here is stella's outfit and this song isn't in this chapter but you could listen to it while reading near the end if you would like:)
Stella Flores
God, I'm so happy.
Right now, we are in the car, driving to a 'surprise place'. We stopped at a market place, and only Harry got off. He said that he needed some 'stuff'.
I know, very specific.
He texted me, saying no peeking right before he came back to the car. I closed my eyes, covering them with my hands. I had no idea what he was buying but I decided that I was going to wait.
Everything is so surreal. Three days ago, I was having dinner with my parents. Now Jim is dead, and I'll never see him or my mom again.
My mom is a lot of things, but at the end of the day, she's still my mom. I still love her.
And Jim, Edward, or whatever the fuck his name is, I learned a lot of things about him. I learned that he hits women, left his son who was only a kid to take care of his sick mother, and he married my mom to escape his old life.
We were replacements.
I wonder if he would hit my mom too. I wonder if behind closed doors, he would show his true colors. I was so naive.
Harry killed people. He let anger and pain cloud his judgement. And now, I'm in fucking North Carolina, running away with him. And as fucked up as it is, I'm so happy.
I feel guilty about being happy. I feel guilty that I didn't mourn Jim's death. He is not my dad. He never was. He was a fake.
Obviously I was sad when I saw the man who I thought was my father dead on the floor. But the moment I found out the truth, I just felt angry.
Angry at Harry, angry at Jim, angry at myself. I wonder if my mom knew about Jim's past.
The car stopped, and I shook away my intruding thoughts, looking up. We were parked in the middle of a random field, filled with sunflowers.
It was so pretty.
"Where are we?" I looked over to Harry, who was getting out of the car. He quickly walked over to my door, opening it before I could do it myself. "Wow, what a gentleman you are." I took his hand, stepping out of the car.
I clutched my tote bag on my shoulder so it wouldn't slip as I stood up from the car. I took in the breathtaking view, and I immediately pulled out my polaroid camera.
I took a picture, shaking it so it could develop.
So fucking pretty.
I'm not talking about the field anymore. Now I'm talking about my husband. That's so weird. I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that we're married.
Harry walked over to the trunk, a picnic basket. No he didn't.
"Surprise." He smiled, holding the basket up.
I shook my head, and watched him as he placed the basket on the floor, pulling out a thin sheet from it. He spread it out on the floor, sitting down. He started taking stuff out, a bunch of fruits, mini cupcakes, and chicken wings.
No wonder I married him.
"You bought me chicken wings?" I sounded more enthusiastic than I should've considering they're just chicken wings. Who am I kidding? They're so much more than that.
He nodded his head, and I caught myself mindlessly leaning in to kiss him. I loved the way his lips felt against mine. My lips left his, our faces still close, "I love you." I whispered softly into him.
"I know." He whispered back, and we both laughed. I pushed him playfully, and our eyes caught in each other's paths.
I smiled, "Do you like my dress? It's green, like your eyes."
He gasped exaggeratedly, "I have green eyes?" He widened his eyes with sarcastic shock.
I laughed, taking a chicken wing. "You're such a dick."
He hums softly, and shrugs. "I do have a pretty great dick, don't I?"
Fucker.
About three hours had passed, and now it was about 8:30 PM. We talked, laughed, made jokes, listened to music, and tossed grapes in each other's mouth. I was so stuffed. I ate like three mini cupcakes, about eight chicken wings, and a bunch of fruit.
The sun was starting to go down now. Harry leaned back on his arms, legs spread out in front of him. I took this as an open invitation to lay my head down on his lap.
He looked at me, a small smile fighting to break onto his lips. His dimple was popping out, giving him away.
He grabbed my left hand, inspecting my paper clip ring. "I think it's time we change this."
I furrowed my brows, watching him as he pulled a ring off of his pinky finger. The silver ring with the emerald gem I had noticed the first time we met. "It was my mum's."
He took my hand, sliding my ring off, and as he was about to slide on the other one, I pulled my hand back. "Harry, I can't take your mom's ring."
He shook his head, biting his lip. "She would want you to have it." He picked my hand up again, sliding the stunning ring onto my ring finger. "She would love you."
I felt my heart breaking at his words. I can't imagine how hard that must've been for him. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head, staring at the sunset. "Don't be. She was miserable. She wanted to die." His voice cracked a bit, and he cleared his throat to cover it up.
I took my ringed hand, grabbing his, entangling our fingers together. I brought it to my lips, placing a gentle kiss on his hand. "You're so strong, baby."
He formed his lips into a line, sniffling to himself as he shook his head. "If I was stronger, I could've taken better care of her and she wouldn't have asked me to kill her."
"You were fourteen, left with the responsibility to care for your sick mother. You took care of her for two entire years. You juggled school, work, your mom, meals." I rubbed my thumb up and down his hand, trying to comfort him. It was probably really hard to talk about this for him.
He leaned down, kissing me. The kiss said all the words we didn't say.
I pulled my journal from my bag, flipping to a certain poem.
he thinks he's bad
he thinks he's evil
he thinks he's just like his dad
i think he's misunderstood
i think he's beautiful
i think he can be good
he thinks he's horrid
and no one would love him
but i did
i loved him from the moment my eyes met his
those green emeralds that were imprinted in my soul
so now, what's my final quiz?
will i love him forever?
will i do anything for him?
will i follow him wherever?
the answer is yes
despite his indiscretions and flaws
he is mine
and he shall be, until the end of time
I read it out loud, meaning every word I said. A single tear streamed down his cheek, and he laid back.
I pulled myself into him, and we both found comfort in each other's simple touch. We were drunk on something much stronger than alcohol and from this moment on, I knew this was forever.