"The higher you build walls around your heart, the harder you fall when someone tears them down."
A story about a girl who wanted nothing more than to feel again, and a boy who wanted to give her the world.
**TW: mental health issues, physical abus...
The chatter of everyone hanging out in the living room echoed throughout the kitchen as I put the finishing touches on dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs wasn't necessarily something to write home about, but everything being fully homemade sparked a little excitement in the basic dish. "Hey-" I turned around and saw Sarah smiling up sweetly from the other side of the island, "Smells incredible. Can I help with anything?"
"I appreciate the offer, but that's okay." Giving the sauce a stir, I added in the meat(less)balls, knowing not everyone here ate meat. "You're a guest, don't worry about it! Also, I'm sure Mitch is wondering where you ran off to." I positioned myself where I could see her, a smirk laced on my lips.
"Ah...yeah-" A shade of pink began to take over her cheeks as she took a seat on one of the stools, rings tapping against the counter. "He told me you knew..." She cringed slightly as she pressed the space between her eyebrows.
I placed the lid back on the pot, now fully turning leaning against the counter. "Your secret has been safe with me, don't worry." Relief seemed to wash over her as she rested her chin on her hand. "He's got a really good heart, but I'm sure you know that. It's nice to see him open up to other people, he was always pretty reserved and quiet...still can be-" She let out a small laugh nodding in agreement, I smiled crossing my arms over my chest. "But, just from how he acts, I can tell he's really comfortable with you."
"I don't think I've ever felt this happy and comfortable with someone so quickly-" She admitted, her cheeks slowly turning a deeper shade of pink than before. "It's quite scary...but the best kind of scary." Warmth filled my heart at her words, they really seemed to be falling for each other. "But anyways, enough about that-" She glanced back, I could tell she didn't want to say too much as the others were fairly close, not ready to disclose what had been going on. "Do you ever go thrift shopping?"
Glancing down at my outfit knowing that everything had been thrifted aside from the shoes, I did a little spin. "This outfit is actually thrifted-" I mentioned, gesturing down to my clothes. "I went thrifting last time I was here visiting, but not since I moved. Don't really know of many places around here yet."
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"Perfect!" Her eyes brightened as she clapped her hands together, "We have to go thrifting together then, I have some really great shops we can go to. I'm gonna be at the studio tomorrow, wanna go after?"
As lame as it made me feel, I couldn't help but get excited at the idea that I was beginning to make friends here. With everything that had happened in my past, friends became slim to none aside from Mitch and Dustin, no ones fault really but my own and I had to live with that. "That would be amazing, I would love that!"
Sarah continued to hang out and talk to me as I finished up dinner, eventually sliding her way into helping me with the salad and bread. Dustin went around the large table outside pouring wine and that's what brought us to where we are now, all gathered around laughing at something incredibly stupid Mitch said. Everything felt so natural with this group of people, almost like I was where I was meant to be, that I had made the right choice moving my life across the country.
