Love Me (very slow updates)

Ch 24|•| Luara Paulini

It was completely silent. The sound of the car driving along the highway was the only thing that could be heard as Clara and Lorenzo drove home.

Clara was a mess. Both inside and outside. She kept her eyes shut, her head leant against the window as she crossed her arms over her chest trying to figure out just what was going on in her mind.

It was loud. So loud. There were a million little voices telling her she'd never escape the torment Andrew had put her through. It would follow her like a bad smell she couldn't find the source of. Every scar he left on her body, every insult imprinted into her mind. Every time he lay his hands on her body. All of it.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she clenched her eyes even tighter trying to will away the memories.

Lorenzo looked over at her before clearing his throat as he focused back on the road. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. His knuckles began to turn white as he grit his teeth. He wished he could bring Andrew back to life and give the fucker what he deserved.

He had died too easy of a death for what he had done. And the fact that Lorenzo himself had given him such an easy exit was the most painful part.

He looked over at Clara again before letting out a a sigh. "Fiore-"

"What does that mean?" Clara said interrupting him. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about how she felt. She herself couldn't make sense of it let alone try explaining it to someone.

"Clara don't-"

"You call me that all the time but I still have no clue what it means," she shrugged looking over at him. Lorenzo hesitated before letting out a sigh.

"It means flower,"

"Why do you call me that?"

Lorenzo was silent for a moment. Clara figured he wasn't going to answer and went back to looking out the window.

"When you were younger," he started making her look back at him. "You had this small obsession with dandelions," he chuckled soflty. But it wasn't a regular chuckle. It was filled with pain. "Every time you saw one you'd drag me or our father out to go help you pick it. You gave each one a name." He looked over at her with a small smile.

"Every time I see a dandelion I think of you. You're just as a delicate, soft... gentle. You're kind and vibrant. You light up a room with your presence... you make our house a home. That's why I call you fiore."

Lorenzo tore his eyes away from the road chancing a look at Clara. She was staring at him intently. She didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything.

Her lips parted as her mouth dried up. The frown in her forehead deepened as she slowly looked away.

She couldn't for the life of her figure out how someone could see her like that. She couldn't understand how he could look at her and see anything more than a broken girl who had given up on herself.

But most of all she wished she could see herself the way he saw her.

_______________

Andreas poured his last bottle of whiskey down the drain. He placed the empty bottle down in the sink before staring at the rest of the empty bottles littered around the kitchen.

He let out a sigh as he rubbed his temples. He was never going to drink again. He was never going to so much as look in the direction of alcohol again.

The face she had made haunted him. The way her face had contorted into a look of fear, the way he saw memories flash through her. It hurt him. Bad.