Chapter 13

(Lucas ★)

On a Wednesday morning I woke up and started getting ready for the day. This day was my last day in the mental hospital, Iris was really kind and supportive all my time there. I changed my clothes and started pacing up my things, the last thing I put in my bag was Sally's sweater. I took a deep sniff of it and put it in my bag. I was happy I would leave this place, I decided to be a new person… I will be more careful with who I am with… I will never let anyone use me again…. Ever… Another choice I made, I would also stop smoking… I will take better care of myself and the first step was to stop smoking. It was hard, especially the week I was in the mental hospital…I promised Iris I would take one cigarette a week. I could say that this week in this mental hospital helped me know myself better… I understood that my life was full of people using me…. But now I have changed, I won't let anyone hurt me or anyone I love. 

I picked up my bag and went to the reception, Iris was standing there with my belongings that she took away when I arrived. I grabbed my phone and and checked if Sally sent a message, but unfortunately, she didn't… this left me worried and I felt like my heart was on fire… I hugged Iris, "Thank you for everything you did for me, Iris". I took a deep breath and smiled at Iris. Iris smiled back at me and said"Take care of yourself, you are a responsible young man and you are capable of much and I'm proud of you ". I gave Iris another hug and grabbed my bag and ordered a taxi home. I tried to contact Sally but she didn't answer… my anxiety was racing every time I sent a message and she didn't respond… The sky was pouring with rain and the weather was cold. This weather reminded me of Sally and Autumn … I really missed this little boy…. My mind couldn't stop thinking about how he was…. He is such an adorable boy… I promised myself I'd take care of him… I promised myself I would take him away from Maria. I had a bad feeling about him being with Maria…. Something inside of me felt worried …I think I felt responsible for Autumn … maybe, just maybe in another universe, I and Maria would live happily together with Autumn… you are probably asking yourself if I still had feelings for Maria… the answer is no… she broke my heart but I still wished she was mine. Her eyes were beautifully hazel, they were like looking at honey … her smile always made my day… even though it was after she hurted me with her words…. Beauty lies… maybe I'm just lying to myself…. I took a deep breath. Yes, I was lying to myself…she manipulated me…. No wonder why my heart still loves her…. she made me believe her …. She made me love her with every inch of my heart…. But everything was pretty lies….

I had to focus on myself and Sally for now, Sally got me out of my dark loneliness… she was there when I needed her .… even though I pushed her away… she stayed…. And I'll stay for her as well… no matter what…

When I arrived home I was ready to drop my suitcase and go to check on Sally. When I opened the door I was shocked and dropped my suitcase. Surprisingly, Sally was sitting on the couch at my house, she was sitting peacefully with her laptop on her lap and Felix beside her. Her brown hair was in a messy bun, she looked like a peaceful angel… I smiled at her before I noticed a case on her nose and a bandage around her wrist. After a few moments of me smiling at her, she noticed me, closed her laptop, and ran for a hug. I hugged her back. After some moments she smiled and said "Welcome back Babe, I missed you…. This week was hard on me without you ". "What was hard ?… And who hurt your cute nose ?.." I asked. She tightened the grip on the hug and pulled me closer. I could feel her heart beating as I pulled her closer as well. " it doesn't matter…you're here with me and that's what matters….I'm okay whenever you are with me ", she said softly and smiled at me. I smiled back. Then I remembered that she wasn't picking up her phone. I asked her in a serious tone: "Hey…you have to answer me now ! Who hurted you like this and why the hell weren't you answering your phone ?!". 

Both of us sat on the couch as our knees touched each other's. Sally started petting Felix as she said with pain in her eyes: "At first …..I'm at your house because I feel safe-..", I interrupted her and spoke: "Safe from what exactly….is someone after you ?!…". I saw warm tears falling down her cheeks as she spoke with a cracked voice: " Maria-", she took a sniff as she continued " Maria was … mean to me in the school back yard…. I was drawing like I always did before I met you …. I was pretty lonely when you weren't here… I told Maria to stop …..and ….". Sally went quiet, and my heart skipped a beat as I heard what happened … I wanted to know more but I didn't want to pressure her more… I hugged her and started petting her hair with my fingers… I caress her soft, her curly hair as it flows through my fingers, enjoying the effortless movement.… she was sopping on my shoulder as I rubbed her back with my other hand… " everything is okay now… you're safe with me…" I said trying to comfort her….

After some moments she finally calmed down, she took a deep breath and said: " Maria's boyfriend came … and she started making fun of me and you…I have called Maria a cheater because she cheated on you for money and she is doing the same thing for her other boyfriend… h-he slapped me and I fell to the floor and injured my wrist a bit because I fell on it…. He punched me on the nose… and my nose started bleeding… After that Maria walked away. I got to the nurse's office and she said my nose was broken… she put a temporary case on my nose … Afterwards I went back to the classroom. I was surprised that Maria and I were in the same group… I told her I'll do the whole project because I was scared of her…..". I took a deep breath and said: " I understand you got scared but this was a dumb decision…. And let me guess …you are stressed as hell now right?". She nodded. " Look, here is what we will do, me and you will work on this project and we will put my name on it instead of Maria's…" I said with a smile. Sally laid on my chest and snuggled into me. She didn't say a word, she closed her eyes and smiled. She seemed so relaxed… I started petting her hair and kissing her head. This moment was so peaceful and made me think how much I loved this girl and how much she made me smile and I felt loved every time I was around her. I took a deep breath and relaxed and well… we slept together for an hour…

 After an hour my phone woke us up. It was Maria trying to contact

 me for the twelfth time. Like always I cancelled on her, then I realised that the project is due tomorrow and it was already 18:00… I stroked Sally's hair and woke her up gently by saying: "Hey little bunny, wakey wakey we have some work to do ". She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms, I saw a light smile on her lips. "Someone had a good nap " I said as I tapped her nose carefully. " Yes, I guess you are a comfortable pillow after all" . she said as we both giggled. We started working on the project, and after 3 hours we managed to finish it right in time. I gave Sally a high five as we sat quietly for some moments. I rested my head back on the couch as I stared at the window. Suddenly I saw snowflakes on the ground, "it's snowing ! " I said excitedly. Felix jumped on the counter of the window and gave me a last look before he fell asleep. 

Sally looked at the window excitedly. " Would you like to get a little reward after this hard work and drink hot chocolate outside together, my little bunny?" I offered. " Sure! But let me handle the hot chocolate !". She said with a soft voice, I nodded as I took a deep breath. I felt my anxiety finally fading away…. I was finally home with the one girl I cared about…and that cared about me…

We put on our jackets before we went outside. The snow started falling heavier right then I started remembering my childhood days…. When I was homeless and didn't have a place to stay… my eyes got watery and blurry as I started fighting back my tears. Sally noticed it and asked : "Hey is something wrong?"… I smiled at her, she held my hand to show me that everything is okay and that I'm safe with her… " Wanna talk about it?"she asked… I nodded…." some terrible memories …came to my mind ". Sally rested her head on my shoulder as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, "The moon is beautiful tonight….just like your eyes ". I blushed and smiled at her. " and the sky is full of stars that shine the whole sky just like your smile ", she giggled as I smiled and took a sip of the hot chocolate. After some quiet moments, Sally asked "Hey… do you want to talk about what happened in the mental hospital?.. just if you are comfortable with it…" I smiled and pulled her in a hug, "Do you know that no one asked me about how I felt…even how badly I wanted to talk about my feelings …" Sally said: "Now I'm here and I'm asking you… let's forget our past honey and let heal each other's wounds from this life….", I nodded " Do you know… the snow reminds me of our problems " our problems ?" Sally said, confused. I continued "Yes… our problems are like the snow… they start little and end up as a huge mountain of snow… and our problems are the same thing… if we didn't take our time to heal from every problem it would end up as a mess in our hearts and it would lock us in this dark place…. Until someone melts the snow away…. Sometimes you can melt the snow away by yourself… and sometimes it's too much". Sally smiled at me and spoke gently: "You seem to learn a lot from everything that happened" … " Maybe " I mumbled as I kissed her head. 

We watched the snow falling on the ground, leaving faint marks on the floor. Both of us enjoyed the peaceful moment of the falling snow. The weather was cold but the warmth of our hearts kept us warm. As I took another sip Sally asked "Hey, you didn't tell me what happened in the hospital. If you are comfortable I would like to know everything about it ". I nodded, "Well… I met a nice lady who took care of me… her name was Iris… I'm glad I had her as a nurse because she understood that I wasn't there for a true reason…. So I could say I got special treatment…but….other than that I heard a lot of screaming and crying… it hurts to see people suffering like that… it was scary and uncomfortable to hear….". Sally nodded as she pulled me closer. " I'm happy your back… everything feels different when you are around …. And I understand your fear…but I'm grateful that you are back with me ". I nodded as we enjoyed the falling snow.

Naya♤