Rosy Cheeks

endings; 5.00

Just as the person was about to put the lid on the box, the girl grabbed their wrist stopping them. "Hold on," she said quietly, leaning over to grab the canvas she'd brought with her. "If you don't mind, I'd like to add something."

The person nodded, and she placed the painting she'd made of the boy on top of everything inside of the box. The one of him on the cliff. That wasn't the boy she wanted to remember.

Together, they placed the lid a top the box, and pushed it into the deep hole, watching as it tumbled to the bottom. Where it would never be seen again.

The girl leaned into the person next to her, and they slipped their arm over her shoulders and the two looked down at the box with smiles on their faces. Then Pale Eyes tilted her head up, and scrunched her nose happily from her wide smile. "I'm so proud of you." She said softly, as if she was afraid if ruining the moment.

The person nodded, "I'm proud of myself too, for once."

And it was true. They felt so accomplished in themselves. It had been a tough battle over the last year and a half for them. They'd overcome what others had told them they couldn't, including things they'd told themselves they'd never do. Sure theyd had some rough days, but everyone had to deal with that.

The boy was finally so happy, so proud to be able to smile freely, without the guilt of his past. Without the feeling of being a monster, a weakling. And burden.

With the aid of the doctors, he'd gone against the odds of his body destroying itself. With art as his crutch, he let out feelings that had been bottled up inside him for nearly three and a half years. With the forgiveness of his mother, he realized that it wasn't him who caused his family to fall apart.

And with the girl by his side and as his shoulder to lean on, he became the kind of person he never thought he'd be again:

Happy.

Full faced smiling, jumping for joy and dancing where ever you go, happy.

He let tears of joy fall from his chocolate eyes, the ones that warmed the girl from head to toe with one glance, and placed a chaste kiss to the girl's temple. Then he tilted his head down, his lips gently grazing her ear as he did so.

"Pale Eyes, I'd never be here if you weren't so courageous and loyal and loving. And I know I tell you this all the time, but I will never be able to thank you enough." He whispered in his husky voice, biting back a smile. "And I love you. I could write a novel about all the reasons why I love you, but I've never been good with words. I hope you know this, sweetheart."

The girl felt her cheeks flush deeply, and she nodded slowly, then leaned out of his grasp just long enough to grab the shovel they'd brought with them. She held it out to him, with watery eyes and a wide smile. He wordlessly took it from her and began to fill the hole, slowly but surely, with his own tears falling freely like a waterfall.

When he was finished, they packed the dirt together on the surface, but not before planting a rose bush on top of it. The two, hand in hand once more, took a step back and admired the last plant in the garden they'd been working on for the past few months.

Then the girl looked up at the boy, and reached her arm up to graze her knuckles against his cheek, which were as red as could be.  He looked down at her, and pulled her gently into his arms.

"Today, we honor the death of the boy who was lost. May he rest in peace." The girl began, staring into his chocolate eyes. "But we're also here on this beautiful afternoon, to celebrate the arrival of the boy who was found. The boy with Rosy Cheeks."

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Bella's note: lol how many of you wanted to kill me at the first few paragraphs?