Under The Jasmine Tree ✔

🖌 Enchantment

"No, not that. Thank you for being the one person I've needed the most." I sighed. An unexplainable feeling swarmed me.

Apollo extended both his arms towards me and pulled me to his chest. Even with the cold night breeze blowing around us, I still felt his warmth surrounding me. I slithered my hands around him and pulled him closer to me. As I rested my head on his chest, he rests his chin on top of it.

"Thank you for sitting beside me and constantly annoying me with your presence. Thank you for telling me that I'm your friend. That alone was enough for me to stay. I'm not lost anymore." He chuckled and it wasn't filled with joy like it usually is.

"How were you lost?" I looked up at him.

He sighed in defeat. "Would you like to hear my story?" I slowly nodded.

He took my hand and pulled me towards a tree close to us. A jasmine tree on the small hill. We sat under its branches with the moonlight giving the grass a celestial halo.

Apollo leaned his head against the tree's bark. "In my senior year, I met a group of college students. They let me hang around with them, and I did because I thought they were good people. That it would be good for me to get acquainted with some students from college. One of them was a girl called Olivia. She claimed that she loved music as much as I did and filled my ears with lies about herself. Each one of those 'friends' filled my ears with lies. They pressured me to do stupid things like hurt myself, hurt people I loved, just for their amusement. And I did. I was blinded by their lies of friendship and love and care, 3 things I barely knew." He remained silent after saying that.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and took his hand in mine, tracing lines and shapes with my fingers on his palm.

"My mother was sick at that time; she was in so much pain. I was her only child and instead of with her, I hung around them night and day. One night, the hospital called, telling me that my mom asked for me and that it was urgent. I didn't." His voice wavered.

He tucked his head in his hands. I didn't understand what he was doing till I saw his body shake. His sobs came out pained and breathless. He was crying his silence. His sobs grew louder like he was telling the trees and flowers of the pain he went through.

I would soon realize; he was crying so the moon could listen. All those nights he stayed silent, the moon watched. He was now telling the moon what his soul felt.

He lifted his tear-stained face and looked up at the moon. "That night, my mom was in so much pain she couldn't bear it. She felt like it was her end, and she wanted me to be there to hold her hand. I didn't even give her that. She passed that night and left my father and I behind. The people I called my 'friends' suddenly disappeared when my life started crumbling and I needed them most."

I pulled him towards me as he sobbed. He laid his head in my lap and I ran my hands through his hair, trying to comfort him. His body shook harder, and his sobs grew louder. The pain he was in seemed like too much for one person to handle for this long, so it was time he shared it.

"Do you see the stars at night? They are as clear as you and I. They twinkle and burn as bright as they can. When the sun rises, you can't see them anymore, yet you know that they are still there." I whispered once Apollo's sobs slowly turned into sniffles.

"Your mom loved you with all her heart, she wouldn't ask for you before she died if she didn't. She may not be with you now and you can't see her, but she's still there watching out for you. She's another star added to the sky's constellations." He looked up at the sky as I said that.

His frown slowly turned into a smile. His tears of sadness slowly turned to tears of joy.

"Everything you go through teaches you something new. Every mistake you learn from turns you into a better person. You just have to decide whether you want to grow with time, or wither and die." He turned his head upwards, so he was looking at me.

"I miss her. I miss her so much I would do anything to bring her back." He closed his eyes.

"Is this what you're always going to do when you lose someone? Are you always going to lose yourself ?"

He shook his head. "I assure you that she wouldn't want me to lose myself. I already did that mistake once."

"So, promise me, no matter who leaves you or who you lose, you're going to stand still and burn bright. Just like a star." I smiled.

"I promise you, Lyra. Promise me that you won't either." He held out his pinky.

"I promise you, Apollo." I entwined my pinky with his.

That night, Apollo and I promised each other as the stars and moon watched, holding us to our promises. That night, under the jasmine tree. Even though we haven't known each other long enough to have all this trust, we knew we won't break those promises.

They say not all soulmates are meant to be lovers but...

That night under the jasmine tree, neither apollo nor I knew that the man who asked me why 'worship, madness, and death' were stages of love was becoming a vital part of my life.

As I watched Apollo smile softly towards the stars, I felt content in life. I wished upon those same stars he smiled at, I wished for a life filled with enchantment and joy for both him and I.

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Hello everyone!

I know, I know. I haven't updated in a few days. I had writer's block and couldn't decide the pace of this story, and once I did, I finished writing this chapter.

I want you to know that I want to include important topics in this story and make it closer to reality, that's why it's not all about Apollo & Lyra's romance. It may be a work of fiction, but I want it to reach the reader's heart.

Love, Mariecurie023