The last time three of us stood together in the same place was years ago when we used to play together, eat together, scream and fight for breaking our favourite toys but now I didn't even know what to say after having my heart broken by them. I wasn't surprised by Camille, I know she spent her life having ill feelings for me but Marco. The whole world seemed to fade in front of me. I was supposed to feel something anger, sadness, hurt, wasn't I supposed to shout at him for doing this but I found myself numb. The beating of my heart, blood flowing in my veins everything working very hard to keep me alive but the numbness in my heart, my soul and my mind overpowered that hard work. The memories of how we met again in Felicita, how we kept meeting every day, those dates, his hugs, his words, the way he used to look at me every time I looked away. Was it all a lie? What if it was all in my head and it never happened the way I think it did. I guess, it was a dream all along and what was in front of me right now, was real.
How could he behave the same as her, my heart still refused to believe he'd ever hurt me. I pinched myself to bring me back to reality and see things the way there were here not how I wanted them to be. But I couldn't let them see, I couldn't let anyone see my fragility at this moment. I could not be weak if I wasn't feeling strong I would pretend to be one. I would answer them in the language they understand the best.
"What a surprise, Serena?" Camille exclaimed in the fake tone she could
"Don't pretend to be surprised Cam, didn't you nearly beg me to come here, very subtly indeed." I calmly responded
"I did what? I just thought to catch up with you." She pouted with an innocent face
What a bitch. It was working. Listening to her voice was enraging me and turning all the pain into anger.
"Of course." I snickered at her feign innocence
"Hey, Serena. Do you wanna look at how Marco abandoned you and asked me to come to his place. I'm so excited I would ask him to call you next time too." I repeated the exact words she texted me and continued, "Doesn't it sound like how desperate you were to make me see this."
"Whatever." She said while crossing her shoulders
"Well, I'll leave you guys alone now. I don't want to disrupt your quality time together anymore." I looked at Marco and said, "You two deserves each other." I paused because looking at him was making me weak, I said murmured in a low yet audible voice to him, "Remember you said how you regret meeting me but im saying now I regret it all. All of it." And turned back to leave him and all this behind as possible as it was.
Someone grabbed me by my hand and stopped me. I knew who it was, I jerked my hand from his strong grip, "Don't you dare."
"You can't go saying anything you want." He said in an authoritative tone
"I am done listening to you. Not anymore." My voice raised a little
"Listen to me once, then do whatever you want." His eyebrows got narrowed and his face was almost red
"I trusted you, Marco, and now I dont want to see you or hear you. Ever. Again," I screamed at him and a drop of tear fell down my cheek
"For God's sake Serena, I beg you. Please, it's nothing that it looks like."He scratched the back of his neck
"I shouldn't have met you again." My voice cracked and I was barely able to hold my tears anymore
"Just let her go, Marco. Poor girl isn't in good shape now." Camille grinned at me
"Camille" Marco called her name
She nodded.
"Leave. Leave, right now ."
She raised her brow in a questioning way, "what?"
"I am so done with you, if you don't then I will throw you out myself." He glared at her
"You must be joking, right." She said half smiling not believing his words
"Now!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He looked like a volcano that might erupt anytime now
She nodded and gave me a disgusted look and left and now it was just two of us.
He sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds and looked straight at me. I couldn't understand his expressions. He walked to me, put his both hands on my shoulder and pushed me behind till my back hit the tree behind and stood a few steps away from me, both of his hands were on my side, trapping me so I couldn't get out. I couldn't move at all, although it wasn't the first time when he was standing very closer to me this time it felt different. The more I tried to move, the more he strengthened his grip and made it harder to move. I tried to look at him but something inside me was resisting me and all I could do was to look at the ground. I knew he was staring at me, I wanted to say a lot to him but didn't know if I should because his gaze was making my heart go numb but also scaring me at the same time.
"Now, you'll just listen to me." He said in a low but clear voice.
I stood still, neither agreed nor denied.
"Remember a few days back, you asked me about the changed decoration and sakura plant?" He said
I looked at him with surprise. I remember I did ask that because this one thing had been bothering me ever since but he as usual ignored it. But now why he's suddenly so concerned about it and why does it have anything to do with the fact he played me. I said, "You're just trying to dodge the situation aren't you?"
"For god's sake, Serena, just answer the damn question. Do you remember it?" He looked slightly annoyed
I said nothing just nodded.
"Who you do think did all that?" He asked another question again
I wanted to go home and cry and never see him again but here I was trapped within his arms and answering his dumb ridiculous questions. I felt not interested to be playing this questionnaire with him, I just repeated his last line, "Who do you think did that?"
"I did."
"You did, what?" I exclaimed in surprise or shock or maybe both. It wasn't the answer I expected.
"You heard me." He responded back
"But you never liked it." I looked at him confused, wanting to know the answers whose questions had kept me guessing for weeks
He nodded.
"If you didn't like it why would you do any of that?" I didn't know what exactly I was feeling. Since we both met again, every time we are together, I didn't feel just one emotion at a time, it's somehow always messed up mesh of thoughts, questions, feelings and a lot more things at once
He stood quiet.
"Why would you do anything that you don't like, Marco?" I was on the very verge of losing my sanity
He repeated my own last words, "Why would I do anything that I don't like?" Was he for real doing all this on purpose to infuriate me or he's getting back at me for ruining his date with his so-called special friend Camille?
But before I could say anything he said," Tell me, Serena, for what reason I would do something that I don't even like?" He looked at me again with sadness in his eyes. Was it my brain or he was looking on the edge of crying? Did I hurt him today? Was he upset? Why was that sadness beaming inside his almond dark brown eyes? No Serena, get a hold of yourself, do not let him affect you anymore.
"I knew it all." His voice pulled me out from my own bobbled thoughts
He went on, "I knew how hard she has always tried to draw a line between us. The only reason I even tolerate her is that my parents want me to. She's the daughter of dad's business partner so, I have to deal with her even if I hate that the most. But" his voice cracked
"Marco!" I called him mostly to myself. I haven't seen him like this before. He looked.........He looked vulnerable. It hurts me to see him like this. I could see anything in the world but never see him so weak and on the verge of sobbing. I tried to hug him but he took both my wrist and pinned them together. Now he was standing even more closely than before. He wasn't himself, I had never seen him like this before, his face looked furious but his eyes looked sad.
"But you knew it all and you chose to believe her but not me. Not us." He said
"I....." I wanted to say something but he shushed me and began again,
"She means nothing to me. But you do."
I just stood there dumbfounded. Unable to comprehend or explain anything at all. I didn't know how not to believe him anymore and how stupid I sounded to believe her. I regretted my words. I instantly regretted how I uttered those words to this guy standing in front of me.
"I never stopped going back to Felicita even when you did because it was the only place I knew which made me feel closer to you. Every corner, every step, every article, every fucking thing there hold pieces of you, of us." He paused for a second and smiled a very weak smile
"I even changed the interior the way you always used to say, in all mint and lavender."
"Why would you do all that for me?" I barely
whispered
"Do you not understand it or just pretending not to." He closed the remaining distance between us and now his face was mere inches away from mine, I could almost hear his breathing on me now.
"When you smiled at me for the very first time in that park, I felt something and I was too young to understand what it was. And as we kept growing together that urge to see you smile and keep making you smile kept getting strong but still I was struggling to figure out what it was. But on that family trip, when you came out of your tent to look at the sunrise in that black t-shirt and smiled at me, I realised I can sacrifice every sunrise just to look at you and I found out what I have been feeling all along was love." He looked straight into my eyes," I love you, Serena Stewart."
Tears rolled out from my eyes. I didn't know what was happening, was even real or it was just in my imagination. I felt bad for doubting him. I felt bad for not trusting him. I just felt terrible at how he had always been so sincere, so loving, so real to me and all in return all I ever did was hurt him, again and again. I didn't realise how but one after another tears started coming down from my eyes till I started sobbing and continuously kept mumbling sorry to him. He freed my wrists and pulled me closer to him. I put my hands on his neck and closed even the air between us, so nothing could leave and it could stay like this forever.
He loosened his hands and rested them on my neck and kissed my forehead and smiled at me.
"If you still have some doubt just tell me now." I denied and looked down on the ground, completely embarrassed
"I love you too, " I said slightly flustered
"Just one thing left." He said with a smirk
"What?" I asked
He said nothing but pulled my face to him. Our faces were very close now. My breath was almost stuck in my throat and my heart was beating very fast. I could almost feel his lips on mine, I closed my eyes to let it happen.
"Get a room, nothing in my front yard please," a voice said
We both stood dead in our tracks after hearing that voice. We both know who it was but we were frightened to turn back and face it. We gave each other a final look and turned back only to find his mom standing and looking at us, amusingly. His mom smiled and waved at us and we looked at each other feeling relieved.