Victim of Circumstance | UNDER RIGOROUS EDITING

Chapter 20 - The Awakenings Of... & Attempts To...

"Hey." He chuckles removing my hand that covered my face. "I'm sorry." I plead yet again, completely forgetting the fact that I was late.

"It's okay." He smiles a cute smile. "What's your name? "He asks after regarding my face depicting odd rarity, still fixed to the uncompromising position, making no move to change the status quo.

"Valeria!" I whisper, flushing crimson.

"Cute." He chuckles. "I'm Pius."

PRESENT DAY!

"Hey—Valeria." Someone snap their fingers in my face. I blink back to reality. "Hey, are you okay?" Pius draws his eyebrows together in concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." I brush him off, sighing at the end.

"What were thinking about?" He looks up at me uncertainly, curiosity quite evident in his voice. "You were gone for a while. I kept—"

"I'm fine." I snap at him. He looks down at the book on his lap, trying to act nonchalant not to show that he's hurt. Seeing how his face tensed at my harshness, I soften and sigh yet again. "I'm sorry. It just..." I trail off. He doesn't prod. Just regards me with expectant eyes before he speaks up.

"It's just what?" he asks softly. I don't reply immediately. I sit in contemplative silence thinking back to how everything changed after the date between us. He has been oddly sweet, caring and just benevolent. Like he promised he would, he was helping me study. He helped me in history and I him in Math, which he despise with all his body fiber.

This is Tuesday. The third day after the date.

Thinking about the date brings a smile to my face because it was beyond spectacular. Just his thoughtfulness and everything he did for me when I broke apart in front of him to mend the broken part of me... that was beyond amazing. When I found out that he'd stage fright and that, that night was his first time singing in front of a crowed, made it even more special in a way no word explanation will ever do justice to.

He paid attention to even the simplest stuff and that made it million times worthwhile for me. He was everything I never expected him to be. All the things I mentioned above; Sweet, caring and benevolent. Indeed he does have a soft-side to the hard emotionless façade he puts on. And him showing weakness in front of me that night somehow salvage everything I held against him. I forgave him. Not completely but a part of me did and that was something. I don't know what made him to just fall apart like that, just at hearing I was raped. I don't know why I told him, but I somehow felt like I owed it to him. There was also a part of me that wanted to trust him and just let my barrier down a little.

After he sang for me that night, I was left in a ball of messy tears. But these time around, they were tears of joy not of pain and emotional turmoil coiling my insides into a gravel road. It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me in my life and that... him doing something he was afraid of, something that send his nerves spiraling, just to make me smile. To make me feel better. That was million time worth it, and even if this ends in heartache which I know it'll one way or the other, I'll never regret giving him a pass into my heart. Even if it's not fully but just that portion, a special portion that's only reserved for him, as I said at the beginning, it'll be a hell lot worth it.

"What are you thinking about? You've that distant look in your eyes again?" he bites at his pen, tearing me out of my heady thinking.

"You." I tell him without thinking. I'm caught off guard by my response. I look at him and away not wanting to see that judgmental look or the smug face of his.

"Me?" He raises an eyebrow. "What did I do?" he asks.

"Just—these you. I don't know, but..." I look at him in the eyes. He doesn't break the stare. His is equally intense as mine, his probably a notch stronger than mine. I look away and down at my hands, fidgeting with my fingers. I look back up at him. He's sitting with a sour inquisitive expression, waiting for my responds. "I just wanna say thank you for everything. I never did say that after the date." I don't know. It just slipped my mind after the date. Even though we've been spending the last two days together I really never brought it up. Why not? I don't know what changed but something changed. In me, with me or whatever. I've been having flashes of my past life. Why? That's a mystery. Probably the subconscious reaching out to me, letting me know all that I've done. I don't know.