Love's Butterfly

Alone

"Do you want ice cream?", Mila asked as we were walking in the park. I was wearing black jean shorts and a black top even though the summer was coming to an end already. We had been home for a few days already. It did get better in Spain. Now we had been going to the gym again and I even spent one night without Mila.

I nodded as she petted my arm before walking to the ice cream stand. I sighed and looked around me. My eyes widened as I saw a man in black, standing across me. I gulped as tears rose into my eyes. I shook my head in disbelief. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.

His face was filled with worry and I could see that he was hurting. He had a black eye.

"No", I whispered. He started to walk closer to me, neither of us breaking eye contact. "Hey Love", he greeted with his low voice. My eyes were so teary that I couldn't see. "Why?", I cried out loud. I tried to calm down my breath as he answered, "It's a long story...I'm so sorry". I tried to back away a little as I said "Get away from me". He was quiet for a while. "You hurted me!", I cried out loud. "I know baby, and I promise that I'll never do it again", he pleaded as his voice cracked. "Don't call me a baby", I screamed between my cries.

"I'm sorry", he whispered. I gulped and tried to wipe my tears away. "You left me...I thought you were dead", I whispered. "I'm sorry...", he pleaded.

"Why did you disappear?", I asked as  tears blurred my vision. "I...I...they found me", he whispered. I looked  at my shoes as I asked, "They?". After a while of silence, he answered,  "...they...from my past". I bit down my lip.

"Did they hurt  you?", I whispered. "Yeah...but don't worry", he said quietly. "Why did  they hurt you?", I asked a little confusedly. "Because before I came to  this country...I hurt one of them...more than hurt", he spoke as he  sighed.

I gulped as tears started to form in my eyes. I looked down at my shoes as I sniffed.

"We don't need to worry about them anymore", he whispered. I looked at him as my eyes started to widen, "you...you did not?", I whispered. He gulped and nodded as he looked down to his shoes. "I had to do it, for your safety, for my safety, for my family's safety", he explained worriedly.

"I'd never hurt you...", he whispered as a tear rolled down his eye. "Don't try to text me or call me", I cried. "Love", he began. "No, I don't want to see you now", I said. Suddenly Mila came from behind me. I looked at her worried face and the other ice cream in her hand.

I grabbed the pear ice cream cone, walked close to him, which made his eyes widen, and smashed the ice cream on his face. "I don't use violence...but Kiara will", I said as he tried to get the ice cream off his face.

I turned around and I scrunched my eyebrows together tears started to blur my vision as I walked away from him. I grabbed Mila's hand and we walked back to the car. "Definitely worth the money", she said, which made me snort. "How are you?", she asked as we sat inside the car.

I started to cry fully. Mila hugged me and I cried on her shoulder. "Oh Lovey...", she whispered as she petted my hair.

"I still love him!", I blurted out. "What?", Mila asked quietly as we let go of each other. "I still felt it when I looked at him", I said as I sniffed on a tissue. "He killed people!", I yelled. "What!?", Mila asked with a loud voice. "He told me that when he left...people from the past...he killed them for my and his safety", I explained. "I see", Mila whispered.

"How can I love a murdered?!", I screamed as I cried fully. Mila petted my arm. "I think you need time off from him", Mila whispered as she offered me another tissue. I took it and sniffed on it, nodding.

"Do you think you can attend Kiara's wedding? They're only a week from today", Mila asked and petted my arm. I nodded decisively. "But I won't go to the Bachelorette party", I sniffed.

"I don't understand", I whimpered. "Love...don't think about it too much. The fact is that you spent your whole summer crying over him. He is back. You don't have to be with him if you don't want to. But you also don't have to decide it now. You'll have all the time in this world", Mila tried to comfort me. I nodded slowly and whispered, "Can we go buy junk food?". "We will buy every junk food in this city", she said and started the engine.

After we had gone back to the summer house from McDonalds and had a long nap, I woke up suddenly. I think I dreamed about Dominic. He came to my mind the first second I woke up. I opened my laptop quietly as Mila was still asleep and checked my emails. My heart started to beat faster as I read his name. "Please forgive me", was reading as the title. I opened the email. It went like this:

You blocked me???

Yours forever,

Dom

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I walked to the entry and noticed that the sun was already going down. I opened the door and behind it stood a man with a flower bouquet. "Are you Love Laurén?", the delivery guy asked. I nodded and looked at the big bouquet of my favourite peonies. "You have been delivered 100 bouquets from Dominic Hardy", he stated and pointed at all the bouquets in his truck. I sighed and opened both of the doors for him, letting him bring them all inside.

I walked back to my bedroom where I poked Mila awake. "Mila...come", I whispered and tried to get her up. She grunted but slowly got up. We walked to the entry which was filled with bouquets of peonies. Mila gasped and asked, "...from him?". I nodded as I looked at her.

"So this was all of them", the delivery guy said. "Okay thank you", I said and forced a smile on him. He shook his head in disbelief as he walked out.

"They all have a note...and this one has an envelope", Mila noticed and picked it up. She opened it carefully and red it out loud:

"Dear Love,

here are 100 reasons why I love you.

No. 1. your laugh".

Mila gasped and noted, "A hundred bouquets for a hundred reasons". I sat down on the floor in the middle of the bouquets, feeling overwhelmed. "Where are we gonna put all of these, we can't even walk here?", I asked worriedly. Mila sat down next to me and hugged me. "If they all won't fit here then we can give some to the neighbours", she noted and petted my back, making me nod.

"Now how about sauna and karaoke?", Mila said as she helped me up, making me nod and laugh.

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Words: 1212