Stand By Me

Part 8- Love

"Yes, I'm fine. John is taking care of me." Bella assured her Auntie Ann over the phone.

"I'm glad you're safe. Please tell him thank you."

"Will do, Auntie. Goodnight."

Bella clicked the phone back onto the hook and turned around, smiling at John as she spotted him sitting on the couch. He appeared to be staring aimlessly at the wall, as if deep in thought.

"Auntie Ann said to thank you for taking care of me." Bella broke the silence.

John craned his neck to face her, "It's nothing. I just want you to be safe."

"Come here." He patted the space next to him. Bella grinned and took a seat.

"So How've you been, Bella?"

"I've been good!" She chirped in a high pitched voice, which John doubted the authenticity of.

"No, how've you really been? We always tend to go on about shit that doesn't matter, but very rarely do I ask about your true feelings. How are you holding up?"

His question agitated her. She didn't want to think about her true feelings because they terrified her. They were dark and dismal, and packed away in a corner of her mind she wasn't fond of visiting. She let out a sigh and turned to him, "I'm fine, John."

"You can tell me anything..."

"What do you want me to say?" She griped.

"Nothing Bells. I'm sorry." He muttered, feeling ashamed.

"I miss her, alright? Of course I do. She was my mother. My everything." Bella rambled, heartbeat quickening with each passing second, "Can we please not talk about it?"

"Listen, I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do- but suppressing your emotions simply because you're afraid of them will only cause more devastation."

"You think I don't know that? It's not like I haven't gone through it before with my father."

As soon as the words escaped her mouth she wept, realizing that she hadn't yet revealed that part of herself to him. The blood in John's veins thickened as he put the pieces together.

"Y-Your father is gone as well?" He pressed gently on her knee, which was exposed and shaking.

"Yeah, when I was eleven."

"Christ, I'm sorry."

"Please don't pity me. I can't bear it." She murmured through gritted teeth, trying her best to stifle the emotions that so desperately needed to pour out.

"Loss has defined me my whole life, John. My grief has crept into every relationship I've ever had, every friendship, too. When I open up to people they run away. They don't know how to handle my baggage."

"Bella, listen to me." John gripped her cheeks with his palms, "That's not what I'm going to do. Nothing you say could ever make me want to run away from you. Nothing. You mean too much to me."

His words coursed through her veins, causing her limbs to tremble. His voice was so soft and sincere, like a songbird singing all of her troubles away.

"Someday I will tell you everything." Bella whispered and tapped her forehead against John's.

"And I will accept it, no matter how painful." His thumb brushed against her cheek.

"Your past made you who you are, Bells." He murmured in an incredibly gentle tone of voice, "And I love who you are."

Bella lifted her head up and guided her arms around his neck, hands now cupping the back of his head. His eyes searched hers for a brief moment, then flared down to her lips which were parted and waiting. He kissed them softly.