If Only..(Part 1 And Part 2 Included)(Under Edit)

Chapter 7 - Keep your Closer, Closest.

He spoke in a lower voice, moving his head in denial: I can't drag her into this."

"For how long?"

Rex kept silently staring at him, failing to find a response to his question. Jereff sauntered over to the door and stood beside Rex, "Know how to balance, or cut off your contacts with her. That's on you"

"Had it been that easy."

Jereff smirked at his remark and walked up towards the window. Rex assumed his actions. He did that to hide the pain in his eyes from Rex.

"Keep your closer, closest to your warmth, However hard it is." Jereff started, " Or else none can warm it up, when the beds turn cold."

A gush of guilt ran through Rex at the utter of his words.

"Jeff..."

"I won't stop you from getting closer to someone. But, I don't want you to end up lonely within the crowd. Whenever you bid her goodbye. Make sure it doesn't turn into the last. Our life is not as easy as any other men in this planet." turning towards Rex, "You won't even know when, the most precious thing, in your life, is snatched away from you."

Rex looked up at Jereff, took a deep breath and left the room and Jereff kept watching. As he went out of sight, Jereff went up to his table and sat back at the chair. He kept his eyes on the screen, took a deep breath, and pulled out a picture frame from one of his drawers. He held the frame carefully with both hands and used one of his hands to clean the picture. It held a beautiful lady, in black hairs, smiling brightly in a white dress. She kept looking at Jereff, in a black tuxedo and the similar man bun. The love they shared was clear in the way they they looked at each other. It was the last picture of his wedding, he had with himself. He kept staring at every details, as a rush of screams ran through his mind. A memory of the past.

That day;

Madeline abruptly stopped in her place while leaving the mall after a long shift, as she found Rex standing on the either side of the street. He was leaning against the red car, his hands inside the pocket of his black jeans, as his white T shirt and the blue checked over shirt, stretched over his body. He kept his eyes at a nowhere, as his eyebrows narrowed. He had a hint of gloom, spread over his face. Madeline crossed the street, walked up to him and stood behind him.

Rex sensed her presence, "Free to move?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

He turned his heel towards her and smiled, "I want to take you somewhere."

Madeline kept silently gaping at him. Rex playfully frowned at her, "I can already sense a denial."

"Um...I mean, where are we going?"

Rex chuckled, " You don't trust me, right?"

Madeline plunged down her shoulders, "I do."

Rex crossed his hands against his chest and the smile over his face, vanished, "There's a story, I want you to hear.  If you are willing to listen."

Madeline admitted with an note of uncertainty, " I'd love to hear."

Rex smiled at her acceptance. Taking in a gulp, he leaned towards her. Just as he went towards her lips, she stepped back, and kept staring at him. He stepped back immediately, trying to simplify her unexpected response. 

Madeline let out a shaky exhale, "We are getting late...um..I'm getting in the car."

"I am sorry!" Rex exclaimed in a concerned tone, "I did not intend to make you feel uncomfortable.

Madeline averted her gaze and tucked a strand of her hair, behind her ear. She looked up at him with a forced smile and shook her head in denial.

Madeline bowed her head down and hopped inside the car. Rex kept looking at her, confused before he shifted his gaze towards the road and walked towards the driver's seat. Rex started the ignition, without exchanging any further word. She sensed his reaction and looked at him.

Even though she wanted to, she still feared to put her trust into someone just yet. There was still a repulse within her. A protection from getting close to someone; from falling in love yet again. This might be the factor which defined her as cold but keeping a fair distance always remained her best choice.

But realizing, that she ended up hurting the person, who has been nothing but warm to her, killed her. Seeing the zealous person sitting beside her, cold and distant, was taking away her calm. Even the slightest silence was threatening to pull her into a turmoil of fear, guilt and heartbreak, leaving her questioning her loyalty to her own sanity and her little ounce of gratefulness. The more she wanted to feed in her brain with a different story. Her heart knew, she was falling for him, yet again and she was falling hard.