Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“You come here a lot?” she asked softly as she looked around.
“I did when I first got a vehicle and could escape my father’s drunken nights when he wanted to fight… literally.”
She glanced at him, and her chest hurt. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. He shrugged and smiled, and she wondered if he was putting on a front over it all, or if he was just so used to that shit he genuinely didn’t care. Either way, she hated it.
“It’s just right over here,” Reese said and took her hand again, leading her through the structure.
There was another smaller room off to the side that had been hidden from her initial view. He helped her walk over the debris that littered the ground, and once in the room, she stopped and looked around.
The roof was high and littered with gaping holes, the same as the main room in this place. It was small, tiny in comparison. Maybe it had been a child’s bedroom at one time, if this had been a house. Or maybe a stable room if it had been a barn.
“Look,” he said softly and pointed at the ground.
The way the roof holes were positioned, and how the moonlight came through, she could see what he pointed at. A perfectly shaped heart right in the center of the floor.
“I used to come here so much before going to BMA. I still come here occasionally, but after my father stopped trying to beat the shit out of me on his benders, because I could handle my own, I haven't been here much.”
They still held hands, and she gave him a light squeeze, telling him without words she was right here with him.
“But I noticed this the last time I was here and thought you might like to see something a little unusual.” He let go of her hand only long enough to lay the blanket on the floor.
She sat on the blanket, and he took the spot beside her. The blanket wasn't very big, so it had them sitting so close their bodies touched. The heart-shaped moonlight was just inches from where they were, and they didn’t say anything as they stared at it. And then she reached her hand out, the bluish glow in her palm, as if she held the moon’s heart right in the center.
“I mean, it isn’t the most incredible thing in the world, but for what it is, I wanted to share it with you.”
She looked over at him. “It is incredible, and something that I won’t forget. Thank you for showing me.” It may have only been a trick from the shape of the warped and rotted wood, but out of that ugliness came a perfect, beautiful splash of light.
They said nothing as they settled against each other, Keira now between his legs, her back to his chest, Reese’s arms wrapped around her. They sat there in silence, but it was the perfect quiet that made everything seem to come full circle.
Keira tilted her head back and stared at the sky that was visible through the roof. The moon was bright and right above them. A dusting of stars could also be seen. They were in a dirty, old structure, a place that had once been full of life, but now was ancient and broken, and so very sad. Just like so many things in life.
“My parents are drunks. When they drag themselves home, it’s to either pass out, drink some more, or my father will start shit with me. When I said my home life was shit, I meant that. I’ve always had to rely on myself for everything, and I learned I couldn’t count on anyone else at a very young age.”
She slid her hand over his arm, which rested across her belly. “I’m so sorry, Reese.”
“Shit, I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. It’s bringing down our night together, and that’s the last thing I want to do. But I find that I want you to know everything about me.” He paused for a moment, as if thinking of how to say what he wanted next. “Maybe I want you to see how fucked up I am… how you could do so much better than me.”
She shifted so she could face him, and for a second, she just stared into his eyes. He’d been hurt in the past, his life nothing like how she’d grown up. Her parents may’ve been absent for a lot of her childhood because of work, but they loved her and Alex. They didn’t hit them, didn’t make them ever feel like they weren’t wanted.
“But you accept me for who I am, what I am, and what I don’t have.” His eyes searched her face, as if she held the answers. “And I have no clue what you fucking see in me, but I won’t let you go.” His words seemed so… final.