a continuous thought in her mind. 

"Hey, are you alright?"

His words were so simple and almost playful, knowing that she always lost track of thought around him, a side affect to the love spell that he had spun on her heart. But it was suddenly echoing through her mind, the phrase so plain but suddenly so important - the first words that he had ever spoke to her. It was funny how a single sentence could bring memories springing back, back to that moment in Mevalds were he stood over her with concerned eyes, embarrassment flashing in his eyes when she refused to take his offered hand.