❝ ɴᴏ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴡᴇ ᴛʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴠᴏɪᴅ
ɪᴛ, ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇs ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ɢᴏ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. ᴡᴇ ғᴏʀɢᴇᴛ,
ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ʟɪᴇ ᴅᴏʀᴍᴇɴᴛ
sᴏᴍᴇᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪɴ ᴜs ᴜɴᴛɪʟ
sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴊᴏɢs ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴀᴡᴀᴋᴇ ❞
~~~
🇬 🇦 🇧 🇷 🇮 🇪 🇱 🇱 🇦 :
I should be sleeping. It's a school night, after all. But my mind is racing with thoughts I can't grasp— thoughts I refuse to grasp.
I'm laying in bed, but I cannot sleep. Suddenly, a knock is heard at my window. I lay there for a minute, staring at the curtain covered window, wondering why Hunter would knock there, if his room is directly opposite mine.
Then I get up and make my way to the window as he continues to knock. He knocks in a familiar rhythm. I can't quite remember where I've heard before. I open the curtain, letting the moonlight shine in. With quick movements, I shift the lock and pull the framing up.
My eyes meet familiar honey ones, but unlike earlier, when they had sadness swirling in them, they now have a heart-wrenching softness. His lips are pulled into that infamous dreamy smile of his, and his eyes crinkle at the edges with a sort of longing. My heart twists in my chest, but I cover it all up with a blank face.
"What do you want?" I say with as much disdain as I'm able to muster. His face falls for a fraction of a second before he smiles again.
"It's nice to see you as well, my darling." Even as my heart skips a beat, I curl my lip into a snarl.
"Don't call me that. You lost that privilege six years ago." He flinches slightly at my words, as if I'd slapped him across the face.
He sighs, softly, and looks at me as if his heart had been ripped from his chest. And I was the one to do it.
Good.
"What do you want?" I repeat, angrier this time.
"It's twelve A.M." He says softly, "I just came here to wish you… Happy birthday, El." Without controlling it, I feel my eyes soften and my composure slip. My heart is beating erratically now.
"You remembered…?"
"How could I ever forget?" He says as he pulls a bottle from behind his back. My heart breaks into a million pieces when I see the Jack Daniel's label on it. "Especially when we have a tradition to uphold…" His lips pull into a mischievous smile.
My eyes meet his, "Where did you get that?" I ask softly.
His smile widens as he pulls out two solo cups and hands me one. "As you know, I have my ways…" he says, as the sound of the bottle's seal breaking echoes into the night air.
♡♡♡
Ten years ago; September 2005.
Someone is knocking on my window. I listen closer and smile when I hear Kaz's signature pattern echoing throughout my bedroom. I make my way to the window and open it, smiling when my eyes meet his.
"Meet me on my roof in five minutes," he says softly before taking off.
♡♡♡
I take a seat on the cement rooftop, my legs dangling off and swinging from side to side as I wait patiently for Kaz.
I look up at the sky, seeing the stars twinkle like broken light bulbs and the moon as bright as a spotlight in the very center. I smile softly at the sight.
"Mom would always tell me a story about the moon," I say suddenly, as I feel Kaz take a seat beside me. "She'd tell me that the moon was lonely up in the sky. Only surrounded by darkness.
But there would be rare occasions when someone would stare up at her. Admiring her beauty. And that's when she starts to realise that she might not be alone after all." I look at him with a soft smile.
"If we made a wish to her, she'd grant it to us as a thank you for noticing her." My eyes drop to my hands.
"It's a silly thing, I know—" he places his hand on mine gently, stopping me. My cheeks heat up.
“It's not silly at all.” He says in a whisper. My eyes move to the bottle that sits between his legs and two plastic cups that sit between us. I tilt my head in confusion.
“What is that?” My question makes a smile form on his lips.
“It's… a right of passage.” He says.
“A… right of… passage…?” His smile widens as he twists the top and the seal cracks.
“It's called Whiskey. Jack Daniel's Whiskey, to be precise. My dad used to give it to me all the time when I was younger. Puts hair on your chest, he said.”
“But I don't need hair on my chest.” He lets out a laugh, and I watch him as he pours a little in each cup.
“Not literally, El. It just means…” he pauses for a moment, looking up at the sky. “It makes you stronger.” He says softly. He passes me one cup and closes the bottle, placing it between his legs again.
I put the cup to my nose and flinch against the smell. A strong sanitizer smell. Kaz lets out a laugh.
“It tastes worse, don't worry.”
He nudges my shoulder with his until I look up at him. “How about we make an oath to the moon instead. That way, we can keep coming back and never leave her after she gives us our wishes.” I smile at his suggestion.
“Take a sip.” He says after a moment.
I bring the cup to my lips and take a small sip. The second the liquid touches my tongue, I regret listening to him. I have no idea how to describe the taste, but it burns all the way down my throat and to my stomach. I nearly cough up a lung once it's down.
I turn to him once my coughing stops and watch him take a sip as if it's water in his cup. After a moment, my eyes wander to the stars as I draw lines, connecting them even when they make no image.
Kaz nudges me suddenly as he holds his cup up to the stars. I'm quick to do the same.
“Make an oath to the moon,” he says softly as he smiles. I look at him, my eyes softening as I take in the details of his face.
“If I do, will you do the same?” His eyes fall to mine, and he nods softly with a smile. He gestures to the cup in my hand, silently telling me to make my oath first.
I turn my gaze to the moon, “I promise to love with all my heart, under any circumstances.” Kaz laughs from beside me before clicking our cups together.
“I promise to fight by your side ‘til my last breath.” He says. I smile softly and click our cups together.
My eyes move to his, and I see something flash across them. Too quick for me to find out what. My eyes soften.
“Us against the world?” I whisper to the space between us.
He smiles brightly at me. “Us against the world, El.”
YOU ARE READING
The Heart Wants What It Wants
Teen Fiction❝ She wanted a fresh start, He wanted normalcy, But their past had other plans. ❞ ~~~ For the majority of her life, Gabriella had to endure all the things a child should never have to experience. After nearly two years of planning to start afresh...
