Second Chances

After a storm theirs always the calm, before the clouds prevail themselves again. Looking into the dark of a simple room, somebody else's life that mine had consumed out of something that I thought was fake. Nothing but a old storytellers way of a joke, but I was wrong.

As I sit up in my bed, staring into the night as my night was filled of tears and muffled begs for my justice. As the tears had started to dry, but their traces still remained as I looked in front of me to see Nathaniel. Asleep, uncomfortable, on a chair with nothing but a small blanket. And I remembered the lost argument that left him leaning on a chairs arm as a makeshift pillow.

"I told you" he says as he walks to me and sits beside me as his hand slides into mine, "I'm not leaving you like this" he admits sincerely as I nudge my head into his shoulder.

I had a problem. Nathaniel Knight was my problem, and I was sitting up in my bed looking at him, almost admiring him in his glory.

When I was near him I lit up, not even I could be so blind to his effect in me! His presence sent chills down my spine, I would singlehanded know if he was simply in a room before others. And his touch....just his hand on mind warmed me up, ignited a fire I'd never known in my chest and causing a tingling feeling, almost like my heart restarting.

I feared this, laying in this bed, ailed by pain, I was scared. Not of losing him, I knew even in death he'd keep his loose promise to me, but of what he made me feel. Was this feeling wrong? Was I wrong for feeling this?

"Fran?" I hear through a murmur as I look to my side to him, cutting myself off from my wondering thoughts as I just smile. It still hurt. The pain you experienced from losing someone you love, let alone a parent, is unimaginable. I wanted to curse god, question everything, take everyone and everything down with me. "Are you okay?" He ask as I respond with a short nod at his question.

"I'm okay" I say as he sighs, the look of pity washes all over his face. That was the look I tried to save myself from, all the adults in town knew what was my situation, but never the students. High school might have been harden hell but at least I got only the truth and no pity looks were ever seen there. "I'm sure" I lie as he nods and the room goes silent as I look to my window for composure.

The truth was I was scared, not about my mother. Her heart had plenty of scars but nonetheless they made her everything she was. My mother was my idol, her words were gospel but I couldn't forget them. I didn't want to! Now that she was gone all I had of her was her words, "the worst pain known to man is simple heartache" he words keeping me up, echoing in my head.

"What's your biggest fear?" I ask Nathaniel as I see his half asleep head poke up from the arm rest as he wearily hold his eyes open.

"Losing" he whispers through a muffled yawn as he answers louder, "The world ending" he says as I smile at his sudden embarrassment of his first answer.

"Don't worry" I whisper as I see his eyes close, "I'll keep you little secret" I say as I sit there in the darkness and continue staring into the night.

As I wake up to the scent of sweetness tickling my nose, teasing it until I wake up.

The scent so soothing that I have to follow it. The scent, gracing itself by me from downstairs. But as soon as I stand in the kitchen I see my father standing at the stove and my smile instantly drops.

"Your up!" My father says as I just eagerly nod, more focused on the scent than anything.

I have to admit, I was saddened by this stranger and not Nathaniel. I really wanted to see him at the stove or somewhere, I just couldn't get my mind off of him.

"Yeah" I say, trying to look into the plan and instead I just see my fathers shirt. "Whatcha cookin?" I ask him as he laughs

"Your favorite" he answers with a chuckle as I walk to the small table in the corner with only two chairs. "French toast" he announces as I smile out of awkwardness and pressure. But soon the awkwardness only grows as the man pulls a chair up to the table as sighs, and I can only know from there that the hard news is coming. "I can't hold off those sad two faced maggots, the school board think it's time for you to go back" he says as I have no words, I can't.

"I don't think I'm ready for that" I say as I drink some apple juice as he sighs at my objections. "I hate it there" I mutter as he nods his head and I can see the stress in his eyes.

"I'll see what I can do" he solemnly says as I sigh. I knew what this meant to me, just not to this strange man I found sitting across to me.

"They want me to go back, .......to school" she stutters as I know the reason why. I was the reason for her irrational fear of school. She felt lost, and I only deepened that fear with tears of torment.

"You'll be fine" I try to reassure her, "Theirs no doubt in my mind that you will survive" I say as she snickers at my words.

"That's not what's at doubt, I survived long enough. I just wanna feel like I belong somewhere." She says as I can hear the tears in her voice as I can't even fathom looking at her, in fear of hurting seeing her like that. "I don't want to just survive anymore" she struggles to says as tears overwhelm her eyes and i hold her in my arms.

"This is where your supposed to be, in the moment, not forever" I assure her as she weeps into my shirt and I smirk.

It pained me that I made her feel like that, most of her life was tormented by someone that loved her so much they mistaken it as hate. I wished I could heal all her scars, I loved her from the first time I saw her and I hated her for that. I was a fool for her. I had to protect her and I hated her for being weak. But as she laid in my arms all my hated melted and only doubled, nailing the coffin door shut. How could she own me and not possibly know it? I breathed for her, this was where she belonged, in my arms. Where I vow to protect her, where she could be mine eternally forever, never to be forgotten as the owner of my heart.