Despite my better judgement, I listen to my heart and wrap my arms around his neck, burrowing my face in the crook of his neck. “The world is filled with pain and misery, but when I’m with you… everything disappears and it’s just us.”
He delicately detaches from me to brush a tear at the corner of my eye. “I wish I could absorb the dark clouds that envelop you. Iwill try to make your days as bright and warm as a spring day in a meadow. Even if it happens to rain, I’ll have an umbrella. I’m ready to take care of you. Rely on me, my Paradise. I can handle it.”
Chuckling, I gaze deeply into the melting honey. “It feels so surreal and peaceful to be with you. It’s terrifying.”
He places a tender kiss on my forehead. “So is the ocean but it’s magnificent, don’t you think?”
“It really is,” I nod. “Jellyfish can be deadly, but observing them from a closer distance is worth the risk.”
He chortles, telling me I’m right and grabbing my hand, to interlace our fingers. “We have so much left to see.”
We don’t know what awaits us in the future nor whether this love story is ever going to bloom into something unbreakable. But I want to hope that not everyone is cruel and perhaps if I believe in him,in us, he will be all mine.
Nothing is set in stone. The present is unravelling, and ink is spreading over the pages telling our story.
Not every story ends in a tragedy. Maybe mine won’t either.
I’m starting to lose sight of why all of this started in the first place, but does it even matter? So what if he’s the man I hooked up with? It wouldn’t change anything even if he were.
We stroll in the Oceanarium, and he stops us in our tracks. “I want to bring you somewhere I’ve never brought anyone else to, but it’s rather far from here.”
I peek up at him. “How far?”
“About four hours away?” he winces and eyes my reaction.
I laugh dumbfounded. “Where the hell are you planning to take me now?”
“It’s a surprise.” He leans over my ear and whispers, “Trust me. You’ll love it.”
Shaking my head, I watch him grin like a fool. “That smile of yours should be illegal. What you’re doing is coercion, Prince Charming.”
“But you love my smile.”
I squeeze his hand. “Yeah, Ireally do.”
32
Aoi
Night has already set when I wake up in Andrew’s McLaren.
We’re surrounded by a forest and pitch-black shadows as I blink away the haze. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You seemed tired.”
Now, where the hell are we? Is that how I end up on the news, desiccated and thrown to rot on the side of a road? If I have to die, I’d rather do it with dignity, thank you very much.
The car slows down as we reach the side of a cliff, and he parks on the gravel. “We’re here.”
I stare out of the window and see literally nothing.
What the fuck?
“Come on.” He opens the door for me and extends his hand.
I grab it and let him help me out.
“Where are we?” I ask, as he sits down on the trunk of his McLaren.
