A Unique Kind of Love (28 page)

Click.

The door opened to reveal Ellie, in her pajamas, with tear streaked cheeks. Just as I had predicted, her teddy bear was being tightly held by her left arm. She immediately hugged my leg as I ruffled her hair.

“Lee-yum,” she mumbled, barely audible. She was obviously very sleepy as this was 
way
 past her bedtime.  I picked her up, and supported her body with one arm. She wiped her eyes tiredly with her fingers and then nuzzled her face in my shoulder. I kicked my shoes off, leaving me in my favorite white, yet thin socks.  As I walked into their living room, I scanned it to find Scarlett.

Normally, I would be happy to be right, but this was a very bad situation.

There she was, her legs spread on the floor and her hair messier than a bird’s nest. My eyes widened at the sight of five empty bottles of beer sitting by her side, a sixth one being chugged down. Her cheeks were blotchy and a tinge of red in her cheeks. She was obviously crying and swinging the bottle to her mouth from time to time. I felt pity and sadness. Scarlett had always been calm and collected, and I had always admired her for being so strong. But it seems like she decided to let everything out the bad way.

I turned to Ellie, who had already started sleeping on my shoulder. Grateful for Scar not noticing me yet, I crept upstairs. I entered Ellie’s bedroom; which was no stranger to me. Butterflies were glowing in the dark on the ceiling, right above her bed. Ellie said that they make her happy and make her feel like a butterfly. Other than that, it was a normal, seven-year-olds’ room. The walls were a pale pink and purple, with soft flowers and vines randomly appearing on a couple of parts.

As I was heading towards the bed placed in the middle of the room, I stepped on something that could be a needle, a spike or a bear trap. I jumped in the air, close to tears.

“OWW, OW, OW, OW! SHIT!” I howled the pain in my right leg almost unbearable.

Ellie shifted on my shoulder and mumbled something that sounded like, “
Bad word, hmmm, unicorns”. 
I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything that might enter that little girl’s vocabulary. And plus, for her age, she already knew 
a lot.

 
I tasted blood on my lip and looked down to whatever was under my foot. I licked my lip and clenched my left fist, the one holding the rose, at the sight of the devil itself.

A Lego piece.

I did nothing but flashed my middle finger on it. Legos were created to do nothing but make children happy and murder anyone who stepped on it. Even when I was young, I hated those stupid creations. Sometimes, we would have fun together, but all of that would dissipate into dust from the moment I stepped on them. I had a weird habit of forgetting to put one or two back and that resulted in me crying my eyes out because of stepping on one of them.

Scanning the floor in the darkness, I felt relieved to find no more of it. Mentally cursing, I walked towards Ellie’s bed. I held her tiny waist with my hands and carefully laid her on the bed. I froze for a moment as she twitched and held Mr. Teddy closer to her. A small smile appeared on my face as I put the covers up to her shoulders. I placed my lips on her forehead.

“Sleep tight, my Valentine,” I whispered, tenderly placing the rose in her hair. She was truly a small angel.

I tiptoed my way out of the room and left the door open a little bit. Ellie hated sleeping in complete darkness. I cracked my fingers and took a deep breath.

It was time to console a drunken teenage girl.

I went downstairs and found Scarlett in the same position I’d left her in. Although, now, she had finished the sixth bottle and was opening another one. I rapidly took the bottle from her hands, averting her attention to me. Her eyebrows furrowed and she pouted a little. She reached for the bottle, but I walked further away from her.

“Give it to meeeeee,” whined Scar, standing up and getting closer. I shook my head and threw it in a small trash bin in the corner.  Her face fell and her jaw opened. She stared at me, completely bewildered.

“W-why did youuu do that, huh?” she slurred, sobbing. I took her arm and made her sit on the couch. An awkward silence settled in, apart from her crying. I had to talk to her, but that meant having to speak.

No shit, Sherlock.

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong, Scar?” I asked softly. She turned to me, her eyes full with sadness and pain.

“Y-you wanna –(hiccup)- know what’s wrong? You wanna know what’s wr-wrong huh?” she said, deeply breathing. I nodded, praying that she would see the honesty in my eyes. Her eyes flickered to a family photo on the wall and she averted her eyes to me. I saw a fiery glint in her eyes.

“What’s wrong is that I lost my mother. She left me here, all freaking alone. She was m-my only friend, my sister and my best friend. She knew what to say to help, but w-what about now huh? Every Valentine’s day, w-we’d make Dad go out, we’d buy a box of –(hiccup)- chocolates and watch sappy movies and cry. W-whaaaat about now, huh? She abandoned me and it’sallherfault. She shouldn’t have- she shouldn’t have-”, she hesitated, and then finished her sentence, “Yeah, she shouldn’t have died.”

“She never meant to leave you, Scar, she loved y-“

“NO! Don’t you dare say that she loooooved me.-(hiccup)- She meant to leave me here, with the weight of everything on my shoulders. S-she left me with a little sister whom I have to act like a mother too and take care of and my d-dad who cries every night. Everyone expects me to be strong and all of that bullshit, but I-I just can’t. It’s just so damn 
hard, -(
hiccup)- .” She started crying again and put her head in her hands.

My heart ached, because in a way, I knew how she felt. She didn’t really have anyone to talk to and coping with this was hard enough for her. The wound was still fresh and bleeding, but no one was caring enough to clean it and bandage it. Scar was one of my good friends, so I had a duty of helping her.

And so I did what I had to do and what was a hundred times better than “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Come here,” I mumbled, offering her a hug.

She obliged and soon enough, my shirt was getting wet. Her shoulders softly shook, as she let every little emotion bottled up inside come out. I rubbed her back soothingly, as her breathing got better. I could smell the alcohol on her breath though, and I knew that she needed rest. In the morning, a massive hangover was waiting to greet her.

After a few minutes of staying this way, she lifted her head up and pulled her body away from the hug. She sniffled a little and rubbed her eyes, resembling Ellie.

“Better?” I asked, feeling better myself. It felt good to know that I helped someone. She nodded and had a strange look in her eyes.

“Thank you, for everything,” she said delicately, smiling.

“There you go! There’s that smile!” I exclaimed as she chuckled a little. Her eyes met mine with a deep look in them. I recognized it as the one Lena gave me when she had something on her mind. Nervousness, courage and… love? But, there was no way there was 
love 
in Scar’s eyes. We were just friends, absolutely nothing more. That thought seemed to comfort me a little, but the back of my mind was very suspicious.

“You know, Liam, there’s something I-I’ve always wanted to tell you.”

I held my breath and mentally cringed.

Please, don’t say what I think you’re about to say. 
Please, please.

“I-It’s just the waaay you smile and how your eyes light up and I’ve always thought you were really, really nice and cute. A-and you just knooooow what to say when I’m saaaaad and you give the 
best
 hugs. Liam, I –(hiccup)- really like you,” she stuttered, giving me a sincere smile.

My legs were suddenly really interesting. I had no damn idea of what to say. I scratched the back of my head uneasily.

“Hum, uh, well, I don’t-“

Scarlett cut me off by lifting my head up and kissing me.

Kissing 
me.

I felt like stone, I couldn’t move at all. I also didn’t feel anything at all, this was absolutely 
nothing 
compared to kissing Lena.

“LEE-YUM! WHY ARE YOU KISSING SCAR!” screamed a voice that could only belong to one girl.

Ellie.

Scar pulled her lips away from mine, as a giggle escaped her lips. I looked at Ellie, who was crying and shaking her head disapprovingly at me. The rose in her hair was still in place, making her look angelic.

“Lee-yum, she isn’t Lena,” she whimpered, tears freely escaping her eyes.

I know.

“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t see you that way, alright?” I blurted out in a rush, standing up. Scar shook her head, smiling sadly, and laid her head on the corner of the couch. She closed her eyes and soon enough, snores were filling the house.

I turned to Ellie, who looked disappointed in me.

“I don’t, I swear. 
She
 kissed 
me
, I swear. It’ll 
always
 be Lena, Scarlett and I are nothing more than friends.”

“Really?” said Ellie in a small voice. I nodded fervently and squatted down to be at her level, as she attacked me in an embrace.

“Well, promise me you won’t ever kiss anyone else than Lena.” She offered me her pinky, with an extremely serious expression on her face. I linked her pinky with mine, slightly squeezing it.

“I promise.”

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating and ringing in my pocket. I pulled it out and stood up. Confusion flooded all over me as I saw that it was Adam. He 
never 
called. I answered, holding the phone to my ear.

“Hey, mate. You need to get your bloody ass in the hospital right 
now, 
do you hear me?” he said, his voice shaking.

Strangely enough, Ellie was already at the door, reaching for her winter jacket which was on a small shoe closet by the door. “Why?” I managed to croak out, fearing his answer.

“Lena’s dying."

27

Omnia Vincit Amor

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

~Aristotle~

Liam Christopher Black

“Lena’s dying.”

All breath caught in my throat and suddenly it felt as if all my senses had gone numb. My vision got fuzzy, but my ears were still glued to the phone. I blinked a couple of times, trying to process what he had said to me. The temperature had dropped into -100 degrees. Part of me wanted to laugh and praise Adam for that prank, but the other part of me was certain that he wasn't lying. After all, he knew how I felt about her and Adam wasn't dumb enough to lie about something so big. 

“How?” I whispered, barely audible, but loud enough for Adam to hear. I heard someone, possibly a girl, hysterically crying and someone saying, 
"Sh, it'll be alright Tori." After a little shifting around, my cousin’s side seemed quieter.

“We don’t know exactly, but about an hour ago, the doctor called. Her heart’s failing and her breathing’s slowing down. Plus, at the rate it’s going, I doubt that we have more than an hour and then she’ll-"

"Don't you even dare finish that sentence. She's not going to die, do you understand me? I won’t 
let
 her die." I cut him off with a stern tone. I had no idea if I was convincing him or myself. Maybe I was just dreaming, maybe I was going to wake up and realize that none of this had ever even happened. The kiss, the coma, Lena on the verge of dy-